While we all recognize “fear of rejection” as most likely the biggest category for phone fear, an argument for clanking up and not dialing can be traced to a lack of knowledge of what it is we are trying to sell, or get across. I believe this is true and can lead to awful furtherance and expansion of the anxiety. In other words, if we intend to call a business prospect without sufficient knowledge of our product or service, the white knuckle dread blossoms into panic. We know in our minds that we are vulnerable to attack. In other words, we can be nailed for not being an expert in our field. We might be discovered for what we are…a beginner. Gawd, what an awful thought.

You whisper to yourself, “They might ask me a question I won’t have an answer for.”

The more knowledge we’re armed with the more fear is diminished…….up to a point. Two things can happen that won’t help the situation, if we’re not careful.
1. We go overboard and use knowledge attainment as a reason to procrastinate. Some are familiar with a similar concept called Scope Creep.
2. The more we study and learn the more questions pop up. We gotta stop somewhere and plant a pole and get on with learning the very best way. Picking up the phone and calling and bracing for the unknown.
As we know, we probably learn more from our mistakes than we do from all our successes put together. It’s a hard thing, to learn from the screaming face of the enemy, but lessons learned in the heat of battle stick with us forever. Haven’t we heard, the best games to win are the most difficult ones. Golf is a perfect example!

So let’s ask ourselves, have we blown up the fear of the phone as something larger than it really is? Has your sales manager elevated phone fear into a Godzilla of prospecting? Step back and look at it carefully. Nine times out of ten, you will know more than the person you are calling. Remember, you are the expert. Just think about making yourself more of an expert by brushing on you knowledge.

Comments anyone? Got any other ideas? Thanks go out to Justin Flitter for the inspiration for this post.

Others out there with ideas on what the reasons are for phone fear? And if you’ve overcome it, how did you do it?