The Ultimate Guide to Cold Calling Scripts

Every cold call is going to be a lot more effective if you know exactly what you want to achieve with this interaction and prepare for each call in advance. In this guide, we’ll show you how something as simple as a cold call script can help you maximize the efficiency of your campaigns.

Keep reading to find actionable cold calling tips on how to write cold calling scripts and how to start a cold call efficiently and get inspired by some cold calling templates and best cold calling scripts crafted by Voiptime sales experts. 

Nail Any Single Cold Call With Voiptime Cloud Cold Calling Scripts

Cold calling is a highly efficient and profitable activity to generate leads, arrange appointments, follow-up sales, and expand new horizons of the company. And the single most significant advantage of cold calling is the speed and personalization of calls. Moreover, you can use scripts for cold calling to improve your sales.

Source: Statista Research Department. Revenue of call centers in the UK, with the forecast to the 2025 year.

Most of all, you need to assume that successful cold calling is a series of questions that naturally lead you and the prospect or customer to a mutually desired result. This is either yes or no, no maybe involved here.

Let’s crush the sales with Voiptime Cloud!

What is Cold Calling?

A few decades ago, there were real door-to-door selling techniques that generated millions of dollars for companies. It was a highly profitable and really amazing art of selling. However, every sales representative had a limited number of doors that they could reach. The number of doors they could reach ranged from 25 to 70.

These days, door-to-door techniques have changed. The speed and effectiveness of telephone calls, in comparison with door-to-door selling, are enormous.

With the cold calling (and predictive dialer), sales managers reach more than 200 live persons per day without traveling somewhere. And the impact will be much more profitable because these sales representatives can reach more potential customers with specialized dialing solutions.

Customers trust only someone they either see in front of their eyes or hear. In phone conversations, customers can't see you, but they certainly can hear you.

Take a look at the perfect advantages of phone calling in comparison with door-to-door techniques.

What is cold calling script?

Cold calling script (mostly cold calling scripts) is a call flow scenario, a document which contains the expected call structure and all phrases agent should use to move the conversation in the right direction. Cold calling scripts often include greeting, open-ended questions to ask, social proofs, answers to overcome customer objections and the main part - sales pitches. 

The main purpose of cold calling scripts is to help sales agents control the conversation and minimize the possibility of human errors. Nonetheless, even the most skillful agents rarely handle all cold calls by using cold calling scripts - they improvise and use their empathy and communication skills to warm up prospects, and the cold calling scripts are kind of belay to find the way out of difficult situations. 

Cold callings scripts can also be dynamic, which means they can include different scenarios depending on what prospects answer to agent. Thus, the cold calling scripts will change their structure, as it happens in some video games where your answers changes the further scenario of a game. 

Cold call scripts also allow you to enhance the onboarding process for new sales agents, as cold calls scripts allow newbies to start work without risk. Cold call scripts also can be used as agent training tool, and that is why cold call scripts can be named an irreplaceable tool for sales call center. 

Which Industries Use Cold Calls the Most?

In fact, any business that can profit from cold calling should use this type of generating leads, establishing relationships, growing sales, etc. And as a matter of fact, almost any company can profit from calling in B2C and B2B environments. Here are the most frequent users of cold calls:

  • Insurance;
  • Real estate;
  • Banking;
  • Stock market and mutual funds;
  • Telecommunication;
  • Travel business;
  • Healthcare;
  • IT;
  • Software-as-a-service companies.

Benefits of Cold Calling

The benefits of cold calling are irresistible, and here’s why. Firstly, you already know that the phone is the fastest source of communication in the world.

Secondly, you understand that there’s no other way to have a conversation with a potential customer without additional expenses or wasting time on traveling to the offices or customers.

Thirdly, because of these benefits listed above, one agent contacts the maximum number of live customers during the day.

Agents have the option to talk with 177 live customers each day because of advanced software for call centers. It has the function of avoiding answering machines and voice mails. For example, with this efficiency, telemarketing scripts for insurance generate billions of dollars each year.

