My EXACT script i use for Cold Calling

Thanks for sharing - I guess anyone can start with this script, and tweak it later to fit his style and personality.

Have you tried outsourcing your cold calls?

That's really interesting. It goes to show it is so important to track everything you can do.

Never pay a TM'er per lead generated.

A straight hourly plus small bonus is best.

You'll go broke before you find an honest commission-only TM that works; you really can't blame them because you're incentivizing results at any cost. Most won't have a long-term outlook, either.

My father sold into Fortune 100 companies and ONLY sold the appointment -- he NEVER sold over the phone (you couldn't with what he was selling -- chemical cleaners to food processing companies).

He was relentless -- if the DM refused to meet, he'd send him a personal letter thanking him for his time and asking for the appointment again. Then he'd call him again in 30 days.

Sold his business for multi-millions and retired at 49. Guess selling unqualified appointments work in certain circumstances.

I've said it many times...but here we go again.

An appointment setter is different than a TM. Anyone that tries to pay someone commission only or "per appointment" has no idea what they are doing. To be short and to the point about it...if you pay me $20-45 per appointment, you will get whatever it is I determine I need for the week to pay my bills, shop, whatever. Whatever it is I decide I want to work for, let's say that's $45 per appointment at 2 per day. You will get that many appointments...there is no guarantee you will sell those appointments (especially with this script that doesn't qualify, but that's another issue). Now, if you pay me my hourly rate with NO bonus/commission, that same $90 will get you 6-9 hours of calls. At the end of the day I will turn into you ALL appointments, ALL warm leads, ALL NI's that are qualified but just hardheaded and don't want to book (that you should follow up with anyways), and you will have numerous opportunities to sell yourself. If I work per appointment or commission...I'm keeping EVERY warm lead, and every lead or email or CB for myself to turn it into that appointment so you will pay me.

So, there you have it, that's why we work salary/hourly and why as a professional appointment setter, I don't recommend you pay anyone commission or per appointment.

This is the best gosh darn cold calling post I have ever seen on the forum. Im serious, you could make me cry it's so G%D*&MN Beautiful!

I freakin love this post!

If people follow the principles in this post they will get appointments easily, and smoothly.

Yes, you will still hear alot of no's but you move forward with a happy heart to meet people, meaning them no harm, letting them go easily....and you get to the guys who like your easy going demeanor and who say "Yeah Im glad you called John, I was just thinking about this the other day...".

Ps. They are "there", no need to beat yourself up on the way to discovering them. You can move efficiently and still have an easy going session.

That being said, I wouldnt use the op's script as an appointment setter for someone elses campaign. I would use it for myself as an individual because I can feel out the person and I know instinctively who I want to go out and meet, or who I have a chance of selling.... I could set a solid appointment for MYSELF with this script because of intuition and "feel"... but if I were appointment setting for another company, I would qualify harder.

Well you arent spamming cuz I asked.

I mean seriously, if appointments and salesman are even mediocre, 1 out of 4 will close.

If you get a client worth four or five grand per year out of $200 worth of appointments or $250, then its wayyy worth it buying more.

If your salesman cant close one out of five SUCKY appointments even, that arent no shows, then you have bigger problems than an appointment setter.

Any thoughts on qualifying leads on the phone?
Questions like "when you're planning to start"?

Very interesting thread.

It's depends on who your target is.

Setting appointments like the OP has decades of proof that it works.

Even if you don't pre-qualify -- most business owners and executives are extremely busy, and the majority of the time, won't waste their time seeing you UNLESS they're interested in your offer.

Like John said -- if you can close 20% to 25% of those UN-qualified appointments that stick, you're doing well as a salesperson.

With all that said, it's obviously doable to one-call close products with a straight-forward solution, or at worst, pre-qualify to the point where you simply pick up the check when you see them.

It just depends. Pre-qual and closing someone interested in web design services on the phone? Sure. Pre-qual and closing a huge food processing plant under contract 2 more years? Better set an appointment face-to-face, get KNOWN and TRUSTED, and strike later when the iron is HOT.

PS: Anyone who's interested in calling with the goal of setting the appointment, I suggest reading anything by Schiffman. He's got some great tips on giving good phone to get your foot in the door.

Im not gonna lie im pretty scared of cold calling, not pretty scared but terrified probably like a lot of people, when it comes to the actual meeting I think I can close deals relatively easy as im good with numbers, stats and empathy but reading this has made me less scared, my business is not in a position to actually do this yet but when it is I am definitely going to try something like this. 100 calls a day and track results.

Have you ever turned up to a meeting and there been no one there or they said you are not booked in or something? That would be another fear of mine.

I've been blown off on a few meetings - it happens. You can call to confirm, but I don't want them to cancel.

Good script, but as soon as you can afford it, outsource cold calling for sure. Your time is too valuable and needs to be spent face-to-face with people. Leave the cold calling to someone else. There are some good phone rooms that can take your script and charge only on a results basis. I've talked to one that charges $25 per set appointment so I'll see how their quality is.

I came across this last night and had to share. If I made this cold call it would probably do me in forever! lol

Really easy and actionable script that will help many. Thanks for sharing. How are you qualifying who you call if you would indulge me a bit longer

Regarding: DS : "Is this a GOOD time to talk, in order to explain why i called you specifically today?"

Change to Is this a BAD time to talk?

