Hit 200 cold calls in one week and nobody warned me about the mental toll

Last month I started a new sales job and my manager told me the goal was 40 cold calls a day. I thought no problem, I can do that. By Wednesday I had made 120 calls and only got 3 people to actually talk to me for more than 10 seconds. The rest just hung up or yelled at me. I hit exactly 200 by Friday and I felt completely drained like I ran a marathon but didn't go anywhere. My voice was hoarse and I started dreading picking up the phone. Has anyone else had that moment where you hit a numbers goal but realized the work itself just grinds you down?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_garcia24d agoMost Upvoted

Used to be one of those people who thought cold calling was just about toughening up and pushing through. Then I tried it myself for a week straight and realized it's less about the numbers and more about getting your soul slowly squeezed out by a phone. You're not weak for feeling that way, it's just a brutal way to spend your time.

anthony12924d ago

the way people talk about grit and persistence in sales always felt like a weird flex to me. but hearing you put it like that @miles_garcia, it really is more about the mental toll than the actual work, right? like, how do you even bounce back from a week of that without feeling like you need a full on vacation just to reset your brain? do you think most people who push through it are just hiding how much it actually drains them, or are some of them built different?

joel_martinez24d ago

The trick is to build in small breaks between calls, not just plowing through a list. Take 30 seconds to stand up, stretch, and breathe before the next one. Also, track your "wins" differently not just closed deals but things like getting someone to actually say "tell me more" or even a polite "not interested". That shifts your brain off the rejection. Your voice is a muscle, so drink warm tea with honey and don't try to talk over people yelling just let them finish and hang up.