Cold calling has become complicated. Between long scripts and endless talking points, conversations don’t always feel authentic. The average cold call only lasts 2-6 minutes, which means reps don’t have time to sound robotic. The simpler and more natural the conversation feels, the better your chance of keeping prospects engaged.
Allego’s McKayla Girardin says your ultimate goal should be to simplify your cold-calling process. It shouldn’t be treated like some elite, hyper-complex science — it should be something a 10-year-old could do. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share her tips to radically simplify how you approach cold calling.
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Use frameworks instead of scripts. Instead of full scripts, Girardin says your cold call classroom should teach a core framework that relies on milestones, not exact phrasing. For example, instead of giving a lengthy script to read, you could provide frameworks for things like objection handling and scheduling future meetings. If your basic framework is simple enough for a child to navigate intuitively, your reps can use it to keep their conversations alive, natural, and human.
Coach confidence over competence. When training new reps, Girardin says managers often front-load technical data. The logic seems sound: knowledge often equals confidence. But it often only leads to confusion and worry when it comes to cold calling. Confidence on the phones comes from feeling safe psychologically. She says when teaching cold calling, you need to de-risk the call for your reps. If they think every mistake will cost them their job or ruin a key account, they’ll develop reluctance to make calls and that hesitancy will come through in the calls they do make. Teach them that a bad call is just a practice round.
Practice calls with low-stakes roleplay. According to Girardin, it’s a common mistake letting sales reps practice on live, hard-earned leads. It’s better, she says, to build muscle memory through peer-to-peer roleplay. Keep the scenarios simple at first, focusing purely on getting through the opening line and the hook before throwing complex objections at them.
Train tonality and pacing before product knowledge. Imagine teaching a kid to call a local bakery and ask about their hours. She says you wouldn’t make them memorize the menu first. You’d teach them to sound polite, calm and clear. The same thing applies to sales reps. Teach them to slow down their delivery and use a steady, conversational volume.
Ideally, a fifth grader could follow your cold-calling process. Focus on simple frameworks and creating natural conversations over following formal scripts. The simpler you make it, the calmer your reps will feel and the more conversational they’ll sound.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: McKayla Girardin is a content strategist at Allego.
