So, you wanna know how to dominate cold calls like your Uncle G? Today, I’m revealing all my top cold calling tips and scripts so you can close more deals.
Before I get into my proven cold calling script templates, there’s something you need to understand.
Whether you like it or not, at some point in your career, you’ll have to call someone you don’t know to get something you want.
You don’t even have to be in a sales team. Any job that deals with clients, partners, or other businesses will eventually require you to pick up the phone and sell.
So, shift your attention from avoiding cold calls to mastering the game. That is, if you want more confidence, higher levels of activity, and a bigger bank account.
First, Let’s Clear Up What Exactly a “Cold Call” Is
A broad definition for the cold call is this: it’s the solicitation of business from potential customers who were not anticipating such an interaction.
In other words, it’s figuring out which stranger out there “got my money” — and then taking action to get that money.
While cold calling usually takes place over the phone, it can also come in the form of drop-in visits, such as door-to-door.
By definition, the cold call is much different than a warm call, where you reach back out to a prospect with whom you’ve had some prior connection.
Warm calls could come from a previous sales call, a referral, a past appointment, an internet lead, someone you met at an event, or a response to an ad.
Although warm calls are indeed effective, they’re a hell of a lot easier than making the first step.
As I see it, the willingness to call people not yet known is one of the great traits of highly successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople.
And the ambition to secure meetings with strangers is where your sales skills truly shine.
Who Needs to Make Cold Calls?
Here are just a few examples of people who must become great cold callers:
- Sales managers, direct marketing, and network marketing professionals
- Job-seekers and current employees in any company department
- Inventors, tech developers, and startup founders with B2C or B2B sales
- Deal-makers, promoters, and agents in entertainment, sports, and PR
- Buyers, sellers, brokers, and syndicators in the real estate industry
- Fundraisers, bankers, lawyers, accountants, and politicians
- Doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and salon practitioners
- Landscapers, roofers, plumbers, and contractors
Ain’t it obvious?
Anybody who wants money makes cold calls!
Why Should You Become Great at Cold Calling?
The benefits of cold calling are endless for you and your company:
- Cuts costs — about 6x more so than direct mail or advertising
- Helps you identify and create opportunities while crashing through obscurity
- Builds your reputation and establishes new relationships
- Empowers you
YET THERE’S ONE MASSIVE ADVANTAGE THAT TRIUMPHS OVER THE REST…
Cold calls save time. And there’s no more precious resource than time.
Let me put it into perspective for you with a story.
Back in the day, I used to cold call companies on foot.
I would travel to a city, rent a hotel, rent a car, spend two weeks in San Antonio, two weeks in Salt Lake City, two weeks in Ft. Lauderdale, two weeks in Indianapolis, etc. calling on small business owners door-to-door.
It took way too much time — time that I could have spent doing the actual selling.
After some time traveling across the country cold calling door-to-door, I realized the primary reason the phone was created was not to communicate first.
The phone was designed to save time and be able to communicate with people at a distance without needing to walk through the house, through the hall, across town, or even across states.
Look at it this way. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he said, “Watson! Get over here!”
Calling was better than walking down the hallway and grabbing Watson, right?
So, while there are many benefits to the cold calling process, saving time is at the top of the list.
But What Is the #1 Purpose of Cold Calling?
Ultimately, the big goal behind every cold call is to close a sale.
At the end of the day, you want to sell your offer and exchange it for money. The more outbound sales you make, the more you grow your business.
However, the sale probably won’t go down the first time you call.
With this in mind, there are a number of secondary opportunities within the cold call:
- Identifying an influencer, gatekeeper, and/or decision-maker
- Determining the prospect’s needs
- Creating interest
- Setting an appointment
- Dropping a voicemail and asking the prospect’s company rep to call back
- Obtaining contact information for a follow-up call
- Moving from cold to warm
- Adding to your pipeline
- Increasing your sales success rate
Now, Here Are My Top Tips to Create Your Best Cold Calling Scripts
Overall, the cold call has five parts, which I’ll overview for you with examples.
All effective cold calling scripts have to follow this outline, and you’ll have to nail each part of the call.
1. The Greeting
This should be one name only. I don’t want you saying, “My name’s John Doe.”
Quit using your first and last name. Nobody cares, and it’ll only reduce the little attention you have at this point.
Unless you work for a well-known company name like Coca-Cola or JP Morgan, you would start by saying, “This is John from Grant Cardone’s office.”
2. Reason You Are Making the Phone Call — and Big Claim
Listen, nobody opens a door to a stranger to find out their name. People open the door to find out what the hell this intruder is doing on their porch.
So, before moving forward, you need to grab, hook, and secure the prospect’s attention.
To do so, you have to understand that small talk won’t get you anywhere. Don’t ask the customer about their day, the weather, or any other nonsense that will waste time for both of you.
Be clear on the reason you are calling, make your BIG claim (value proposition), and get it all out first thing.
Why are you in this person’s face? And what’s in it for them?
