Tips for Successful Intro Calls

Tens of thousands of cold calls taught me this… Most reps are doing it completely wrong. They make 2-3 calls between Slack messages. Check email. Do some research. Make a few more calls. Wonder why their calendar stays empty. Meanwhile, top performers follow specific systems that consistently fill their pipelines. After years of testing what works (and what doesn't), here are the fundamentals that separate successful cold callers from everyone else: 1️⃣Time blocking beats scattered calling every time. Shut down Slack, close email, put your phone on do not disturb. One hour of focused calling outperforms eight hours of distracted attempts. 2️⃣Setup determines success. Clean desk the night before. Browser tabs closed except your CRM. Contact list ready to go. Remove every possible friction point so you can start calling immediately. 3️⃣Energy management isn't optional. Proper sleep and clean eating directly impact call performance. Hard to believe until you try calling after a night of poor sleep versus eight hours of quality rest. 4️⃣Warm up like an athlete. Run through your first 5-10 calls out loud before dialing. Practice handling objections. Get your brain and voice ready before real prospects answer. 5️⃣Frameworks beat winging it. You don't need to sound robotic, but you need structure. Permission, problem, cost of inaction. Simple formula that works consistently. 6️⃣Write it down and make it visible. Brain fog hits everyone mid-call. Having your framework printed in large font saves you from fumbling when prospects ask unexpected questions. 7️⃣Prepare for predictable objections. Same 4-8 objections come up 95% of the time. Uncover, overcome, ask. Have responses ready instead of stammering through them. 8️⃣Record everything and listen back. Elite athletes watch game film. Sales reps should listen to call recordings. Your tonality, word choice, and objection handling become obvious when you hear yourself. 9️⃣Call when others don't. Friday afternoons worked best for me. Fewer competing calls, backup receptionists, tired decision makers with weekend plans. Blue ocean strategy applied to cold calling. 🔟Consistency trumps intensity. One focused hour daily beats sporadic marathon sessions. Pipeline problems show up weeks later when prospecting stops today. The difference between struggling reps and quota crushers isn't talent. It's system execution. Most reps treat cold calling like a necessary evil. Top performers treat it like a craft worth mastering. — Sales reps! Check out more secrets to master cold calls: https://lnkd.in/g7MBsEcR Sales Leaders! Want to install winning systems into your teams? Go here: https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf

Want to book more meetings? Stop asking "got a minute?" and start talking industry trends. I've made 100,000s of cold calls in my career. The meetings I booked then (and still book today) all have one thing in common… …industry obsession. Most reps make the fatal mistake of leading with their product. They're focused on what they sell, not who they're selling to. The best cold callers are industry experts first, sellers second. Before picking up the phone, they 1) Know the specific challenges in that industry 2) Understand what that job title actually does daily 3) Can speak the language of the person they're calling When I call a VP of Talent at a SaaS company, I don't start with my pitch. I start with "I know you're probably trying to hire for these engineering roles. My guess is they're taking 90+ days to fill..." That's how you get "Yeah, exactly. How did you know?" Outbound isn't dead. Bad outbound is. The difference is that relevance beats volume every time.

This feels counterintuitive, but I don't introduce myself upfront on cold calls. Instead, I've found far more success "pattern interrupting" by making the first words I saw something I saw about THEM: "Alex, I just saw the job post for the Director of Marketing you're hiring" "Alex, I just finished reading your LinkedIn post about your new product launch" "Alex, I just saw the announcement about the new CTO you hired" Leading with something about them PROVES you're not just another crappy telemarketer blindly dialing thru the phone book. From there, you can get permission to pitch. Here's the complete script: "𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩" 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 30 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬?" This doesn't work if the upfront thing about them you cite has absolutely nothing to do with your product. You can't say "I read your LinkedIn post" and then randomly transition to a pitch about health benefits software if you're unable to make a clear connection. When doing your cold call prep, look for conditions/attributes about the prospect that might indicate they have the problem your product solves. Ex: Product announcements Podcast/Media appearances  Job listings (there is often gold in these) Earnings reports Blog posts