Cold Calling Scripts for Sales

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Frank Rumbauskas

Cold calling scripts are the preferred method of making cold calls in a way that is consistent and reliable; however, there are a lot of pitfalls to watch out for when writing cold calling scripts. It’s easy to fall into any of these traps, because, unfortunately, they’re commonly taught by the majority of sales training programs along with most sales books, tapes, and seminars.

Keep these rules in mind when creating your call scripts and you’ll avoid a lot of problems, and will really increase your sales numbers at the same time:

1. Scripts are a guideline and nothing more. Remember that a cold calling script should never be read word-for-word. If you do that, you won’t come across as a real person, and the prospect on the other end of the call will feel like they’re listening to a pre-recorded telemarketing message. So when you write your script, or modify one that’s been provided to you by your sales manager, think of it as a road map to get through the call effectively and not something to be literally read to the prospect.

2. Write your script as an outline. If you’re writing a cold calling script from scratch, write it in an outline format; in other words, instead of writing out what you’ll say word for word, make a list of large bullet-points for the various phases of the call: Introduction, fact-finding, and closing, for example. Then, under each major bullet-point, make a sub list of smaller bullet-points to map out each phase of the call. If you do it this way, you’ll find that your calls feel much more natural, and that your script will be a lot easier to navigate.

3. Build objection handling into your script. Remember that most people don’t like to be cold called, so when you do it to them, you’re going to get resistance in the form of sales objections. A great way to do this is to create a graphical script, in mind map format, with “Yes/No” or “If/Then” points throughout. So if the prospect says “Yes” at one point, then you move on to the next appropriate section, and if they say “No” then you move on to the comeback for that specific objection, and so on.

4. Remember that scripts are temporary. A cold calling script is a temporary crutch, or a set of training wheels, to be used only temporarily, until you know it by heart, and, even better, it’s become conversational for you. That’s when the big results will come – when you can make cold calls and really engage the prospect in conversation, but while also covering all of the major and minor bullet-points in your call framework.

Cold calling is on the way out now that we’re firmly in the Information Age, but if you must cold call, or if your boss requires it, then using effective cold calling scripts – and using them properly – will really increase your results. These simple steps will put you miles ahead of your competition in getting and closing more sales!

Tagged: business, call scripts, calls, cold call scripts, cold calling, cold calling scripts, communication, direct marketing, lot, method, pitfall, preferred, sale, sales, script, telemarketing, writing     Posted in category: Cold Calling Scripts