Cold call talk track template

A cold call is a phone call to someone who does not know you yet and has not asked you to call. A talk track is a short plan for that call: what you say first, what you want to find out and how you end. It is not a script to read out word for word. People hear immediately when someone reads, and a talk track only works if you can leave it when the conversation goes somewhere else.

This template has seven parts. A first call that follows it takes two to five minutes. Its goal is not to sell anything, only to find out whether a longer conversation makes sense.

Before you use it, check the rules. Whether you may call a business without its consent at all depends on the country. The rules section at the end gives an overview for Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The template

Replace everything in [square brackets]. Keep each part short: most parts are one or two sentences.

Notes on each part

1. Opener. Say your full name and company first. Do not open with "How are you today?" from a stranger; it sounds like a trick. Never pretend to know the person or to call about something else.

2. Reason for the call. This is the most important line. "I'm calling to introduce our company" is about you. "I saw you opened a second site in May" is about them. If you cannot find a specific reason, think again about whether to call at all.

3. Permission question. Asking whether it is a bad moment gives the person control. If they say yes, it is a bad moment, offer to call back at a time they choose, or end the call.

4. Discovery question 1. Use an open question (one that cannot be answered with yes or no). Listen to the answer and ask a follow-up on what they said.

5. Discovery question 2. Ask about a difficulty or its effect. If there is no difficulty, that is useful information too: there may simply be no need.

6. "Not interested." Respond once, with a real question, not with a speech. If the answer is still no, stop, and note it so nobody calls again. A clear "please don't call me" always ends the conversation.

7. Close. A next step has a what, a who and a when, and the other person agrees to it. If there is no fit, a polite exit is a good result, not a failure.

Worked example 1: a call that ends with a meeting

The situation. Tom Becker works for Proseware, a fictional company that sells software for planning maintenance and service visits. He calls Nina Kraus, operations manager at Coho Winery, a fictional winery. Nina gave Tom her business card at a trade fair and asked him to call after the harvest. Coho Winery has just opened a second site, which it announced on its website.

Tom: Hello Ms Kraus, this is Tom Becker from Proseware. We spoke briefly at the wine trade fair in September.

Tom: You asked me to call after the harvest, and I saw on your website that you've opened your second site in the meantime. Congratulations.

Tom: Is now a bad moment, or do you have two minutes?

Nina: Two minutes is fine.

Tom: How do you plan the maintenance of your machines across the two sites at the moment?

Nina: Our technician keeps a list in a notebook. With two sites, he drives back and forth a lot.

Tom: What happens when a machine breaks down during the bottling season?

Nina: Then everything stops. Last year the bottling line was down for a day and a half because a spare part wasn't in stock.

Tom: That sounds expensive. Would it make sense to talk for 20 minutes with you and your technician next Tuesday at 10? I'd like to see how the visits are planned today before I suggest anything.

Nina: Tuesday works. Send me an invitation.

Tom: I will, with a short agenda. Thank you, Ms Kraus.

Why it works. Tom names a real, specific reason (the fair, her request, the new site). He asks permission. His questions are about her situation, not his product. He closes with a date, the right people and a purpose.

Worked example 2: a call that ends with a polite exit

The situation. Sara Lindqvist works for Northwind Traders, a fictional wholesaler of office supplies. She calls Daniel Ortiz, office manager at Margie's Travel, a fictional travel agency. The call takes place in a country where live business calls to numbers not on a do-not-call register are allowed, and Sara has checked the number against the register and her company's own do-not-call list. Margie's Travel had posted a job advert for an office assistant whose tasks include "ordering office supplies".

Sara: Hello Mr Ortiz, this is Sara Lindqvist from Northwind Traders.

Sara: I'm calling because I saw your job advert for an office assistant. Ordering supplies is one of the tasks listed, and that's what we help offices with.

Sara: Is now a bad moment, or do you have two minutes?

Daniel: I have a minute, but honestly, we're not interested.

