The average rep picks up the phone 15 times, eats 14 voicemails, gets chewed out once and then complains cold calling is dead.
But the top reps book a whopping 1 in 4 cold calls as proven by Gong data on 300 million cold calls from our book: Cold Calling Sucks (And That’s Why It Works).
Our book launched one year ago and has sold 50,000+ copies since launch, with thousands of reps booking meetings before they even finished the book:
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To celebrate, we ran a live cold calling Q&A and we’re taking 7 of our favorite answers from the session here:
- What is your #1 opener and is it still a permission based opener?
- Any tips of tricks for cold call openers when calling financial decision makers?
- What’s your go to way to make someone laugh/disarm them on a cold call?
- What are the different ways to handle gatekeeper conversations?
- Do you leave voicemails? If so, what do you say?
- Thoughts on double dialing? If nobody answers, should I leave a voicemail and call again?
- What’s one of your most memorable cold calls and why?
Want the rest of the openers, gatekeeper plays, and objection scripts? Watch the full cold calling Q&A here.
What is your #1 opener and is it still a permission based opener?
Nick’s Answer: Not exactly.
Most reps open their cold calls with some version of the same generic Permission-Based Opener.
“Hey Armand, I know you didn’t expect my call… do you have 27 seconds…?”
Prospects hear that 40 times a week. It immediately screams salesperson.
Top reps flip this on its head by using a tailored permission-based opener that leads with context:
[LEAD WITH CONTEXT] “Armand, I just saw the press release about the office y’all are opening in Tacoma…”
[ACKNOWLEDGE THE INTERRUPTION] “I’ll be honest — this is a cold call. But it’s a well-researched one.
[GET PERMISSION] Mind if I steal 30 seconds to share why that caught my attention?”
Any tips or tricks for cold call openers when calling financial decision makers like CFOs?
Nick’s Answer: Don’t change the opener — change the context you lead with.
Most reps overthink how to call “higher-altitude” personas like CFOs.
Top reps don’t change the framework of the opener at all — they change the trigger they lead with.
An operations manager cares about process pain, but a CFO cares about an earnings report.
Lead with financial triggers (cost control, budgeting, etc) instead of operational triggers.
What’s your go-to way to make someone laugh or disarm them on a cold call?
My Answer: Screw up the cold call at the beginning to break the telemarketer perception.
I know this sounds kinda ridiculous but most salespeople are way too professional and buttoned up in their tone.
You can break the “salesperson perception” and reveal the human behind the phone by fumbling on purpose or joking about messing up in your opener:
“Hey, Nick, we work with a few other adnfsdfasd (fumbles pronunciation)
Well, I can’t speak English today. We work with a few other Andreessen portfolio companies. It’s been a long day.
My name is Armand, I’m from Pave. Have you heard my name tossed around, or do you want to hang up on me?”
What are the different ways to handle gatekeeper conversations?
Nick’s Answer: You handle them by sounding like someone who belongs.
Gatekeepers have two jobs:
- Block the people who don’t belong
- Let through the people who do
You don’t ask for permission or try to befriend the gatekeeper, you walk in like you own the place.
You get 3 tries in the Gatekeeper Triple-Bypass to get through. And the idea is you wanna reveal as little information as possible to avoid over-explaining and revealing that you’re a seller:
1: The Slide By: Only give your first name
“Hey, could you get me over to Armand? It’s Nick.”
2: The Context: When they ask what it’s regarding, only give context:
“It’s about the office opening in Tacoma — would you let him know it’s Nick Cegelski?”
3: The Social Proof: If they insist on your company, use social proof
“We work with a couple other insurance defense firms in Buffalo — it’s ShorePoint. Mind checking if Armand is in?”
Note: We are not suggesting you lie. We are suggesting you motion as if you should be let through and you don’t need to justify your call. This is about as far as we push the line.
Do you leave voicemails? If so, what do you say?
Nick’s Answer: Yes — but not to get callbacks.
Most reps leave long, pitchy voicemails hoping for a callback that never comes. Prospects hear one sentence, smell a pitch, and hit delete.
Gong’s data shows leaving a voicemail can double your cold email reply rate — so use voicemails to drive your email replies instead of selling your product:
[SOCIAL PROOF] “Nick, we work with a few Skadden partners in the LA office. No need to call back. I’m literally about to hit send on an email.
[DIRECT TO EMAIL] Just so we don’t play phone tag, mind maybe replying and letting me know if it’s even moderately interesting? It’ll come from Armand at Northwestern, cheers.”
Thoughts on double dialing? If nobody answers, should I leave a voicemail and call again?
My Answer: No — it crosses the line (even though I kinda laughed when I imagined leaving a voicemail and immediately picking up the phone to call you again)
Yes, data shows a second call can increase connect rates.
But that’s because they probably think your call is a family emergency, which is frankly unethical and likely to get you blocked by the prospect forever.
Don’t do unethical stuff folks.
What’s one of your most memorable cold calls and why?
My Answer: The time a prospect called me a stalker.
Early in my career, I sold life insurance — the kind of job where you start by calling people you haven’t talked to since high school.
One of those people referred me to their brother-in-law, who said, “Sure, call me next week.”
I called him every week for 2 months and the guy never picked up.
Eventually, I thought I’d try something… questionable:
So I dialed 67 so my number showed up at private and he picked up on the first ring:
“Dude, are you a stalker? You’ve been calling me for two months. Now you’re calling from a private number? Are you going to show up at my house next?”
I sat there sweating through his dress shirt, apologizing over and over while the rep in the next cubicle stared at me in horror.
If someone ignores you for months, the answer is no and you have your answer.
And that’s a wrap folks!
Want every question we answered — from timing objections to connect rates to Nick’s all time cold call bomb (he called a dead person multiple times)? Watch the full Q&A here.
