In this video, we provide a recording of a cold call from a salesperson who is selling business insurance. This is one of those great cold calling introduction examples to talk about because the salesperson does a few things worth stopping to discuss.
“This is a Cold Call” Cold Calling Introduction
The first thing this salesperson does that is worth talking about is that he uses a very common cold call opener of pointing out that it is a cold call by saying:
You’re not a stranger to a cold call, are you?
This is a very common tactic in which a salesperson points out that they are cold calling, often in a self-deprecating tone. Another way this opener might look is the salesperson saying something like:
Just a warning, this is a cold call.
This is a popular tactic because it can be effective at disarming the prospect and opening the call. That might be because the salesperson is being authentic and transparent as to what they are doing.
But is this a good approach? My belief is that it is better to be honest and authentic than to hide who you are or use bait-and-switch tactics in a cold call, where someone might try to pretend they are not a salesperson.
But what if you did not have to do either of those things: admit it is a cold call or hide the fact that it is a cold call? The reason a salesperson might be trying to navigate those two options is that they communicate in a way that makes them look like a salesperson trying to sell something. With that, they have two choices: admit it or hide it.
What you can do is change how you sell so you look more like a businessperson than a salesperson. When you make that shift, you do not have to admit or hide anything because you do not have to worry about bothering the prospect with a cold call from a salesperson who is trying to sell something. We explain how to make this shift in our SMART Sales System sales training program.
“I Will Be X Seconds” Cold Calling Introduction
This salesperson also used a very common tactic of saying the call will be a certain number of seconds by saying:
I’ll take 27 seconds of your time. If it’s not relevant, you’ll never hear from me again.
I personally do not like this cold call introduction at all, as I think it is a bit cheesy and immediately flags you as a salesperson trying to sell something.
I do like checking in with the prospect at the beginning of a cold call to make sure they are available, and an extremely effective way to do that is by asking:
Did I catch you in the middle of anything?
This question at the beginning of your cold call can not only buy you a few minutes to work with during the call, but also help disarm the prospect.
Value Proposition Opener
This salesperson went on to share his value proposition by saying:
We are helping founders like yourself solve one of two problems. The first one being the industry we deal with, that’s like watching paint dry its a bit boring, its 12% of the American economy. Very slow and resistant to change. Secondly, we are using modern technology to reduce your investment by 30, sometimes up to 40%.
I am a big fan of using a value prop as your cold calling introduction. Not only does this help you talk more about what is important to the prospect, but it also gives you something else to say at the beginning of a cold call besides explaining what you sell.
Although there is room for improvement in how this salesperson used his value proposition opener, his opener went on a bit and was not very clear about what he was talking about. Time and attention at the beginning of a cold call are very precious, and it would likely be an improvement to use a value proposition that is a little shorter and clearer. Staying with his theme of cost savings, a tighter and better value prop might be:
We help businesses reduce their business insurance spend by as much as 40%.
Be sure to check out our SMART Sales System training videos on YouTube to help you with not only creating your value proposition, but they will also show you how to shift from sounding like a salesperson to sounding like a businessperson.
