Barbara Streisand is universally known as one of the most talented singers of all time but what many people don’t know is that she struggles with intense stage fright after forgetting the words to a song she was singing at a concert in 1967.  Said Streisand in an interview with ABC news, "I didn't sing and charge people for 27 years because of that night ... I was like, 'God, I don't know. What if I forget the words again?'" Streisand returned to the stage in the early 1990s.

I have been in sales for years and making cold calls is an integral part of sales.  But I will be the first to admit that I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I sit down to make calls.   Given the chance, I could probably find enough excuses to put off cold calling for 27 years.  The problem is that if I don't sell, we don't eat so I have to find a way to overcome my cold call stage fright every time I pick up the phones.

I love CLOSING sales because I am a very competitive person and closed sales is how you keep score in my world.  Part of closing sales though is getting through all of the No’s and overcoming objections and making it through the gatekeeper to talk to the person you need.  I believe that some of the butterflies that I get when I sit down to call are just adrenaline and excitement of getting to do what I love.  Some of the butterflies are from knowing that Greg can't photograph what I don't sell so no matter how good he is on the back end, the front end is up to me and I don't want to disappoint him.  Some of the jitters are from plain out fear of the unknown because face it, there are a lot of unknowns when you make cold calls.

Keep in mind, I have great confidence in our company Vision Quest Virtual Tours.  I believe that virtual tours make a huge difference in the marketing efforts of the businesses I am calling and in the lives of people who own the homes and businesses we photograph.  I know that I am good on the phones and can build rapport with my clients.  When stage fright comes -- and it always does -- I have to remind myself that our customers are excited when we come to do their virtual tours.

My very first call this morning started with my standard question, “Have you considered adding a virtual tour to your website?”   The answer was, “Yes, we were just talking about it yesterday but I wasn’t sure who to call.”  I’ll admit that not all of my phone calls go that well or else I probably wouldn’t have the jitters when I sit down to make calls...BUT enough of them do that I keep calling and can estimate a predictable stream of income when I overcome my fears and put in the effort.

What we do has the potential to change people’s lives -- the home owner who sells their house because of the tour, the business who sees their business increase because their customers have a vision of what they do, the client who decides to get treatment they need because their fears are allayed by seeing where they will be going.  It’s worth fighting through the nerves because what we do matters.  At the end of the day, even if I haven’t closed a sale, I have shared information about a valuable service that we provide and I know that the Yes is always worth it no matter how many No’s I hear.

Vision Quest Virtual Tours specializes in virtual tours for healthcare, hospitality and education.  We believe that when making big decisions, the big picture makes a big difference.  To learn more, please visit us online at www.VisionQuestVirtualTours.com or give us a call at 404-863-9769.