Test Cold Calling Scripts 

A Unique Test to Check if Your Reason for Calling is Effective 

Cold calling scripts for sales appointments or sales must have a really effective Reason for Calling that grabs the prospect's attention and motivates them to listen to you and continue the conversation

The structure of a cold calling script for making sales appointmentsSlide from the Making Sales Appointments training course

In all my sales training content and courses on making sales appointments I use a 4 stage call process. 
The Reason for the Call is part of the Introduction Stage, it tells the prospect why you are calling them.

It presents a benefit the prospect could gain by giving you their time and talking with you. This is the most important line of your  sales appointment calls and what you will find here is a way to test how effective your Reason for Calling is. 

A good reason for calling will motivate the prospect to give you their time, use a poor one and they will give you objections and excuses and end the call.

Test your Reason for Calling and see if it require improvement, it could make a big difference to the number of calls you convert to sales appointments. 


Test the Reason for Calling in Your Cold Calling Scripts

Step 1. What’s Your Current Reason for Calling

On the sales appointment calls you make now, what is your Reason for Calling?

Write down what you say in the first few lines of your sales appointment cold calling scripts that explains to prospects why you’re calling and why they should listen to you.

Here’s an example of a common Reason for Calling that I often hear when coaching appointment setters: I'm calling because we are in your area.

I've trained hundreds of sales people and full time appointment setters on how to make sales appointments and many of them were using the above example on their calls. I used this test to help them improve their cold calling scripts and their results. 


Step 2.  Test the Reason you are Calling

Put your self in the prospect's position, does the Reason for Calling you are using clearly explain the potential benefits you may gain by listening to the call?

A quick way to test this is by considering whether you could ask the question: So What? in response to the Reason for Calling. Using the above example: I'm calling because we are in your area. Does it make sense to respond with: So What? What does that mean for me, the prospect? 

Yes it does, it makes perfect sense to ask that question because there are no benefits for the prospect in the line: We are in your area.
So what if they are in the area? It may benefit the sales person or their company of they are already working in the area, but there is no benefits to the prospect.

Now do the same test on the Reason for Calling you are using in your cold calling scripts for appointment setting. Can you ask: So what, or are the benefits the prospect will gain already clear? 


Step 3.  Improve Your Reason for Calling

If in Step 2 the question: So what, was appropriate as there were no clear benefits for the prospect, now change and improve your Reason for Calling. You can change or add to the current Reason for Calling so you include a benefit related to a feature you have used, or you can create a new line using a different reason. 

To improve the line you are using
Does it include a benefit. A common mistake is to use a feature, e.g. being in the area, without explaining how this could benefit the prospect. 

The improved line could be: We already deliver to other businesses in your area (feature) so we can offer a regular service at competitive costs (benefits). If you say the new line out loud it now doesn't make sense to ask: So what?  The 2 benefits of a regular service and competitive costs are clearly stated and should be good reasons for the prospect to want to hear more

To create a new Reason for Calling
To create a new line in your cold calling scripts, list benefits offered by you, your company, or the products and service you offer, that could be of interest to prospects you are calling for sales appointments. Select a benefit(s) to use and add the feature that provides the benefit. Now create the Reason for calling line. Go back to Step 2 and test it. 


Want help creating your sales appointment call scripts?

The training on this page is just a small example of creating 1 line of your sales appointment call. You can see how much effort needs to be invested to develop a script for the whole call. 

If you're serious about wanting to achieve high numbers of appointments with qualified prospects, converting more of your calls and maximising your time, view the professional course I use when training corporate teams: Making Sales Appointments by Telephone.

Every technique and word you use will be purposely chosen to support your goal, nothing left to chance. Full comprehensive training on creating every step in every stage of your call. Learn more at: Making Sales Appointments



A quick way to create a sales appointment script

Maybe you're not yet ready for the full course on making Sales Appointments and would like to try out a quick version first?

Create your own sales appointment script today - The training is concentrated and can be put into action in just a few hours.

Add your own words and phrases to customise the script for your products and marketplace. From a cold call introduction through explaining why you are calling to gaining agreement to an appointment, survey, demonstration, test drive, or whatever the next step of your sales process is.  Fill your appointment diary, grow your business, and quickly learn how to contact more potential clients and customers. Making Sales Appointments in a Nutshell gives you a quick training course that's  easy to follow, so you get it in a nutshell.

See more information at: Making Sales Appointments in a Nutshell  Or, get the eBook now for just £9.97 and put the training into action today by using the button below.

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