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Meds that help you cold call?

by Matthew North
40 replies
There are a few (legal) drugs and supplements that help with anxiety.

One such supplement is L-Theanine.

I have a bottle of Theanine of my desk as we speak. I take two tablets with caffeine and in an hour or so I'm feeling extremely relaxed, focused and have a marked increase in mindfulness.

There are a lot of good reviews on Theanine for dealing with both generalized and social anxiety. I don't suffer from it myself, but it definitely helps me focus and puts me in a good mood to make calls.

I can definitely see how something like this could help with call reluctance.

There's a lot of scientific stuff on the Wiki page, but from what I understand is that it raises your dopamine and GABA levels, meaning you become very relaxed in an hour or so after taking them. Because your GABA levels are higher it means that you are less susceptible to stress, caffeine and can focus easier without a constant inner dialogue.

When you are afraid your inner voice is primarily negative, so I can see how this could be especially helpful for newbies.

They aren't cheap though, coming out at nearly 90c per tablet.

The best way I can describe the feeling is when you have had 2-3 beers and are in that sweet spot where you just feel good. It has the same social effect and makes you sleep very soundly at night.

Check it out
#call #cold #meds
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Geeze.. I know cold calling is a great and inexpensive way to create leads but I would recommend that for someone with serious anxiety about doing it, just don't do it. Nobody is forcing you to create or start a business, and if you have money, there are other ways of getting customers.

    I'm sure you aren't somebody that has terrible anxiety about doing it... maybe it helps you perform but I can't encourage somebody that actually has anxiety about calling to take something and call anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
    To be fair, if you had serious anxiety L Theanine probably wouldn't do much.

    Probably looking at Valium or Xanax.

    This is beside the point however. Even for people that just get nervous before selling or interviews this has proven to help.

    I do agree with you though.
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  • Profile picture of the author daniyal100
    I do have serious anxiety to talk to people on phone. Though I am a serious person by nature but I am also famous for my sense of humor in my friends whom I comfortable with and sometimes when I am in a jolly mood I said things which always get remembered in our circle.

    Just to let you know that I know for sure that If I do it consistently, I can do it effectively but there's some fear inside myself stopping me to do it.

    Can someone help? I mean I want to be on that level on which I actually start enjoying to do calling and get to calling whenever I got some time because I love it rather watching porn or movies.
    I can promise to forward 25% of all the money I earn and also to forward 10 or more hours of daily recordings of phone calls.

    Though I did some calls and make some money in last 5,6 months but right now I am getting struck in a situation where I am unable to call.
    It's almost 50 days now since I don't actually cold call in a professional way or earn any money..

    I am 22 and have nothing more then a car worth 5k and I am gona need to sell it in mid september if things don't change.
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    • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
      Originally Posted by daniyal100 View Post


      Can someone help? I mean I want to be on that level on which I actually start enjoying to do calling and get to calling whenever I got some time because I love it rather watching porn or movies.
      I can promise to forward 25% of all the money I earn and also to forward 10 or more hours of daily recordings of phone calls.


      I am 22 and have nothing more then a car worth 5k and I am gona need to sell it in mid september if things don't change.
      Forget it. You will never love prospecting. And seriously, if you are at the point where you will sell your only possession for 5k rather than get to work and earn your way in the world... You should just get a job.

      Don't be one of those people who sits around waiting for someone to take care of you. We are all paid exactly what we are worth, and if you can't make any money it's because you have not built your own personal value yet.

      Seriously - go get a low end job and learn how to work. Your mind is the most valuable asset you have. You can't make a living until prove yourself.
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      Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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      • Profile picture of the author daniyal100
        [DELETED]
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        • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
          Originally Posted by daniyal100 View Post

          Hoping to stick to it and get back to you after getting few projects via "cold calling" as soon as possible..

          And then I'll tell you not give this advise to anyone else because you are wrong"
          If you read any of my past posts you will see I am a positive, encouraging person.

          I want you to make it. I really do.

          The thing is, if you can't turn off your movies and porn to get some business...no one can help you. THIS IS UP TO YOU.

          Please...DO go get some projects.

          There is nothing anyone can do to make you prospect. There is nothing anyone can do to make you turn off your movies.

          No one will take you up on the 25% offer and no one will listen to your recorded calls. I have hours of recordings of MY callers every week. I struggle to find time to listen to any of them.

          The thing about business is that it is ALL up to you. DO IT. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

          You can have anything you want in life. There are no limits.
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          Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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        • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
          Originally Posted by daniyal100 View Post

          Hoping to stick to it and get back to you after getting few projects via "cold calling" as soon as possible..

