Best Way to Start a Cold Call

If you want to learn the best way to start a cold call so you’ll get fewer rejections and increase your sales pipeline, I’m about to show you the winning formula on how to start a cold call, and then I’ll give you three cold call script examples that have made millions of dollars.

The best way to start a cold call is by piquing your prospect’s interest within the first 10 seconds of the call, followed by getting them to willingly answer a few questions, known as “gaining permission” to continue the call, from SalesBuzz.com’s online sales training course for cold calling.

This is a vastly different approach compared to what is widely taught, so let me break it down for you.

Nothing else matters if you cannot pique your prospect’s interest in the first few seconds of the cold call after you say, “Hello, my name is…”.

Once you pique their interest, the next step in the sales process is to be able to ask questions to qualify the prospect.

Prospect > Cold Call > Qualify

When you build a list of prospects that match your ICP, the next step is cold call them to get them into a conversation. Once you get them into a conversation by piquing their interest and gaining permission to continue the call, the next step is to ask questions that will uncover if a problem exists that you can help solve, what their role in the decision-making might be, and who else would be involved, what their ideal solution looks like, time frame for solving the problem and qualifying on price (after all, if they can’t afford your solution, they aren’t qualified, correct?)

So now that we see the game plan (prospect, cold call, qualify), what is the best way to start a cold call that will bridge the gap from the introduction (Opener) to qualifying?

How do we get a prospect willing to answer questions so we, the sales rep, can determine if an opportunity exists here?

The answer is Step one: pique interest, and Step two: gain permission to continue the call.

When you learn how to pique a prospect’s interest in the first few seconds of the cold call, your sales conversations and talk time go way up, and your rejection goes way down.

Using the WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM formula would be best to pique your prospect’s interest.

Meaning the following sentence after you say “hello, my name is…” paints a picture of a problem, situation, or desired outcome in just a few words that pique the prospect’s curiosity so much that it outweighs the fact that they weren’t the ones to initiate the call.

When you learn how to pique a prospect’s interest in the first few seconds of the call, gaining permission is super easy.

Below are three cold call opening strategies that work.

Best Way to Start a Cold Call: Example 1

The agitate a pain cold call opener.

It looks like this:

“Hi (Prospects Name), this is Michael Pedone w/SalesBuzz.com – We help outbound sales teams overcome call reluctance, and if I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you, would that be OK?”

Why it works: For my industry, I’m calling several categories, such as small business owners to Enterprise level sales directors, and everything in the sales space.

However, there’s one problem I need my prospects to have if they will be a good fit: their sales teams’ lack of phone sales success. And if they lack phone sales success, call reluctance is not too far behind.

Best Way to Start a Cold Call: Example 2

The referral cold call opener.

It looks like this:

“Hi (Prospects Name), this is Michael Pedone w/SalesBuzz.com – We recently helped (referral person name) outbound sales team overcome call reluctance, and if I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you, would that be OK?”

Why it works: Name-dropping someone familiar to the prospect and attaching a problem you helped them solve is a great way to pique curiosity.

Best Way to Start a Cold Call: Example 3

This is my favorite. It’s called the “competition” cold call opener.

It looks like this:

“Hi (Prospects Name), this is Michael Pedone w/SalesBuzz.com – We recently helped (competitors 1, 2, and 3) eliminate call reluctance from their sales team, and if I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you, would that be OK?”

Why it works: All C-Level execs want to know what their competitors are up to. So the name of the game is to pique interest first and gain permission to continue the call. This is how you get to first base, first on every cold call.

Craft your new best ways to start a cold call and role-play until you sound natural, smooth, and confident.

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – Creator of online sales training courses for cold calling that work.