Cold calling scared me for years, then one slow Tuesday changed my mind

I work in B2B sales in Cleveland and always dodged the phone, sending emails instead. Last month my manager sat me down and said, "You're leaving money on the table, literally." So I forced myself to do 20 cold calls in one afternoon. First 8 were terrible, people hung up or gave one word answers. But call number 9 talked to me for 15 minutes about their shipping delays, and by the end I had a demo booked for next week. That one call paid for a full day of email follow-ups I used to send. Now I do 10 calls every morning and I'm honestly shocked at how many people just want to vent about their problems. Has anyone else found that the calls you dread the most end up being the easiest wins?

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tara_palmer2d ago

How many calls are you making before you take a break? I do inside sales in a similar field and found that making 5 to 7 calls then stopping for a few minutes works way better than pushing straight through 20. Your energy drops and people can hear it on the other end. After a rough call, stand up, walk around, grab water, then get back on the phone. The bad calls are just part of the deal, they get easier once you stop expecting every one to go well. Keep at it because that 1 in 10 that talks your ear off is the one that pays.

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