How to create a sales call script [Free template]. Download your free sales script template and get started right away. GET YOUR FREE SALES SCRIPT NOW. Here's your FREE template on how to create a sales phone script that works for making cold calls in 2019. Proven script structure that will help you make better B2B sales calls & close more deals. Agents using call scripts is common within the Contact Centre space. Get in right and the call can flow nicely. How to Develop the Best Script for Your Call Centre. Monthly Forecasting Excel Spreadsheet Template. Multi-Channel Contact Centre Calculator Tool – Phone Email Chat. Latest From the Forum.
You have your list of names and phone numbers. Before the end of the day, you need to make 100 calls. Your sales manager has given your team a big pep talk encouraging you to dial, dial, dial.
Now all you need is a cold call script. And not just any script … the best cold call script ever.
But before I give you the keys to the castle, let's learn more about cold calling and look at a typical cold call. (If you're in a hurry, skip to the script.)
What is cold calling?
Once you have a list of prospects to call, it's time to reach out. If you've never spoken to these contacts before, your outreach would be considered a cold call.
A cold call is when you reach out to an individual you've never spoken with before, with the intent to sell them your product or service.
So, what does a typical cold call look like in sales?
Sample Cold Call Script
**The prospect's phone rings**
Prospect:Hello?
Rep:Aja Frost, my name is Dan from outbound.
(1.5-second pause)
How are you doing today?
I am calling about our software that helps you with the strategic implementation of your biggest problems from Outbound Company.
Is this a priority for you today?
Prospect:Actually, this isn't a great time …
Rep: Are you interested in a product demo of how we are in the magic quadrant? We have won all these awards.
Prospect: We're not interested.
Rep: Are you the decision maker? Give me two hours and we can get you going -- unless you don't have a budget.
**Click**
Don't laugh. There are lots of calls like these taking place each and every day. And you probably won't be surprised to learn they convert at an abominable rate: Less than 1%.
That means if you call 100 people using this kind of script, you'll only get a second call with one of them.
Now, if you are calling your prospects and saying the same thing to all of them, essentially pushing your product -- just stop.
It probably sucks for you, but it's worse for your prospects, your brand, and your productivity.
If you follow this script (the best cold call script ever, am I right?!?), your connect rate will go up to 14-20%. Way better than a measly 1%.
How to Create a Cold Call Script
1. Identify 2-3 verticals.
First, you need to cherry-pick who you'll call. Your time is valuable -- don't waste it on markets that aren't a good fit for your product. Think about who your best customers are (or who you've had the most success calling in the past) and look for common attributes.
For example, maybe your verticals are hospitality and retail. Or maybe they're finance and banking. Once you've figured out which verticals to target, you're ready for step 2.
2. Identify 20 good-fit prospects.
It should now be much easier to find specific companies or people who could use your product or service. Just use LinkedIn. Let's say you're looking for hotel companies who might benefit from your on-site goat yoga classes (who doesn't want to do Shavasana with a baby goat while they're on vacation.)
Search 'People who work at hotel' and/or 'General manager' with the 'Hospitality' filter.
Voila -- a list of potential customers.
Bonus points if you look for local or regional companies. People love to do business with other locals, which I recently observed when I was in Birmingham, Alabama. If you're in Alabama, you want to give your business to other Alabamians. (Roll tide!)
3. Research each prospect.
I know, I know, you'd rather just pick up the phone and call. But trust me, spending just a minute upfront will make you wildly more successful. So do it!
You're already on LinkedIn. Check out each prospect's profile so you know:
- What their company does
- What they do specifically
- If you've helped a similar company in the past
- One 'fun fact' about them
One thing I never fail to do: Look up how to pronounce their name. Nothing makes people more annoyed and less likely to listen than hearing their name butchered by some fast-talking rep.
Some people add how they pronounce their name on Facebook. If your prospect hasn't, try PronounceNames.com.
And if you're still out of luck? Ask, 'I want to be sure I'm saying your name right. How do you pronounce it?'
The Best Cold Calling Script Ever
You may have noticed you're not really cold calling anymore … You've winnowed down your list and done some homework all before picking up the phone. I promise you, my friend, this extra work will be worth it.
Now let's get to the script.
1. Introduce yourself.
First, say your name and which company you work for. You need to sound confident and energetic. I can't tell you how many cold calls I listen to that begin with, 'This is mlkjdkfj from mnxcmvn.'
The prospect goes, 'What? Who??' Right from the start, the call is going poorly.
You don't need to yell your greeting, but you do need to articulate.
After you say, 'This is [name] from [company],' pause.
This is hard for cold callers. They want to jump straight into their pitch. But I want you to take a deep breath and say nothing for eight whole seconds.
While you're pausing, your prospect is searching their brain for who you could be. It sounds like you know them -- are you a client? A former coworker? A current one?
