SALES SCRIPTS

Creating Opening Value Statements that Heat Up Cold Calls

Forget “sales scripts”. To succeed in today’s selling environment, top sales pros will need a complete playbook. This means having multiple “opening value statements” crafted, practiced and memorized for different types of sales calls.
One of the most common sales calls is the “first-time” contact, where the call couldn’t be any colder.

Hate making “cold calls”? Fear Not! A well-prepared opening value statement can warm up a cold call in 15 seconds or less. Here’s how to get started…

Start by asking yourself the following question:

“When making previous outbound sales calls to a prospect for the first time, what was it about that prospect / lead specifically that gave you the “green light” to call?”

In other words, what “pre-qualifications” did they meet that let you know they could be a potential opportunity?

Part of your pre-call planning research should be to identify top “suspects”. In order to do that, you need to understand why your best clients are your best clients. What “criteria” qualifies them to have that title?

If your current cold call prospecting strategy is to simply log in to your CRM database and start randomly smiling and dialing, sales will be low and frustrations will be high. So step one is identifying what makes a “suspect” a suspect.

Let’s say you sell “promotional products”… in theory every business in the world could be a potential client however maybe you’ve found success in a few niche verticals… say software companies. Or maybe you’ve found the greatest success with companies in the tech industry who participate in at least 3 trade shows per year. Get the picture?

Once you can put pen to paper that clearly describes what your best clients look like, you’ll have great material to start crafting your opening value statement.

Here’s an example of what I mean:

“Hi (Prospect) this is (Your Name) with (Your Company). Reason for my call is we help (vertical) separate themselves from their competitors during trade shows. Our clients average 23% more leads per show and I wanted to ask you a few questions to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you as well…”

By understanding your top client’s unique criteria, you can craft opening value statements that separate you from the rest of the pack while quickly heating up your cold calls.

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone teaches inside sales teams how to pick up the phone and close business. He is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – An online sales training company.