This document summarizes the key points from a chapter on cold calling from a sales training webinar series. It provides guidance on structuring an initial cold call contact, including stating the purpose of the call, qualifying the prospect by asking questions to identify pain points or issues, and determining if there is interest in learning more by sharing how the product or service addresses common challenges. The document outlines the steps and potential responses at each stage of an initial cold call.

1. 15-Week Sales Training Webinar Series – Week 4

2. Get your copy here https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578615762

3. Week 1: Introduction to SMART and Consultative Selling (Chapters 1 - 3)
Week 2: Building Your Consultative Sales Message (Chapters 4 - 9)
Week 3: Creating Sales Scripts, Emails, Voicemails, and Objection Responses (Chapters 10 - 15)
Week 4: Managing the Sales Process (Chapter 16)
Week 5: Cold Calling (Chapter 17)
Week 6: Email Prospecting (Chapter 18)
Week 7: Voicemail Strategy (Chapter 19)
Week 8: Getting into New Accounts (Chapter 20)
Week 9: Dealing with Objections (Chapter 21)
Week 10: Getting Around Gatekeepers (Chapter 22)
Week 11: Qualifying the Prospect (Chapter 23)
Week 12: Closing (Chapter 24)
Week 13: Networking (Chapter 25)
Week 14: Prospecting on LinkedIn (Chapter 26)
Week 15: Improving Mental Strength (Chapter 27)

4. Chapter 17 – Cold Calling

5. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

6. Initial Contact
Meeting
Presentation

7. Initial Contact
Meeting
Presentation
Initial Contact
Types
• Cold calls
• Cold emails
• Networking
• Inbound calls
• Inbound emails
• Website chat
• Social media
Structure
• 2 to 5 minutes
• 80% on prospect
• 20% on you
Goals
• Pre-Qualify
• Build interest in
talking more
• Close for meeting
Questions
• Pain
• Current
Environment

8. Cold Call Process
Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points

9. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
“How are you doing today?”
“Is this a good (or bad) time to talk?”
“Are you busy right now?”
“Do you have a minute to talk?”
Sounds like a salesperson
Weak frame of mind

10. Hello, [Contact’s Name]. This is [Your Name] with [Your
Company]. Have I caught you in the middle of anything?
Respects the prospect
Buys you 2 to 5 minutes
Casual and friendly
Pattern Interrupt
Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points

11. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

12. Advance to Step 2: If the prospect answers with anything close to the
following, move forward to Step 2.
Yes, but I am OK.
No, I am fine.
It depends. Why are you calling?
What is this call in regards to?
Deflect to an objection response: If the prospect responds with anything
close to the following, you can respond with the following objection
response.
Yes, I am in the middle of something.
I am busy right now.
I am not available.
Salesperson Response:
Oh, OK. I can be very brief, or I can call you back at another time. Which do you
prefer?
or
Oh, OK. When is the best time for me to call you back?
Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points

13. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
• Introduce yourself and your company
• Schedule an appointment or meeting
• Learn about the prospect’s needs
• Share details about the product that you have to offer
• Sell your product to the prospect
Sounds like a salesperson
Focus is on the salesperson’s interests

14. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Value Points
Great. The reason for my call is that we help [Target
Buyer Type] to:
• Value Point 1
• Value Point 2
• Value Point 3

15. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Pain Points
Great. The reason for my call is that we help [Target
Buyer Type] to improve the challenges of:
• Pain Point 1
• Pain Point 2
• Pain Point 3

16. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Name Drop
Great. The reason for my call is that:
• We worked with [Customer Name] and helped them to
[Technical Improvement].
• This ultimately helped them to [insert business
improvement].

17. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

18. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Advance to Step 3: After you share your purpose of the call, advance to Step 3:
Deliver a Soft Sales Takeaway.

19. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Sales Takeaway
• I don't know if those are areas that you want to improve and that is
why I wanted to call you with a question or two.
• I don't know if you are concerned about any of those areas and that is
why I wanted to call you with a question or two.
• I don't know if we can help you in the same way or not and that is why
I wanted to call you with a question or two.
• I don’t know if you are the right person for me to speak with or not.

20. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

21. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Advance to Step 4: After you deliver a soft sales takeaway, advance to
Step 4 which is to pre-qualify the prospect.

22. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Pain Questions
If I could ask you real quick:
• Pain Question 1
• Pain Question 2
• Pain Question 3

23. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Current Environment Questions
• Who are you currently using today?
• How long have you been with them?
• How is everything going?
• What are some things you like about what they provide?
• What are some things that you think could be better?
• If you could change one thing about their product/service,
what would it be?
• When was the last time you considered other options in
this area?
• (Sizing Question) How many _____ do you currently
have?
• Are you the right person to discuss this area with?

24. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

25. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
3 Categories for Answers
• Hot Response
• Neutral Response
• Cold Response

26. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Advance to Step 6: If you get an answer that is an indicator that the
prospect might have pain or be a fit for what you sell, you could try to
use that answer to skip ahead in this cold call process and try to go for
the close. To do this, after you hear a hot or neutral response to one of
your questions, you can say something like this:
Well, based on what you shared, it might make sense for us to talk in more
detail because that is the type of thing that we help with.
Advance to Step 5: If you don’t get much to work with from the
prospect’s answers, you could advance to Step 5 of sharing pain
points.

27. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Pain Points
When I talk with other [Target Buyer Type], they often have
challenges with:
• Pain Point 1
• Pain Point 2
• Pain Point 3
Are you concerned about any of those areas?

28. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Advance to Step 6: If you identify that the prospect has a problem or
concern, you have a reason to talk more, and you can respond with
something like:
Well, based on what you shared, it might make sense for us to talk in more
detail because that is the type of thing that we help with.
Begin to walk away: If you asked your pain and current environment
questions and shared the pain points and the prospect is not
expressing any concerns, you might start to walk away by
disqualifying the prospect and moving on to find a better prospect.
That might look something like this:
Well, it sounds like you all are doing pretty good over there. It might not
make much sense for us to talk.
Go back to Step 4: You can go back to ask any of your Pain
Questions or Current Environment Questions that you have not asked
yet.

29. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Product
We provide [Product Name] and that includes:
• Feature 1
• Feature 2
• Feature 3
Benefits
Our [Product Name] can help [Target Buyer Type] to:
• Value Point 1
• Value Point 2
• Value Point 3
Differentiation
Some ways that we differ from other options out there are:
• Differentiation 1
• Differentiation 2
• Differentiation 3

30. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Impact of Doing Nothing
Some things to be concerned about when not doing anything
in this area are:
• Pain Point 1
• Pain Point 2
• Pain Point 3
Company Bragging Points
Other key details about us are:
• Company Fact 1
• Company Fact 2
• Company Fact 3
Name Drop
• We worked with [Customer Name] and helped them to
[Technical Improvement].
• We were able to do this by providing our [Product Name].
• This ultimately helped them to [Business Improvement].

31. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Advance to Step 7: After sharing a few high-level details, move forward
to the Step 7, which is to try to close the prospect.

32. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Meeting
Presentation
Initial Contact

33. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Cold Call Close
But I have called you out of the blue and I am not sure if this is
the best time to discuss this.
Are you interested in discussing this a little more?
Are you available for a brief 15 to 20-minute meeting where I
can share some examples of how we have helped other
[Target Buyer Type] to:
• Value Point 1
• Value Point 2
• Value Point 3
Or are you available to continue talking about this now?

34. Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points
Confirm the meeting: If the prospect is interested in talking more,
identify if it makes sense to keep talking on the phone or if it is better
to get back together on another day. If another day is best, confirm
the date, time, and location for that discussion and then send an
email and a calendar invite with the meeting information.
Go back to your questions: If the prospect does not agree to talk
more, you can keep the call going by bouncing back to Step 4 and
asking one of your questions that you did not ask earlier in the call.
Go back to your pain points: Another option is to go back to Step 5
and share some pain points if you skipped over that step earlier in the
call.

35. Understand the Prospect
Prospects are Extremely Busy
Prospects Get Sold to a Lot
Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson
Focus on the Prospect’s Interests, Not Yours
The Best Salesperson is the One That Asks the Best Questions
Prospects Are Likely Not in Buying Mode
Don’t Sell the Product, Sell the Meeting

36. Cold Call Process
Opening the Call
State the Purpose of Your Call
Pre-Qualify
Product and Company Details
Close
Deliver a Sales Takeaway
Share Pain Points

37. Week 1: Introduction to SMART and Consultative Selling (Chapters 1 - 3)
Week 2: Building Your Consultative Sales Message (Chapters 4 - 9)
Week 3: Creating Sales Scripts, Emails, Voicemails, and Objection Responses (Chapters 10 - 15)
Week 4: Managing the Sales Process (Chapter 16)
Week 5: Cold Calling (Chapter 17)
Week 6: Email Prospecting (Chapter 18)
Week 7: Voicemail Strategy (Chapter 19)
Week 8: Getting into New Accounts (Chapter 20)
Week 9: Dealing with Objections (Chapter 21)
Week 10: Getting Around Gatekeepers (Chapter 22)
Week 11: Qualifying the Prospect (Chapter 23)
Week 12: Closing (Chapter 24)
Week 13: Networking (Chapter 25)
Week 14: Prospecting on LinkedIn (Chapter 26)
Week 15: Improving Mental Strength (Chapter 27)

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