One of the hardest and most frustrating aspects of being in sales is cold calling.  We call it cold calling because you are usually contacting someone out of the blue and there has been no introduction prior to the call.   When you make your cold calls you want to make sure that you are covering all of the necessary information while at the same time, you want to be sure that you don’t overwhelm the client.  For this reason, it is important to have a cold calling script. 

When you are developing your cold calling script, there are some important ideas that you need to keep in mind.  Cold calling scripts are a great tool to make sure you stay on track and, they can also help you to feel a little more relaxed. Here are some tips that you need to keep in mind while you are developing your cold calling script.

1. Your cold calling script should be more like an outline.

• Start with identifying yourself and your company right away.
• Ask the prospect if they are busy and if this is a good time for you to be calling.
• Tell the prospect you will be quick.
• Tell them the reason for the call.
• Explain in more detail what you have to offer them and how it will help them.
• Ask if they have more time or ask them to set an appointment.

2. Put your cold calling script outline into a form and fill in necessary information for each cold call you make.  This way your cold calling script is somewhat individualized for each prospect.

• This would include information about the prospect. You should have done some information gathering about each prospect that you are calling prior to making the call. You should always have the prospect’s name, phone number, and any other information you were able to gather prior to filling out the cold calling script form.
• Include notes in the individualized cold calling script that would be pertinent to the specific prospect you are calling.  If you have many products or services, which one would you want to focus on for this particular customer.  You will have a limited amount of time so you want to make sure that you get the chance to talk about the product or service that would be most relevant to this potential customer.
• Include a notes section at the bottom of you script form.  As you make the cold call it is very likely that you will be gathering new information about the prospect.  Any information you gain will be helpful to you at a later date.  Whether they tell  you about their upcoming wedding anniversary or they give you information about their company, keeping the information to refer to later will be of great benefit to you.

3. Keep the cold call conversational.

You need the cold calling script to make sure that you cover all of the necessary information and to take notes.  But the worst thing you can do is to read your script.  We have all received calls like this, and you know how dreadful they can be.  The person reading the cold calling script is talking fast and without pauses.  There is very little opportunity for you to say anything.  Reading from the cold calling script is extremely unprofessional and very off-putting.  You need to practice what you plan to say, and how you plan to say it.  You want to keep to the script while sounding natural and friendly at the same time.

Very few professional sales people consider cold calling their favorite part of the sales process.  Making an effective cold calling script will not only help you with your cold calls, it will also help you to stay organized and, when practiced, will serve to make you seem more professional and approachable to the prospect.