Yet there’re additional advantages of cold calling:

  • Conversations with potential customers will grow your mid-sized business. You call customers that gave you their phone numbers, emails, and names, or you rent a customer’s list from your list broker.

List brokers, on the other hand, give you a list of prospects' phone numbers. The difference is that the audience from the listing broker is unfamiliar with your product or service, and to sell them something you need to have a successful conversation.

Either way, this is the gold mine for your business. First of all, a customer that left their phone number is already familiar with your product or service, and it’s up to you to make them your regular customer. All you need to do is to persuade them during the call.

  • Establish connections with people at the right time. It’s better to make an excellent impression from the first call. And to do it successfully you must know when to call and how to talk with a potential customer.

Talking about time, you need to consider that the best time for calling is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This is the best day for the first call. Do you want to know why? It’s simple, these days are the most comfortable for customers because on Monday they’re usually busy at their work, it’s the tough day of the week.

And Friday is a day when everyone is tired and waits until the day is over. Saturday and Sunday are the days when the customers want to rest and don’t want to have any sales pitches whatsoever.

Even if the products and services you're being to offer are in their best interest. The importance of cold calling is not only involved techniques of persuasion, yet the right time.

Talking about the right time for conversation, it's defined by surveys that the best time for persuading someone is between 2 P.M. and 5 P.M. The early hours of day customers are likely to have objections because they are busy with their routine during the day.

And after 5 P.M. customers are traveling to their homes and don’t want to have any additional conversations that aren't related to their nighttime. Thus the best time to persuade your customers is between 2 P.M. and 5 P.M.

  • Practice a sales pitch. When you have a conversation with your customers, you notice new arguments, objections, and logic. Depending on the niche sales pitch must be constantly upgraded with new compelling facts to persuade customers.

How to Write Cold Calling Scripts?

Sales call scripts can be extremely helpful if composed right. If you take time to study the needs of your prospect, structure and clarify your message, and prepare answers to possible questions and objections, you’ll be more likely to close the deal. Below are a couple of cold calling scripts writing tips from Voiptime that will hopefully help you sharpen your skills.

Set the Right Goal

The main goal of cold calling is NOT to close the sale but rather to establish a human-to-human connection with your prospects. Treat it as a great instrument for appointment setting and lead generation rather than the sales tool.

Focus on Engagement and Relevant Presentation

A cold call can only be effective if the prospect agrees to a conversation. Your hook ‒ the first few words of the sales call ‒ must make your prospect listen. Capture their interest with something valuable. If they’re still not interested, that’s fine. Hang up and move on.

Connect Personally

An individual approach is everything. Show your prospects that you took the time to prepare for this call. Mention something important to them at the moment, ask questions that are 100% relevant, make it all about them. They should feel that you’re not just calling everybody in the neighborhood. You’re here to solve their problem.

Tell Them the Reason for Your Call

They have a problem ‒ you have a solution. Let your prospects know that you’re very serious about building long-term relationships. Be specific about the reason for your call. If they understand that you’re actually interested in helping them, they are more likely to agree to a meeting.

How to Use the Cold Call Script?

Some salespeople are worried that the cold call script examples will make them sound robotic, but it’s not a question of whether or not one should use the cold call script but whether one should read from it. So if you want to make your cold call script more effective, change what you say and essentially, how you say it. Below are some small changes that make all the difference:

  • Practice the cold call scripts a few times before making calls until it feels natural to you.
  • Don’t repeat your cold call scripts during the call, it’s only guidance.
  • Follow your cold call scripts like an actor and adjust what you say to connect with every particular person.
  • Avoid complicated phrases or terminology which is strange to you and your prospect.
  • Talk to the prospect as if you were talking to a coworker – with natural intonation and human emotions.

