The 5 Stages of a Cold Call

Whether you’re not converting as many cold calls as you’d like or you’re already killing it, this exercise will take you to the next level.

(1) Opener

This is the first 10-15 seconds of the call when the prospect picks up.

Opener example:

Hey {{name}}, this is {{Your name}} with Wali. We help {{industry}} companies to {{Our benifit}}. I sent over an email the other day, does the name sound familiar?

What’s important during this stage:

1. Your tone: relaxed, and confident.
2. Leveraging anything you know about them: Reference a customer you have in their industry, a referral, or a trigger event (Examples include: they recently joined a new company, raised a round of funding, or you know a tool they’re using)

What you might be doing wrong:

1. Your tone is too dry or on the flip side, it’s too hyper/salesy
2. Asking too many questions upfront:

• “Hi is this John?” - assume if they picked up, that it is indeed John.
• “Oh hey, John, how are you doing today?”. Get to the point. These irrelevant questions give your prospect too many opportunities to hang up before you’ve built any trust.

(2) Pitch

This is the stage after you’ve introduced yourself and they either agree to hear why you’re calling or they haven’t hung up yet.

Pitch example:

Prospect: No. I haven’t heard of {{Wali}}.

Me: All good. As I said, we’re working with X and Y in the area, helping them reduce manual time spent on creating proposals so they can spend more time selling. Are you using a tool for this? I figured as VP you’d know what that process looks like better than anyone.

What’s important during this stage:

1. Keep it brief and to the point
2. Persona-based pitch speaking to what their role cares about.
3. Leverage social proof
4. End with a question

What you might be doing wrong:

1. Saying too much.

• I’ve been here before: Spewing a 30-second long pitch at my prospect, and by the time I’m done, I’m gasping for air. If you say too much, you’re really saying nothing. The prospect will lose interest.

(3) Discovery

This is the stage of the call where a conversation has begun, and you’re asking questions to pull pain.

Discovery example:

Prospect: Yeah we use X for that.

Me: Oh great! We’re a little different from X in Y and Z ways. {[relevant customer}} was spending tons of time creating proposals manually before they switched to us because X lacked {{feature}}. What does that process look like for your team?

What’s important during this stage:

1. Asking open-ended questions that start a convo
2. Getting them to tell you what tool/process they use ASAP so you can uncover a pain point and go for the close.

What you might be doing wrong:

1. Asking closed-ended questions that don’t start a convo
2. Asking too many questions and never getting to the meeting because you feel you haven’t “earned it”

(4) Closing

This is the stage after you’ve identified a pain, and you’re asking for the meeting/demo.

Closing example:

I know I called you out of the blue, John. Why don’t we schedule a more convenient time to go in more depth on we can help with X. Would tomorrow work for you or is Friday better?

What’s important during this stage:

1. Being positive and assumptive. Have the mindset that they just submitted an inbound demo request and you’re calling to get it booked (of course they want a demo!)
2. Use the ‘option close’: Would later today work or is tomorrow better? This leaves no option for “no”
3. Once you ask, be silent

What you might be doing wrong:

1. Being indirect: I think it might be a good idea to schedule call. Would you have time in the next few weeks?
2. Asking for the meeting, then continuing to sell them on it because you’re nervous of what they’ll say

(5) Qualify

Once you’ve closed for the demo, this is the cherry on top to ensure you get strong notes for your AE and reduce the chances of them no-showing.

Qualifying example:

Just to ensure we make the most of your time on that call, I have a few questions for you if that’s alright? [Then ask your BANT questions: what’s your timeline? who else should be involved? how many seats?…]

What important during this stage:

1. If you frame it as, wanting to ask a few questions to make the most of their time, they’ll be more open to answering your questions thoroughly and honestly because there’s something in it for them.
2. Confirm they received the invite while on the phone, double-check that the time works & let them know you’ll be calling an hour before the demo to confirm.

What you might be doing wrong:

1. You’re ending the call right after you book the meeting.
2. You're not confirming the invite on the phone, getting other stakeholders involved, and making the most out of the demo by asking additional questions.

If you have a solid understanding of the 5 stages of a cold call and know how to navigate through them, then saying all the right things or having the perfect script (if such a thing exists) isn’t nearly as important.

All you need to focus on is getting from stage 1 to 2, from 2 to 3, and so on.

In my experience, the person who asks for the meeting more often (Stage 4), gets the meeting more often. Regardless of how “polished” they sound.

It’s simple statistics: ask more, receive more.