          And then I'll tell you not give this advise to anyone else because you are wrong"

          If your only motivation is "sticking it to Dan McCoy" then you are doomed.

          He is one of the most helpful people on this forum.

          All the best,
          Sasha
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          • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
            Pantera - why take drugs when you can blindly email TONS of value for free?

            I'd digress that this method beats taking drugs and / or cold calling 100% of the time.

            ...wow a formal post for the promotion of PEDs in offline mktg...

            A-Fod.
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            • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
              Originally Posted by TheBigBee View Post

              Pantera - why take drugs when you can blindly email TONS of value for free?

              I'd digress that this method beats taking drugs and / or cold calling 100% of the time.

              ...wow a formal post for the promotion of PEDs in offline mktg...

              A-Fod.
              Eh.

              I'm into all sorts of stuff but stay as far away from pharma/illicit drugs as possible. Some of my friends take them, that's all good. It's not for me though.

              Some other things I can also recommend to get in the optimal attitude for cold calling are:

              20 minutes of mediation daily; increased presence, non-reactiveness, concentration and intent.

              Sleep hypnosis with biurnal affirmations; greatly reduced stress, increase in confidence and self-esteem, helps with visualization.

              Daily goal setting; activates your unconscious and superconscious mind, directs mind towards right action, increased belief and speed of manifestation.

              Autogenic conditioning including affirmations; increased energy, belief, builds positive expectations 'I'm a GREAT SALES PERSON'x100

              These are some of my favourites on top of a low carb diet and regular exercise.

              It's best to do these early in the morning and right before you go to bed. The more relaxed you are, the more receptive your unconscious and super-conscious is to suggestion. This is why I believe that natural supplements such as Theanine (which is made from tea leaves) will serve people who operate in a high stress environment, being able to access the best parts of their behavioural imprints without the nagging consciousness derailing and trying to control experience.

              Part of a strong belief is accepting the worst and letting whatever may happen anyway.
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              • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
                Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

                Eh.

                I'm into all sorts of stuff but stay as far away from pharma/illicit drugs as possible. Some of my friends take them, that's all good. It's not for me though.

                Some other things I can also recommend to get in the optimal attitude for cold calling are:

                20 minutes of mediation daily; increased presence, non-reactiveness, concentration and intent.

                Sleep hypnosis with biurnal affirmations; greatly reduced stress, increase in confidence and self-esteem, helps with visualization.

                Daily goal setting; activates your unconscious and superconscious mind, directs mind towards right action, increased belief and speed of manifestation.

                Autogenic conditioning including affirmations; increased energy, belief, builds positive expectations 'I'm a GREAT SALES PERSON'x100

                These are some of my favourites on top of a low carb diet and regular exercise.

                It's best to do these early in the morning and right before you go to bed. The more relaxed you are, the more receptive your unconscious and super-conscious is to suggestion. This is why I believe that natural supplements such as Theanine (which is made from tea leaves) will serve people who operate in a high stress environment, being able to access the best parts of their behavioural imprints without the nagging consciousness derailing and trying to control experience.

                Part of a strong belief is accepting the worst and letting whatever may happen anyway.
                If you are being honest about these things, then this re-affirms everything I have learned from you as a marketer.

                You had me sold at "daily goal setting" because sober, wasted, or neutral, that's a critical growth element.

                BEWARE: young folks with young and brash ways of doing things are a threat to the "old heads" around here... I am not here to sell anything so the "old heads" can kiss my arse, but just sayin...
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              • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
                Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

                will serve people who operate in a high stress environment, being able to access the best parts of their behavioural imprints without the nagging consciousness derailing and trying to control experience.

                .
                I am not here to bash the use of drugs, I simply don't care
                what some one else does, its none of my business.

                I only want to comment on the bold line.

                If you think doing phone work or any type of sales is
                stressful, your just not doing it right.
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      • Profile picture of the author hometutor
        Originally Posted by Dan McCoy View Post

        Forget it. You will never love prospecting. And seriously, if you are at the point where you will sell your only possession for 5k rather than get to work and earn your way in the world... You should just get a job.

        Don't be one of those people who sits around waiting for someone to take care of you. We are all paid exactly what we are worth, and if you can't make any money it's because you have not built your own personal value yet.

        Seriously - go get a low end job and learn how to work. Your mind is the most valuable asset you have. You can't make a living until prove yourself.
        Actually, if you enter a successful business such as Starbucks for example with the right business attitude, you make some money, earn some tips and STUDY STUDY STUDY EVERY METHOD THEY USE. This is business school you get paid for!

        Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    Here's the only cold calling drug you need.

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  • Profile picture of the author GforceSage
    Try 1 five hour energy, 1 vodka cocktail, and choose 3 businesses that you don't care much about one way or another if you land em.' Those 3 will be your "Practice Calls." You might stumble, stutter, or forget your pitch ...Better to screw up with 3 low-value targets than with high-value ones. It also helps to find out the owner or GM's name, so the person answering the phone thinks you are calling to follow-up on something, and not another time waster.

    No Name? Tell the person you speak with that you would like to speak with the person who handles their daily deals, this will get you to a decision maker who you can pitch to and set up a meeting with. In cold calling, once you have a good call, it calms your nerves and increasees your confidence. Once you get on a roll and sound polished, confident, and personable, you will get the proper consideration you desire if you have true value to offer.

    There are lots of opinions on this matter, I hate cold calling, but this approach has helped me personally get lots of clients because I befriend everyone I come in contact with and move forward in a casual manner until it's time to close.

    Best of luck,
    GfS
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Yes, lets just take a pill so we don't have to deal with our uncomfortable feelings about something instead of just learning how to deal with it and maturing. = 0
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    • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
      Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

      Yes, lets just take a pill so we don't have to deal with our uncomfortable feelings about something instead of just learning how to deal with it and maturing. = 0
      Welcome to 21st Century America. :|
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  • Profile picture of the author Slate Marketing
    People are taking meds to do something (cold calling) that is pretty much the worst possible use of a marketers time?

    Repeat after me...NO COLD CALLING!! There are 1,000 other things you could and should be doing that would bring better results.
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  • Profile picture of the author koppster
    I understand try drinking some wine it will help loosen you up.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
      I don't understand why everyone keeps referring to L-theanine as a "drug". It's a 100% natural substance found in green tea leaves, and has many positive health benefits, with virtually no side effects. Yes, it has a mild relaxing effect, but so do many other completely safe, natural substances (such as vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, etc). Nothing wrong with being relaxed.

      You're always going to have some amount of stress in your life. That's unavoidable. But if you have so much stress in your life that it has a debilitating affect on your life / business, then you should seek out natural, healthy ways to reduce that stress.

      I don't cold call myself -- not because I think it's stressful -- but because I think there's other forms of prospecting that are a better use of my time. But for those who do cold call... if you can take something that's good for you (such as L-theanine) that helps you relax and do your job better, then go for it! It's certainly much healthier than alcohol or drugs.

      Eating right, exercising regularly, getting good sleep, and plenty of sunshine... can all go a long ways towards reducing stress too.
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      • Profile picture of the author hometutor
        Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

        I don't understand why everyone keeps referring to L-theanine as a "drug". It's a 100% natural substance
        Caffeine is a drug found naturally in the coffee bean

        Cocoa leaf has cocaine

        Alcohol is also classified as a drug which is produced naturally through the process of fermentation.

        Rick
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          Originally Posted by Slate Marketing View Post

          People are taking meds to do something (cold calling) that is pretty much the worst possible use of a marketers time?

          Repeat after me...NO COLD CALLING!! There are 1,000 other things you could and should be doing that would bring better results.
          Yeah, one of those things would be to create a WSO on selling $2 kindle books.... :rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
          Originally Posted by hometutor View Post

          Caffeine is a drug found naturally in the coffee bean

          Cocoa leaf has cocaine

          Alcohol is also classified as a drug which is produced naturally through the process of fermentation.

          Rick
          Spinach contains high levels of magnesium. And magnesium is known for having a mild "calming" effect, among many other benefits. Which means that if you eat a lot of spinach, you will likely feel a little more "relaxed". But I don't know anyone that considers spinach a "drug"!

          So where do you draw the line as to what's a "drug" and what's not? If it's 100% healthy, and simply makes you feel a little more relaxed, is it a "drug"?

          When I think of the word "drug", I think of something that has negative side effects, and very little (if any) health benefits. Cocaine and alcohol definitely fit that description. Caffeine... debatable.

          L-theanine, on the other hand, has many positive health benefits, and virtually no negative side effects. I wouldn't consider it any more a "drug" than I would spinach.

