Crafting a cold call pitch is a tricky skill few sales development teams know how to master. While cold calling can be a challenging lead generation strategy for many B2B companies, it remains an effective and direct way to generate new business opportunities.
There is no one proper way to be successful at cold calling. However, you’re one step closer to developing a sustainable appointment setting program if you have an effective cold calling script. Before calling a prospective business, it’s crucial to plan what to say and when to say it. Writing a sales script before calling prospects gives sales development representatives (SDRs) the ability to have productive conversations with decision-makers.
While these cold calling scripts aren’t designed to be used word-for-word, they’re a great starting point for any new sales team or salesperson that wants to optimize their cold calling strategy. Throughout this blog, we’ll cover the following topics:
How To Start Writing a Good Cold Call Script
Many SDR teams tend to overthink their cold calling script. It’s important to keep it as clear and concise as possible, so you don’t lose the interest of potential buyers in your target audience.
To start writing a good cold call script for your outbound lead generation efforts, your SDR teams should:
- Construct short sentences for enhanced clarity
- Use the right word choice and keep it simple
- Implement humor for a personable touch
- Make your tone casual and conversational
Best Cold Call Opening Lines To Engage Potential Customers
Standard Sales Call Script (With Template)
A standard cold call is a general pitch when you speak with a key decision-maker (KDM). A standard cold call is designed to put a prospect in the Awareness stage of their buyer’s journey. Before calling a prospective business, make sure you research the company to ensure they meet your qualifications.
Here’s a template of a standard cold call script:
KDM Response Option 1: “Yes, tell me more.”
Great, glad I was sent in the right direction!
If they choose this option, you’ll ask them for details about their current solution to find out what they like about their service provider and uncover their pain points. After a more in-depth conversation about their current solution, suggest setting up a meeting with your internal sales rep or account executive so they can progress the relationship.
If they’re not ready to set an appointment yet, suggest sending them more information via email. In this email, you can attach relevant marketing materials such as a website link, contact information, brochure, infographic, or promotional video to further their process in the sales funnel.
KDM Response Option 2: “Yes, I’m in charge of that, but I’m not interested.”
No worries, that’s completely understandable. We don’t want to step on any toes with your current solution if it’s working well for you. Do you have an email I could send some information to so you can have that on hand if anything changes?
If they agree to an email, you can integrate them into an email marketing drip campaign. If your
sales department uses a customer relationship management (CRM) platform like Salesforce, lead nurturing is made much easier and seamless because emails are sent automatically on a routine basis. These emails can contain relevant content to nurture the relationship over time.
On the other hand, if they don’t agree to an email, thank them for their time and end the conversation on a good note. When a KDM declines to give an email, you don’t need to suspend the contact profile. For future calls, build a relationship with the gatekeeper to see if they’ll direct you to another KDM.
KDM Response Option 3: “I’m not in charge of that.”
My apologies; the receptionist directed me your way for [YOUR COMPANY’S PRODUCT OR SERVICE]. Who would be the best point of contact for that?
Ideally, the initial KDM will direct your call to the new KDM. If not, call back and talk with the
gatekeeper or do additional research online.
Prospecting Sales Call Script (With Template)
A prospecting sales call is when a business or sales development rep strives to learn more about a prospective business and determine if they are qualified for your company’s product or service. To have a compelling prospecting sales call, it’s important to ask the right questions.
During a prospecting sales call, asking open-ended, qualifying questions is important to gather more information about their current solution. Overall, the goal of a prospecting sales call is to ensure the business is qualified and that you could be a good fit for each other’s business.
Here’s a template you can use for a productive prospecting sales call:
After your short introduction, ask open-ended prospecting questions to gather more information. Here are some example prospecting questions to ask KDMs:
- How are you currently handling your [YOUR COMPANY’S PRODUCT OR SERVICE]?
- How long have you been with [THEIR CURRENT SOLUTION]?
- What has been your experience with [COMMON BUYER PERSONA CHALLENGES]?
- How has your current provider been able to help you with [COMMON BUYER PERSONA CHALLENGES]?
- What would your ideal solution look like?
- When do you typically reevaluate these contracts?
KDM Response Option 1: You get a lot of information from the prospect.
Thanks for the insight on your current solution. I’d like to direct this conversation to our Account Executive, [YOUR COMPANY ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE’S NAME], to talk in more detail about how we could help you with [INSERT PROSPECT PAIN POINTS].
After you restate the prospect’s pain points, suggest a few dates and times for them to meet with your company’s internal sales rep or account executive. This sales meeting could occur in person, virtually over Zoom, or over the phone, depending on the appointment needs of your company.
If they decline to meet for a sales appointment, request an email address to send them relevant
information and nurture the relationship over time. In about two to three months (or when they say they’re looking to reevaluate their contract), reach back out, remind them of the previous conversation, and set the appointment when they’re closer to the end of the sales funnel.
KDM Response Option 2: “I’m happy with my current provider.”
No worries, that’s completely understandable. We don’t want to step on any toes with your current solution if it’s working well for you. Do you have an email I could send some information to? We’d also like to meet so we can present you with information in case your current provider no longer meets your needs.
Like the standard cold call template, if they agree to an email, you can integrate them into a nurturing email marketing campaign. However, if they don’t agree to an email, thank them for their time. When you call again in the future, connect with the gatekeeper to see if they’ll direct you to another decision-maker.
KDM Response Option 3: *click*
If a prospect hangs up on you, don’t take it personally—it happens to every cold caller. Since they’re not ready to talk on the phone, follow up with an email. This allows them to review what your business offers on their own time. In this email, provide resources about your company that explain what you offer and why it’s valuable for their business. When you follow up with them in the future, you can refer to the email sent to them.
Follow-Up Sales Call Script (With Template)
If you’re lucky, a prospect will agree to a sales appointment after the first pitch. However, as most cold callers are aware, this is rare. Most sales appointments come from follow-up phone calls, which means you need to have a plan in place for the next time you pitch a KDM.
Before a follow-up sales call, ensure you’ve tried various methods of communication, including email and social media. If you’ve contacted them through different platforms, they’re more likely to remember you and your company’s name when you follow up with them.
Here’s a template your SDRs can use to follow up with qualified prospects effectively:
*wait for prospect response*
KDM Response Option 1: “Yes, I’d like to learn more.”
If the prospect would like to learn more, follow the prospecting sales call talk track to gather more information and set up a sales appointment with your sales rep or account executive.
KDM Response Option 2: “Yes, but I’m not interested.”
That’s understandable. I haven’t given you enough information yet for you to be extremely interested, so we’d like to meet with you. If you don’t mind me asking, what about your current provider are you enjoying so much?
You can use their answer to the last question to overcome their objection. However, if they refuse to give you an answer, thank them for their time and follow up with them again in the future. In the meantime, you can integrate them into a lead nurturing email marketing campaign to provide top-of-mind awareness.
Want more cold calling scripts for your SDRs to use through every step of the sales cycle? Download our guide for the talk tracks our SDRs use to engage prospects in our sales pipeline!
Tips To Increase Your Cold Calling Success Rate
Many small to medium-sized businesses get discouraged when their cold calling strategy doesn’t yield the results they want. However, there are ways that SDRs can maximize their cold calling success rates. If you want to get the most out of your cold calling sales process, your SDRs must:
Be Prepared for Any Conversation
The saying “practice makes perfect” reigns true for most scenarios, and cold calling success is no different. The more an SDR is prepared for the cold call pitch, the better the conversation will be with a prospect. This includes being prepared for any objection a decision-maker might have regarding your company’s product or service offering. While your SDRs shouldn’t follow their sales scripts word-for-word, they should lay the framework so they know how to navigate the conversation better and effectively guide them to the next stage of the sales pipeline.
Use Role-Play With Sales Managers or Other SDRs
While preparing what you’re going to say to the decision-maker is important, so is practicing your approach and tone of voice. Giving a cold call pitch is like public speaking because while no one knows what you have to say yet, you want to make it impactful and memorable for them. Role-playing your cold call pitch with sales managers or other SDRs can help you adjust your tone, speed, and overall pitch, resulting in a more compelling call.
Give a Sales Pitch That Aligns With a Prospect’s Buyer Persona
There may be an overarching target audience you want to reach, but you must adjust your pitch depending on the buyer persona of the prospect. Your target audience could have various buyer personas depending on multiple factors, including demographics, interests, and how they navigate making purchases.
For example, if your business’s target market happens to be business owners across the United States, the language and terminology must align with that specific region to help the prospect feel more comfortable and open up to the conversation. While a buyer persona on the East Coast may want your SDR’s pitch to get straight to the point, the buyer persona of a business owner in the South may want more of a conversation, so they feel more like a friendly neighbor than a salesperson.
Understanding the buyer personas of your target market can help you craft different cold call pitches based on their demographics, interests, and stage of the sales funnel. This leads to better conversations, which result in higher-quality sales appointments for your account executives to pitch and convert into closed business.
Key Takeaways
Cold calling is no easy gig, but it can be made easier with a premade cold calling script. Writing a sales script is important because it allows SDRs to have a goal-oriented conversation and stay on track with what they want to convey to the prospect.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, our SDRs use different cold calling scripts for each client we serve. While the goal of each script is similar, they’re customized based on the needs of our growing B2B partners. If you need help crafting a sales script that converts prospects into sales opportunities, contact the business growth experts at Abstrakt!
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