text: is in your sales job coldcalling the most difficult stage of sales cycle? when yuo manage to set up a meeting at least you can sell if there is a potential need, money, authority, good time, etc. but the hardest sales job is to generate a good lead, no ? no.  cold calling is not the most difficult part of the sales cycle.  i think the hardest part of the sales cycle is selling you on you so that you can get ready to sell.     by that i mean this: it's easy to pick up the phone and mess up a sales opportunity or accidentally succeed at a sales call.   it's difficult to get yourself ready to sell.   it's difficult to get yourself to the point where you never permit yourself to waste a sales opportunity.  to do so requires that you clear your head and lay out what you need for each of the dozens of calls you need to make per day.   none of those calls should be thought of as calls you can afford to "waste".  so, i like to recommend that people consider thinking of cold calls as "acquaintance calls".     feeling that you're calling to make someone acquainted with your company, products, and services is a lot less stressful than thinking of "cold calls".  here's wishing you the best of the best in your sales success. linkedin blogger