Cold Call Script

Cold Call Script

When to activate

• You are executing B2B outbound cold calls and need a structure that fits 60 seconds without triggering sales-call defensiveness.
• You have a specific trigger or pain observation about a prospect (not a generic pitch).
• You are running SDR, account executive, or business development outreach campaigns.
• You are recording voicemails, handling no-shows, or responding to in-call objections.

When NOT to use

• Your product solves a generic pain ("easier workflow management") — you need a specific, observed trigger first.
• The prospect has already scheduled a call or requested a demo — use a briefing guide instead.
• You are selling to warm leads or referrals — they already expect the call; skip the pattern interrupt and permission earn.
• You do not have 15 seconds of specific relevance research — the call will fail; rescope the list.

Instructions

5-Step Call Structure (60 seconds total)

Step 1: Pattern Interrupt (5 seconds)

Break the "sales call" script expectation with a genuine, low-pressure opener. Your goal is control rebalance — give them agency and reduce defensiveness.

Template:

• "Did I catch you at a bad time?" — Most honest version; they feel in control.
• "Quick question — is now an okay time, or should I call back?" — Explicit permission ask upfront.
• "I have a quick thought based on [specific thing I saw], but first — is this a bad time?" — Hook + permission in one.

Benchmark: If they say "yes, bad time," say: "Perfect — when's better this week?" and set a callback. No pushback. This builds credibility for step 5.

Step 2: Earn Permission (5 seconds)

Declare your time boundary and make it easy for them to hang up. This paradoxically increases listen-through because they know the cost.

Template:

• "I'll take 30 seconds. If it's not relevant, you can hang up."
• "I have one specific thing — takes 30 seconds to say, then you decide if it's worth a conversation."

Benchmark: After this line, they are statistically more likely to engage than if you skip it. Never exceed 30 seconds on this permission frame.

Step 3: Establish Relevance (15 seconds)

Name their industry + their role + the specific problem you observe. Make it personal, observed, specific — not templated.

Template structure:

• "I work with [industry], specifically [role], and one thing we've noticed [past tense: specific trigger or problem observed]."
• "You're doing [specific thing I can see], and we've noticed a lot of [industry] teams struggle with [observed pain], especially when [specific context]."

Concrete example:

• ❌ "We help SaaS companies grow faster."
• ✅ "I work with B2B SaaS founders, and I've noticed that once you hit $2M ARR, your customer onboarding process usually becomes a bottleneck — especially if your onboarding is still email-based."

Benchmark: Spend 10-12 seconds here; leave 3 seconds for them to process. Do not pitch a solution.

Step 4: Social Proof (10 seconds)

One sentence about a similar company result. No product name, no jargon, no percentages without context.

Template:

• "We worked with [similar company name/type], and they cut their [same problem you named] by [measurable outcome] in [timeframe]."

Concrete example:

• ❌ "Our platform increased retention by 40%."
• ✅ "Similar to your company, one of our clients moved their onboarding to [our model], and their new-customer time-to-first-value dropped from 3 weeks to 5 days."

Benchmark: 8-10 seconds. This is NOT a pitch — it's proof that the problem is solvable. No "I think you'd benefit from us."

Step 5: Open Question (25 seconds)

Single, open-ended question about their situation. Stop talking. Let them own the next 25 seconds.

Template:

• "How are you currently handling [the specific pain you named]?"
• "What does [outcome they want] actually look like for you?"
• "Walk me through — when [trigger scenario] happens, what's the process?"

Concrete example:

• ❌ "Are you interested in a demo?"
• ✅ "How does customer onboarding work right now — is it a single person doing it, or a team?"

Benchmark: This is the setup for a real conversation, not a close. Your job is to get them talking so you can identify if there is a real fit. The best calls end with them asking you a question back.

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Voicemail Script (<20 seconds)

Leave a voicemail only if:

• You have not reached them after 2-3 call attempts on different days/times.
• You have a specific reason to call (not "I wanted to connect").
• You mention a follow-up method.

Template structure:

1. Name + company (2 seconds): "Hi [Name], this is [Your Name] from [Company]."
2. One specific reason (5-7 seconds): "I'm calling because [single trigger or observation you researched]."
3. One actionable question (3-5 seconds): "Quick question — [single, text-able or email-able question]."
4. Call-to-action (2-3 seconds): "Feel free to text or email me back, or I'll send you something via email and we can connect then. My number is [number]."

Concrete example: "Hi Sarah, this is Chris from [Company]. I'm calling because I noticed you just hired a new VP of Sales, and I've worked with three other [industry] teams through that transition. Quick question — when you're onboarding new sales leaders, is knowledge transfer a bottleneck? Feel free to text me back at [number] or just ignore this and I'll send you something via email. Talk soon."

Benchmark: 18-22 seconds total. No rambling. If they don't call back, your email has already landed and given them context for why you're reaching out.

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No-Show Follow-Up (send within 5 minutes of scheduled time)

If they miss a scheduled call, send within 5 minutes. Acknowledge + reset.

Template:

• Line 1: Acknowledge the miss without blame. "I had us down for [time] — looks like we missed each other."
• Line 2: Offer 2 specific new times (next 3-5 business days, 15-30 min apart). "How about [Tuesday 2pm] or [Wednesday 10am]?"
• Line 3: Lower friction. "Either works, just let me know."