A cold call script is a great way to sharpen your communication skills, control the flow of the conversation, and manage the prospects’ objections. After enough practice, you’ll know what to say and how to react without any clues.

Ask the Right Cold Calling Scripts Qualifying Questions

If it’s your first interaction ever, don’t expect people to be excited to talk to you. You might have the best solution for their problem, but they have no reason to trust you yet. Your goal during the conversation is to help you both understand whether your solution is good for their problem.

There’s a great way to use qualifying questions as a means to refute objections (when prospects are in doubt, not when they are clearly not interested. Don’t make them hang up on you). The technique is to ask the same questions you’d ask after hearing a “yes” when they say “no”. You want to find out more about their specific challenges and needs and show them the value of your solution at the same time.

Some examples of the right qualifying questions:

  • What are your biggest challenges in …?
  • Are you looking for a solution to …. challenge?
  • What software and solutions are you currently using for …?
  • Why did you decide to invest in …?
  • What does your current ...process look like?
  • What results do you hope to achieve in the next … months/ years?

NB! Forget about “what is your budget” and “who is the decision-maker” questions at this point. These are completely useless (and frankly, annoying) until you establish some trust with your prospects. Save them for later when people express some interest in your offer.

Manage Objections Better

You might hear “no” from the decision-maker. Such an outcome is very likely so you need to be prepared. One thing that will make it easier for you and increase your chances of closing is the objection map. It’s a collection of cold calling scripts with various examples of answers to customers when they are hesitant.

Why is the Objection Map Useful?

“No” has many different shades. Sometimes, it’s “I don’t need it now and I never will”, other times it’s “I’m not sure, convince me”. That’s why objection maps are invaluable, especially for cold-calling newbies. They help the salesperson maintain the flow of the conversation and seamlessly manage objections, helping the prospect see the true value of the offer.

The most convenient form for the objection map is a chart with the possible objections in the first column, effective demining in the second, and other important comments in the third (optionally).

For example, the objection map in our software can be featured in a separate block of a telemarketing script. This way, the operator has all the necessary information in front of their eyes. The objection map will definitely save you in the most difficult situations and make your campaigns more efficient.

Reposition Your Call to Action

If a sales rep fails to end the call properly, they will probably go back to square one next time. Before contacting a client (a call, an email, etc.), think about the outcome of your conversation. What do you want to achieve with this interaction? Based on your goal, come up with an appropriate CTA. Some examples are:

  • “Let’s connect again. What does your calendar look like next week?”
  • “When is the best date and time to schedule our next meeting?”
  • “When will you be available for an in-person meeting?”

Summarizing and Closing Deals

As we’ve already mentioned, modern-day cold calling is not about closing but rather about getting to know your prospects. It might work for B2C, but there’s no way for you to close the deal if you’re calling on behalf of a B2B company and it’s your first (or even second) interaction. There’s a concept of a buying committee in B2B sales. It comprises every involved person who might support or block the deal, and it’s important to communicate with each of them to understand their goals.

Warm it Up

People are exposed to a ton of different information every day. Your task is to get through this flow and grab their attention. Cold calling doesn’t have to be cold. You’ll get much better results if you make research and connect with a prospect before picking up the phone. There are lots of different channels that you could use ‒ email, Linked In, Twitter, etc.

Put together a message specifically asking them to spare you 10-15 minutes to talk about a great suggestion that you have for their business (e.g. simplify their processes, boost ROI, generate more leads). Mentioning the referral or the name of an industry leader/ a close competitor who has already taken advantage of this idea might also work.

What Is The Most Effective Cold Call Scripts Structure?

Cold calling scripts are super helpful for guiding prospects through the sales funnel. For a cold calling script to be maximally effective, it must be structured well.

The Basic Cold Calling Script Structure

A typical cold calling script consists of the following elements:

1. Introduction

This is the very beginning of the call. The goal of the introduction is to capture the attention of a prospect and get them to stay on the line with a sales rep.

