Best Practices for Sales Scripts That Work

Small tweaks in your sales script can turn “no thanks” into qualified sales calls. We reviewed a client’s outbound calls, made five key adjustments, and saw a 20% boost in engagement. Here’s what worked: 1. Start with a Permission-Based Opener Jumping straight into the pitch made prospects feel cornered, often leading to resistance. What We Changed: We switched to a permission-based opener like, “Hey, this is (name) from (company), we haven’t spoken before, I’m calling you out of the blue, but it'll take me 30 seconds to tell you why I called and then you can tell me if you even want to keep talking after that, does that sound fair” This gave prospects control and set a respectful tone. Prospects felt more comfortable and engaged when they had the option to continue, leading to smoother, more productive conversations. 2. Use “You” Instead of “We” The scripts were too brand-focused with “we” and “our” statements, making it sound impersonal. Shifting to “you” language made a huge difference. Instead of “We offer the best solution,” we said, “You deserve a solution that actually fits.” Prospects felt the call was about them, not us. 3. Add Specific Social Proof Generic claims weren’t cutting it. Instead of “We’ve helped hundreds,” we got specific: “Last quarter, we helped [X industry] achieve [result].” Specifics boosted credibility and helped prospects see the potential value for themselves. 4. Ask Open-Ended Questions Closed questions led to dead-ends. We replaced “Do you struggle with [problem]?” with “What challenges are you facing with [problem]?” This invited prospects to share more, making the conversation richer and helping us respond better. 5. Frame Price with Value Mentioning price early often scared people off. Instead, we tied price to benefits: “With an investment of $X, you can achieve [result].” Positioning price in correlation to perceived value kept the conversation moving forward. These small changes led to big improvements in qualified booked appointments. ___________________________________ Follow Dylan Rich for more tips on scaling your sales team

I’ve spent years helping B2B companies build and standardize sales messaging. Here’s my model, in five acts. 1️⃣ Define the problem Your prospect called because they have a problem to solve. Help them tell you. ▶ Reflect domain knowledge about the big issues that trigger buying cycles ▶ Land on a clear, simple, mutually agreed statement getting to the heart of the problem 2️⃣ Frame the decision You’re talking to someone trying to understand their options and choose the right one. Help them make sense of what’s in front of them. ▶ Offer your expert perspective on their options, what makes them different, and where your product sits ▶ Be honest about the advantages and disadvantages 3️⃣ Share your unique value Your company or product solves your buyer’s problem in a certain way, which unlocks value that’s hard to get anywhere else. ▶ Tell them what the unique value is ▶ Make it short, sharp, and simple 4️⃣ Break down product capabilities What new abilities do buyers gain from your product? ▶ Tell them what they will do with it that they couldn’t before ▶ It will probably come down to 3-5 short present-tense action statements ▶ Then, reinforce this narrative with your demo 5️⃣ De-risk the decision Prospects are looking for reasons to say no. Take them off the table. This means speaking directly to things like: ▶ Your bona fides ▶ Relevant case studies  ▶ Value relative to cost (i.e., the price and the business case) ▶ How you support the implementation ▶ How you stand by your product ▶ Support after the sale And anything else you need to say to diffuse concerns. After that, you’ll have your obligatory call-to-action/next steps section. But you know all about that already because you’re smart. That’s pretty much it. PS: I am sharing this as a highly distilled, foundational mental model, not a template. You can use it as a framework for writing a deck, developing a sales elevator pitch, or as a jumping-off point for deeper sales messaging and assets. This framework can support a big, lofty narrative as well or a nitty gritty, in-the-weeds approach. Treat it as a springboard, not a Mad Libs exercise.

The answer to your outbound problems isn't: ⛔️ AI ⛔️ More volume ⛔️ SDR agents ⛔️ More relevance ⛔️ Dialers It's your OFFER. Let me explain... Most reps reach out with something like: “Just want to introduce myself and our company…” “Let’s do a quick call so you know your options when budgeting season comes around...” The problem? You have NOTHING to offer. If there’s no immediate need, there's zero reason to take a meeting with you. So you need a way to entice buyers to meet when they have a problem, but are not actively shopping. Here are three types of offers you can use to entice buyers to meet with you: ✅ Offer #1: Good - Pitch The Blind Date Position who the buyer will be meeting with. Hype up the AE, sales engineer, or yourself. Show them that meeting with you will be worth their while. Example: A client of ours sells an automated welding solution. The manufacturing industry is facing a massive shortage of welding talent. Their SDRs pitched it like this: “I’d love to introduce you to Eric. He’s worked with a dozen manufacturers like Caterpillar, Karavan, and more, who are all facing similar challenges. He’ll walk you through how they’re automating the most difficult welds and dealing with the labor shortage. Even if nothing comes of it, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of how the industry is solving this.” Even if the buyer isn’t shopping, they gain value from the conversation itself. ✅ Offer #2: Better - 1:Many Offers These are high-quality, reusable insights that still feel tailored. Think: competitive benchmarks, industry research, or best practice guides. Example: We have a client that sells to ecomm brands. They conducted a mystery shop of 400 competitors to analyze response times, customer service channels, etc. Their reps used those insights to open cold calls with: “Hey Katie, I submitted a ticket on your site, and it took about 48 hours to get a response. It was about 3x longer than folks like Patagonia and the North Face. Again, it’s Jason. Mind if I share more about why I’m calling?” That’s an offer that feels immediately relevant and valuable. It gets a conversation started immediately. ✅ Offer #3: Best - 1:1 Offers These are custom-tailored experiences or resources created specifically for the prospect. It’s you and your organization putting in serious effort to customize the offer. This works best at the enterprise & strategic levels. Examples: - A cyber risk analysis - A benchmarking analysis - A workshop - A personalized audit of a website checkout flow. - Visiting and experiencing the brand firsthand, then sharing insights. - Offering free data, licenses, or pilots. These take more work, but they convert like crazy. ~~~ Which one's most applicable for you?

Just analyzed 10,000+ cold calls from Q4 2024: Only 2% of sales reps are doing it right. The rest are stuck in 2020's playbook. After training 500+ sales teams and closing $50M+ in deals through cold calling. I've identified what works in 2025 - and what fails miserably. The Do's: 1. Pre-Call Research - Study prospect's digital footprint - Track the company's recent developments - Identify specific pain points 2. Timing Strategy - Call between 10-11 AM or 4-5 PM - Target decision-makers when gatekeepers are away - Follow up within 48 hours 3. Modern Script Architecture - Start with value proposition - Use pattern interrupts - Focus on problem-solving The Don'ts: 1. Outdated Tactics - Reading from rigid scripts - Focusing on features over solutions - Using high-pressure closing techniques 2. Communication Mistakes - Talking more than listening - Using industry jargon - Ignoring buying signals 3. Follow-up Failures - Giving up after 2 attempts - Using generic voicemails - Lacking a multi-channel approach My most successful clients saw 300% increase in connection rates by implementing these modern strategies. Remember: Cold calling isn't dead - bad cold calling is. What's your biggest cold-calling challenge? #SalesStrategy #B2BSales #ColdCalling #SalesSuccess