Cold-calling potential customers is a part of just about every sales team’s operations in some capacity or another. 📞
But whether your sales team makes 10 cold calls a year or 100 cold calls a day, it’s important to be efficient in the process.
That’s why using sales scripts is a great way to stay consistent and organized.
And while cold-calling scripts are mainly utilized as a training tool to help new salespeople have a structure in their conversations, anyone at any level of experience can use a script to ensure they hit every talking point they want to discuss in their cold calls.
So, how do you begin creating one that works for you and your team - and gets you results?
Not to worry - we’ve put together a couple of templates to help you get started and to empower your team to close those deals. 🤝
Before you start cold-calling potential customers
There are a few things to consider before you actually pick up the phone. By doing a bit of research and narrowing down who you’re actually going to call, you save yourself a ton of time and stress.
If you go into cold calling blindly, you’re going to be reaching out to people who may not be in your target market, leading to lots of hung-up calls and wasted time on your part.
So, first thing’s first: pick who you’re going to call. Consider the target audience for your solution, whether it’s across industries or company size, just try to have a couple of categories in mind to help you narrow your list down.
Next, start to find the right people to talk to. LinkedIn is a great resource for this, because you can search for the right potential customers from a myriad of search options.
Search based on job title, industry, mutual connections, location and much, much more.
Once you have a solid list of people to reach out to, do a little bit of research before dialing their number.
Try to find out what their role entails, what the company itself does (maybe you have helped similar companies before and can use those pain points in your conversation) and any interesting information that can help the conversation flow seamlessly.
Now that you have a thoughtful, well-researched list ready to go, it’s time to put together your script!
Calling in the cold
Let’s put all of the elements together to create a script.
And remember: because you’ve researched your list before reaching this point, try to work those conversation points into the call.
First off, you need to clearly state your name and company.
Don’t speak too quickly or in a loud space, as the person on the other end of the line will be annoyed immediately if they can’t tell what you’re saying to them.
Rather than immediately jumping into your pitch, give some space for a couple beats of silence. This allows the person to think about who you are, and possibly give them a chance to exchange a friendly “how are you?”
Then, this is the opportunity to make the call a bit more personal from the research you did earlier. Ask them something about their career, background, etc.
“After working at [previous company], how did you get started at [current company]?”
“How did you like your time at [university name]?”
“One of my best friends went to [university name], what did you study there?”
Connect with them on a personal level, and they’ll most likely warm up to the conversation.
If you feel them start to open up, continue the conversation and add a follow-up question.
But don’t dwell too much - you need to get to the point!
Either give them the opportunity to ask the inevitable, “why are you calling me?” Or, casually jump into, “the reason I’m calling…”
Be sure to start with your experience with past companies that are similar in their pain points. Position you and your company in a way that shows you understand the challenges the company faces.
Example: “I currently work with business development managers in small to medium-sized marketing agencies. My customers are usually looking to minimize the time they need to spend on billing and invoicing clients. Does that sound like something you also face?”
Thanks to your earlier research, they should respond with a resounding, “yes.”
Instead of continuing with your pitch, ask them to tell you more about it. This gives you a chance to hear all about their pain points and build your case for why your solution is the best fit.
At this point, the conversation should just flow. Listen to them, and don’t be too pushy in your pitch. It’s all about them and helping them find the solution they need.
Depending on how much time they have to continue the conversation, it’s probably best that you offer a time for a follow-up call or meeting to discuss everything in more detail.
Simply ask them for their best availability and coordinate the next steps. And if you promise to send them additional information ahead of your next conversation - do that as soon as you hang up the call!
Great, so you have your cold call ready to go - but what if they don’t answer their phone?
Leaving a voicemail
Fortunately, we’ve also created a quick and simple script below for leaving a voicemail that hits all of the key points in a short amount of time.
Hi [their name], this is [your name] with [your company].
I currently work with [similar roles] in [company type/industry]. My customers are usually looking to [pain point that would be solved with your solution].
I wanted to see if it would potentially be a good fit for you. I’d love to have a quick conversation with you to discuss a bit further.
You can reach me at [your number].
Again, this is [your name] with [your company] and you can reach me at [your number].
Thank you, [their name].
It’s important to give them all of the necessary information upfront so that they have a clear understanding of who you are and how you can help them.
However, after a couple of days with no response, it’s time to consider following up.
Following up with your calls
When it comes to following up after you haven’t received a response from someone, it’s important to find the fine line between being tenacious and being pushy.
If you’ve called a few times with no response, it’s time to move on. There’s nothing more annoying than someone calling over and over again when it’s not something you’re interested in.
And let’s be honest: there are many people out there who won’t bother to give you a flat-out “no,” so it’s important to know when to take the hint. 🤷♀️
Alternatively, cold emailing is a great way to reach out to potential customers as well (or a great way to follow up once you’ve left a voicemail).
This is something we touched on in our blog about follow-up email templates. Check it out for more templates that you can use to close more deals. 🚀
These cold-calling scripts are designed to help your sales team be more uniform and efficient - but there are many ways you can tweak and adapt these scripts to fit the needs of your team specifically.
In the end, it’s about connecting the right people and companies to your product or solution. 💛
Does your company use a sales script? What are some elements that you think are crucial to include? Let us know in the comments!
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