In this video, we analyze a B2B cold call example and discuss what the salesperson did well and what could be improved. We also use the recommendations to create a new cold call script, then demonstrate how to use it during a cold call.
Pain Points Cold Call Opener
One thing this salesperson did well was that he started this B2B cold call example by opening with a pain points cold call opener by saying:
We mainly work with founders like you who are still personally involved with prospecting and outreach instead of spending most of their time on sales calls and revenue growth.
Not only is the pain points cold call opener effective at grabbing the prospect’s attention, but it can also decrease how much of a salesperson you look like. That is because most salespeople open cold calls with a product-intro cold call opener by explaining what they sell. If this salesperson were to do that, he might say something like:
I am with Leads Pros. We provide sales outsourcing and appointment setting services.
While that might seem like a logical thing to do at the beginning of a cold call, the problem is that there are a lot of salespeople calling the same prospects you are. This barrage of calls can make the prospect annoyed and guarded. With that, when you use a product-intro opener, you immediately flag yourself as the next salesperson cold calling, and that increases the odds of triggering guardedness and objections.
Make the Cold Call More About the Prospect
After the pain points cold call opener, the salesperson directed the call toward the prospect by asking:
Is that something you are still doing?
This is great and actually also different from what a lot of salespeople do because, from my experience, salespeople often skip or forget to ask questions to learn what is going on. This question was probably the best part of the cold call.
I would have actually liked to see the salesperson stay in this direction and ask at least a couple more questions to learn more about the prospect. This would have not only helped the salesperson to learn more about the prospect and uncover reasons why his service may be a good fit, but it also creates an engaging and balanced conversation.
The Cold Call Quick Close
After asking his one question, the salesperson transitioned to a quick close by saying:
We created XXX specifically for that reason, so you can delegate all of the prospecting activities to us.
And today I didn’t want to go into too much detail, so I wanted to see if you can meet with our founder so that we can share the exact strategy we would put in place for SalesScripter. I don’t know if you can make that happen on Monday.
I call this a quick close because it skips any discussion during the cold call and jumps straight to closing the prospect. For some products, a quick close can work, but in most cases, I think it is better to learn a little about the prospect, then talk a little about the company and product to build interest before going for the close.
Closing for the Meeting
One good thing about the close in this B2B cold call example is that the salesperson is closing for a meeting. This differs from what many salespeople do, who often close for the product by asking whether the prospect needs or is interested in what they sell. The problem with doing that is that the purchase is not the next step; if we are going to move forward at all, the next step is to talk more, have a conversation, and have a call or meeting.
But even though the salesperson was trying to close for a meeting, he was still skipping ahead in the sales process by trying to close for an appointment to present his company and product. The next step isn’t to present; it is to have a conversation to learn more about the prospect and maybe share some high-level details about the product and company.
Revised and Recommended Approach
Here is a revised approach using my recommendations. For this, I have gone through our sales message brainstorming process to create a sales message and sales script for sales outsourcing services.
Cold Call Intro
Hi Tom, this is Michael Halper calling from Lead Pros.
Did I catch you in the middle of anything?
Value Proposition
The reason for the call is that we help founders to:
- Increase sales calls and qualified leads
- Decrease time spent on lead gen activities
- Scale sales without hiring sales staff
I don’t know if you are a fit with what we do or not.
Pain Questions
If I could ask you real quick:
- How happy are you with the leads you are generating?
- How do you feel about the time you are spending on lead gen?
- How much of a priority is it to scale your sales?
Current State Questions
- How are you generating leads?
- What type of cold outreach are you doing?
- How much time are you spending on lead gen activities?
- Have you ever worked with an sales outsourcing agency?
- How many sales reps do you have?
Pain Points
A lot of founders complain about:
- Not generating enough leads
- Spending too much time working on lead gen
- Expensive and difficult to grow the sales team
Are you concerned about any of those areas?
Product Intro
We provide sales outsourcing services:
- Turnkey Cold call campaigns
- Cold email campaigns
- Appointment setting
Some ways we differ:
- South Africa SDRs with perfect English
- Lower costs through offshoring
- Scale up and down according to needs
Customer Example
- We worked with Phones Plus.
- Their founder was spending too much time on lead gen.
- We helped to solve that with our appointment setting service.
- This helped to increase their leads generated by 40%.
- This ultimately led to an increase in revenue by 15%.
Close
But I have called you out of the blue, and I don’t know if this is the best time to discuss this.
What I would like to do is schedule a call to learn a little more about you and share some examples of how we have helped other founders generate more qualified leads.
Are you available for a brief call next week to discuss this more?
We hope this B2B cold call example provides some new ideas for your cold outreach efforts!