“This is John from Grant Cardone’s office, Mr. Cardone asked me to call and give your company a tool he created that has increased sales at companies like yours by as much as 40%.”
3. Qualify the Lead
In the sales process, you can go about qualifying questions in one of three ways. Ask about the:
- Recurring problem
- Magic problem
- Money question
Whichever approach you pick, address the question fast.
Here’s how you would begin qualifying the customer:
“This is John from Grant Cardone’s office. Mr. Cardone, the owner, asked me to call and give your company a tool he created that has increased sales at companies like yours by as much as 40%. To be sure I’m not wasting your time and that I can actually help you, tell me, how many salespeople do you have?”
Recurring Problem
“What are the two biggest recurring problems you’ve experienced with sales reps?”
Magic Problem
“If you believed in magic and I could snap my fingers and solve a problem, what would it be?”
Money Question
“Why would you guys spend money on this?”
Also, important to add here is finding out about the decision-maker.
“Other than yourself, who else would be involved in the order to understand how you might use this?”
4. Appointment
Never underestimate the power of connecting the dots with a meeting. Get in front of the prospect as soon as possible.
Straight-up ask them for the appointment, and be specific with the amount of the prospect’s time you’re asking for.
“When is a good time to get your full attention for about 18 minutes? If I make time, can you see me tonight?”
It doesn’t matter if it’s 7:00 AM or 10:00 PM.
Set the scene for the deal.
Then lock it down.
5. Close
This is where you brace yourself for a potential rollercoaster.
No matter how many ups and downs you have in the final stretch of the sales process, be strong, have altitude, and stay in the close.
For example, the more cold outreach you do, the more you notice all the pain points and hidden objections that resurface in the close:
- Need to talk to a spouse
- Let me think about it
- Leave me some information
- Don’t have time
- I didn’t use the last one
- Don’t have the budget
- It’s a bad time
- I need to try it for a while
- I bought something like it
- Price is too high
- I never make a rash decision
Validate any objection the prospect may have by asking the hard, open-ended questions.
“What’s the real reason? Other than X, why haven’t you done business with me?”
When the client brings up the competition, knock it out with a single sentence.
“I have 70 salespeople here in Miami to support your 80-person team.”
Go through every complaint, concern, and worst-case scenario so you eliminate any uncertainty.
“Alright, if you sell your business in these 36 months, we’ll terminate the contract and stop collecting.”
You need strategies to deal with things like this. You must anticipate objections and know exactly what you will say when you get them.
Do you believe that you can sell anyone, anytime, anywhere?
Do you believe your product/service is worth 10 times what you charge for it?
Because if you do, you will hammer, you will press, you will push, you will not stop when you hear an objection, whether it’s valid or invalid.
It’s your job to stay patient.
Practice every day, leverage powerful training resources like Cardone University, know your product, and follow-up until they follow through.
When your certainty rises, it will pull the client up to the close.
Next, Here Is a Template for an Outbound Cold Call for Your Personal Sales Script
“This is ____________ with ____________. The reason I am calling is ____________ that can help you ____________.
To be sure I’m not wasting your time, let me ask you…
- Do you qualify?
- What are the main issues?
- Why have you not done this already?
… Now, if I could do even half of what I promised…
… Other than yourself, who would be involved with this decision?…
… Would you make time to meet me later for ___ minutes? Do you have a pencil handy? Write this down…
… Would there be any reason you wouldn’t be able to show up?…”
Ready to Make Your First Cold Call?
Before you start contacting a new list, do a little pre-call investigation.
Here are five things you should do before dialing:
- List the common problems your customer will pay to solve.
- Seek out personal connections and prospect name.
- Search for media coverage of the prospect.
- Check out the client’s website.
- Search social media pages for inside information, like LinkedIn or Facebook.
After locking in your research, hit the phones and make sure you answer all these client questions within the first 20 seconds:
- Who are you?
- Where did you get my name?
- Why are you calling me?
- What’s in it for me?
A good cold call is like a good elevator pitch. If you can’t sell your offer in 20 seconds, you don’t know your sales pitch.
Next, if you nail the greeting, qualify the buyer, and are able to get to the appointment part, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Do not commit availability of appointment as a possibility.
- Always offer today as the first choice. You want to create urgency.
- Once you get a day available, always provide alternative times. Don’t interject a specific time. Let the prospect pick.
- Reinforce the appointment by asking if there’s any reason the client wouldn’t be able to make it.
- Confirm the appointment the day of with a text.
- Never make the prospect wrong for being a no-show.
Solid appointments with the right person improve your ability to close from 10% to 67%.
My Final Thoughts on Cold Calling
In the end, I can give you all the best cold calling scripts and tips in the world… But all my strategies would be useless for you — if you don’t get your mindset right.
Read this over and over again until you fully realize it:
THE PHONE IS MONEY.
This little device can be one of the most impactful tools you have at your disposal as a salesperson, business owner, employee, or entrepreneur.
Be Great,
Grant Cardone
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