Business Building Corner

Overcoming the Fear of Cold Calls


No one enjoys rejection, and that is exactly why generally speaking, people in sales do not like to make cold calls. In traditional sales, there are different lists of companies or people to approach. Sometimes there is a reference from someone within the same industry to make it slightly warmer. Other times, it’s similar to going in for a job interview: full of potential and nerve wracking at the same time.

Whether you’re outgoing or introverted, aggressive or passive, anyone can be jittery about making cold calls. In network marketing, the cold market can be the person in a queue with you, sitting next to you on a plane, shopping at the same market, and so forth. In other words, in network marketing, it’s far less intimidating, because cold calling in our industry is really about creating a dialogue and starting a conversation.

If you are not the type of person that feels comfortable striking up a conversation with someone you do not know, there are ways to overcome this shyness. It’s really all in your mindset. Here are five things you can do mentally to prepare for making daily cold calls:

  1. Build your self-confidence by becoming knowledgeable about the product and the opportunity. The more secure you are, the easier it will be to share.

  2. Acknowledge that you have something of value to share. Rather than shying away from giving someone a “sales pitch,” think in terms of providing people with solutions that can improve or maintain health, finances and lifestyle.

  3. Be okay with your sense of discomfort. Remind yourself what it was like learning any new thing; for example, how to breathe while swimming, how to balance on a two-wheel bicycle for the first time, how to drive a car, etc. All these things you learned how to do were possibly challenging and fear-inducing at one point, but you conquered it and got over any sense of inadequacy. So it goes with cold-calling.

  1. Practice makes perfect. Like the Nike ad, “just do it.” Action overcomes fear. Anticipation of what might happen is far worse than finding out the actual results! Take action and it will make you feel better.

  2. Think positively and keep plugging along. Even if you don’t make the connection with product or opportunity, you might meet a kindred spirit.