re: How to deal with a "phone phobia" in the workplace

I had this as well. I don't think mine was as extreme as yours though. I would tell you just to do as many as you can as soon as you can. After you get over the hump you won't think twice about it.

I've been with my company for almost 22 years, straight out of LSU. My first job was "inside sales" and I was horrible at cold calling. My biggest fear was rejection. With a little encouragement and training from friends at work, I got a little better at it. Once I realized that rejection was not the end of the world, I could make calls without as much anxiety. Once I established a core group of customers, I was really good and increasing sales with them and staying organized. The good news is my company noticed my strengths and promoted me to lead a division in the company. To this day they still make fun of me because I sucked at cold calling but it worked out. I think your situation is a little different because you aren't really selling anything, so you shouldn't get as much pushback. Good luck and hang in there.

as you can see, you are by no means the only person with this exact fear/anxiety

I've personally never gotten over it, and it still freaks me out into my 40's. For the most part, I've just steered my career to where I never have to make cold calls. But recently last month, I was put into a position to where I had to do just that. It took me nearly all day just to work myself up to a place where I could make 6 calls. It's been years and the anxiety came rushing back within seconds, it was awful.

But what's odd, is that I'm completely comfortable talking to any stranger once I know they are interested in my product/service. If I have the slightest notion that an individual is even considering using my company, I'm a fricking rockstar. But "prospecting" or "lead generation?" - It's a complete failure on my part, cant do it, wont do it.

I'm at that point in life, I know what I excel at, I know what I suck at - I'm perfectly OK with not being good at some stuff. I'll just stick to what I do best.