Welcome to “The Pipeline” — a weekly column from HubSpot, that includes actionable recommendation and perception from actual gross sales leaders.

It doesn’t matter how often you name prospects or what number of years you’ve been in gross sales, you’ll at all times really feel some nervousness earlier than you dial — and that’s a superb factor. In the event you’re nervous, you’re taking it severely.

Anxiousness solely turns into an issue when it impacts your means or willingness to name. I’ve met reps who will do every part of their energy to keep away from making calls, which unsurprisingly hurts their means to fill their pipeline with new alternatives.

In the event you battle with a worry of calling patrons, use these 5 methods to beat it.

The right way to Overcome Your Reluctance to Name Prospects

1. Make getting a “no” the objective.

Once I was a gross sales supervisor, I’d maintain a calling contest with a “no” quota at any time when I needed my reps to spend extra time on the cellphone. The winner was the primary one who received 25 “nos.” Reasonably than feeling dejected each time they heard “no” from their prospects, my reps could be excited.

Why is that this contest efficient? As a result of the salespeople inevitably heard “sure” as nicely. It took one among my reps 28 calls to hit her 25 “no” quota — as a result of three prospects determined to arrange one other assembly.

In truth, salespeople often have a decrease failure fee once you run this contest. They’re much less anxious than common, which ends up in confidence that’s obvious to patrons.

Don’t wait in your supervisor to run this contest — you are able to do it your self. Set your self a “no” quota, seize a notepad and a pen, and hold a operating tally of the rejections you get. Whenever you hit your quota, award your self a prize.

2. Concentrate on the exercise — not the result.

Measuring your prospecting exercise’s success by what number of conferences you guide might be harmful. Let’s say you’re aiming to land three conferences a day. You name 15 folks, and each single one is busy, on trip, away from their desk, in a gathering, or just in a nasty temper. Via no fault of your individual, you haven’t managed to schedule a single assembly. You’re in all probability going to be reluctant to hit the telephones once more tomorrow.

Reframe your considering by measuring success by exercise, not consequence. On this means, you management whether or not or not you meet your objective. As a substitute of trying to guide three conferences, decide to asking 20 prospects for a gathering.

Even when each prospect says no, at the least you possibly can go residence understanding you achieved your goal. And chances are high, a few of these folks will say sure.

3. Put your self in the precise atmosphere.

After we don’t need to sort out a activity, we will discover infinite methods to fill our time. That’s why I counsel salespeople to place themselves in an atmosphere the place they don’t have anything to do however name.

Put together your lead record, cellphone numbers, and analysis, and go to a convention room or one other a part of the workplace along with your cellphone. In the event you’re sitting at an empty desk with no distractions, I assure you’ll make calls.

Some reps can’t go away their desks. In that scenario, strive shutting off your wifi and even blocking particular websites. Do no matter you’ll want to so calling is your solely choice.

4. Swap leads with one other rep.

I exploit this technique on a regular basis to fight name nervousness. Whenever you’re struggling to select up the cellphone, discover one other member of your group and swap leads with them. They name 20 of your leads, and also you name 20 of theirs. If any of your leads come to fruition, they’ll give these names again, and vice versa.

Since you’re not calling your individual leads, you aren’t as emotionally hooked up to them. It turns into a lot much less nerve-wracking to select up the cellphone.

5. Do your homework.

Who wouldn’t be terrified of selecting up the cellphone and calling a complete stranger? In the event you don’t analysis a prospect earlier than the decision, you’re not simply making it tougher to determine credibility and have an informed dialog: You’re additionally dialing up your individual nervousness.

When you already know a purchaser’s background, duties, particulars about their firm, and challenges they’re in all probability going through, you’ll really feel much more assured calling them. Data is energy.

As well as, being ready transforms your position. As a substitute of a pesky telemarketer, you’re a subject professional with distinctive insights and recommendation to supply.

These methods will enable you to scale back your worry of dialing from a 9 to a 3. Your coronary heart will in all probability nonetheless begin to race barely quicker earlier than you name a prospect, however bear in mind: A bit worry isn’t a nasty factor.