Proven cold calling scripts for your outbound sales team

Sales team members are often given a long list of prospects with not much information included beyond names and numbers. It’s the job of the salesperson to reach out and engage with those contacts and convince them to move forward through the sales process. For many salespeople, both old and new, this can be a daunting process, particularly if you aren’t sure what to say to ensure a meeting is booked.

Cold calling scripts help salespeople plan their messages and conversations with cold prospects without having to wonder what they are going to say. Effective cold calling scripts can help salespeople build better connections with their prospect list, increase the amount of engagement they get from cold calling, and close more sales. In this article, we’ll discuss cold calling tips and give you a proven cold calling script for your outbound sales teams.

10 cold calling techniques for SDRs Read this blog.

What is Cold Calling?

A cold call is when sales reps reach out to prospective customers who don’t have any previous interactions with the company to try and make a connection and start the sales process. Cold calling often requires a salesperson to make many calls off of a list and work on increasing the percentage of engagements they can make each day.

Using cold calling scripts or cold calling templates can help sales reps take control of the cold calling process and avoid making mistakes and errors. A script also provides a clear structure for sales reps to use that has proven success rates in your company and works to provide guidelines for each cold call conversation that takes place. That way, sales reps don’t need to worry about what to say at the moment and have a clear idea of how they can direct the conversation to improve the chances of further engagement with a prospect.

Why is Cold Calling for B2B Sales Important?

Cold calling has many different benefits that make it important to include in B2B sales, even if you are using other tools like a sales engagement platform. Cold calling helps to move the needle and keep you up on your numbers if you are a little behind with your goals. It also works effectively and quickly. While sending out emails can be done in a matter of minutes, an email is easy to ignore, and it can often end up being deleted out of your prospect's inboxes without ever being opened. Cold calling on the phone only requires you to start the first conversation or leave a voicemail, then wait for the prospects that are willing to convert to come back to you.

Cold calling also allows you to personalize your approach and learn more about your core target market through real conversations. If you want to learn more about your buyers or get real-life data on the effectiveness of your calls, the one-on-one conversations you have through cold calling can provide some of the most useful information. That can help you shape your sales approach and improve your sales processes over time.

Cold Calling Script Examples

There is always an element of creativity and adaptation that happens during a cold call. After all, there’s no way that all of your prospective clients will have the same questions or work their way through the conversion in the same way. However, having a cold calling script template or some clear cold calling script examples by your side will make a big difference and provide sales teams with the structure they need to succeed in cold calls.

A proven script structure might go something like this:

• The Introduction: Introduce yourself to the prospect and clearly identify the company you represent
• The Path: Give your prospect a story-like situation and ask an open-ended question about what direction they want to go towards
• The Gap: Identify a gap in the prospect’s needs that you can close
• The Ask: Ask for a next meeting and plan on moving the prospect through your sales pipelines

Here’s an example of that cold calling script example in action:

Hello, this is [name] from [company]. How are you doing today?

Client response: I’m doing well. 

I’m glad to hear that. The purpose of my call today is [core business offering]. I think we can help you, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? 

Client response: Affirmative. 

Thank you for your time. Let me ask you about [two or three major common customer pain points]. Which of those is something that resonates with you? 

Client response: Picks out a specific pain point. 

Let me ask you, why do you think that might be? 

Client response: [explains the gap that needs to be filled] 

Okay, let me ask you this.[Follow up questions, including asking about what types of solutions they have tried before and what their end goals are] 

Client response: Conversation 

Thanks for letting me know about that [prospect name]. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been trying to [gap they are trying to fill] in order to solve [common pain point]. Why don’t we set up a call for a conversation about [gap you can fill] and talk about our offerings and how we can help you achieve [prospect goal]. Does that work?

 Client response: Affirmative. 

Thank you.

[Book a Meeting]

These types of cold scripts work because they follow a proven structure and allow the prospect to do the majority of the talking. This allows you to gather the information that will be helpful in the next meeting and avoid being pushy or overly aggressive on a sales pitch. That behavior can turn a prospect away, while a conversation where you listen makes the prospect feel more in control and willing to share information.

Improve Your Cold Calling Strategy with Koncert

Taking the time to perfect your cold calling strategy can help you get more meetings and better results out of your cold calling. Koncert is a sales engagement platform that has useful tools for cold calling and sales enablement.

Also check out Vouris, our partner company, which has a video on cold calling templates that gives you a rundown of the structure we’ve laid out and helps you understand the cold calling process in action.