A cold call script is a guide salespeople use when calling leads they’ve never directly spoken with before. Cold calling can be intimidating, but using a script can help sellers stay on task during their calls and effectively qualify and book meetings with leads. After familiarizing yourself with a general template as well as situation-specific templates for a variety of selling scenarios, you can create your own cold call script and adapt it as needed.
- Free Cold Call Script Template: Download and customize our free cold call script that follows a standard cold call format. Read more below.
- Standard Cold Call Script Format: Learn about the basic format of successful cold call scripts so you can craft and customize your own. Read more below.
- How to Write Your Own Cold Call Script: With our template and understanding of its format, learn the steps for actually creating your own cold call script. Read more below.
- Top Cold Call Script Template Examples: Check out these cold call script examples for various scenarios and use them as guides for your own. Read more below.
If you already have a cold call script you’re confident in, check out our article on how to cold call. There you’ll find a step-by-step guide to cold calling, from crafting the script to tracking results, as well as cold calling best practices.
Free Cold Call Script Template
Check out our standard cold call script template below, then read on for a complete breakdown of each of its components. You can use the template verbatim for general calls or tweak sections as necessary for your unique business. Then, check out our full list of cold call script templates and examples for a variety of situations so you can better craft your own. Jump to see them below.
Format of a Cold Call Script
Our template lists all of the key components of a successful cold call script, plus our suggested verbiage for each. Including all components will help you get acquainted with your new leads, remember everything you’d like to say to them, and get all of your initial questions answered. Let’s dive further into each component and what it helps you accomplish on your calls:
First, give a brief introduction that states your name and company. Confirm the lead's full name, showing that the call is specifically for them and their role in the company. Then, ask for a couple minutes of their time.
Opener from free script template
With this format in mind, let's discuss the steps necessary to create your own cold call script using a template or making one from scratch. That said, if you need a step-by-step process on how to actually make cold calls, read our guide on how to cold call. Otherwise, continue reading below.
How to Write a Cold Call Script
Now that you're familiar with the components to include in a cold call script, let's go over how to use our template to write your own script from start to finish. Writing a script for your cold calls involves completing pre-work, drafting a script, and getting comfortable with your script. To create the best repeatable script for your business, follow the steps below.
1. Research Your Leads' Goals
Understand who you’re creating a script for, what's important to them, and the challenges they're facing so you can write a targeted script. The best way to do this is to establish your ideal customer profile (ICP), then research your ICP's typical goals and challenges as well as each lead's goals and challenges. If you complete both types of research, your leads will be more likely to trust you, as they'll feel that you understand their pain points and how to help alleviate them.
2. Determine Your USP
Based on your research, identify your USP and how it relates to each lead. Plan to explain your product or service and then immediately tie it to their needs. Here, you're showing your lead that you've done your research, and you're helping them understand how your business can improve their unique situation.
3. Draft the Components of Your Script
Write out each component of your script using our template above. Again, these components include:
- Opener: State your name and company and your lead's name, and ask for their time.
- Reason for Your Call: Explain why you're calling the lead.
- USP: Start to show the lead how your business can help them.
- Objection Handling: Prepare rebuttals to common objections.
- Needs Assessment: Initially evaluate the lead's fit.
- Summary and CTA: Confirm your ability to help, then plan another conversation.
You might choose to skip a component or two on certain calls, but write them out so you can be prepared with every lead.
4. Practice Your Script
Rehearse your script with a coworker to ensure you're ready to use it. Ask them to play the role of different leads and to give you pushback occasionally so you can get comfortable treating your script as an adaptable guide rather than following it verbatim.
After you draft your first script, you may find that you need additional scripts for various scenarios. Next, we'll look at template examples for different situations. When writing your situational scripts, follow the steps above, keep the components in mind, and use the examples below for inspiration.
Cold Calling Script Template Examples for Any Situation
To know what to say on your cold calls, have a script handy for the scenarios you’re likely to face. The following are templates for a few common scenarios, built with tools necessary to break through to the next phase of the sales conversation, yet with enough flexibility to pivot when needed.
Finding the Key Decision Maker
Who Should Use It: Any B2B salesperson who needs a simple cold calling template to get past the gatekeeper at their leads’ companies.
Why It Works: It establishes immediate rapport. Often, the receptionist is the gatekeeper to the decision maker, so you want to treat them equally as important. This approach also gets right to the reason you’re calling, which should be directly relevant to the lead’s business. Save the small talk for later in the call — they’ll see this ploy a million miles away if you use it out the gate.
