2 MINUTES.

That is all you get on a cold call.

And that too if it’s your lucky day. Otherwise, the call could be shorter than that.

As an SDR, you have got the responsibility to nail this first call with as many prospects as possible and set the stage right for the further sales process.

Given the limited time, we understand that you’ve got to carefully plan and prepare every step that you take and every word that you utter. Therefore, we have composed a set of tips in this blog that will help you with the latest techniques to navigate the sales cold calls smoothly.

Tips on Cold calling that SDRs should live by

1. Do a thorough research

Make sure that you do thorough research about the prospect that you are going to ring up. Try to find out everything about the prospect and their company. Like,

• The title of the prospect in her company
• Her level of influence in their company
• How big is the company? How many territories is it spread across?
• What is the annual revenue of the company?
• What is its growth rate year over year?
• What are the prospects’ needs or pain points?
• What are the consequences of not solving those pain points?
• Have they tried any other solution before?
• Would they have the budget for your product or service?

Leverage the prospect’s online information and social media accounts to gather answers to these questions before you make a call to them.

2. Master your 15-second pitch

We all know that nothing can be sold in 15 seconds. But a 15 seconds pitch during the cold call can make or break your deal. One of the most notable cold calling tips is to explain your company’s core competencies quickly to keep the person on the other line engaged.

In this pitch, you need to,

• Cover what your company does
• Talk about the specific products or services that are completely unique to your company
• Talk about the work you’ve done in the prospect’s field of work or industry
• Talk about the value that brings to the customers

A possible script could read:

“I am [name] from [company name], and we’ve done a lot of work for companies in [industry]. We’re in this [industry], and we’ve done a couple of things pertaining to [value to your customer].

3. Address your position in the industry

Another one of our cold calling tips is to mention,

• Where does your product fit in the competitive landscape
• How does it stand out from your competitors
• And what sets itself apart from other products in the market

For example, you may sit in an industry with two competitor products (A and C).

• Product A has some inaccuracies, but it’s inexpensive
• Product C is accurate but too expensive for most businesses to justify

So, your script may look like this:

“We have a product that solves [problem/value prop] in your industry and it’s not Product A or Product C.” Then pause.

Once you’ve established the set-up, state that you are proposing option B (which is your product). Pause one last time here to wait for questions from their end.

4. Smile When you Talk

This is one of the best practices that you can inculcate while cold calling. Yes, we’re asking you to take “smiling and dialing” quite literally. In fact, add this as a note in your cold calling script so that you remember to smile while talking.

You might be thinking that you won’t be visible to your prospect in a phone call, but trust me smiling affects how we speak. When you smile while talking,

• You sound more positive and friendly
• You will be able to build rapport with the prospect easily
• It also reduces your own stress level

This is the reason why it has made it on our list of most important cold calling tips.

Additionally, research has shown a strong correlation between smiling and positive business outcomes. Because

• Prospects will be able to discern your smile over the phone
• They will perceive you to be friendly and approachable
• And this ultimately improves your chances of closing that deal

5. Speak only one or two sentences at a time

Just like you need to master your sales prospecting techniques, you also need to master being short and concise with their words. Studies also show that the brain can only hang onto 20-30 seconds of information at any given time. By that measure, your prospect will likely only retain 30 seconds of a fifteen-minute conversation. So, keep your conversational sentences over the phone short and to the point.

6. Pique curiosity in voicemails

With 97% of calls now going to voicemail, another one of the important cold calling tips is to know that it’s crucial to master the art of leaving voicemails that invoke curiosity. To do this, you can try this method of stating your name at the end of your message.

Here is an example voicemail:

7. Have no goal

Get ready to face more rejections. Because cold calling usually involves hearing more “NOs” than “YESes”. So by preparing yourself to face more rejections, you will be able to overcome your fear and nervousness.

Cold Calling Script for the SDRs

Prepare your cold calling script by inculcating these unique techniques in order to make a stellar script that will set you apart from the other cold callers.

1. Call Opener

This might come as a surprise to you, but hear me out. This is going to make sense. Asking “How’ve you been?” is what’s called a “pattern interrupt.” Meaning it breaks the standard cold calling lines that we’re taught to expect like: “Can I have a minute of your time?” This “pattern interrupt” temporarily scrambles your prospect’s brain.

So, instead of defaulting to “not interested” they’ll hang on to your call a little longer to understand what’s going on. And the data also proves that: Cold calls using the opening line “How’ve you been” are 6.6X more successful in getting a meeting booked.

2. Use a little humor

Because it’s a great way to get your prospects roped in.

Basically, we assume that asking “Is now a bad time?” makes the prospects feel in control. So they are more likely to comply. This might sound good in theory.

However, the data shows that asking “Is now a bad time?” on a cold call has the lowest correlation with meetings booked (40% below the baseline).

Instead, try asking “Is now a good time?” and then soften your ask, give a subtle laugh and say– “If there is such a thing…. ;)”

This line, first signals to buyers that you acknowledge the interruption. And, second, it helps you stand out from the slew of cold calls your prospect is already receiving on a daily basis.

3. Avoid asking questions that require lengthy answers

Open-ended questions are great. They allow prospects to give rich, juicy answers that give sellers (you) plenty of information to use later. But cold calls are a different beast.

On a cold call, prospects are constantly evaluating whether the effort-to-reward ratio is worth it for them to stay on the line. And making a tall ask like “Can you tell me about your business priorities this year?” isn’t going to help keep that calculation in your favor. Instead, opt for easy-to-answer questions that can help you steer the conversation and save the questions pertaining to the discovery of priorities to the second meeting

4. Call to Action

This is what we call an “interest CTA” which is sent in cold emails to the prospects. These interest CTAs always beat out specific CTAs. This is a new approach to prospecting where we try to sell the conversation and not the meeting.

Because, asking for a meeting = asking for the prospect’s time. And that’s a scarce resource.

But interest isn’t a scarce resource (in fact, it isn’t even a resource).

So, instead of asking “Would you be interested in booking a meeting to see how we can help?”

Try asking “Does it make sense for me to give you more detail about how we do that?”

Here, you aren’t asking for the prospect’s time. You’re just showing what’s in it for them (i.e. selling the conversation).

5. Secure Next Steps

OK. They’re interested in what you’re selling. They even agreed to meet with you. Now what?

Don’t hang up yet.

Instead of staying at a verbal agreement (for example, “Ok, sounds good, send me an invite”) now is the time to get the meeting on the books.

Here’s what I mean:

Nudge them to accept the invitation before the call ends.

A gentle prompt like “Do you have your calendar in front of you?” followed by “I just sent you the invite, do you see it yet?” is the last push you need to close the call.

6. Don’t leave empty-handed

Maybe your cold call didn’t work out (this time). Don’t be disheartened.

You got this.

Leave with something.

Want to know about the open-ended questions that can get your prospects talking?

Open-ended sales questions that your reps can use to get the prospects talking

Want to know how to understand the pain points of the customers?

How to Understand Customer Pain Points?

Learn how to overcome the objections from the prospects

How to overcome Prospects’ Resistance?

Learn about the techniques to build a good customer rapport

4 Techniques To Build Rapport Virtually

Learn about the hunting and farming selling techniques

Hunters Vs Farmers: Who are they and why do you need them both on your Sales Team?

Gamification of Hunting and Farming in Sales