How Sara Plowman self-sources a ton of meetings through cold calling
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✅ Cheeky Opener
There's no such thing as a magic cold call opener. But Sara has fun with the intro and does something a little different.
"Hi Jason, this is Sara with ________. What did I catch you in the middle of?"
"Hi Jason, this is Sara. You're gonna hate me, this is a cold call. Can I have 30 seconds to chat?"
"Hi Jason, noticed that ________. Can I get 30 seconds to tell you the reason for my call?"
This will get you past the first 20-30 seconds.
What will you be tempted to do at this point? Yep, you guessed it. Pitch.
Sara does not pitch at this point. Instead, she uses a relevant hook that ties into her value prop.
✅ Relevant Hook
Here are five hooks that Sara uses to add relevance to the next part of the call.
→ Referral
"I was just talking to [their colleague], and they mentioned I should reach out."
"[their colleague] mentioned that [goal or problem] is a focus right now."
→ Competitor reference
"[competitor A] and [competitor B] are [what they're focused on, challenges they're running into]."
→ Something in common
"Noticed we're both [from the same area, went to the same school, similar background, etc.]."
→ Former client of yours
"We worked with you guys back in [year] with [point of contact]."
"When you were back at [their old employer and your current client], we helped you guys [problem you helped with]."
→ Location drop
"[types of companies] in [location: city, state, or county] are seeing that [problem]."
Then segue right into the reason for your call.
Example:
"Nordstrom and Best Buy are running into a challenge where customers are not using the FAQ pages online—and blowing up the contact centers and driving up the cost to serve. It's the #1 challenge right now we're seeing with contact center leaders. How does that resonate with you at ABC COMPANY?"
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Which hook can you start using in your cold calls?