Cold call scripts can help to prepare yourself and your sales team for likely conversations that arise when cold calling. Experienced cold callers mostly don’t require a script, but it can help with initial training, sharing best practice and helping to drive consistent cold call results across a sales team.
Like with any script, a cold call script can end up sounding robotic if it’s not delivered properly or naturally. It’s therefore important to think more about the questions and messaging that are used in the script rather than the exact wording that someone may use. A cold call script should be flexible and adaptable so it can come across as naturally as possible. Cold call scripts should be designed to be flexible as salespeople have different cold calling styles, tone and use of language. The danger in forcing exact wording or style is that it can make the salesperson sound robotic, come across as inexperienced and not present the professional natural message you want to deliver for your company. Flexibility is also vital as what the prospect says next can vary considerably depending on a multitude of factors.
From my own extensive experience of cold calls and writing cold call scripts, I’ve developed a cold call script format that can help you to have greater success from your cold calls.
I call it the FOCUS™ cold call script framework.
It’s a cold call script technique that I’ve had the most success with in arranging both discovery meetings and software demonstrations.
When I’ve shared this script technique with members of sales teams, they’ve also had good success. It’s for this reason that I think it will help all salespeople regardless of your style, tone or cold calling experience.
Hopefully this cold call script framework can help you in getting your cold call script started. As always, it’s important to tailor the script to your understanding of your target prospect, your sector, your ideal customer profile, your key differences and USP etc. The more personal the call feels for the receiver, the more likely it is to be received well.
As many experienced sales professionals will tell you, the key is for it to not seem like a scripted cold call. Make it natural, make it concise, short and to the point. Also, always remember, you are just trying to see if you can help the person you’re calling, you’re helping them to discover and potentially benefit from your solution.
Keep that in mind; cold calling is helping. It’s helping the person you’re calling and it’s helping your business to grow. Be positive on the phone and take pride in doing cold calling professionally, whilst accepting that sometimes no matter what you say, people won’t be interested and that’s fine and totally normal. No one likes a pushy salesperson, your job in cold calling is to find the right customer who will be happy with what you’re offering, remember that! Remember, people buy from people they like and trust!
Some people like a permission-based opener of Hi.. it’s … from.. do you have a few moments? However, as it’s often used, people know it’s a cold call and may not answer when you ring next or agree to ring again. The reality of cold calling is that you’re always calling when people are in the middle of something. It’s for this reason that you need to get over the fact that you’ll be calling people at a bad time, and they may interrupt you or cut you short as they’re short of time. That’s fine and totally normal.
Accept that whilst it’s rude for people to cut you off, it will happen and you need to be resilient, resilience is why you’re being paid. It’s also why scripts often don’t work as people cut you off. This is why this cold call script is in a framework format. The key is to make your cold call like a conversation. You want them to ask you things as quickly as possible. Mostly, people don’t want to, or have time to hear your however many second pitch, no matter how short and good you think it is.
People care about what’s important to them at the time. That’s why this cold call script framework and technique is called FOCUS™. Focus on what’s important to them and pitch in relation to what they say, focus on what makes your business different too. Be prepared to ask further questions based on any objections or resistance they present as well.
FOCUS™ cold calling script & technique
Find out what they are focused on at the moment. Ask open-ended questions to find out what projects they are focused on at the moment.
Outline what you do in relation to that and your differences. Relate your differences and USP to what they are focused on currently.
Cater to their requirements. Explain why you think you might be a good fit based on what they've said.
Understand their needs. Reiterate that you understand their potential needs and what they've said.
Sell the opportunity of a meeting to discuss how you could help. A chance to learn more about each other and see if working together would be a good fit.
Why this cold call script technique works in the real world:
1. People don’t know you, it’s cold, they simply don’t really care that much about your pitch. People don’t like being pitched to if you’re assuming things. Sales is about listening before it’s about speaking.
2. People care more about what you’re saying if it’s related to what they’ve said.
3. People have priorities at any one time, if you can sell how you can help based on their current priorities, they’re more likely to be interested.
4. No matter how much you think you know the pains of a company, you don’t until you ask them.
5. Despite what you’ll read online, assumed challenge, pain focused pitches rarely work in the real world. Most people won’t give you the time to speak, they’ll cut you off or simply reply with ‘not interested’, ‘I don’t have that problem’ as it doesn’t relate to them. Never assume that one company in one sector shares the same challenges and pains as other companies in that sector, although they may, they probably don’t or they’ll be a particular variant. Make the call feel personal to them.
6. The FOCUS™ approach makes it sound less like a usual sales call and more like a conversation. The key is to ask questions and get the person you’re calling to ask you questions, a conversation should always be two-way.
7. When cold calling you should always start by asking open-ended questions. Not questions that can have yes or no answers, you want the person you’re calling to speak, not just say yes or no. You can then respond and sell based on what they say, and importantly what they say is important to them.