Sara: Thank you for being clear. May I ask one thing: is it the topic, or just a bad time?

Daniel: The topic. We signed a three-year contract with a supplier last spring, and we're happy.

Sara: Understood, then I won't take more of your time. I won't call you about this again. Have a good day, Mr Ortiz.

Daniel: Thanks, you too.

Why it works. Sara asks one respectful question, gets a clear answer and stops. She does not argue or criticise the other supplier. She now knows something useful (a three-year contract from last spring) and records that Daniel does not want further calls.

Call notes table

Write one row per call, straight after hanging up, while you still remember the exact words. Here are the two calls from the examples and an empty row to copy.

The last row matters most. A "do not call" note must reach the do-not-call list in your CRM (the customer relationship management system) or contact list, so that no colleague calls by mistake.

How to adapt the template

• Write your own reason line for every company. The reason is the one part you cannot reuse. Look at the company's website, news, job adverts or the conversation you had before.

• Choose discovery questions for your product. Ask about the task your product helps with, not about the product.

• Say it out loud. Practise the talk track with a partner until it sounds like you. Change any word you would never say in real life.

• Shorten it. If a line has more than about 25 words, cut it.

• Prepare your "not interested" question. It is the moment people most often get pushy or freeze.

• Prepare the close with real dates. Have two possible times ready before you dial.

Rules: when and how you may call

These rules differ between countries, and calls to consumers (private people) are treated more strictly than calls to businesses in all three examples below. What follows is an overview, not legal advice. Check the current rules for the country of the person you call.

Everywhere, as good practice:

• Call during the other person's working hours, in their time zone.

• Say who you are and which company you call for, at the start of the call. Show your phone number; do not hide it.

• Keep a do-not-call list and check it before every call. When someone asks not to be called, add them at once.

• Never invent a reason for calling, such as a fake survey or a pretend previous conversation.

Germany. Under § 7 (2) no. 1 of the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), an advertising phone call to a consumer is always an unreasonable nuisance without the consumer's prior express consent. A call to a business or other market participant needs at least their presumed consent (mutmaßliche Einwilligung). Presumed consent means that concrete circumstances show the business would want this call; courts interpret it narrowly, and a general guess that the product could be useful is usually not enough. For calls to consumers, § 7a UWG also requires the caller to document the consent and keep the proof for five years.

United Kingdom. Live marketing calls to businesses are allowed unless the number is registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS), or the business has told you not to call. The ICO, the UK's data protection authority, says to screen numbers against both registers and your own do-not-call list before calling (ICO guidance on business-to-business marketing).

United States. The Telemarketing Sales Rule of the Federal Trade Commission limits telemarketing calls to consumers to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time of the person called, and forbids calls to consumer numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Most business-to-business calls are exempt from the rule, with some exceptions (FTC: Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule).

In other countries, look for the national rules on telephone advertising, often found in competition, consumer protection or telecommunications law.

Mistakes to avoid

• Reading the script. Learn the structure, not the words.

• No real reason. "I'd like to introduce our company" gives the other person no reason to stay on the line.

• Skipping the permission question. Launching into a pitch while someone is busy makes them hang up and remember you badly.

• Pitching instead of asking. Two good questions and careful listening are worth more than two minutes of features.

• Arguing after a no. Ask one respectful question, then accept the answer.

• Ending without a next step. "I'll send you some information" without a date is not a next step.

• Forgetting the notes. A call without notes is half wasted, and a missing "do not call" note can lead to a colleague calling someone who objected.

• Calling without checking the rules. In some countries a cold call to a business is allowed, in others only in narrow cases.

Practise it

1. Choose one of the fictional companies (for example Fourth Coffee, a chain of twelve cafés) and a product you could sell them.

2. Fill in the template, including a specific reason and two discovery questions.

3. Run the call with a partner twice: once the partner agrees to a next step, once the partner says "not interested".

4. Fill in a row of the call notes table after each call.