Common Mistakes to Avoid in Cold Calling

7 worst sales call mistakes I saw in 2023: 1. Complicated "upfront contracts" There's nothing wrong with a good UFC. But some reps take a 180 seconds to get through them. Rule of thumb: If you can't set the objective and agenda in 30 seconds? Trim it. Don't make it complicated. 2. No business acumen. Come on, sellers. If you're asking your buyer for $50,000 or more? And you don't know the difference between an asset vs. liability? Or cash flow vs. profit? Why should they look to you? Clean this up. I once heard a seller say to a buyer (after the buyer said the word "P&L"): "P&L? Oh jeeze don't take me back to my college days. What does that mean again?" He was trying to be funny. It wasn't though. 3. Out of the box demos. Here's a question to think about: If your demo doesn't change based on what you learned in discovery... What was the point of discovery? Tailor your solution. I know. It's hard. But that's why we make the big bucks in this profession. 4. "Penciling in" next steps Many reps schedule pointless next steps. They just want a calendar event on the books. But they give the buyer no reason to show up. Have a point of view. What should be the next step? Why that? Who should be involved? What's the agenda? You don't have to overdo it. Just put some purpose behind it. 5. "Let me see what I can do"-style negotiations This tight economy has many of us selling scared. A slight HINT of price resistance? We cave. "Let me see what I can do..." There goes 40% of your ACV. Do yourself (and your company) a big favor. Instead of capitulating immediately... Ask a question. "What's driving you to need that concession?" "What constraints are you dealing with?" Negotiating is problem-solving. Cutting your contract value in half is lazy problem-solving. 6. Not earning the right to do discovery. Sometimes, you don't have to do this. Many buyers are roaring and ready to go. But some buyers? Some buyers are cold. You need to warm them up before you ask your questions. In these situations, give value before you get it. Walk them through a pain-deck, Get them up to speed on what you solve. Then pass the torch: "Anyway, enough about us and what we typically solve. Tell me about your biggest challenges when it comes to _______." 7. Too many questions in a row without a change of pace. If you ask six or seven questions in a row? One right after the other? At best, you come across as robotic. At worst, you come across as interrogating. Rule of thumb: Every 3-4 questions, stop. Summarize what you heard. Vibe with your buyer for a minute. Offer a new perspective. Then get back to your questions. You'll buy time. You'll give a better experience. You'll close more deals. - What did I miss? P.S. If you're a head of sales (or enablement) and you want to transform your SaaS sales team's skills with a "night and day" difference, go here: https://lnkd.in/g2CkE295

5 mistakes I see outbound sellers make every week. 👇 → Writing like a marketer instead of a seller Cold emails aren’t blog posts. You’re not building brand. You’re trying to start a conversation. → Using lazy follow-ups like “just checking in” You’re not checking in. You’re hoping they magically became interested. → Avoiding the phone entirely If you’re sending 100 emails a day but refusing to pick up the phone, you’re not doing outbound. → Treating LinkedIn like a billboard instead of a conversation Talking at people isn't selling. If you're not engaging in the comments or the DMs, you're not doing social selling. → Using gimmicks like “quick question” or “got 15 mins?” instead of building real interest Buyers see through this. If you don’t offer value up front, the answer is always no. Outbound in 2025 demands that you rise above silver bullets because there are none. Instead, you need a strategy that prioritizes relevance, repetition, and real conversations. 📌 What change have you made in the past 12 months to adapt to outbound selling in the current environment? ✨ Enjoyed this post? Let me know in the comments & follow Leslie Venetz for more.

If you’re in B2B sales and struggling to book meetings, this post will show you exactly why—and how to fix it. In the next 90 seconds, you’ll learn: ✅ Why your outreach is being ignored ✅ The cold call script that worked—until it didn’t ✅ One rule that flipped my results and rebuilt my pipeline ✅ How to trade value for access and stop sounding like every other rep This is field-tested and Fortune 500-proven. No fluff. Just what works. Let’s be honest: most salespeople are asking for time like amateurs. They’re dialing, interrupting, and begging—without offering anything worth trading for the meeting. I used to say: “Hi, this is Anthony Iannarino with [Company]. I’d like to introduce myself and my company. Would 11:30 Tuesday work for you?” That line booked hundreds of meetings. Until it didn’t. Because once every salesperson starts saying the same thing, it becomes noise. Then I made a shift.I stopped asking for time. I started trading value. I created something I called an executive briefing—a strategic, high-level conversation offering insight on market trends, industry risks, and the shifts leaders needed to prepare for. I wasn’t pitching. I was delivering perspective. That single shift changed everything. Executives started saying yes again. Not because I asked better—because I offered better. I call this the Trading Value Rule: Never ask for a meeting without offering something worth more than the time you're requesting. It flips the script. You go from salesperson to strategic partner—before the meeting even happens. This isn’t just how I prospect. It’s how I sell. It’s why The Lost Art of Closing works. If your meetings are down, your value isn’t visible. Fix the offer—and the doors open. Want the cold call script I used? Drop a in the comments and I’ll DM it to you. #B2BSales #ColdCalling #SalesStrategy #ValueBasedSelling

🛑 Sellers, stop 🛑 Before you send that cold email or rattle off that cold call script. Ask yourself... "how much does my buyer have to translate?" We often view our message from "our side". "do I use this permission based opener? "Is this personalization or relevance?" "what's the value prop?" "Is this case study impressive?" Your buyer isn't in your frame of mind. They're busy. They're putting out fires. They see/hear you and think... "What is this?" "Why does this matter to me?" "How does this apply to me?" "Is this priority?" The more energy they have to put into figuring out these questions, the worse your conversion rates. Help them help you. Ask yourself: - why am I reaching out? - why should they care? What problems or status quo will they connect with? - how exactly are we going to help? - do I have proof that we can help? Answering these questions quickly and clearly will make any cold outreach feel a lot less frosty.