From Cold Calling to Email & LinkedIn: Cold Script Practices That Trigger Responses

Cold outreach can be terrifying. You’re reaching out to a stranger to introduce them to your offerings (something they might know nothing about) while being your most friendly self.

There’s no telling if you’ll upset them, whether they will shut you down and straight up block you.  What should you say? 

We delve into some best practices and tips to help you get through the door.

1. Cold Calling

A good personality is excellent when making cold calls, but you’ll need to craft a solid script to break barriers and get prospects to act.

Top tips include:

I. Gauge interest

Many reps introduce themselves, then dive straight into selling. It’s better to gauge the prospect’s interest first to show your respect for their time.

You can say, “We understand how challenging it can be to discover and keep the right salespeople onboard. We’ve worked on solutions that may help in recruiting and training new sales members. Can we interest you in this?

If they give you the nod, you can then go into details.

II. Identify Their Biggest Challenge

Asking questions that expound on their pain points allows you to discern specific ways your solutions may help the prospect.

Consider this, “We’re a templating platform focused on enabling B2B sales teams to assemble effective sales materials fast. Is this something we can support you with?

Off the top of your head, what’s your greatest challenge in facilitating the materials your sales team needs to convince leads?”

III. Highlight Benefits

Sharing examples of how your solutions solve pain points allows the prospect to visualize your products/services helping them.

Here’s an example (after your intro of course) “Besides introducing ourselves, we’re scheduling quick calls to possibly share some best practices (in the prospect’s industry). May I share with you how similar companies are achieving efficiency, securing continuous cash flow, and building competitive differentiation?”

IV. Showcase Your Differentiator

Knowing your competitors ensures you provide rebuttals and showcase your key differentiators. We recommend being respectful of them since your prospect may know them or may be working with them at present.

For example:

Prospect inquires: “Are you like (competitor)?”

In response, you say: “Oh, you’re familiar with (the competitor). Our brand is similar to theirs, but we’re pioneers in (differentiator). Given your familiarity, a demo might help further your knowledge of our particular solutions. Are you available on (day and time) for a 20-minute demo? You’ll find it very rewarding.”

2. Cold Emailing

As with cold calling, this tactic aims at adding good-fit prospects to your pipeline.

It’s a non-intrusive approach for introducing your business to potential customers and building relationships with them.

There are various email types you can adopt, including:

• Introductory emails. Here you’re going for relationship building. Your goal is to brief the prospect about yourself so you become business acquaintances. If all goes as planned i.e. the prospect acknowledges your email, you can continue cultivating the relationship, sharing expert knowledge and solutions.
• Hard sell emails. The goal here is to get recipients to buy from your brand in the near term. A hard sell approach can either catch the recipient at the right time and get things rolling in the right direction or put them off.
• Name drop emails. Your network has plenty of potential for prospecting. With this strategy, you mention a mutual friend, business associate, partner, etc to strengthen your credibility. Your recipient may feel obliged to respond since they know someone in your network.

3. LinkedIn

This much-loved professional networking site is great for more than connecting with like-minded individuals. LinkedIn is a fantastic B2B prospecting tool.

You can sign-up for a premium membership to access extra features like InMail which allow you to message members, including those you aren’t connected to.

How do you leverage this functionality to evoke interest in these members?

Here are samples you can consider:

I. Basic Initial Contact

Like the introductory email, you’re contacting potential customers to introduce your offerings. Your message could take the shape of:

Hi James,

Thanks for connecting.

My company (share name) is working on great solutions that can (share your USP). Is this an area you’re interested in?

II. Requesting a Phone Call

Discussing your offerings over the phone makes for personal connections and allows you to address whatever doubts may be hindering positive advancement. 

Example:

Hi James,

Thanks for connecting

I noticed from your profile that you work within the Pharmaceuticals (or whatever industry they are in). My company (name) has put together new solutions aimed at (USP targeting their industry). We can hop on the phone briefly to discuss this further if you’re interested. Can you set aside 20 minutes on (date plus time)?

III. Inviting Prospective Customers to Upcoming Events

Events are fantastic opportunities to connect with prospective clients on the platform and invite them to attend.

Your InMail message could sound like this:

Hi James,

Thanks for connecting.

I noticed we have mutual connections within the banking sector and thought I’d reach out. My company is planning (name of the event), a virtual (or in-person whichever is the case) event to tackle (reason) on (date plus location where necessary). You can find more details here (insert link).

IV. Offering Free Trials

As far as conversion tactics go, free trials are awesome. You allow people to access your service obligation free to get a feel of how it works as well as its suitability to their needs.

You could say,

Hi James,

Thanks for connecting

We’ve recently launched (name of the product/service) to tackle(reason) that I feel may align with your business. It’s our pleasure to offer you a 30-day free trial to assess its usefulness to you. Here’s the link to get you started.

Conclusion

Cold outreach takes time, knowledge, an understanding of the companies you’re targeting, and how you communicate with them. 

Templates are great to start with, and as you get comfortable, start paying attention to the language and words that resonate with audiences. You can then refine your script accordingly.