Crafting Effective B2B Cold Calling Scripts

Is your sales team in need of high-quality leads? 

In the digital age, business-to-business (B2B) cold calling may seem like an outdated and ineffective practice, but innovations, new technology, and creative solutions are powerful engines to help your sales team.

B2B cold calling is far more than dialing for dollars. Phone, email, social media, and other marketing tools help to reach potential clients and develop new business partners. Cold calling is the practice of making unsolicited calls, emails, and any other outreach to a potential customer to promote your products or services. When executed correctly, cold calling scripts can be an effective way to introduce your business to a potential customer, build relationships, generate new leads, and drive sales and strategy.

The key to a successful cold call (or any sales call, for that matter) is preparation. You need to have a clear goal in mind, so you know how to start, execute, and end the conversation. A few bullet points to bear in mind: 

• You need to research your prospects, so you can know what they need and provide them with the products and services they’re looking for. 
• Using positive language helps engage the prospect and encourages them to make a buying decision. 
• You need to be persistent with follow-ups, but not too pushy.

All of this can be accomplished with an expertly crafted cold-calling script. No one needs your product or service, businesses need solutions. In other words, no one needs a pill, they need to get rid of the headache. The best cold calling scripts cure the pain point for your prospect.   

Valve+Meter’s Outbound Lead Generation team has years of experience building and delivering successful cold-calling campaigns, and providing clients with the tools they need to grow their businesses. We love sharing our insights for B2B cold calling including tips for crafting successful cold calling scripts, best practices for making effective cold calls, and how to troubleshoot common issues with cold calling scripts.

The old saying, “80% of success is showing up,” is especially true with cold calling. Your prospects aren’t sitting around waiting for a phone call from a sales rep. You have to meet them where they are. The cold calling process is an inexpensive and direct way to get in front of your ideal buyers and give them your business’s sales pitch. Here are some of the most impactful benefits of B2B cold-calling techniques:

1. Increased Customer Base: Cold calling can tap a corner of the market that is not currently being touched by your business’s inbound marketing efforts. A diversified lead generation strategy is a winning strategy. This includes researching your current clients, competitors, and tapping into experts in your market to find new possibilities.
2. Creating Important Relationships: You may have already earned their business by reaching out to them first. And, if their experience with your sales process, service, or product is a positive one, they’ll likely come back as repeat customers or even refer you to other potential customers in their professional network. This involves follow-up campaigns and ongoing networking through phone calls, emails, social media, and other networking.
3. Building Brand Reputation: If you want your brand to succeed, you need it to be recognized and the best way to create positive brand recognition is to introduce new people to your products and services. An initial cold call could be the lynchpin to exposing a whole new audience to your brand. When you show up with a cold calling script that cures a pain point, prospects listen.
4. Testing and Improving Products and Services: Cold calling is not limited to new prospects, when you launch a new product or service, your existing customers need to know. You can make real-time adjustments to your offerings based on the feedback you receive from your potential clients on sales calls.

Cold calling can be a great way to round out your current marketing strategy because it allows you to get your finger on the pulse of what your preferred audience is looking for while growing your pool of potential leads. 

Making sure you know what you’re going to say on the phone is crucial in your cold calling strategy, so it’s a great idea to write out your sales call script. For emails and social media saving drafts and sending beta examples to your peers helps to quality check your work. Always have a clear call to action early in your script. Prospects respond positively to well-rehearsed and well-prepared sales reps and business development representatives. 

To help increase your success rate consider a few easy steps toward crafting the perfect cold calling script:

Prospects appreciate it when you go the extra mile to seek out their needs. Do your research in advance to tailor your cold calling script to your goal and their problem. Write out your script and practice it with a friend or family member, so you will sound prepared and professional during the actual phone call. Keep things light and positive and stay on topic to help keep the prospect engaged and guide them in the right direction. And, always remember to follow up with prospects after the call to help keep those warm leads warm. If you do all of the above, your chances of making a successful sale increase!

One of the biggest challenges for a sales rep making cold calls is overcoming rejection. You are going to hear “No” or “No, thanks” a lot. If you look at the statistics on cold calling, the consensus average success rate of cold calling seems to hover around 5-10%. That means you might earn a “Yes” response once every 10 calls at best! 

It’s important that you understand that rejection is part of the process and remain professional and positive when dealing with rejection. A good rule of thumb is that after every unsuccessful sales call, you’re one more call away from a successful one! Understanding common objections and learning how to handle unwanted questions can also help you make successful cold calls. 

Cold calling is a powerful tool for businesses to reach out to potential customers and generate sales, and making sure you’re prepared for your cold calls is the key to success. Scripting out your cold calling with background research on your prospect and their pain points can help you focus the conversation on their needs, and increase the likelihood of success. It’s also important to follow best cold calling script practices, and understand that rejection is baked into the equation.

Valve+Meter Performance Marketing offers guidance to your sales reps with cold calling and other outbound lead generation practices. Our Outbound team is committed to providing you with the tools to scale your business and connect you to customers that need your goods and services. With Valve+Meter, you have a trusted business partner that can bring your sales team the revenue-driving leads it needs to thrive in a competitive market. If you have your own pain points, our outbound lead generation team is always eager to help.