Ditch The Cold Calling Scripts: Having Conversations That Actually Sell

If you’re still using cold calling scripts on your sales calls you’re behind the times. Selling is not about sticking to a script and making repetitive claims. It’s about relationship building and having meaningful conversations with prospects. In this blog post, I’ll discuss what makes a sales conversation a good sales conversation.

Don’t get on the phone and start selling immediately. That’s the problem with a lot of cold calling scripts. You jump into a pitch instead of asking about a prospect’s company, current software, or pain points. When a prospect does mention an issue, a cold calling script might advise you to not go off-track. But going off-track is how you learn about a prospect.

Learn 3 steps to improving sales engagement. Read this blog.

Pursue the questions. If a prospect mentions something off-hand about something they like or dislike about their current solution, ask them why. Dive deeper, and take comprehensive notes. Not all of this will be relevant to the sale at the end of the day, but more information is never a bad thing.

Staying inquisitive keeps your prospects on the phone a little longer. It gives them a little more time to get to know you and your solution. It also lets them know you care about more than just making the sale.

Make trust the goal

Stop having a mentality that you need to “get the sale”. Instead, focus on building trust. When you are motivated by trust and the not the sale, your conversations will be more natural. You’re working to understand a prospect’s problem completely. This also means you’re employing active listening in sales calls—which is another necessity.

If they can’t talk right now, respect their time. Schedule a follow-up call for when it is most convenient for them. Make notes about personal items they bring up so you can mention them again on later calls.

Be human

Relying on cold calling scripts makes a robot out of you very quickly. When a lead goes off-script, you’re likely to spend too much time getting them back to your script rather than reacting like a human.

Whether a prospect tells you good news or bad news off-hand, react the way you would if someone told you that news in person. Don’t ignore it and move on to the next thing. Congratulate them, tell them you’re sorry they’re having a bad day, and then ease into the reason you called. If someone opens up to you, don’t shut them out. This eliminates the trust you’re building, and it goes against being inquisitive. Even if they don’t make a purchase at the end of the day, that lead is still a person who will have an impression of your company based on that call. Make it a good one.

Memorize your pitch, and be ready to jump into it if the time is right. But don’t make your sales calls all about you.

ConnectLeader’s sales acceleration software allows you to make more dials, personalize interactions, and spend more time with your leads. So you can spend time building those relationships and having meaningful conversations (minus those cold calling scripts). Learn more about ConnectLeader’s solution.

This article was written by Bart Bartlett, founder and CEO of DemandZEN, a digital marketing and cold calling agency. Over the last 20 years, Bart has tried and tested many sales dialers and sales acceleration tools, and prefers ConnectLeader over the rest. DemandZEN is proud to be a ConnectLeader partner.