2. Establish rapport.
The call is already deviating from the standard cold call. Then you hit them with a question to establish some rapport. Your goal: Get ‘em talking and prove you're familiar with them and their company.
Here are some sample questions:
- So, [prospect name], I see you went to [university]. How did you like it?
- Wow, you've been at [company] for [X years]. How did you get started there?
- Congrats on your recent promotion. How is the new role?
A good question is topical and makes someone smile. If they seem receptive to chatting, ask them a follow-up question.
For instance, if they say, 'I loved going to Cal Poly; the English department was fantastic,' you can respond, 'That's great, should I recommend it to my niece who wants to be a writer?'
Eventually, they'll say, 'Alright, why are you calling?'
I cackle. Seriously.
They'll laugh because you're clearly having fun.
Answer, 'Sometimes I forget.' Laugh again.
Trust me, this always lightens the mood. (Unless your prospect is in a major hurry, in which case, you should get the point.)
3. Use a positioning statement.
A positioning statement shows your prospect you work with similar companies and understand their challenges. You're not talking about yourself, which is what most cold callers do.
Here's a hypothetical positioning statement: 'I work with sales managers in hospitality with five to eight reps on their team. My customers are typically looking to increase rep productivity. Does that sound like you?'
Since you've pre-qualified them, they'll always say 'yes.'
Simply say, 'Tell me more about that.'
It's all about them, baby! Now they'll explain their pain points and objectives -- valuable information to start building your pitch.
Cold Calling Script Variation
As a sales leader at HubSpot, I love assisting newer reps. I've been in their shoes and want to help them close big deals. It's good for the company, and it's good for their careers. To do that, I use a slightly altered process and script.
We have a team culture of 'just ask,' encouraging junior reps to reach out to sales leaders for help getting meetings with CEOs or prospects at Fortune 500 companies. Once a rep asks for my help, I ask for something in return: The website URL, the LinkedIn profile of the person and company I'm speaking with, and their HubSpot CRM record.
This allows me to quickly familiarize myself with the person and company I'm about to call. Once the phone rings and the prospect answers, I use the greeting from above, 'This is [name] from [company],' pause.
If you're calling a C-level executive or even a mid-level employee at a large organization, it's likely you had to get past an assistant or front desk, which is where your senior title helped. Gatekeepers are more likely to pass along 'Dan Tyre, director of sales at HubSpot' than '[Name], sales rep at HubSpot.'
They'll know who you are, but they'll still be curious why you called. Keep them in suspense a bit longer. As in the script above, I'll spend a few minutes asking about them. Here are a few more questions I turn to:
- 'Are you a cat or a dog person?'
- 'What's your favorite breakfast?'
- 'What's the hottest restaurant in [Prospect's city]?'
When the conversation turns to why I called, I say, 'I called to help.' This line usually stops the prospect in their tracks. Then, I follow up with, 'My sales rep asked me to start a conversation with you.' This allows me to easily hand the conversation off to the rep, if the conversation goes well.
From there, I use a positioning statement like the one above: 'I work with sales managers in hospitality with five to eight reps on their team. My customers are typically looking to increase rep productivity. Does that sound like you?'
The pre-qualified prospect will answer 'Yes,' and that's when my active listening turns on and I say, 'Tell me more about that.' Once they've finished explaining their pain points, I repeat what I've heard back to them: 'So, what I'm hearing is …' and offer to set up a discovery call.
Usually, the prospect agrees and throws out a time weeks or months in the future. I often reply with, 'How about tomorrow?' Most of the time, prospects respond with, 'Sure, what time?' I'll check the junior rep's calendar and get something scheduled.
Everyone wants to have a better day. By making your prospects smile or laugh, giving them a chance to talk about their problems, and showing them you might have a solution, you'll improve their days. That means stronger relationships and ultimately, more sales.
Cold Calling Script Template
Ready to start cold calling? Here's a cold calling script template you can use to get started. Download the template below.
Cold Call Script Template for Microsoft Word
Cold Calling Tips
- Practice your cold call script.
- Focus on your goal.
- Do your research.
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Listen to the prospect.
Now that you have your script, here are some tips to keep in mind.
1. Practice your cold call script.
While you don't want to sound robotic and rehearsed, you do want to repeat your script so you don't forget it. The better you know goals of the script, you'll be able to think on your feet if the prospect comes back with a comment or question you hadn't planned for.
With each call, you'll get a chance to practice your cold calling script -- and you'll learn strategies to make future cold calls more effective.
2. Focus on your goal.
The goal of each cold call is to introduce yourself to the prospect and set up a discovery call with them. Remind yourself of the desired end result. This will help you stay on track as you're cold calling prospects.
3. Do your research.
Before you even think about picking up the phone, you should have lots of information about the prospect you're reaching out to.
