The analysis of over 1 million sales meetings reveals key patterns for successful cold calls, emphasizing the importance of engaging, two-way conversations and asking the right number of questions. Top performers excel by maintaining calm in objection handling, taking pauses, and responding to objections with questions, rather than monologuing. Additionally, successful sales calls often involve the prospect initiating discussions about concerns, indicating a higher likelihood of closing the deal.

1. We analyzed over 1 Million sales meetings with AI and uncovered
the following patterns and trends of successful cold calls.

2. Closing a dealis like embarking
on a sea voyage

3. The goal:
paradise
but...

4. sales conversations
are like
ocean storms

5. Times between sales conversations are easy
compared to conversations themselves

6. Discovery Demo Objection
Handling

7. These insights are your
Compass

9. The First Storm: Discovery
Discovery Presentation Objections

10. Opening lines that don’t work
Say Less,
Get More
Listen and ask genuine, relevant
questions. Create a two-way
conversation, not an
interrogation. There’s an added
bonus here. The natural flow of
switching back and forth with
your customer increases your
likelihood of getting a second
meeting.
Do More Listening

11. Ask the right number of questions

12. Opening lines that don’t work
80
60
40
20
0
SuccessRates
1-6 (low) 7-10 (med) 11-14 (high) 15-18 (very high)
Ask the right number of questions
11-14 is the
magic number
Aim to ask 11-14 target questions
per call. After this amount, you’ll
start to see diminishing returns on
your question volume.
67%
74%
66%
46%
Questions per Call

13. Ask your questions at the right time
Call Duration

14. Ask the right kind of questions

15. Ask the right kind of questions

16. 16
“Help me understand… “
“Can you walk me through…”
“Talk to me about… “
Phrase your questions to encourage long responses

17. 17
“It seems like you ______________”
“It sounds like you _____________”
“It looks like you _______________”
Chris Voss,
Never Split the
Difference
Make observations about their emotions

18. The calm before the
NEXT STORM

19. The Second Storm: Demo
Discovery Demo
Objection
Handling

20. Topics Discussed in Discovery
Talk about the right things at the right time
Successful Demo Flow

21. Make it interactive

22. Salesperson
Prospect
Here’s what the presentation should not look like

23. Here’s what the presentation should look like
Salesperson
Prospect

24. Establish value before you introduce Pricing

25. Opening lines that don’t work
Planning
Pays Off
The more time you invest in next
steps, the higher your likelihood
of success.
10%
7.5%
5%
2.5%
0
%ofcalldurationspentdiscussing“NextSteps”
Successful
Demos
Unsuccessful
Demos
Reserve plenty of time to talk
“Next Steps”
5.23%
8.14%

26. One last calm before you reach the
PROMISED LAND

27. The Third Storm: Objection Handling
Discovery Presentation
Objection
Handling

28. Paradise is in sight! We’re
getting CLOSE!

29. But not without one more intense storm
to navigate… objections

30. Avoid the “knee jerk” monologue in
response to objections

31. Opening lines that don’t work
Talk Less
Top performers spend less time
monologuing after an objection.
When “average performing”
reps receive an objection, they
go on a “knee-jerk” monologue
that stretches 21.45 seconds,
while top performers keep their
cool and maintain a healthy
back-and-forth.
24
16
8
0
AverageMonologueLength(Seconds)
Average
Performers
Average for All Reps
During Non-Objection
Scenarios
Unsuccessful reps “monologue” in
response to objections
Top Performers

32. Opening lines that don’t work
Slow it Down
Top performers take their time
responding to objections.
Average reps speak significantly
faster upon receiving an
objection (top reps don’t
necessarily talk slower, they just
maintain their pace).
Avoid nervous “fast talking”
after objections

33. Opening lines that don’t work
Just Press
Pause
Top performers pause far longer
after an objection than their
peers. Successful reps actually
pause longer after objections
than they do during “normal”
parts of the sales conversation.
These top performers are almost
more calm in the face of
“adversity.”
1.8
1.2
.06
0
SecondsPaused
Average
Performers
Average for All Reps
During Non-Objection
Scenarios
Successful reps “pause” 5x
longer after objections
Top Performers

34. Opening lines that don’t work
Ask Questions
Top performers counter
objections with questions far
more often Objection scenarios
are rife with misunderstanding.
Average sellers are so eager to
overcome objections, they end
up addressing the wrong issue.
Take note: a strong answer to
the wrong objection makes the
objection worse.
Successful reps respond to
objections with questions

35. Opening lines that don’t work
Keep the Flow
Top performers maintain the
“flow” of the conversation after
objections. The back-and-forth
dialogue (measured by
“speaker switches” per minute)
between a successful rep and
the customer maintains its pace
during objection scenarios.
3
2
1
0
SpeakerSwitchesperMinute
Keep the conversation interactive
Average
Performers
Average for All Reps
During Non-Objection
Scenarios
Top Performers

36. We made it!

37. 37
BONUS!
Close by LEADING,
not MANIPULATING

38. First things first:
What you do early carries more influence than what you do late.

39. Opening lines that don’t work
Questions for
The Win
Prospects ask more questions on
successful closing calls. In
winning closing calls, the
prospect initiates discussions that
represent concern for making
the right buying decision 81%
more often than losing closing
calls. Examples of these topics
include SLA, implementation,
pricing, agreement details, and
long-term partnerships.
15
10
5
0
TimeSpentonTopicsofConcern
(Asapercentageofthecall’sduration)
Successful
Closing Calls
Unsuccessful
Closing Calls
Prospect-initiated Topics that
Indicate Final Concerns

40. www.gong.io/blog