When I started training my clients’ sales teams on the phone, I knew the avoidance was bad. Then I looked at the numbers.

• Sellers are scared: A 2018 study by ValueSelling Associates found that 48% of sales reps fear making cold calls.
• It’s generational: A 2019 survey of UK office workers found 76% of millennials and 40% of baby boomers have anxious thoughts when the phone rings, and 61% of millennials avoid calls entirely, versus 42% of boomers.
• Buyers screen everything: Pew Research found that eight in 10 Americans don’t generally answer calls from unknown numbers.

So why bother? Because nobody else is willing to do it. And in marketing, whatever stands out wins. In the age of AI, when you can’t tell if a video or a call is even real, a live human with off-the-cuff humor and the occasional “um” is a differentiator. There are now entire companies dedicated to teaching people how to pick up the phone. That’s how much money is being left on the table.

Why the Phone Feels So Scary

Most of us were raised by people who never had to sell. Only a small slice of the population owns a business or sells for a living. Everyone else teaches their kids two big lessons: avoid rejection, and avoid being vulnerable (which leads to rejection). Be nice. Don’t bother anyone.

Think of it like a GPS. Your parents programmed your destination as “nice and never bothering anyone.” Then you started a business, and your job is literally to interrupt people and risk hearing no. Even Starbucks has more people walk past than walk in. So your internal GPS starts recalculating, recalculating, recalculating. That confusion is where you freeze.

Reprogram Your GPS First

Look, nothing is harder than calling with a terrified mindset. Many owners never even admit they fear the phone. They hide it behind busyness, outsourcing, or a belief that “something else works better.”

A belief is just a thought you keep repeating. So choose a new one: “I’m helping these people solve a problem. It’s good for them and good for me.” Then reinforce it constantly, with coaches, books, or podcasts from people a level ahead of you. As my former coach David Neagle says, the wealth is in what you refuse to do.

I had to take my own medicine. Since COVID closed the borders and I lost my business, I’d been coasting on comfortable funnels where partners filled my executive roundtables. I never called the no-shows or the “follow up with me later” people. When I finally did, guess what? People thanked me for calling.

Warm Up Every Call

Never call stone cold.

• Start with people you know: Past contacts, people from shared associations, events, or past lives. Open with the last place and time you met.
• Use door openers: One client sent a tiny toy bed to bank CMOs with the caption “one in 10 Latinos keep their money under the mattress.” She booked five appointments with the biggest banks in the U.S. in one day at their trade show.
• Leave a sticky message: Pew found that 67% of Americans who don’t pick up an unknown number will still check the voicemail. So say where you got their name (it’s the first thing they want to know), name a mutual connection or association, then name their specific pain.
• Invite them to something: A roundtable, a case study conversation, a webinar, or a video link that delivers value around that pain.

And honestly? If it’s not their pain, I want them to hang up. Why waste their time?

Follow Up, Pace Yourself, and Have Fun

One call isn’t a campaign. Mix your channels: voicemail, email, LinkedIn messages and video, and Loom (Loom before Zoom, I love that). In my experience, prospects need to see your message 7 to 12 times. Map it out on a calendar.

Don’t go nuts calling 30 or 40 new people a day. Spend part of that time writing follow-ups and getting to their industry events. Then tie it together: “Are you going to the chapter meeting this month?”

Now it’s a daily ritual for me. I call yesterday’s list, then build tomorrow’s. Recently, I reached a woman who came to one of my roundtables years ago and barely spoke. Turns out she has 30 years of experience winning government RFPs. Now she’s an upcoming guest on my live cast. That gold was sitting in my network the whole time.

Overcome the Fear of The Phone

The phone isn’t dead. Your fear of it is just louder than it used to be. Reprogram the GPS, warm up the call, and follow up like you mean it.

Want to reposition your messaging to grow your leads? Follow me on X, friend me on Facebook,watch my Podcast onYouTube or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk.