Many salespeople believe that a cold call should begin with a pitch or a detailed explanation about the benefits of their service or product, topped off with a call to action that invites the prospective client to act immediately to finalize the purchase.
However, selling is not just about pushing your products. The act of selling that begins with a pitch-first strategy quickly falls apart, as the client abruptly ends the call. In fact, salespeople who overwhelm their client with information about their product and focus on its benefits boast a success rate less than 1%.
A cold call represents an unsolicited sales attempt to acquire new customers by contacting people who had no prior relationship with the business.
Effective cold calling scripts rely on a different approach. To become a successful salesperson and increase your sales quotas, you need to focus on creating a relationship and building trust with the client.
This is easier said than done, though. Sales require careful and dedicated planning and preparation, even if you have a ready-made script.
Before we present you with the 5 best cold calling scripts, let’s first explain how you can prepare yourself for the work.
How to prepare yourself for cold calling
Now, you may boast an impressive closing rate of more than 1% even if you’re not preparing yourself before making a cold call. However, it has been shown that even taking a few minutes to acquaint yourself with your potential client can significantly improve your chances of closing the deal.
The effect of preparation is anything but negligent, as HubSpot claims it can improve the closing rates by as much as 2000%. With such astonishing upside, preparation is definitely worth the extra effort it requires.
Still, many salespeople find it hard to prepare themselves for the call, especially if they’ve never done any proper sales preparation before. To help, we’ve decided to break down this complex phase into smaller, incremental steps that everyone can follow, as outlined below.
Step 1 – Arm yourself with the right tools
Before you sit on your phone and start dialling people, you need to make sure that you’re equipped to deal with the unexpected responses that you may get from your clients. You need to establish a process that will help you organize the most important information and build an honest relationship with your prospect.
For some people, this can come down to simply writing down a few words and phrases on a notebook or adding the information on a spreadsheet. However, neither of these solutions is suitable for companies that rely on more than one sales agents and hundreds of clients.
In such cases, a customer relationship management system or CRM software becomes an essential tool, necessary for everyday sales activities. It doesn’t just help you store the information, but it also organizes it in a presentable way and makes it accessible from virtually anywhere. Simply CRM has been helping salespeople from all over the world stay organized and improve their quotas.
Of course, CRMs are not for everyone.
Luckily, Simply CRM and many others offer a free trial version that you can try out before you purchase the software. This will allow you to assess its impact on your business and sales processes, without spending a dime.
Step 2 – Research your prospects
It should come as no surprise that you need to research your prospects and acquaint yourself with them. Thanks to social media in general and LinkedIn in particular, this is far easier than it used to be.
You no longer need to call your acquaintances and ask around about your prospect. Simply browse through their social media profiles. Pay attention to their education, their position and their company, or look for some fun facts about them.
Most importantly, make sure you’re pronouncing their name correctly. If you’re unsure how to pronounce their name, use a free tool such as PronounceNames or just be honest with the prospects and ask them how they pronounce their name in the initial stages of the phone call.
Step 3 – Learn to listen to your prospect
This is arguably the hardest step for most sales agents who have already spent a considerable amount of time in the business. The urge to sell and bombard your prospect with information about your product can be hard to control, especially if it brought any notable degree of success in the past.
However, research has shown us time and time again that people simply love talking about themselves. In fact, the most commonly used word in the English language is the pronoun I (me).
If you want people to like you and become interested in what you have to offer, you must learn to listen to them. Don’t just wait for them to end their sentence to start your sales pitch.
Listen to them carefully and repeat their words to show them that you’re following them. Practice this in everyday situations before you start implementing it in your cold calls.
Nevertheless, be careful with this step, because it’s easy to overdo it, start sounding unnatural and even forget about your sales pitch. Always keep in mind why you’re calling.
The best cold calling scripts and email templates
The best cold calling scripts follow a similar pattern. They start with a personal greeting, they inquire about the prospect’s availability and offer to help, rather than offer a product or a service.
Additionally, the highest performing cold calling templates are always respectful and ask for permission to proceed with the call. They also include open-ended questions that allow the prospect to talk about themselves and their businesses.
However, the easiest way to explain how the best cold calling scripts function is to show you real-life examples. With that in mind, we will now list out 5 script samples from salespeople who have boasted incredibly high conversion rates.
Example 1
Our first script relies on personalization and repeatedly asks for confirmation from the prospect, making sure they always feel comfortable with the process. This establishes rapport and allows the sales agent to offer help.
Hi, John.
Jim here from Acme Cost Control. Did I catch you at an OK time?
John, I’m sure you’re busy and I want to respect your time, so I’ll be brief. The reason for my call is this. We just saved Universal Transport an additional $12 million in shipping costs, so I thought it was important enough to let you know since every company has an obligation to their customers and shareholders to reduce expenses.
Now, you may be wondering if we can do this for you, too. Well, depending on what you’re currently doing, I don’t know if you have a need for our services. But with your permission, let’s talk for a few minutes to determine if there is anything we’re doing that you could benefit from.
Would you be comfortable spending just a few minutes with me on the phone now, if I stick to this timetable?
Source: Teamgate
Example 2
Adsoup provides a referral template that is ideal for salespeople who manage to find a mutual acquaintance with their prospect during the preparation and research phase.
Subject: “NAME OF REFERRING PERSON,” said I can write to you
Hi “PROSPECT’S FIRST NAME.”
This is with regards to “REFERRING PERSON’S NAME”. I met “HIM/HER” at “WHERE YOU MET” and “HE/SHE,” thought it would be a great business opportunity for both of us.
We at, “YOUR COMPANY NAME,” are working with other businesses within your industry like, “INSERT HAPPY CUSTOMER LIST” to improve “KEY ISSUE” by “Insert What Your Company Does.”
Is this something you are challenged with at “PROSPECT COMPANY NAME?”
If yes, when is the best time for me to make a quick call to see if I can be of help?
Cheers,
Signature.
Example 3
James K. Kim from Teamgate brings us another example that performs admirably with prospects.
Hi, [Prospect’s name],
This is [Your name] with [Your company]. How’s your [Today’s day] going?
Listen, [Prospect’s name], I know you probably get a ton of calls so I’ll make this quick. In a nutshell, we help companies to [state the problem or hot button issue you solve, e.g. reduce costs, raise revenues, save time, make it easier, etc.].
We do this by [how you solve the problem], making it [benefits for customer].
[Prospect’s name], would you be open to the idea of just seeing how this works?
Kim noticed that the script receives a more positive response if you use the specific day in your first question rather than ask them how they are doing overall. It’s a fairly simple way to personalize your script and make it friendlier to prospects.
Example 4
This next cold calling script is simple, but effective. It probes the prospect and asks them, before it tells them exactly what they need to do. It’s not pushy or aggressive, yet it raises intrigue in the prospect’s mind.
Hello, [NAME]. This is Bob Bentz with ATS Mobile.
The reason for my call is I have an idea on how to possibly help you improve the troublesome process of recruiting employees, especially nurses. I wanted to see if it would make sense for us to have a quick conversation to find out more about it.
I can be reached at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER].
Again, my name is Bob Bentz with ATS Mobile at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER].
Thanks, [NAME].
Source: Pipedrive
Example 5
Let us conclude with a script that adds a positive twist to the call.
However, keep in mind that this script should only be used in very specific situations, when you’re trying to sell a new product. Although it’s a decent script on its own, this is arguably the worst script on our list, because it places heavy emphasis on the product and doesn’t really allow the prospect to talk about themselves.
Hi, [Prospect Name].
I’m [Your Name] from [Business Name] I hope I caught you at a good time because I have some great news that can make your life easier.
We just introduced a new product that makes cleaning any surface a cinch, without the risk of scratching delicate surfaces. Wouldn’t you love to be able to remove grease or clean grout with just one swipe? [Pause]
That’s what I thought. May I send you a sample of our product now and give you a call back at 5 p.m. next Tuesday to see what you think about it? [Pause]
Great. I’m sending your sample via UPS now. I can’t wait to hear your feedback next Tuesday at 5 p.m. Thanks for your time.
Now that you have the best cold calling scripts at your disposal, you just need to prepare yourself for work and start practising. Keep in mind that none of these scripts will bring you positive results unless you learn to implement them on your product/service.
No matter how good you are, it will take some time for you to master the cold calling process and start improving your sales quotas. Stay persistent.
If you need some motivation to get back to calling, check out our selection of the best sales tips and quotes.