2. Lead Qualification

This part of the cold calling script should include relevant questions. There are lots of lead qualification techniques and cold calling sales tactics that can help you come up with the best approaches for different types of sales.

3. Delivering the Pitch

By now, the sales should have a clear understanding of the needs and pain points of a prospect, and deliver a pitch based on that information.

4. Managing Objections

The goal of this part of the cold calling script is to help sales persuade prospects and manage the most common objections.

5. Call to Action

Every sales call should end with a clear call to action with the goal to schedule a follow-up call, a demo, or a meeting.

The Most Important Element of All Cold Calling Scripts

If you don’t spark interest in your prospects in the first 30 seconds, the conversation won’t happen at all. That’s why the most important part of all cold calling scripts is the opener. Its goal is to show prospects that this call is worth their time.

To create the most effective opener, do your homework. Research every prospect before the call to have a clear idea of who you are about to contact, what they need, and how exactly you can help them. Understanding clearly what is the goal of your call is already a big part of success, whereas the cold calling scripts serve as a track lighting that helps you navigate the conversation.

Cold Calling Scripts Examples for Any Situation

Choosing between different cold calling script examples, you need to remain in control over the conversation, sound confident, and be authoritative. Most of all you need to nail your 5 seconds of conversation, or you’ll lose your customer.

And the second biggest mistake every agent commits is that they don’t nail their conversation with a customer within the next 30 seconds. If they can’t, they usually lost the conversation, and customers hang up.

The reason why it's important is that customers concentrate their attention in these first 5-7 seconds and then 30 seconds of conversation. Then they decide whether a conversation is relevant for them or not.

In cold calling, it’s extremely important to know the real name of the prospect or customer. It’s important because you know the name and you have already made a step closer to the sale. And it’s harder to sell something to someone if you don’t know the name.

Remember! that Mr and Mrs refer to a person that is married. Miss is a single woman, and Ms is someone you don’t know single or married. Yet these details in conversations are considered professional behavior. Especially, when you talk with someone successful or highly educated.

Direct Sales Calls Scripts Examples

A few tips from an expert:

  • Clearly introduce yourself at the very beginning of a call.
  • Ask your prospect if they have such challenges as...
  • Explain to them how you can solve their problems.
  • Ask the prospect about the most convenient time for a callback or meeting.
  • Schedule the event in the client card or calendar within your CRM.

“[INTRO]: Hello, my name is John Smith, I’m from ABC company. We currently work with digital agencies looking for ways of improving their lead generation process. Usually, they are looking to increase the reach rate and make the whole process more transparent. Is this an issue for you? [LISTEN]

Tell me more about that. [LISTEN]

[Your pitch]: Our call automation solution allows you to reach more prospects with less effort and triple the number of live conversations per each hour without increasing the sales team. Does this sound like something that would be beneficial to your business? [LISTEN]

[CTA]: I’ll be happy to discuss how you can benefit from our solution. What does your calendar look like this week? When will you be available for a 30-minutes call?”

NB! You can improve the effectiveness of this sales script for cold calling with thorough preliminary research. Instead of making assumptions, find a hook to the existing problems in the company, or ask directly about it.

Indirect Sales Cold Calling Scripts Sample

A few tips from an expert:

  • Introduce yourself.
  • Ask who is responsible for the business process and whether they can talk to you right now.
  • If YES, ask the decision-maker about their pain points.
  • Share valuable information about how to improve these areas.
  • Go ahead and try to arrange the meeting.

“[INTRO]: Hi, my name is Alice Wind, I’m from CallCenterOutsourcing company. Am I right that you are responsible for the sales department at X company?

I’m calling some startups in the area to find out if they are a good fit for our service. What we do in a sentence is we provide companies with a lead generation team on demand. Does it sound interesting to you? [LISTEN]

Great, could you please describe your current lead generation & sales process? What are the main challenges you face now? [LISTEN]

[Your pitch]: Thanks, to summarize, your main challenges are… We have recently helped another company from your industry to engage new prospects and increase their conversion rates 3 times. Does this sound like something that would be beneficial to your business? [LISTEN]

[CTA]: Great, we’ll be happy to share our findings with you. Are you free for the meeting this week?”

