A Simple No-frills Cold Calling Script That Works

COLD CALL SCRIPT
Use the following script, and customize it to fit your voice.
2014 Curated by MindTickle - All rights reserved.

GREET T HE PER SON
Introduce yourself by full name and clearly state which organization you’re calling from.
Address the customer by first name (unless it’s a unique situation, like they’re a doctor).
"Hi John. This is [full name] calling from [organization]"
Variation: If you have a reference or a reason for your call, include that too:

"Joe in purchasing said I should give you a call" or
"I notice you do [a,b,c business] and thought you may be interested in a way to [x,y,z benefit]"
If you are comfortable with a quick quip to initially lighten the tone, feel free to use it:
"You're a hard guy to get a hold of!"
Keep it short and clear and before you launch into your pitch, make sure you first…

ASK FOR PER MI SSI ON
Cold calls, by nature, are intrusive and bothersome. You’re surprising someone during the workday.
Remember that and follow your greeting with a question or comment to gain approval from the contact to
proceed.
"Did I catch you at a good time?"
"Do you have a moment to speak?"
"Are you the correct person to speak to about [x,y,z]?"
If you do not ask for permission to speak, many times whatever you say will go in one ear and out the other.
On the other hand, by granting you permission, the customer is saying, “Sure, I have a minute, what have
you got?”
They will then listen to you rather than ignore you or simply wait for an opportunity to say, "No thanks!"

INTRODUCE YOUR PRODUCT/SOLUTION (W/BENEFIT STATEMENT)
You have said WHO you are and from WHERE you’re calling. It’s time to state WHAT you do, in terms of
the benefit your product or service provides.
“We are a marketing company that helps companies like yours with branding, PR, and product positioning.”
The most powerful introductions include a Benefit Statement, which is a short statement that describes
the actual results you help your customers achieve.
“We help manufacturing companies like yours achieve reduced time-to-market for new products through optimized
testing.”
It’s important to understand that benefits are different than features of your actual product or service.
Benefits highlight the impact of your product or service.
Your introduction should also utilize specific industry keywords your customer may be aware of and
explain anything that you do which is different and compelling.
“Our Support Automation software allows computer-based organizations like yours to save time and money by
resolving common computer problems automatically.”
An introduction may not be necessary if the contact is already familiar with your organization. This might
be the case if they signed up on your website or have used a trial version of your product.

STAT E YOU R P U R P OSE
You’ve explained what you do but you haven’t said anything about what you want.
Clearly stating the purpose of your call puts the customer at ease that you’re not trying to sell them
something. The easiest way to do this is by saying that you wanted to see if they were interested in seeing/
learning some information on x,y,z.
"I wanted to see if you would be interested in looking at some information on how you might be able to improve
efficiencies"
Right away, the customer can relax knowing that you are not calling to sell them anything or ask for some
kind of commitment.
If used properly, the State your Purpose step is an invaluable tool in your cold calling script repertoire. You
will find that most people are more than happy to provide you with their email address for information.
They feel far less threatened and are happy to listen to you for a couple of minutes to see if the rest of what
you say makes sense. If necessary, assure customers that you will not spam them.
You can also include a Benefit Statement in your purpose. Most salespeople focus on the interesting
features of their solution, so if you’re able to highlight the impact and results of your product, you’ll
differentiate yourself from run-of-the-mill sales and marketing.
Note: How to Approach Benefit Statements

People don’t want to be ‘sold’ – they want feel like an expert in a particular field is guiding them to make an
informed decision. That’s where Benefit Statements can play a significant role.
You’ve explained what your organization and product does, so now expand on that with one or two key
customer-centric benefits. Benefits tend to be pains they can resolve or gains they can achieve through
your solution.
"We can supply you with the lowest-priced parts and the fastest delivery time, guaranteed."
"We've helped hundreds of companies like yours achieve 25-40% lower operating costs by being able to measure
employee productivity more effectively."
Your Benefit Statement may be in the form of a question, which leads to the Qualification stage below.
"Is part of your work continually looking for ways to improve quality and output?"
The Benefit Statement is the "hook" of your pitch and should be compelling and directly relate to the
customer.
Work at key benefits that resonate with customers, a unique way you can help them beyond the general
platitudes of 'save time and money', which they probably have heard many times before.

QUA L I FY CON TACT / ORG A N I Z AT I ON ( WH EN A P P L I CA BL E)
Within 30 seconds or so, you should be at this point of the call.
Qualification is where you begin to find out more about the customer's environment and needs as well as
answer their own initial questions. The main bulk of qualification will take place during a subsequent call/
meeting, so simply starting the discussion is enough for your cold calls.
In your initial conversation, you should not expect to cover more than one or two of the most important
questions. After all, you started off by asking for "a minute of time" and you do not want to overload the
customer, simply whet their appetite for more information.
Turn this and future qualification discussions into back-and-forth discussions with questions, answers and
observations feeding off one another.
Use your comments and answers to customer questions as an opportunity to seed more benefits. In this
regard, qualification and benefit statements continue beyond prospecting and throughout the sales
process until you strike a deal.
Basic qualification revolves around using:
What, Why, When, How, Where and Who
"What is your environment like today?...
Excellent, thanks. A lot of our customers have similar environments."

"Why is reducing costs so important to you?...
That makes sense. I guess keeping your shareholders happy is a priority for the whole company, right?"
"When were you planning to fix this problem?...
Okay, so you can't make any decisions on this before next year's budget at the earliest, right?"
"Where do you see yourself a year from now in terms of revamping your current processes?
And why are a, b and c the first on your priority list?"
"Who is most eager to see a solution implemented besides yourself?...
Excellent. It's always important to have executive support for an initiative like this.
Remember that one of the main purposes of qualification is to shine as much light as possible on your
customer's pain and benefits you will provide them. You should be like a doctor diagnosing their pain using
"What / Where / How / When / Why / Who" and getting it to a point where it is so unbearable your
customer has no choice but to fix it!

DEFI N E N EX T ST EP S
The final piece of the template for cold calling scripts is to hammer in specific follow-up items.
Begin by noting the customer's email address, if you do not already have it.
"Thanks so much for your time. It was great speaking with you. Can I make a note of your email address so I can get
that information out to you?"
Sending information opens up the door to a simple follow up which is to touch base and see if the customer
has any questions. Make sure to ask for any other relevant contact information as well.
"Is it okay if I touch base with you some time next week to see if you have any questions? What is the best time to
call you? Is this the best number to reach you at?"
You can also begin setting expectations for future discussions.
"If you are interested in find out more at that point, we can schedule a 45-minute demonstration for you and your
team."
Follow up on action items from today's discussion.
"Okay, so I'll send you out some information as well as the customer references you asked for. When do you think
you'll have had a chance to speak with your Director?"

You should set next steps. Always make sure to book a meeting from a meeting. If a contact says they will
get in touch with you, it usually means they are trying to politely dismiss you. If the timing seems tough,
check one last time and then keep the door open for a future call, if it makes sense.
"Are you saying you do not want to learn how you might [repeat key beneﬁt] or avoid [repeat customer pain]?"
"I understand. You just don't have this as a priority right now. That's ﬁne. If it's okay, can I check back in six months?
In the meantime, don't hesitate to touch base yourself if anything changes."
And that’s the end of your cold call! Congratulations.

A Simple No-frills Cold Calling Script That Works

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A Simple No-frills Cold Calling Script That Works