Cold Calling Strategy - Sample Script

Cold calling is challenging as it takes courage, patience, persistency and typically high volume to find success. While it may be seen as dated or no longer effective, everything works...if you work it!

Here's a CloudAdvisors approach to Cold Calling

The goal is find or create a 'Trigger Event' that results in setting up a follow up.

A Trigger Event, in this context is something that has occurred that has convinced an Employer to take a look at their benefits. Taking a look could mean getting quotes, doing an evaluation or just taking a meeting with another advisor.

If we consider that we need more time with a prospect than just the initial cold phone call to win their business then we need the phone call to create a follow up event, typically a meeting (virtual or physical).

If a trigger event doesn't already exist (like a bad renewal, poor service, M&A, layoffs, hiring etc.) then the advisor's best bet is to create one. In order to create the trigger event for a follow up we need to decrease the risk of an employer spending their time with the advisor and increase the perceived value they may receive. To accomplish this you'll need to demonstrate value straight away, developing curiosity or uncertainty that you can then deliver on in the follow up.

The below script will give you a sample template you can use to create a trigger event, offer immediate value, de-risk the engagement and create opportunity for follow up. It will however require you to do a few minutes of research or sorting your list to determine industry, province and group size. You can vary this approach to be more or less specific, going more generic will allow you to hit a higher volume with less pre-work, going more specific will allow you to achieve a higher conversion on a targeted approach.

Here's a sample call script:

Advisor: "Hello, my name is _____ and I'm calling from ___. Did I call at a bad time?"

(Many people will respond intuitively, with 'No' and give you permission to continue. If they say 'Yes', perhaps they are going into a meeting, then ask when is a good time to call them back. Most will not be comfortable saying 'Never' and so you'll have your follow up.)

Advisor: "I'm calling because we're conducting a benchmarking study, comparing and ranking Employee Benefit plan for Construction employers under 50 employees in Ontario. We'd like to offer you a free copy of this report which will show you what other employers are offering their employees."

You start with the value, the offer but you'll like get the possible objection: "What's the catch?" --> There's no fee or obligation, the catch is just your participation.  If you're willing to share a copy of your current plan, we'll anonymize that and show you how you compare to all the other similar employers.

Possible Objection - “Not willing/comfortable sharing the booklet”.  -→ What if I offered you access to a free basic benchmarking, no need to share your current plan, we'll show you some basic comparisons for free and then follow up from there.. If you have questions or want a more detailed report then we can help you further.

Possible Objection - "What's in it for you?" --> We know that the number one reason why employers even have any type of benefits plan in the first place is to be competitive. Transparently, we share these reports with employers because many are not getting this type of information from their current advisor and if you like our advice and service then you may considering hiring us as your advisors.

Advisor: "What is your email?" We will send you this sample report after our call.

Employer: "My email is _____"

Advisor: Thank you, we will send the email now and follow up to see if you have any questions or we can offer you more detailed reports. Take Care!

Initial Email

- Thank you for your time today, as promised I've attached a copy of the benchmarking report. We look forward to your feedback.

I'll follow up in a few days or so to see if you have questions.  We also have access to an interactive benchmarking dashboard with more detail.  Most employers are curious about other comparisons (larger or smaller, other provinces or industries).

Here's my calendar link to set up a virtual meeting where I can show you.

Follow Up Email

I hope you've had an opportunity to review the report, if not, I'd be happy to quickly guide you through it and my thoughts.  There are 3 or 4 key points I found on my initial review.

Most employers we meet with have questions about different types of coverage and why different employers set up plans in different ways or, simply what other types of companies are offering specific types of employees.

We have access to an interactive benchmarking dashboard with more detail.  Most employers are also curious about other comparisons (larger or smaller, other provinces or industries).

Here's my calendar link to set up a virtual meeting where I can show you.

Second Follow Up and Beyond

Similar thing but include visual proof, include an export sample or screenshot for credibility and curiosity.