Here’s how the cold calling sales scripts look in niches, such as real estate, debt collection, insurance, solar. These additional tips will help you structure your call script and create a mood of trust. Take a look at them:

  • Intro. Hello, (name of prospect or customer (Mr. Smith/Mrs. Smith)). This is a powerful beginning and part of all cold calling scripts.

Mistakes that every newbie and even experienced agent makes in the intro, look like that: “Is this Smith?, Are you Smith?, I’m looking for Mr. Smith!".

And the problem with these intros is that they’re weak. In this case, the customer has too much power to hang up or say: “No, you called the wrong number, etc”.

  • Say your first name. Many agents make too-long introductions or even no introductions whatsoever. And a potential customer that doesn’t know you will quickly consider that as impolite behavior. Saying your first name will be polite and keep control over the conversation.
  • I’m getting back to you. This is the further conversation that may vary: “I am getting back to you about your request for the new blank information (health insurance update, etc)”.
  • Confirm data. This is also the part of a conversation that varies. For example: “I want to confirm some data, to understand that everything is alright (Can you provide me with your birth date?, is your account number XXX-XXX-XX? etc. )”.
  • Authority. Customers or potential customers want to talk with someone who has the authority or position themselves as an expert and confident experts. Authority is crucial in developing cold calling scripts.

This pre-closing part of the conversation is vague and could destroy all your previous achievements in this conversation. So don’t allow to destroy it by positioning yourself as an authority. For example, “I’m the local car dealer, underwriter, broker, etc.”

  • Closing of the conversation and question. "Should I drop this information off/Should we meet and discuss the subject in your interest? etc." A structure like this will give you decent ideas on how to build your cold calling scripts and develop your conversation.

These are effective sales cold calling scripts examples that generate millions of dollars each year. Take a look.

Real estate

“Mrs. Johnson?.[YES]

Hey Mrs. Johnson, this is (agent name), from a company (X), how are you doing? [LISTEN].

I gotcha, well look, I’m enjoying the day, isn’t it gorgeous outside? [LISTEN]

I gotcha, well look, I don’t want to take too much of your time today, but a house down the road just sold (a house just listed, etc). And I didn’t know if there is anything in the world I could do for you today?".

How do you like this sales cold calling call scripts example? Read on.

Collection

It's challenging to have a workable cold call scripts example for collection, but here's an example of a real conversation.

“Hello, This call is from (bank, organization, etc). Calls are recorded for quality purposes. Is this the residence of (Consumer first and second name)? [LISTEN]. Alright, (first name of a consumer), your account requires immediate action.

I have important information about your (name of the account which is collecting). Due to the sensitive nature of your account information, I will need to verify your identity for security purposes before proceeding. Please provide your date of birth. [LISTEN AND VERIFY THE INFORMATION]. Thank you!

Our records indicate that your account with (name of an account that collected) is past due with a balance of (amount of dollars). You can pay this balance of (amount) with a credit card. If you make a payment today, I can waive the late fee of $20.00. Would you like to make a payment for (amount) today in order to avoid further collection action? [LISTEN]”.

Insurance

Insurance cold calling script template looks like this:

“Hello, Mr. Smith. This is Jane (first name of agent). I’m getting back to you about your request, for the new blank information. I want to confirm some data. Looks like your favorite hobby is fishing? (Golf, Traveling, whatever you know about the customer). I’m the local field underwriter, I’ll be in your area on Friday.

Should I drop this information off in the morning or in the afternoon? Which is better for you?”.

Cold calling scripts for insurance vary, yet this cold call sales script example gives you real how-to ideas.

Appointments setting

If you want to achieve an appointment against all odds, look at this cold call script to get an appointment from any customer.

