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B2B Sales Cold Calling Script: Prospect Into B2B Companies

It’s Monday morning. You’re a sales rep and you’ve just got into the office.

You’ve settled down at your desk and your team leader has given you the big sales pep talk. He wants you to hit the phone as hard as you can. You’ve got 100 cold calls to make by the end of the day.

It’s time to smile and dial!

But...what do you say?

It’s a problem that a lot of SDRs struggle with.

Luckily, help is at hand!

We dug into the Cognism archives and found our best-ever cold calling script.

This script is at the heart of our sales strategy - our SDRs use it every day to prospect successfully and book meetings with clients.

And now, it's all yours!

Get the ultimate cold calling script for B2B sales - use the menu or scroll 👇

The B2B sales cold calling script: training video


The structure

The script is broken down into the following 5 segments:

B2B Sales Cold Calling Script Infographic

It’s important to stress though that this is used as a general guide, not an absolute rule.

At Cognism, we encourage all our SDRs to find their individuality in selling. We all convey our messages in different ways, using different tones and vocabulary. The structure is there to help our reps with the flow of the conversation, not to pin down their every word.

After all, the last thing any prospect wants to hear is someone reading robotically down the phone - that’s the surest route to cold call failure. When it comes to cold calling, one size definitely doesn’t fit all.

1. Opening

This is the very start of your cold call.

More often than not, if you’re calling a senior-level prospect, it’s the gatekeeper (typically a PA or secretary) who will pick up the phone.

“Hi, it’s (your name) from Cognism. Is (first name) available?”

The gatekeeper will likely respond with:

“What’s it regarding?”

This is your chance to get creative. If it’s a first-time call, here are some of the replies we use:

  • “New business.”
  • “Your client acquisition process.”
  • “How you find new clients.”

Think about how you can make this work with your offering.

If it’s a follow-up, try:

  • “Oh, I’m just following up on an email I sent to (first name).”
  • “I’m just chasing up on some emails. They’ll know what it’s regarding.”

When speaking to the gatekeeper, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. It could make the difference between being put through to the prospect, or never having your message passed on. 

One great tip which we teach our SDRs is to always sound senior. If the gatekeeper thinks you’re a management-level peer, rather than a salesperson, they’re much more likely to transfer your call.

Assuming your call is transferred and the prospect picks up…

“Hi, it’s (your name) from Cognism. How are you?”

“Good.”

“Great! Look, (first name), I’ll keep it brief as I appreciate you’re busy. I came across (company name) online and I can see you do (B2B sales/marketing/other).

“Have you got 30 seconds for me to explain the nature of my call?”

It’s vital to establish rapport early on in your cold call. Acknowledging that the prospect’s time is limited, and asking for their permission to continue, is a good way to start.

2. Pitch

Once you’ve got the all-clear from the prospect, it’s time to pitch.

Again, the pitch isn’t something that’s set in stone. It can change depending on the SDR and who they’re talking to. But there are 3 things it must be:

  • Clear - the prospect must be able to understand it. Make sure you adapt the pitch for each prospect. It must be relevant for them and their industry.
  • Concise - think of it as a springboard to further the conversation; you don’t need to reveal absolutely everything about your business. One good tip is to think of your pitch as a tweet - what can you convey in 280 characters or less?
  • Easy to remember - you don’t want to get tongue-tied or lose the flow on your cold call. Keep in mind 2-3 facts or stats and use them every time.

Here's an example:

“We help companies like yours prospect and gain new clients by giving you access to our lead generation tool that contains over 400 million B2B profiles.”

And another:

“We provide companies like yours with direct and accurate contact details for key decision-makers in your target industries and locations. Ultimately saving you an abundance of time prospecting.”

When you’ve delivered your pitch, it’s time to progress to the next crucial stage 👇

3. Questions

Asking open-ended questions (questions that don’t require a simple “yes” or “no” answer) is one of the most essential things any cold caller can do.

In any cold call, the prospect must do 70% of the talking, while the salesperson should do only 30%. 

Why is this?

Because the more the prospect talks and feels they’re being listened to, the more likely they are to buy. In a recent study by HubSpot, 69% of buyers said that the one thing they wanted from sales reps was to “listen to my needs.”

Open-ended questions are a great method of showing the prospect you’re a good listener. They open up the conversation, allowing you to gain vital insights that’ll help you in the last stages of the call.

Here are the best cold calling questions we give to our new SDRs:

  • “How do you currently go about finding new clients?”
  • “What does your outbound process look like at the moment?”
  • “How are you generating new leads?”
  • “What are your frustrations with your prospecting data currently?”

These types of questions usually work very well with senior-level prospects, as they're focused around common pain points for a business - finding new customers, lead generation and data quality.

