Introverts' Phone call anxiety

I can't think of many things more anxiety ridden than picking up the phone to make a call. The apprehensions around what am I about to say, will it come out right and what if I need to leave a message all flood my mind, causing me to stall. Suddenly the refrigerator calls to me, or the need to use the bathroom, or wondering about my email inbox.


For one, unless I've thought through my call's intention, I won't dial. As an introvert, I think through everything. Process is comfort. So ask me to do something at the spur of the moment and it happens within 10 minutes or so.

When it comes to client or network contacts, I have a system that helps me know when to reach out to individuals. My usual approach is email, yet I completely get the power of making a phone call to enter someone's day with a positive tone. Whether this is reaching out to prospects or to those I have an established relationship with (friendship, awareness of their business and customer needs or past client ) the exercise of placing a call vs. sending an email gets me better results.


Recently I reconnected with someone who attended one of my Master Mind group meetings as a guest. Invited by another one of the members, she took an interest in the concept of like-minded, achievement-oriented professionals helping each other with business challenges and participated well throughout the meeting. She and I met over coffee at a later date and walked away with better understanding of each other. My member who invited her wants her to join the group and I think she'd be a great fit, so I called her with the intention to re-invite her yet wanted to keep a loose focus on that.

This time before making the call I decided to simply take interest in the growth of her business. Here's what happened to someone we'll call Sue.

"Sue, this is Merri Bame calling. You've been on my mind and I'm not sure why I so I just thought I'd pick up the phone and ask how your business is going. Do you have a minute?"

Immediately Sue responded with sharing her current progress which is supporting my target market! I let her tell me about the progress and then shared, "Sue, I've recently started a Master Mind group for that market! This means I know a few people who should hear about your services!" You can guess how she responded to this.

Our phone call lasted about 20 minutes. It was exciting, full of brainstorming and by the end of the call Sue said to me, "I am so glad you called. Gosh, we need to stay in touch, regularly." I told Sue her friend was eager to reconnect with her about our Master Mind group and she responded with interest in reconnecting with him as well. Anxiety move over - enthusiasm is here.

In this case, the only thing I planned was to listen to Sue's newest developments. And then I went with my gut to insert my experiences with what she was talking about. The next thing I new, referrals and interest in each others' services came right out.

We introverts enjoy when others appreciate our ideas. We like to feel affirmed. Reaching out to learn about others is one of my favorite ways to create this. And picking up the phone is one of the best tools to accomplishing it. It's worth being a regular part of my networking strategy.