Why?

It's never a good time to talk. Decision makers are busy. They are doing something else when you interupt them.

Asking them if this is a bad time to talk, changes their pattern.

If they are in the middle of something, ask them when you can call back. You then have an appointment to see if it makes sense to schedule an appointment.

What I like about what you are doing is that you are not trying to sell.

You are also clear on the outcome you want. You only want a meeting.

Mwinds answers are sharp, to the point where they sting a little. Thats a sign of a telemarketer.

They dont really bend over backwards to sell themselves, because they arent looking for BS clients.

To many of the questions that non telemarketers ask, and suggestions that you see made by people who havent made thousands of calls; a telemarketer will answer you like "What planet are you from man?" lol

I love seeing a real telemarketer talk to non telemarketers, because there are so many myths...like its some big esoteric thing... Its just dialing man. Its just getting to the point. A few thousand calls, will make you that way.

Many of the tips and things you see here are so clearly not from real life experience. Its refreshing to see real telemarketers talk about it.

However , I still like the op's approach. Its a different operating system, more of a soft subtle sell. Thats how I do it, but I have worked with alot of others who do it differently, and their operating systems work too.

This is what I mean. Non professionals will nit pic little things like this, but a true telemarketer knows that over a large body of numbers there are many different personalities who respond to many different approaches. They know this because they daily work with large bodies of numbers.

You could almost say ANYTHING really, and there is a group of people who respond to that, as long as you MASTER whatever it is you are saying, and know how to turn your phrases properly.

Its not the phrase as much as it is the way you "turn" it.

Dont take that to extremes ...but thats a general principle.

Most dont recommend asking if its a good time to talk, but if you say it sweetly enough there are a virtual TON of people who will listen just because you were so damn nice in asking.

There are also a ton of people who dont respond to that. You have to master the way you say whatever you say, and there are people who respond to that.

Its like saying "Chicks dig tattoos".

Well in truth SOME do, but Some dont...some go crazy over tats, and some wouldnt touch a man with a tattoo.

You have to be good at YOUR operating system. A true telemarketer knows that you cant be all things to all people, but if you will stick with your best approach and stay with it long enough to tweak your voice inflections and get it right, then you will find the people who respond to THAT.

When you get really good you can swap approaches in and out all day, but you have to be really good, and have mastered several approaches. You have to understand the operating systems that various approaches work off of, and that comes with tens of thousands of dials.

For example, if you want to take an authoritative approach, you have to know how to make your vocal tones and inflections work with that, you cant talk like Mike Tyson.

If you cant SOUND authoritative, then an authoritative approach wont work for you, but you may do REALLY well, with a humbler approach...

In the police fuindraising world, their pitches work like magic "For a guy who can sound like a cop". They work all day, but if you cant sound like that and be convincing they wont work for YOU, whereas a different type of charity might work great for you.

You can also learn and develop these things.

Even Mwind cant sell EVERYONE, she sells the people who respond to her direct style, and there are alot of them, and then some DONT...but who cares right? You are after those who respond to YOU.

On another note, she may be able to swap styles too, but why?

A true telemarketer doesnt waste their time trying to please everyone, they state their way, and they are looking for people who "get" that, they arent going to jump through hoops for people all day, because they are going to "get theirs", no matter what, so why wear yourself out trying to be all things to all people?

That being said, over two years I can tell she is the real deal...and her advice is solid. Its really a matter of what operating system works best for you, either that or you can join a call center and they will force you to master theirs.

In closing, there are alot of "sayings" that are worth a million dollars, but they arent worth two cents if you havent allowed yourself the disciplin to master how you say them. There is the phrase, and then there is the way you "turn" the phrase.

The latter comes with experience.

Come on dude don't give your secrets away!!!

Nice Info! thanks for sharing, will somehow implement this to my team as well

Thanks for sharing..as mentioned above it can be tweaked to individual needs. Some my use it as you have to get a face to face and others may use it to pre-qualify someone to send info or media kit to.

Thanks again

This has taken some jitters out of the thought of cold calling again. I used to do this for a major corporation and it all depends on who picks up that phone. Business people know and respect what you are doing and will be willing to listen to your pitches only because they know they will find a diamond in the rough sometimes. There are so many new technologies out there that companies don't have a choice but to listen to WF ideas. Thanks for all these posts.

This is a good script, I have made a few cold calls here and there but get so nervous and I know that comes across over the phone so I sound unprofessional. Maybe if I use this script and rehearse and rehearse I will build up the courage to start cold calling again. Because I know it is a very good source of leads.

This is a decent script! Thanks for sharing with the community..my scripts are personally a bit shorter than yours but the end results is the same...going for the appointment!

Thanks for sharing this, for someone who looks at the phone like it is Kryptonite, this is a great way of breaking the ice with the people that make decisions!!!

This is awesome. Just what I needed. Thanks for posting.

Nice share here. More offliners shouldn't be afraid to pick up the phone and start reaching out to local businesses.

Great tips. thank you for this. I have a similar "template" I use often. I did a lot of cold calling and I also sucked at the beginning, but by the time I got more self esteem when talking with potential clients.

Folks, if you find this script simple, that is because it is. A lot of things in internet marketing are simple...but remember - just because they are simple, that's not mean they are easy to do.
Try this, tweak it, try different angles and you will be successful.