4. Conversation

Having delivered your pitch and asked some searching questions, by now your cold call will be in full swing.

At this point, there are a number of routes your call could go down. The prospect could hang up, or they could be very much open to a conversation.

There are a number of tactics you can use to keep your prospect engaged. Here are some good methods for getting the most out of your conversation:

Tonality

Tonality - the way you speak - is very important. You must always sound excited and enthusiastic, especially if the prospect is blunt and unresponsive.

Often, the prospect will do this on purpose to see how you react. Remember that often you’ll be calling people who are sales professionals in their own right; they know all the tricks of the trade!

Pauses and hyperbole

We also teach our SDRs to use pauses and hyperbole to emphasise certain points. For example:

“Our lead generation tool gives you access to 400 million B2B profiles...globally.”

Using a simple pause ensures that important points are quickly highlighted, meaning they're more likely to stick in the prospect’s mind.

Mirroring

Doing this can lead to great results on your cold call. All you have to do is keep your ear out and listen to how the prospect speaks and the words they use. Then, imitate the way they talk. It’s as easy as that!

What’s the purpose behind this?

It’s proven to be an effective way of building rapport and increasing the odds of being “accepted” by the person you’re talking to. It relaxes the prospect and makes them feel more comfortable talking to you.

Repetition

Don’t be afraid to repeat what the prospect says in a questioning tone. You’ll be surprised how much someone will reveal when they’re questioned like this.

For example, if the prospect says something like…

“All my sales team manually find their leads.”

You should then respond with:

“Your sales team find ALL their leads MANUALLY?”

Repeating their words back to them acts as a guide, leading them towards revealing more about their business - what the process looks like, how long it takes, the number of resources they put into it etc.

These are further pain points which you can then address one by one, steering them ever closer to the final stage in your cold call.

5. Closing

Following a conversation, you might be ready to go in for the close.

If you feel like you can close early, if you’ve addressed all the key pain points and the prospect has shown interest in seeing your product in more depth - go for it! 

“Look, (first name), I appreciate this is a lot to take in over the phone. It would be great to show you the tool and run some live searches for you.“

“Have you got 15 minutes free later this week?”

At this point, you’re likely to encounter some sales objections. The prospect will come back with some obstacles that you’ll have to overcome.

One of the most common ones that’ll crop up at this stage is:

“Please could you send me some more info first?”

Here are some good replies to this:

  • “I could send you some more information, but by the time you’ve read through it, I could answer the questions you have. What would you like to know?”
  • “It would be quicker and more useful to show you the platform. How does (day) at (time) sound?”

An element of judgement is needed, however. If you feel the prospect is on the move or very busy at the time, and perhaps pushing harder for a demo will irritate them, you need to judge whether sending them a further email would be easier.

In which case, a good option is to find out exactly what information they want in the email. Like this:

“What would you like me to include in the email?”

This will get the prospect to reveal their concerns, which you can then address on the phone - eventually leading them back to the close.

Try out the above strategies for handling objections and persuading a hesitant prospect to agree to a demo. Before you do so though, you must first gauge the receptiveness of the prospect. Some people do not respond well to being pushed for a meeting.

When you get to the close, always make sure you qualify the prospect further before you let them go. Like so:

“Great! In order to tailor the demonstration as best as possible, so you get the most out of it, I just need a few details.”

“Please can you tell me about your target (industries/job titles/locations).”

This will help the BDM or Account Executive to personalise the product demo to exactly the prospect’s needs, increasing the chances of a sale.

Then, when that’s over, it’s time to end the call.

“That’s great, thanks a lot for your time just now (first name). I really appreciate it.”

“Do you need anything else from me or would you like me to include anyone else on the call?”

You can also repeat the agreed time of the demo back to the prospect. It’s another way of making sure the demo stays in their mind and means that (hopefully!) they’ll show up. 

“That’s great, thanks a lot for your time today (first name). I look forward to seeing you on (day) at (time).”

And that’s it! You’re done. Apart from the other 99 calls you have to make today…

💡 Tip! If you're looking for more cold calling insights, you might enjoy these articles on the difference between warm calling vs cold calling?9 common cold calling objections and how to respond and cold email templates: 14 of the best for sales.

Did you know?

Cognism is the number one toolkit for a scaling B2B sales team. With our sales intelligence platform and unique data asset, you can:

  • Use our GDPR-compliant data to power your cold calling strategy. Discover the contact details for your target customers, including verified business telephone numbers and direct dial data for the USA.
  • Take advantage of our event-based triggers, which let you know the best times to cold call prospects. Spend less time prospecting and more time calling!
  • Cut the time your team spends on manual data entry and updating by integrating Cognism into your company CRM. Our tools work with all leading providers, including Salesforce.

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