I froze. I didn\u2019t push back. I didn\u2019t clarify. I just said \u201cThanks for your time\u201d<\/em> and hung up. I felt the rejection hard. I told myself I had failed. But instead of brushing it off, I replayed the call. I asked myself what went wrong. And, that\u2019s what I\u2019ll talk about here today.<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent 17 years in the outbound sales trenches \u2014 and I mean the real trenches, the ones where your day lives and dies by that first 30 seconds on the phone.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve made 11,519 cold calls. Sent over 650k emails. And I\u2019ve learned that success doesn\u2019t come from talent. Instead, it comes from pattern recognition, consistency, and a willingness to get punched in the mouth and dial again.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t start off great. I used to talk too much. I\u2019d come in trying to prove value before earning the right to be heard. I thought I had to sound like I knew everything. But the truth? I didn\u2019t need to sound smart. I needed to be curious. I needed to make it about them<\/em>, not me<\/em>.<\/p>\n So I made the shift. I began opening with relevance, not rapport. I asked better questions. I focused on timing, context, and urgency. I wanted to learn why now<\/em>, not just why us<\/em>. From there, everything changed.<\/p>\n Over time, I started noticing patterns. I saw reps over-script and under-listen. I watched reps freeze when objections came up, or worse, avoid them entirely. I saw people mistake politeness for the pipeline.<\/p>\n I realized I didn\u2019t want to be that rep. I didn\u2019t want to manage feelings. I wanted to drive outcomes.<\/p>\n So I built a system. I tracked every metric. I A\/B tested intros. I treated every \u201cno\u201d like a feedback loop. I turned cold calling into something structured, repeatable, and scalable.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how I\u2019ve booked 335 meetings, converted 69.1% into SQLs, kept my no-show rate below 18%, and closed over $287k in new business from cold outreach alone.<\/p>\n But beyond the numbers, what really matters to me is this: I\u2019ve coached SDRs, AEs, and founders who felt stuck in their outreach, who were burnt out from the constant rejection, who were tired of the same empty scripts that didn\u2019t reflect their voice or their value.<\/p>\n Together, we fixed that. We rewired their mindset. We redesigned their messaging. And we rebuilt their confidence.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve done this across every continent I\u2019ve worked in, from startups to corporates, across industries. I\u2019ve supported teams in the USA, Brazil, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, helping them sharpen their outbound playbooks and land meetings with people they never thought would pick up the phone.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t theory. This is lived experience.<\/p>\n So if you\u2019re making cold calls or leading a team that does, I\u2019ve probably seen your exact challenge before. And, I\u2019m here to tell you: cold calling isn\u2019t dead. It\u2019s just misunderstood<\/em>.<\/p>\n Beyond that, cold calling is like science, meaning it\u2019s always evolving. Today, the trend is a multi-channel approach plus hyper-personalization, using ABM (account-based marketing) strategies.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a sales funnel idea, when you have more opportunities of contacting that lead, you can increase the chances of having better conversations and conversions, so your KPI\u2019s and sales improve with a solid strategy.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I used to jump into the call like it was a 100-meter sprint. As soon as someone picked up, I felt this rush to pitch. I thought, \u201cI have 30 seconds. I’d better say something brilliant before they hang up.\u201d<\/em> So I led with features, results, big client names, all the things I thought would grab their attention.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t work. Not because my pitch was bad, but because I hadn\u2019t earned the right to give it yet.<\/p>\n People don\u2019t want to be pitched. They want to be understood. They want to know why you\u2019re calling them specifically, right now, and whether it\u2019s worth their time to stay on the line.<\/p>\n Once I stopped trying to impress, I started to engage. I learned to open with context. I showed that I knew the company by mentioning a funding round they just raised, a new initiative their company launched, or a role they recently stepped into. Then, I asked a smart question, one that opened a door instead of slamming one shut.<\/p>\n That approach changed everything. When the first 10 seconds feel tailored, people stop bracing for the pitch and start listening for value.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen this play out across so many teams. The rep prints out a script, memorizes it word for word, and reads it like a customer service manual. No pauses. No personalization. No flexibility.<\/p>\n I used to do this too. Especially when I was new, the script gave me confidence. It felt safe, that is, until it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The moment someone interrupted me or said something I wasn\u2019t prepared for, I froze. The call derailed. I didn\u2019t know how to recover, because the script didn\u2019t give me permission to think.