“Hey (first name of prospect customer, for example, John), did I catch you at the bad time there? [LISTEN]. Well fair enough, would it be okay if I took 30 seconds of your time? And if after it doesn’t make sense we could just hang up.

What’s that sounds fair?” [LISTEN]. Okay, So I’m not a sales strategist who works with mid-sized companies to create a game plan for dramatically increasing sales. And my clients typically come to me when they’re losing sales to low-cost competitors.

Their teams are inconsistently hitting sales targets, or finally, they’re just frustrated with a lack of results with their existing sales team. Do any of these issues ring true to you? (Listen about sales goals of competitors). Tell me a little more about that. [LISTEN]

Whatever had you done to fix this? [LISTEN]. John, can I make a recommendation? (Probably you hear yes).

Why don’t we set up an appointment and get together face-to-face? I’d say it takes you about sixty minutes or so, and we can talk this further. I think there are some ideas that I could share with you to really help you with this challenge. I mean does it make any sense?”./em>

Solar

Here's an example of effective cold call scripts for solar selling.

“Hi there, I’m looking for Mr.( first name). [LISTEN] Mr. Smith, my name is (name of agent), from (name of company), how are you doing today? [LISTEN, IN CASE OF ANY OBJECTION YOU CAN SAY]I’m giving you free information, I’m not selling you the solar panels.

I’m not selling you anything. I’m calling you in reference to the government rebate program of the solar panels for homeowners at no cost at all. So we’re looking for homeowners who pay the high electric bill to give them a free code on how they can save money up to 60%. Would you provide me with your electric provider?”.

Bonus

How to write an additional cold call script that will generate tens of thousands of dollars? Take these other examples of cold call scripts to achieve more ideas developing your own cold call scripts.

  • “What’s important to you in the agent you choose to represent you?”
  • “If there was an advantage…in time…marketing exposure…would it be worth…just 15 minutes of your time for us to get together and learn more about that?”
  • “If the homes not selling…It’s not compelling to the buyers in today’s market”
  • “Have you any thoughts of selling? and Do you know anyone who’s had thoughts of selling? Most agents have 1 pricing strategy… we believe there’s actually three and what we have to do is to decide which is the better option for you:1) We can price the property above the comps; 2) We price it at fair market value; 3) Or we actually create a bidding war by pricing it just below fair market value." 

Of course, you're free to create your unique sample cold call scripts. You need to look at the effectiveness and change your cold call scripts if they stop working.

What it is all about

The successful cold call script is a highly profitable tool for agents both in outbound and inbound calling. Cold call scripts give necessary information to agents in stressful situations when there is important to find fast answers.

You need to constantly monitor your agent’s conversations, listen to their pitches and define the powerful sides or flaws to design the best cold call scripts. You need to adapt your cold call scripts for the appropriate conversations in your niche and even read a cold call script aloud to make sure they flow smoothly and naturally.

However, cold call scripts are not only the source for a successful cold calling campaign, it’s also the matter of intelligence and software of agents.

Voiptime cloud company constantly educates its customers on how to successfully initiate outbound and inbound call campaigns. We strive to make our customers more intelligent and ensure their constant financial growth by applying our tested telesales techniques that generated millions of dollars.

The other valuable tool for successful cold calling besides cold call scripts is call center software that shows a cold call script for agents during the call and excludes a chore from the work of an agent. And this is our true expertise. Voiptime Cloud for more than a decade delivers top-tier software for the needs of small and mid-sized businesses to boost success rates of their cold calling strategy and help acquire more potential buyers.

Our main goal is to keep you both intelligent and armed with relevant tools and scripts for your call center. Would you like to try this amazing call center software and give your agents almost unlimited weapons for their day-by-day challenges?

Just click get the quote below, fill the form and our team will contact you as soon as possible and you’ll be ready to successfully accomplish cold calls, using the latest scripts and tools within 48 hours.

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