You should know what their company does, their role at the company, if you've worked with a similar company in the past, and additional facts you can use to build rapport with them.
Where did they go to school? Do you know a friend or colleague? Did they recently attend an industry event? These are some rapport-building topics you can use to start the conversation.
4. Ask open-ended questions.
Avoid asking 'yes or no' questions. Instead, open-ended questions will keep the conversation going, especially when asking the prospect about their pain points and goals.
5. Listen to the prospect.
It can be easy to get lost in the conversation, but make sure you're listening carefully to the prospect's responses. When appropriate, repeat back what they said about their company or goals. This helps you clarify what was said and shows the prospect that you truly care about what they're saying.
With these cold call tips, script, and template, you'll be well-equipped to tackle your call list. To learn more, learn how to make prospecting calls next.
Whether you have a sales script already or your inside sales representatives are left to their own devices, chances are tweaking your template can make meaningful changes to your productivity right away. But while making a good script isn’t rocket science, there are a few tried and true methods of improving or creating a phone script from scratch.
Use a Natural Greeting
Sales scripts go wrong when they don’t cover even the simplest of exchanges. Does your sales script start with a greeting — and does it feel natural? If your introduction is several sentences long, the receiver won’t feel like it is natural. It may just feel intrusive. Make sure your sales reps are using a natural, friendly greeting every time and you’ll automatically capture more interest.
Create a Structure for Every Telephone Exchange
Regardless of your sales pitch or reason for calling, every script should follow a basic format for structure. In fact, if you can’t follow this structure for a particular pitch, you may want to reconsider whether you’re ready to start selling it:
- Pique interest — Why should the prospect care about your call?
- Share the highlight reel — Cover the context that makes your call valuable
- Confirm interest — Pause and confirm there is actually interest or perceived value (or that they’re listening!)
- Have a discussion — Ask if they have any questions or specific concerns that you might be able to assist with (but don’t act like you don’t know enough about them to have justified your reason for calling)
- Determine needs and opportunities — Is now actually a time to “sell” or should you extend your communication? Are they in the market or just in research phase?
- Setup the next step — It may not be a sale but all sales scripts should end with an actionable next step to advance the activity
Be Ready for Questions
The most avoidable, and therefore most offensive, sales script “fail” is a lack of depth for answering questions. If you have a prospective customer engaged enough to be asking questions, you absolutely must be prepared to answer them fully — or at the very least find resources to assist while you are still on the call. Ending a call with a prospect that didn’t have questions answered is basically a lost opportunity.
Avoid radio silence by creating a glossary or appendix to add to your sales script, with frequently asked questions, terms and resources for easy access while on a call. If you’re particularly forward thinking, consider creating a shared database or wiki that all inside sales agents can update and expand as issues arise. Live internal chat to inside resources and associates can also assist with real-time information access.
If all else fails, make sure you have a dedicated support person or direct access to a help desk to assist your prospective customer. Avoid the cardinal sin of call transferring by making sure the caller information is transferred with the call itself. Call center software can help make sure both the call and the information reach the appropriate party intact.
Test and Role Play Your Sales Script
Make sure to constantly and consistently test your inside sales scripts by allocating some of your sales training time to role playing with the scripts. You should have each sales rep play both customer and sales rep, acting out issues and buyer personas as are common to your company. This is an excellent way to note potential pitfalls in scripts or handicaps in sales approaches.
Testing also applies to any business tools you use as well. If you use call center software with your CRM, make sure that your role-playing includes demos of the software so your staff gets accustomed to using the tools and data to improve their phone interactions. And take note of any hiccups in transfers or data analysis — this is a much better time to address problems than in a live customer scenario.
Call Centre Sales Scripts Templates
Utilize Active Listening
Sales Call Centre Scripts
Your sales calls are your greatest source of insight into the effectiveness of your sales script. Make sure to listen into calls in real-time as well as in playback. Listen to good calls as well as bad calls to make sure you have a complete picture of what is working and what is not. Take all insights and data and don’t be afraid to make quick, decisive changes to your script. There is no need to adapt slowly if you recognize certain elements are a problem.
Call Centre Sample Scripts
You can also use listening techniques to advance training and encourage collaboration between sales reps. Team up reps with different approaches who may learn new tips and tricks from each other — and document what works really well so you can include it in new script versions for the future. Request direct or blind feedback from customers and sales representatives to survey your scripts and gauge effectiveness. In short, test, test, and test some more.
Call Centre Scripts
The most important takeaway for creating a sales script is to structure, implement, test and tweak — over and over and over. Don’t be afraid to keep what works and throw out what doesn’t—you aren’t helping anyone by hanging on to poor performing scripts. Consider using business tools such as CRMs and call center software to help facilitate even greater customer experiences. Then encourage everyone to actively participate in the pursuit of the perfect script through ongoing development and adjustments. Your sales quotas will thank you!