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when I made a shift. I stopped treating the script like gospel. I started using it like a compass. Something to guide direction, not dictate every word.<\/p>\n I created frameworks instead, with openers that had modular parts. Objection responses that could be adapted. A structure that gave me freedom to be human, while still staying intentional.<\/p>\n The result? I sounded more natural. More confident. More in control. The person on the other end noticed, and they stayed on the line longer.<\/p>\n Early on, I celebrated every polite response.<\/p>\n \u201cInteresting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSend me more info.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSounds like a good fit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n But guess what? None of those people replied to my follow-ups. None showed up to meetings. None converted. I learned that these platitudes weren\u2019t real signals. They were soft deflections \u2014 ways for the prospect to end the conversation without conflict.<\/p>\n I learned that politeness isn\u2019t a commitment, and vague enthusiasm isn\u2019t a pipeline. So, I started clarifying.<\/p>\n When you start qualifying early, you stop wasting time. Your calendar gets tighter. Your pipeline gets healthier. Most importantly, your energy stays focused on real opportunities, not on chasing ghosts.<\/p>\n Early in my career, objections scared me. A \u201cno budget,\u201d<\/em> or \u201cwe already use someone,\u201d<\/em> or \u201cwe\u2019re not interested\u201d <\/em>would throw me off completely. I\u2019d feel defeated. I\u2019d try to defend or overexplain. Worse, I would just end the call and tell myself, \u201cThey weren\u2019t ready anyway.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Then, I realized something: Objections aren\u2019t rejection. They\u2019re engagement.<\/p>\n If someone pushes back, it means they\u2019re thinking. It means they heard you. They care enough to have a perspective.<\/p>\n So I changed my relationship with objections. I tracked them. I studied them. I wrote down every common pattern and created responses to reframe pushback. Now, when I hear an objection, I lean in with curated responses.<\/p>\n Objections became my signal that I was getting closer, not further.<\/p>\n In the beginning, I treated every call like a performance. I thought I had to drive the entire conversation, always have the next point ready, and sound confident.<\/p>\n Then, I realized that the more I talked, the less they did. The less they talked, the less I learned. The less I learned, the weaker my pitch became. In the end, I was pitching to assumptions, not real context.<\/p>\n So, I flipped it. I trained myself to ask, pause, and wait. I practiced listening to both their words and their tone. Their energy. Their timing. I used techniques like mirroring, summarizing, and layering my questions. Prospects opened up. They told me what they actually cared about. What was urgent? What was blocking them?<\/p>\n From there, it stopped being a pitch and started becoming a real conversation \u2014 one built on curiosity, not control.<\/p>\n I used to start every call with \u201cHow are you today?\u201d<\/em> or \u201cDo you have 30 seconds?\u201d<\/em> And while it felt polite, it also felt \u2026 forgettable. Because, that\u2019s what everyone says.<\/p>\n In cold calling, sounding like everyone else is the fastest way to get ignored. So, I stopped being generic. I started being specific. If they just hired a new CRO, I opened with that. If they announced a new partnership, I mentioned it. If they posted something on LinkedIn, I referenced it in the first line.<\/p>\n Personalization isn\u2019t fluff. It\u2019s friction removal. It shows you\u2019ve done your homework and that this call isn\u2019t just random. You came prepared to speak to them, not just a persona.<\/p>\n When you do that, people listen. Not because they owe you time. But because you\u2019ve earned their attention.<\/p>\n There was a time when every \u201cnot interested\u201d<\/em> felt like a wall. I\u2019d thank them, hang up, and move on. I told myself, \u201cThey\u2019re just not ready.\u201d But in reality, I gave up too early.<\/p>\n Then I started treating every call, good or bad, as data. I tracked my tonality, my timing, my opener, even the time of day. I started noticing patterns.<\/p>\n Now, I use every no to improve the next yes. I refine the script. I test new angles. I follow up smarter, not just harder.<\/p>\n In cold calling, you\u2019re not looking for approval. You\u2019re collecting intel. If you treat every objection as insight, your strategy sharpens with every call.<\/p>\n![\"Free](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/64e5789a-605c-4e14-90d9-8aa3df310ee1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
My Time At the Phone<\/h2>\n
Common Cold Calling Mistakes I’ve Seen Reps Make<\/h2>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.backstagelenses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cold-call-mistakes-2-20250507-386565.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n1. Pitching Too Early<\/h3>\n
2. Over-Relying on the Script<\/h3>\n
3. Mistaking Politeness for Pipeline<\/h3>\n
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4. Panicking at Objections<\/h3>\n
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5. Talking More Than I Listen<\/h3>\n
6. Not Personalizing the Opener<\/h3>\n
7. Giving Up Too Soon<\/h3>\n
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