"I don’t want to sound like a telemarketer!"

When I gave my new Cold Calling for Designers workshop for Spark, the first question I asked was, "Why do you hate cold calling?" and almost all of them said, "I don’t want to sound like a telemarketer."

Don't worry—you're not a telemarketer! Here are two differences, right off the bat:

1. A telemarketer calls vast lists of people who are not qualified prospects, hoping someone will be interested. You, on the other hand, call only the prospects whom you've taken the time to qualify to make sure they need what you're offering. That's why they're likely to be interested.

2. A telemarketer has a script and, no matter what your response, doesn't deviate from the script in his or her effort to sell you. You, on the other hand, have a script (or even better, an outline of talking points) but you drop it if your prospect takes the conversation in another direction. You follow their lead and listen closely so you can respond genuinely to whatever he or she is telling you.

Can you think of any others?