Concrete example: "Hi Sarah — I had us down for 2pm. Looks like we missed each other. How about Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 10am instead? Either works."

Benchmark: 3 lines maximum. No re-pitch, no "wanted to touch base." They already know why you're meeting; they just forgot or had a conflict.

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In-Call Objections

Objection: "Send me information"

Your response: "Happy to — what would make you actually read it?"

Logic: They are not asking for a PDF. They are asking you to leave them alone. Force a real criterion.

Follow-up options (based on their answer):

• If they say "I'll read it when I have time": "That never happens. How about this — I'll send it, and we schedule 15 minutes next week to walk through it together?"
• If they name a real criterion ("I need to see pricing" or "I want to know about integrations"): Give them that one thing, then ask: "Once you see that, is there any reason we wouldn't talk next week?"

Benchmark: 70% of "send me info" closes with a scheduled follow-up if you handle it this way.

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Objection: "Not interested"

Your response: "Fair — can I ask what you're currently using for [the specific problem I named]?"

Logic: They are not saying no to the outcome. They are saying no to talking to you. Get them talking about their current state.

Follow-up (after they answer):

• "How's that working?" (Neutral, open.)
• If they say it works well: "Great — what would need to change for you to explore something different?"
• If they mention a friction: "That's exactly what we've been able to fix for [similar company]. Would a 20-minute call next week to walk through how we'd do it differently make sense?"

Benchmark: 50% of "not interested" reopens if you stay curious about their current state instead of pitching.

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Objection: "No budget"

Your response: "Totally understand. What would need to change for that to be a conversation?"

Logic: Budget objections are often timing objections. Understand the real constraint.

Follow-up (based on their answer):

• If it's a timing issue: "When does budget planning happen for [department]? I'll circle back then."
• If it's a priority issue: "What would need to happen for [outcome] to move up the priority list?"
• If it's truly "we don't have money": "Fair. What's the biggest problem you're living with right now because of that constraint? I might have a workaround."

Benchmark: 60% of "no budget" calls move to a follow-up conversation if you acknowledge the constraint and ask what would change it.

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Example

Scenario

You are an SDR at a product team collaboration tool. Your list segment: mid-market tech companies (50–300 people) that just hired a VP of Engineering in the past 90 days. Your trigger: new VP engineering hire often means onboarding workflows are a pain point.

Call Flow

Dialer call connects.

Step 1 — Pattern Interrupt (5 sec): "Hey Marcus, did I catch you at a bad time?" (If yes → "Cool, when's better this week?" and hang up. Schedule callback. If no → continue.)

Step 2 — Earn Permission (5 sec): "Perfect. I'll take 30 seconds. If it's not relevant, you can hang up."

Step 3 — Establish Relevance (15 sec): "I work with tech teams, specifically VPs of Engineering, and I noticed you just got promoted into that role at [Company]. One thing we've seen across teams like yours is that the first 60 days of onboarding new engineers is almost always a knowledge-transfer bottleneck — a lot of your time goes to repeating context that's scattered across Slack, docs, and video walkthroughs."

Step 4 — Social Proof (10 sec): "We worked with a similar team at [past client], and they centralized all that onboarding context in one place. Reduced their new-engineer time-to-first-commit from 5 days to 2, which freed Marcus up to actually lead instead of be a walking wiki."

Step 5 — Open Question (25 sec): "How do you currently handle onboarding new engineers into your stack right now?" (Stop. Let them talk. They will either say "it's a mess" or "actually we have a system." Either way, they are now in conversation, not defense.)

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If They Say "Send Me Info"

You: "Happy to — what would make you actually read it?"

Them: "I'll review it this week."

You: "That usually doesn't happen with PDFs. How about this — I'll send you a 2-minute overview video instead, and we schedule 15 minutes next Tuesday to walk through it and see if it even makes sense for your team. Does 2pm or 4pm work?"

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If They Say "Not Interested"

You: "Fair — can I ask what tool or process you're using right now for onboarding?"

Them: "We use Notion and a checklist."

You: "How's that working?"

Them: "It's okay, but we're always updating it and people miss steps."

You: "That's the exact friction we've fixed for other teams. Would a quick 20-minute call next week to show you how we'd solve that make sense?"

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Voicemail (left after 3 unanswered call attempts)

"Hi Marcus, this is [Your Name] from [Company]. I'm calling because you just took the VP of Engineering role at [Company], and I work with teams in that transition. One quick question — when you're onboarding new engineers, how much of your time goes to repeating context they could've found in docs? Feel free to text me back at [number], or I'll send you something over email and we can connect then. Talk soon."

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No-Show Follow-Up (sent 5 minutes after missed call time)

"Hi Marcus — had us down for 2pm. Looks like we missed each other. How about Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 10am instead? Either works."

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Benchmarks & Metrics

• Connect rate: 15–25% of dials reach a live person at mid-market. Use the pattern interrupt and permission earn to move 60–70% of connects to a real conversation.
• Objection recovery: Follow the three templates above and you will move 50–70% of objections to scheduled follow-ups instead of hard closes.
• Voicemail follow-up rate: 5–8% of voicemails result in a callback. Your job is to make that voicemail context for your first email, not a sales pitch.
• No-show recovery: Send within 5 minutes. 40% will reschedule if you acknowledge and offer clear options.
• Call-to-close timeline: 5-step calls close in 3–5 touches after the first conversation, not on the call. This is discovery, not closing.