Intro

Let’s be honest: cold calling has never been easy. It’s only gotten harder in recent years with declines in connection rates and buying behavior shifting to prefer more self led buying processes. Cold calling is still as effective as any tool in an SDR’s arsenal however. Here’s the thing: despite being difficult, following a simple effective script makes the entire process much more manageable. Here’s the exact script with use at CallCloud to great success.

Permission Based Opener

There’s a lot of debate around permission based openers. The reality is that they do work and disarm the prospect by allowing them to consent to the call. By leveraging a permission based opener you give yourself a much greater ability to pitch and provide value upfront. Here’s what that looks like at CallCloud:

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Prospect answer

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Step One (Skip if they answered with their name): Hey, is this [prospect name]? 

Prospect response: Only proceed if yes

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Step Two: Hey [prospect name] this is Rich giving you a ring from CallCloud. Does that name ring a bell?

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Prospect response: Some form of yes/no 

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If Yes - Step Three: That’s great to hear, do you mind if I take 30 seconds to let you know why I was calling?

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If No - Step Three: No worries, I realize I’m calling you out of the blue here, do you mind if I take 30 seconds to let you know why I was calling?

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Prospect response: Only proceed if yes

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____________________________________________________________________________

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That’s it. You now have permission to pitch. This works whether your company/name is well recognized or not. At CallCloud prospects rarely recognize the company, but are still happy to give you a moment to pitch. You are making a simple ask for 30 seconds and most prospects that already answered your call will oblige and now are in the mode of saying yes. If they say no, the truth is they weren’t going to listen to your pitch anyway. And that’s okay, they might be waiting on an important call or any other number of reasons to not give you time. It isn’t personal. Sometimes the same prospects that reject you one day will be affable weeks or months later. This is a numbers game both in volume and conversion. The next step is creating a high converting pitch that provides enough value for you to make an ask in return. 

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The Pitch

Your pitch is your moment to shine. We’ll focus on what to say in a moment, but you should do 3 things in your pitch that go beyond the content of your words: be authentic, sharp as a tack, and enthusiastic. If you do those 3 things you will come off as trustworthy, worth listening to, and lend your enthusiasm to your prospect. Many times new cold callers struggle to blend enthusiasm and authenticity. They over-embellish just how EXCITED they are about their product and lose credibility. A tip I’ve found is helpful: emulate how you talk about your favorite hobby to a friend that doesn’t partake. Maybe it’s fishing, following Formula 1, fantasy football, crocheting, or Irish tap dancing. It doesn’t matter what it is. What does matter is that over half of people find each of those hobbies painfully boring from the outside looking in, but somehow if a friend is really excited about it, it sounds worth checking out. And more important it’s believable excitement, not salesy and exaggerated. Speak about your product with the same genuine enthusiasm and it will be infectious. Here’s the script though:

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Thanks. [insert Product Name] is a [insert what you do in a plain, concise sentence].

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We help teams at [insert most notable and similar customers to prospect]

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-[Value Proposition 1]

-[Value Proposition 2]

-[Value Proposition 3]

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[CTA]

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Here’s what that looks like at CallCloud:

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Thanks. CallCloud is a power dialer that works right in the UI of Salesloft, Outreach, and Hubspot. We help teams at Elise.ai, Observe.ai, and others 

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-2x their dials

-Decrease burnout caused by dialing

-And dial with the same conversational context and quality they do today.

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Do you have 30 minutes this Tuesday at 2pm eastern to take a look?

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_______________________________________________________________________

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The expectation isn’t that they are going to book immediately after that pitch despite that being the ask. That’s unrealistic. However, the pitch gives enough value and piques curiosity to get the prospect to open up and ask questions. A lot of folks will say you should ask discovery questions before making a pitch on a cold call. In most cases that is wrong. The pitch is the hook that gets the prospect to engage in conversation that serves as mutual discovery. Asking questions before providing a reason to answer them will result in half engaged answers at best. 

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Conclusion

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Cold calling is never easy, and it’s only getting more challenging. But with a well-structured script and a solid process, you can drastically improve your chances of success. The key lies in securing permission, delivering an authentic and concise pitch, and being mentally prepared for rejection. The "no's" are not personal—they're part of the process.

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As an SDR, your goal isn’t to close deals on the call; it’s to get your foot in the door by piquing the prospect’s interest. If you focus on delivering value with enthusiasm and genuine interest, you’ll spark curiosity and start meaningful conversations. The more you refine your process, the more likely you’ll get to the "yes’s."

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Remember, it’s a numbers game. Stay consistent, stay sharp, and keep honing your craft. The success of your cold calls won’t come from magic scripts, but from your ability to engage, adapt, and push through the inevitable rejections. At the end of the day, persistence and process win the game.

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Good luck, and happy dialing!

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