Outbound Calls Net Results

My discomfort with phones is rooted in my childhood.

I was born into the party-line era. We lived on a farm for the first nine years of my life. I think our ring (may have been?) one long, two short. I never answered that phone. Number one, no one ever called me. Number two, I was a little bit terrified of that technology and was unsure about that one long, two short business.

We moved to a big metropolis when I was nine. The habit of not answering the phone followed me to the big city, even though we had our own private line with one ring. I can honestly remember asking if I could answer the phone for the first time in my life sometime in my ninth year.

As I advanced in years I became comfortable in answering the phone. I was still not a big fan of dialing it (the fear of talking to someone other than the party I was calling or leaving a message paralyzed me). Then came boys. Sitting and staring and hoping the phone would ring was a big part of my early courtship years. Girls didn't phone boys in those days. At least not in my world. I remember calling a boy once ... it was so far out of my comfort zone I remember how the first part of that conversation went.

Adulthood brought much more comfort with that modern gadget called the telephone. I love, love, loved it when it rang. Dialing it? It was a little like pulling off a bandage. The quicker you did it, the less painful it was. Add the mantra of: "Who would ever want to talk to me??" that coursed through my mind for the better part of my life-that-far and phone dialing never became something that I was totally comfortable with.

Outbound calls always had a purpose. I would not phone someone 'just to talk' (who would ever want to talk to me??). If there was not a specific purpose, I rarely picked up the phone and dialed it.

My years in a teleservice department (where outbound soft sales calls were in their infancy in my line of business) should have cured me. In fact, I think it made it worse. I did it because it was part of my job. But I never liked it. I definitely didn't run home and yearn to dial the phone when it wasn't part of my job description and I wasn't getting paid to do so.

After living half a century with this minor phobia, I think I finally (just about) have it licked. I pick up the phone 'just to chat'. I have found that phone conversations net much higher results than emails if you want to gather a small group. I would much rather let my fingers do the walking than waste a tank of gas and time that I could be doing other things when it comes to shopping. Yes, this gadget called a telephone most definitely makes life easier. The ability to bring friends and family into my home with ease, has made me become quite fond of this piece of technology.

Outbound calls are still an area of discomfort. I will email over telephone nine times out of ten. But ... if I have the opportunity to leave a message and the party will get back to me at their convenience, it definitely makes the task easier.

When I get home from a day at work, I have used up my day's quota of energy and confidence. Picking up the phone becomes an onerous task. I will avoid it like the plague.

I have put off booking a dance lesson for far too long. I keep waiting for my head to be in a place where I can make the most of a lesson and have the confidence to pick up the phone, dial it and book a lesson.

First thing yesterday morning, I called the dance studio and left a message about booking a dance lesson. I thought I knew what my day would bring. I was wrong. An hour and a half later, I called back (and left a second message) when my day took an unexpected twist. At the end of my work day, I was greeted by a message left on our answering machine. "I have an opening at 7:00 tonight ..." One quick and easy phone call later, I was in!

Three outbound calls + one phone message = one dance lesson last night.

It was tough, but it was worth it!