          There are several different definitions for the word "drug" in my dictionary, so I guess it's just a matter of semantics.
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          • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
            Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

            Spinach contains high levels of magnesium. And magnesium is known for having a mild "calming" effect, among many other benefits. Which means that if you eat a lot of spinach, you will likely feel a little more "relaxed". But I don't know anyone that considers spinach a "drug"!
            Popeye never looked very calm after he ate a can of spinach. :p
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            • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
              Originally Posted by kenmichaels View Post

              Popeye never looked very calm after he ate a can of spinach. :p
              Well... one could argue that he calmly whooped Brutus' ass!
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    You're also conditioning your mind to associate telephone calling with having to take drugs to do it, instead of conditioning your mind to the contrary. Even writing your post connected a few more neurons fortifying your anxiety.

    Your feelings all start with what your thoughts are.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheCG
    Damn....is it that bad?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Martin
    Guys, it's called WEED
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  • Profile picture of the author digichik
    I have found the best cure for my anxiety is $$$. The rest is BullTic*Y

    Not picking up the phone and making appointments causes me extreme anxiety.

    Being broke, empty pockets, no money in the wallet = Extreme Anxiety

    Dialing for dollars and making money = CURE FOR ANXIETY

    Holistic healing at it's best!
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  • Profile picture of the author Phytoceramides123
    Every person that feels good, without experiencing any difficulties can consider as healthy. But of course being healthy is not just that you have to make sure every part of your body is working well.
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    • Profile picture of the author linda75
      I don't normally get involved in these type of discussions but cold calling is something i know a a lot about. I used to sell sponsorship and advertising over the phone and was quickly promoted until I became a general sales manager.

      My best skill was training new hires to cold call and helping to close deals and I trained hundreds of people.

      So here is the advice as I used to give it to my telesales staff.

      When you first get on the phone you will feel pain, the pain of rejection and of doing something that you are bad at. The pain is better after a week and after 2 weeks you no longer feel the pain. You have become numb to it.

      It will no longer bother you to pick up the phone and experience rejection because that is the job of a cold caller, you will accept that as the job.

      If you stop cold calling even for a few days you may well find that the anxiety returns and you feel some pain, however the remedy is to pick up the phone and make some calls and after a few calls the pain will go.

      So there is no way around it, if you are still feeling pain in cold calling it is because you are not making enough calls. The pain is your fear and anticipation that have built up to tell you how bad it is going to be.

      Cold calling business owners is a million times better than calling consumers at home most of the time they are polite.

      The real problem and skill in cold calling is navigating your way through, and directing the call in such a way that you know exactly where the business owner stands. It is more like being a detective so you cut through the crap and get to the truth as to whether you have a buyer or a time waster on the end of the phone.

      Until you get skilled at this you will feel pain. But practice, and learning the craft will change this. It may take a few months to really build up but after all the years I have spent learning offline marketing, the people that I used to work with and have trained are making the 7 figure incomes using nothing but cold calling in their business.

      They all started in a room with a phone and leads. that is the way it works.

      So to recap, the only cure for phone phobia is accepting that their will be 2 weeks of pain, it won't be as bad as you think and if you keep going after 2 weeks the pain will be gone.
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      • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
        Originally Posted by linda75 View Post


        So to recap, the only cure for phone phobia is accepting that their will be 2 weeks of pain, it won't be as bad as you think and if you keep going after 2 weeks the pain will be gone.

        Good stuff. It's like Ben Feldman said on Claude's audio in another thread: There is no easy way. You just have to make the calls.

        I try to make it friendly and fun, otherwise I would go crazy with the repetition of it. Most people want to keep it totally serious and that's fine. Find what works for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonwebb
    In all honesty, cold calling isn't the "only way" to start/ grow a business. A business needs multiple marketing avenues to be successfully. Relying on one river to sustain your life is fool hardy.

    Direct mail, email, seminars are all alternative ways you can promote your business.

    I have trouble speaking to people in person, and while my anxiousness isn't enough to warrent meds it does cause a few spells of panic.

    My best advice to you is find a way to get customers with out a headache and when/if you are able to start making some calls.

    Baby steps my friend,

    - Jonathan Webb
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    • Profile picture of the author hometutor
      Originally Posted by Jonwebb View Post

      In all honesty, cold calling isn't the "only way" to start/ grow a business. A business needs multiple marketing avenues to be successfully. Relying on one river to sustain your life is fool hardy.

      Direct mail, email, seminars are all alternative ways you can promote your business.

      I have trouble speaking to people in person, and while my anxiousness isn't enough to warrent meds it does cause a few spells of panic.

      My best advice to you is find a way to get customers with out a headache and when/if you are able to start making some calls.

      Baby steps my friend,

      - Jonathan Webb
      Good advice. Make it something you're willing to do regularly.

      Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author MouseandMice
    The best drug to become an effective, relaxed, shark of a cold-caller?

    Experience.

    Don't use bandaids.
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