So, the monkey, in all of his infinite wisdom, sits there and frets between 2 banana trees. He’s a very smart monkey and he’s trying to figure out which tree is the best tree to pick the right bananas from. After all, he’s been taught all of life to the perils of making mistakes and he’s caught up in fear, can’t make up his mind as to which tree to eat from. So he sits there scratching his head, afraid of making a mistake. Ironically, by not choosing, he chooses to deprive himself of bananas from either tree and eventually starves.

Phone fear can be a lot like the starving monkey. You’re surrounded by opportunity, but instead of seeing the opportunities, you see the possibilities of mistakes. You live in fear of those mistakes you might make by exposing yourself to the complexities of a phone call.

For instance:
1. There’s the chance that your introduction might be wrong. After all, there are dozens of ways to introduce yourself. Aren’t there?
2. Do you open with a question or a statement? Whoa boy, think that one through carefully.
3. Is the script you’ve been working on for an entire day, saying exactly what you want it to?
4. What if you get a question you hadn’t anticipated? More study…?
5. And if you catch them at the wrong time, and they’re too busy? How will you handle that?
6. If the gatekeeper answers, how do you get past the bulldog?
7. What if your voice trembles? They’ll know you’re scared.
8. What if they just hang up? Geez.

These are all needless worries. The questions are valid, but that thinking is stinking. There’s nothing to worry about if you set up a different mentality. One where anything you say will be right.

How? you ask.

Here’s the thinking. It goes back to the best advice ever given in sales training. The best way to approach someone is to approach them. Notice it doesn’t mention anything about overcoming rejection, scripting, overcoming a trembling voice first, or having the right introduction. It simply advises you, when wishing to talk to someone who can write you a check, offer you a job, or publish your book, to simply pick up the phone and “approach them.” Period!

Another way to echo the same thing is with a legendary sports saying. “Half of winning is just showing up.”

Here’s the key. If you know that just picking up the phone will produce winning results in the long run, then any little slip-up you make is inconsequential. Because the fruits of “approaching them” is enormous. If they hang up on you, if they yell at you, if they laugh at you, if they just say no, it’s inconsequential because you’ll eventually find someone who will agree with you, and buy from you and offer you a job. And they won’t be nearly as critical as you are about all those petty worries.

I say that if you pose all 8 of those questions with 10 other successful friends, people in your line of work you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Meaning that any way you go with those 8 questions will be fine. Meaning, success with those 8 questions or the hundreds of other worries that you can think of just depends on who get’s your call. The the personality, the character on the other end of the line will warm to one way and be cool to another. And there’s no way you can plan on knowing the type of person who’ll be answering. So, whatever you say will be right. If it doesn’t go good, it’s just their fault. You can’t sell to them all. If anyone of them offers you a banana, take it! Don’t ask why?

Do you suffer from this dilemma?