Getting a Meeting With B2B Leads
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson whose role is selling to businesses in person or via Zoom or another platform.
Why It Works: This script quickly opens the door to the next phase of sales, assessing customer needs. And the customer’s needs are exactly what you’re prioritizing with this approach, even over your own. This script also politely offers the customer the option to plan a future time for an initial conversation, as many B2B decision makers have busy schedules.
Cold Calls From Referrals
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson who has spoken to a colleague of the decision maker.
Why It Works: This is often the quickest and most effective way to warm a cold call. It removes any potential awkwardness that may come with initial contact, as you’ve already corresponded with someone who works with the decision maker in some capacity. Moreover, that person recommended you to the decision maker, so they share the burden of outreach with you. Because the lead is a referral, you can also skip over initial qualification and plan a longer call.
Calling During Challenging Times
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson during times of economic hardship or a health crisis.
Why It Works: Let’s not beat around the bush — this approach turns misfortune into opportunity. During tough times, everyone is fighting a hard battle or is close to someone who is. Such circumstances put us all in the same boat, allowing you to establish an immediate bond and a way to break the ice, human to human rather than salesperson to customer.
Scheduling a Demo Presentation
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson selling a product or service whereby the most effective approach is a hands-on demonstration of what they’re selling. This usually happens after you’ve spoken with the lead about their needs relevant to your business.
Why It Works: First, it shows you’ve listened to and understand the lead's needs, and may have a solution. Second, the product you’re selling is almost always your most effective sales tool. That’s what the lead is considering buying, so what better way to have them envision using it than actually seeing it in action, particularly through the lens of their own needs.
Calling a Customer With Minimal Time
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson selling for a company with a lot of leads under intense time constraints, or selling to a customer who isn’t inclined to give much time. Often, you’ll encounter this scenario in advertising sales, or if you’re selling to a C-level business person (e.g., CEO, president, director). If you know your lead is going to be too busy to talk to you, use this script template.
Why It Works: Odds are, the lead you’re cold calling is receiving several other calls with a similar intent to you. To stand out as someone respectful of their time, consider this script example. It cuts out the fluff and gets right to the point, which the customer will appreciate.
Leaving a Voicemail
Who Should Use It: Any salesperson who fails to connect live with the designated decision maker.
Why It Works: This cold call script is quick and to the point, and it doesn’t give away too much. There is enough for the person listening to understand why you’re calling, but also enough mystery to compel that person to call back. However, most people won’t return a voicemail. The primary goal is to build awareness. Pair it with an email. Both serve as a “touch” — the more touches, the more awareness, and the more chances of a conversation.
Odds are, you’ll be in a situation where one or several of these example cold call scripts would serve you well, whether it’s cold calling a lead with little time, contacting a new referral, or leaving a voicemail. When creating your own script or using ours, it’s best practice to have scripts catering to these particular situations handy.
Top 4 Tips for Writing Your Cold Call Script
As you draft and modify your script, it’s important to keep some standard best practices in mind. This includes remembering who your lead is, writing confidently, and being open to changing the script for the better or swaying from it during conversations.
When you’re writing your script, remember to ask yourself these questions: What’s in it for your customer? Why are you and your product worth their time and consideration?
Write your verbiage to strike a balanced tone — not overly cheery but also not timid or restrained. Your goal should be to come across as confident and conversational. At the end of the day, you're offering the customer a potential solution to their problem.
The more you use your script in real time, you’ll learn a cold call script can evolve. As you discover what does and doesn’t work, rewrite your script as needed to increase your success rate.
It’s okay to go off-script, especially as you get comfortable with cold calling — this can keep the conversation fluid and help you be an active listener. As you write your script, know that you might deviate from it a bit.
After you’ve drafted your script using these steps, components, templates, and tips, read our article on cold calling tips for advice related to the practice of cold calling as a whole. To learn how to make your calls from start to finish, check out our article on how to cold call, where we detail the steps to make a successful call.
Bottom Line: Cold Call Script
Cold calling can be a daunting endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you have a script that’s designed to be customer-focused, efficient, and adaptive, cold calling can become a great lead generation strategy. The best way to perfect your script is by rehearsing and tweaking it. The best way to rehearse it is by diving in and using it. The more you use it, the more comfortable you’ll get, and the more comfortable and receptive the customer will be. You’ve got this!