Cold Call Script Example - if calling person direct or once past gatekeeper:
Salesperson:
Hello, my name is…., I’m calling from a company called…we provide…I just wanted to get in touch to see how we might be able to help. What kind of things are you focussing on at the moment regarding…xyz…? | Or, I’ve seen…xyz…about your company and thought we might be able to help, what are you focused on at the moment regarding that?... | What kind of improvements are you looking to make regarding…xyz?
Prospect potential answers:
Sorry, I don’t know who you are, what is it that you do?...
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: We provide..xyz..that helps to achieve..abc..what areas of xyz…are you looking to make improvements in at the moment?
Sorry, I’m about to go into a meeting can you call me back?...
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: Yes I can call back, when would be a good day and time?
Sorry, I don’t take cold calls…
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: Ah ok, I understand you’re busy but from researching I thought what we offer might be able to help so I thought it’d be of interest, could I note down your email to send you some further info?
We already have that…we use…
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: I’ve heard/not heard of them.. what do they do? What’s been working well with that and what would be ways that you’re looking to build on the success of using…would you be open to considering our differences and how we can help?
I’m not interested…
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: That’s ok, what things are you interested in at the moment?, I may be able to advise based on my experience…do you think you may be open to considering us in future?…can I send you an email for future consideration?
Well, at the moment we’re working on..
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: I understand, I can imagine that’s a lot of work/time-consuming etc. how are you finding this aspect?...Would you perhaps be interested in how we could help with that?...That’s interesting to hear, similarly other people I’ve been in touch with are experiencing that. For example, we’ve helped…to achieve… etc. – continue the conversation, cater to their requirements, show you’ve listened and understand them.
I’m not able to share that with you, confidential…
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: I understand, things can be confidential. Could I instead perhaps talk about what we do a bit more now or at another time, or email you what we do and then organise a meeting following an NDA perhaps?
How did you get my number?...
Salesperson Cold Call Script Response: Sorry, this was the number in the systems we use. I can remove it if you wish but before I do..would xyz perhaps be of interest to you? From researching I thought it might be able to help with...what areas are of…are you looking to make improvements in?
We don’t have budget for that…
Salesperson Cold Call Script response: I understand, we’re not as expensive as you might think though, how much do you think our service/solution might cost? When might things change and budget become available? Could we keep in touch on email? I can send some further info just for future reference.
We have a preferred supplier list, procurement process…
Salesperson Cold Call Script response: It’s good to have a process in place, what’s involved with that? Before we perhaps get into next steps with that. Does what we offer sound of interest? What things are you working on at the moment?
They’ll be other answers from the prospect too – the key is preparing how you’ll respond to them in a professional way that suits your own tone and personal style.
If they say ‘not interested’ or they’ve got things covered, say that it’s good to hear things are working well, ask if they could tell you a bit more about what’s working well, what’s working well with how they’re doing things at the moment and how they think they could build on that success. Ask have they considered..xyz..(something that makes your offering different).
Asking for the meeting.
Once you’ve uncovered what they might be interested in and if they seem interested enough, ask for the meeting.
For example, ask would you be open to organising a meeting at a convenient time either in-person or online to discuss your requirements and how we might be able to help? Yes..ok great…agree time…no, ok…might it be of interest later in the year?...We would go though xyz and I’d show xyz… how does that sound? You can also ask by saying normally, what we do is a have a meeting first to discuss, when would be a good time?
Objection handling, overcoming objections, overcoming resistance
Skilled cold callers are adept at overcoming objections, overcoming resistance, and furthering the conversation in a friendly, polite, and professional way to uncover more and delve more deeply into whether they could help the potential client and organise a meeting. Getting good at this comes with lots of practice.
How to Rock at Cold Call Objection Handling - Discover my URAC™ Method 🤘
Understanding - show understanding, empathy, listen attentively and ask for clarification.
Reframing - reframe what's been said, reframe your question, delve deeper, present an alternative perspective.
Action - think what's next? Suggest a course of action and ask questions.
Confidence - believe in yourself and the value that your product or service brings. Keep confidently in mind that you're here to help. Avoid feeling disheartened. If it's not of interest, no problem, there's other people to help. Also, remember that a no can sometimes just mean not for the time being.
They might not be interested or a no can just be a not now. Ask them if they’d be opening to considering you in future. If you can’t get a meeting booked, ask if you can send an email just for future reference so they know who you are.
Remember that cold calling is also about gaining and nurturing leads to have warmer calls in future. If you can’t get a meeting straightaway, can you at least get an email and keep in touch that way? An email is still a small win and may lead to a meeting and a sale in the future.
I hope this article has helped to spark some ideas about ways to improve your cold calling.
They’ll always be a need for skilled cold calling but if you’re interested in finding out about a different, warmer prospecting approach and avoiding the gatekeeper though contacting other helpful sales people, sign up to our sales introduction and referral community.
Thank you for reading, any likes and shares of this article are much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Tom Southern
Founder of RouteIn.io
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