B2B Cold Calling Scripts: Examples & How-to

Writing a cold calling script is often complex, especially when you are doing it for the first time.

Which speech to adopt according to the situation? Here you will find the general structure of a good script and 10 specific models that have proven their worth.

Structure of a successful telephone script

Before going into detail and sharing examples of phone scripts that convert, let’s start by discussing the overall structure that a prospecting script should follow.

Regardless of your sector of activity, your prospecting call should follow these steps:

• #1 Create curiosity (Who is it? Why should I care?)
• #2 Provide context using the elevator pitch technique
• #3 Ask permission to continue
• #4 Ask qualifying questions to determine if they fit your KPI.
• #5 Try the one-shot: discover price sensitivity, decision making, etc.
• #6 Plan next steps

These 6 steps are essential to building a clear and relevant call script that your sales people can rely on with confidence when prospecting by phone.

For inspiration, below are sample call scripts to adapt to your business 🙂

#1 – 3 Opening

In this part, the objective is to describe your company and the product/service you offer while making your prospect want to continue the conversation.

Don’t hesitate to prepare different catchphrases beforehand that your salespeople can use later on.

#4 Qualification

Here you take an interest in the prospect and ask questions about their situation and issues.

• What is your current xyz process?
• Who are your customers?
• How do you currently solve xyz?

#5 One-shot

Finally, you will try to ” close ” your prospect. This means trying to do business right away (in the best case) or at least getting another appointment in the next few days.

#6 Next steps

ALL your prospecting calls must end with a clear definition of the next steps in the commercial relationship you are beginning to establish. These next steps must be clearly expressed for you but also and especially for your prospect!

Some examples of formulas that you can use as inspiration:

• At which email address can I share information with you or send you an invitation to review your situation together?
• When is the right time to discuss it next week?

Salesdorado’s advice
Building your sales scripts does not have to be a one-way process. Invite your salespeople to share their feedback and involve them in the process!

Is it really necessary to use a sales script?

The purpose of cold calling scripts is not to turn your team into a machine that recites a pre-established text to the letter, from which no deviation is permitted!

The aim is to provide a basis, a framework to structure your sales processes, allowing your team to rely on a framework to deliver a clear and uniform message to the different market players. It is not intended to restrict salespeople in their ability to understand their prospects and, ultimately, to sell.

Are you looking for a hyper-intuitive tool to write your call scripts? Nocrm has thought of you and honestly, we are bluffed by the quality of the tool!

Complete each block step by step, adapt the template by adding sections if necessary and upload your sales script. The best part about it? It’s totally free, even if you’re not a Nocrm customer 🙂

Create your free sales script with Nocrm

General sales scripts

In this section, we make it as easy as possible for you to set up call scripts adapted to each stage of the commercial relationship you are building with your prospect.

When you make these tools available to your team, be sure to make them easy to understand and identify the section for each type of call to which they should refer.

#1 The opening call

#2 The Qualification Call

#3 The voice message

#4 The voice mail message

Once you have prepared your call script by integrating the relevant sections, access the free call tracking tool by clicking on the link you received by email. Nocrm’s call tracking script allows you to take notes, track the duration of the call and rate the quality of the call.

Create your free sales script with Nocrm

Prospecting scripts: Overcoming an objection

#5 Pass the gate-keeper

Gate-keepers are often switchboard operators or receptionists who screen calls and pass on those that they think are relevant to the relevant contacts. Although they have no decision-making power, they still represent an opportunity to identify the decision-maker you are interested in.

In order to end the conversation as quickly as possible, the gate-keeper will almost always tell you the name of the person you need to talk to, but will rarely put you directly in touch with them if you don’t know their full name.

The idea is to get the exact name of the decision-maker first, and then come back later and ask to be put in touch with them, showing that you know who you are talking about.

#6 Send me an email

Often, when you reach your target, they will cut the conversation short by offering to send them an email (and then never respond), here’s how to bounce back and overcome that objection:

Telephone scripts: Case studies

#7 Offer advice or an idea for free

This option is double-edged, it is possible that the advice offered is not adapted to this type of prospect, or that the prospect already applies it… in both cases you will lose credibility. Prepare the call as much as possible to propose an idea that will make the prospect want to go further with you.

#8 Offer free competition information

#9 Offer to solve a need that is known to be immediate & urgent

The key here is to implement a relevant lead generation strategy using the best B2B prospecting tools in 2021 in order to supply your sales staff with qualified leads, for which they will have a real answer to a “pain point” identified in the prospect.

Then, again, the preparation of the call is essential to show your prospect that you know them and are interested in them.

#10 Selling value

Where do you keep the notes you take on every prospecting call? Put an end to loose sheets of paper with the Nocrm sales script: enter all the notes you take for each of your prospects into your CRM software.

Create your free sales script with Nocrm

Accurately measure objections for continuous improvement

As a salesperson, you will be confronted with rejection in all its forms. How do you move forward? Learn to like it 🙂 With experience, you will be able to identify the different types of rejection you face and therefore adapt your speech accordingly.

To prepare yourself as well as possible, make more calls so that you are exposed to different forms of objection. In most cases, you will face the following objections:

• “I don’t have time right now.”
• “Send me an email.”

To get around the time objection, provide value early in the discussion and on a regular basis.

When asked to send an email, simply say, “I certainly will, but I’m not sure what to include in this email, can you tell me…” Then continue with your first question in an effort to qualify that lead.

To optimise this ‘test & learn’ approach to call centre scripts, create an objection management document where you note all the types of rejections you face when cold calling.

Prepare appropriate responses to each of these objections and use them when you encounter them again.

Creating an effective sales script is a process that needs to be continually optimised. Review your script regularly and continue to find new ways to close deals by enriching your call script.

This is a quick and easy task: set aside 15-30 minutes a month for a sales scripting session with your team, reviewing what worked and what didn’t work for each other.

Do you use a cold calling approach that we haven’t mentioned? Feel free to share it with us in the comments 🙂