Selling SaaS - it’s a tough gig these days.
Businesses are tightening their belts, decisions are being delayed. Some say the number one driver of SaaS sales, the humble cold call, is dying out.
We’re here to tell you that’s baloney!
The truth is that cold calling works. If you want to reach decision-makers and persuade them to buy your product, a phone call conversation is still the best way to do it.
According to our State of Cold Calling Report, 5,265 of the 9,247 cold calls our team made resulted in meaningful conversations. We also found that CEOs are the most receptive personas to cold calls.
So there’s no doubt that potential customers are there for the taking.
But how you talk to them - that’s where this blog comes in...
The ultimate cold calling sales script for SaaS
Did you know that 57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone? You aren’t bugging most people when you call; they want to hear from you.
If you’re ready to learn how to create a cold calling script for SaaS that actually works, you’re in the right place!
But there’s one caveat - this isn’t an entire script. It’s more of a guide. Why?
Because successful cold calling is about building relationships and creating good customer experiences. You can’t build a relationship if you’re simply reading from a template.
That said, there are some benefits to having a SaaS sales script.
As a sales manager, it gives you confidence that your team knows what to say and when. As a sales rep, it takes some of the pressure away, meaning you can focus on having a good dialogue with prospects.
Without further ado, let’s get into it. The ultimate sales call script for SaaS.
Top tip: read this article and make notes. Use it as a guide; customise our sample script to fit your business and your audience.
Step 1: Introduce yourself
For any sales rep, having a smooth introduction to your outbound sales call is vital.
If your intro flops, you won’t get past the first few seconds. Keep this part of your cold call script brief, but try to generate a bit of curiosity about who you are and what you do.
Keep it simple, like this:
“Hey (name), this is (your name) with (company). How’s your day going?”
It’s nothing fancy; it gets your phone call conversation started. But you can get a bit more creative. How about...
“Hey (name), this is (your name) with (company). Do you have 30 seconds to talk about (the core benefit of your SaaS solution)?”
The 30-second part? It’s essential.
Why? Because most SaaS decision-makers don’t want to get stuck on the phone with a sales representative for too long. Remember, their time is precious and you’ve got to make every second count.
By leading with 30 seconds, you reassure your cold call prospect that you aren’t going to waste their time.
Step 2: Hit them with your value proposition
You’ve already promised to keep your call short and sweet, so there’s no reason to beat around the bush.
Tell the prospective customer how your SaaS product can help them do something better. Not what your tool does; they can read that off your website. They want to know how it makes their lives easier or helps them achieve their business goals.
Ideally, you already have a good idea of the challenges they face - either by researching prospects on LinkedIn, reading their blog, or digging into other content they’ve produced.
If not, lead with a stat and then talk about how your tool or service solves that issue. Like this:
“So I noticed your company is struggling with (challenge). I’d love to help you out by (how you solve that issue).”
Or:
“We’ve found that 89% of SMBs are struggling with (x,y,z), which is why we want to help you (solve a specific problem) by (how your tool helps).”
Step 3: Ask engaging questions
Here’s another reason why full cold call scripts don’t work - your call must be a conversation.
You must adjust your pitch, your tone, and even your qualifying questions for each specific call. Otherwise, you’ll simply sound like an AI chatbot.
Top tip:
Ask open-ended questions that require more than just a yes or no answer. They get the prospect talking, creating a bond between you and giving you more information about their challenges. Use this intel to personalise your sales pitch.
Here are some cold call questions to ask:
- “Who exactly is your target audience? Are you aiming for smaller businesses or enterprise level?”
- “What solutions have you already tried? Why didn’t they work?”
- “How do you think improving (area your tool/service focuses on) would help your business?”
- “Who is part of the decision-making process, and what holds them back?”
The best open-ended questions start with who, what, or how. They keep the conversation going.
Step 4: Outline the next steps
Ideally, the final step is the close - the prospect is so amazed by your product or service that they’re ready to sign on the dotted line.
In reality, though?
It’s usually not so simple. Which is why you need to make it clear exactly what the next steps are.
Here are a few cold call examples:
“Great. I’m glad to hear this will help you solve a problem. I can set you up for a free trial so you can start seeing results today.”
Or:
“I’d love to schedule a demo so I can show your team more about how we can help. How’s next Tuesday?”
Or, if they aren’t ready to commit, you can try:
“I understand you’ll need to take this to your team. Can I send you a case study that will help you strengthen your presentation?”
Be clear about the next step - whether that’s signing a contract, presenting a demo, or providing them with some social proof.
3 tips for better SaaS cold calling
If you’re still doing outbound like it’s 2005, you might as well quit now. Too much has changed in the last few decades, and the older cold-calling strategies don’t work.
For a start, data and software make it much easier to pick up the phone and call your prospect. But so many SDRs are stuck in a bad sales process. The phone alone can only get you so far; it’s how you use it to make personal connections that matters.
This is why we’re giving away three white-hot cold calling tips for SaaS sales teams 👇
1. Establish a connection before the call
Traditional B2B sales tips often say you have five to ten minutes to make your case. In reality, you have much, much less.
While it’s proven that C-suite level execs are open to sales calls, you have to hook them fast.
The best way to do that is to make sure you know who you’re talking to before you pick up the phone.
How do you do this?
- Hit up LinkedIn and view the prospect’s profile.
- Learn who they are and what type of content they share or write.
- Use a lead generation tool to see if anyone at their company has visited your website. Find out what pages they visited.
This info will give you the insider knowledge you need to build a mutual connection.
2. Get creative to overcome objections
What do you do when your prospect has a sales objection?
Here are a few common objections plus some ways to overcome them.
“Sure, send me an email.”
If the prospect says this, ask a basic qualifying question. If you can keep them on the phone, you might not need to send an email at all.
Like this:
“I’d love to, but so I know exactly what to include in my email, can you tell me what information you want?”
“I don’t have time.”
Say to them:
“No problem; when is the best time to schedule a quick, two-minute conversation? I want to see if our tool is a good fit for the challenges you have before I take up any more of your time.”
This lets them know you only need a few minutes, and they might just stay on the phone once they realise you’ll be quick. Try not to be overly pushy - if they need to go, offer to follow up another time.
“I can’t make a decision right now (or I need to talk to my boss, board, etc.)”
Don’t let them off the hook! Find out when the meeting is, who will be involved, or what their cold calling objection is.
3. Set a goal for rejections
All sales professionals struggle with cold calling. Maybe you hate calling people or you don’t like feeling pushy. Maybe the constant feeling of rejection stings and feeling like a nuisance sucks.
Try this:
Instead of setting sales goals, or even a goal for the number of calls you want to make, set a goal for the number of rejections you want to get in a day or week.
Make a spreadsheet, draw a pie chart on a poster board; whatever makes you feel motivated in sales.
Each time you get rejected, keep your goal in mind. Celebrate it! If you can, listen back to the call recording. Work out why the call failed and what you can do differently next time.
Over time, your strategy will improve, the rejections will sting a bit less, and your sales numbers will start to go up.
