What causes the fear of phone calls and how to overcome it?

If you opened this message, you’re probably familiar with the fear of talking on the phone or personally know people who cringe at the thought of calling. Let’s figure out what causes panic on the phone and how to get rid of it.

Why am I afraid of making phone calls?

Telephobia has become the epidemic of our century, especially among millennials and zoomers. We are so used to solving all problems through instant messengers and social networks that we have completely lost the habit of talking on the phone. These were replaced by voice messages and video calls. It would seem, what’s wrong with a normal search? The fact is that they have become so rare that they are associated with something personal. Indeed, we convey some important or intimate information on the phone, for example, congratulating mom on her holiday or asking for advice from a doctor.

Calls from strangers are unconsciously perceived by us as an attack and seizure of our territory, which is why we react to them so aggressively. Therefore, a sense of tact prevents us from making cold calls, even if it is business. Deep down we feel like thieves breaking into someone else’s house. This is the reason for the shame and fear of facing a negative reaction. After all, no one wants to listen to angry accusations and insults.

Do I have telephobia?

Fear of phone calls often hinders work. Sometimes you have to call customers, which is frustrating. If a person has telephobia, he will postpone the call for a long time and spend hours thinking about the interlocutor’s reaction and his reaction to it. Another sign: reluctance to answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. In this case, all the symptoms of stress are observed: rapid heartbeat, sweating, shortness of breath, dry mouth, nausea, dizziness and even fainting.

Symptoms of telephobia:

– Fear of failure;

– fear of losing reputation;

— Violation of personal boundaries.

How do I get rid of the fear of making phone calls?

Intellectually, we understand that there is nothing wrong with phone conversations, but our irrational side prevents us from collecting our thoughts and working. There are a few life hacks that will help you trick your brain into getting rid of telephobia.

visualize

First, try to imagine the person on the other end of the line. The phone deprives us of non-verbal information. It is easier for us to talk to a person whose reaction we see and can control.

The interlocutor is also afraid of calls

Imagine, but your interlocutor is also a human. And he may be more afraid of taking your call than he is of you.

Examine the topic of conversation carefully

Even if the interlocutor does not see us, we may be afraid to reveal our incompetence to him. If you need to make cold calls, first carefully examine the product you will offer to the customer. Write down possible questions and prepare answers.

Keep statistics of ridiculous rejections

Not all interlocutors are smart, so try not to take their anger and discontent seriously. Write down the most ridiculous rejections in a notebook. After all, most of the answers are not up to you. The customer may not like the price of the product or service. Don’t take it personally and cultivate a healthy complacency.

I love the absurd

Mentally imagine the worst possible scenario of a phone call and aggravate it to the point of absurdity.

change target

If you’re looking to get a “yes” from a customer, you’ll probably be very upset when they tell you “no.” So call to find out why that person would say no. Let the two of you start a conversation. By the way, this can be very effective, especially if your boss sincerely does not understand why his product has such low sales. This way you can improve its quality.

Write down your achievements

We often forget or devalue what we have. So write down all your achievements on a piece of paper. Do they seem unimportant to you? OK. Then reduce the importance of the interlocutor. What makes you think that a smart, successful, handsome and intelligent person would talk to you on the phone? If not, why do you need his opinion? And then any conversation on the phone is nothing on the scale of the universe.