I have just started working in market research, so although I am not selling anything, I still have to cold call, sometimes it is asking for a named respondant but most of the time it's random samples from the white pages. I agree with the PP on having your opening line perfected. In my case, we hav no choice what we say, whoever has hired us to conduct the survey stipulates the script for the calls, but if your opener is flexible try starting with that. It's hard when people are rude and reject you, but in an area where cold calling is prevelant, it is bound to happen, and often. Try googling rejection conversion for sales calls. We have a great rejection conversion sheet with all the rejections we recieve, and ways around them