Who this is for
For sales development and business development reps who open conversations with people who were not expecting the call, and hand qualified meetings to an account executive. The same skills apply if you do the whole cycle yourself.
What these calls are like
Most calls are short
The decision to keep talking is made in the first few sentences. A lot of the job is what you say before the buyer knows who you are.
Brush-offs outnumber objections
“Not interested”, “send me an email”, “I’m busy”. These are reflexes, not considered decisions, and they need a different answer from a real objection.
The outcome is a meeting, not a sale
Success is a specific, agreed next step with the right person, one that is still in the diary next week.
Volume hides habits
When you make a lot of calls, the same small mistake repeats on every one. Practice is where you catch it.
The moments that decide the call
The first ten seconds
Who you are, one plain reason for calling that is relevant to their role, and a small question. Then stop talking.
Example line
“Hi, it’s Sam from Northline. I’m calling because owners of busy trade firms often miss calls while they’re on site. Is that something you deal with?”
The brush-off
Agree, ask one honest question, and accept the answer. One question is fair; three is pressure.
Example line
“Fair enough. Is it the timing, or just not something you deal with?”
Fast qualification
Two or three questions about how things work today, to find out whether a meeting would be worth their time. Not a checklist read aloud.
Example line
“When you’re out on a job and the phone rings, what happens to that call?”
The meeting ask
A specific time, a named purpose, and who should be there. “Can I send you a calendar invite?” is not an ask.
Example line
“Would Thursday at ten work for twenty minutes with our specialist, to see what those missed calls are costing you?”
Objections you will hear
Each links to a full page in the objection library.
“I’m not interested”
The most common reflex on an outbound call. It usually arrives before you have given a reason.
“Just send me some information”
A polite exit that sounds like interest. Ask what would be useful before you agree.
“I’m too busy right now”
Often true. Respect it and turn it into a specific time.
“We already have someone for that”
A real answer with a real question inside it: how well is it working?
“Take me off your list”
Not an objection. Confirm, end the call, and remove them.
Styles that fit
Coach asks for your selling style before each call. These suit this kind of call:
Permission & Disqualify
Naming the cold call and offering an exit early makes the buyers who stay more willing to answer.
Direct Close
Holds you to asking for a specific meeting on this call, not a vague follow-up.
Tonality First
Short calls live and die on delivery. Fixing pace and pauses often matters more than a new script.
Set up a practice call
The settings in Coach that make the practice buyer match this role’s calls:
- Difficulty
- Start at 4 to 6. Real brush-offs and scepticism, but winnable. Move up once your opening lands.
- Buyer temperament
- Hard-nosed, once you can open cleanly on standard. Busy owners on cold calls are often blunt.
- Drill one skill
- Pick the opening or objection handling, so the buyer makes sure it comes up.
- What you are selling
- Enter your real offer. The feedback holds you to what you said it does.
- Your selling style
- Permission & Disqualify or Direct Close for outbound work.
Three reps
Rep 1: the opening, five times
Run five short calls where you only practise the first ten seconds. Compare the transcripts and keep the version that got an answer.
Rep 2: the brush-off
Set difficulty to 6 and practise one honest question after “not interested”, then accept whatever the buyer says.
Rep 3: the meeting ask
Run a full call and end with a specific time, purpose and attendee. Check the feedback on whether the step was concrete.
Mistakes to avoid
Pitching in the first sentence
Features before relevance get a reflex no.
Asking “how are you today?”
It is not wrong, but it does not tell a stranger why you called.
Treating every brush-off as an objection to overcome
One honest question, then accept the answer.
Booking meetings that should not happen
An unqualified meeting wastes the account executive’s time and the buyer’s, and they rarely turn up.
Ignoring a removal request
If they ask you to stop calling, stop, and remove them.
Questions
How do I practise cold calling without calling real prospects?
Rehearse with a practice partner playing the buyer. With Coach Selly, an AI plays a business owner who pushes back, and you get feedback on each call so you can change one thing and try again.
What should an SDR say in the first ten seconds?
Your name, your company, one relevant reason for calling and a small question. Then pause and let them answer.
How many objections should I handle before giving up?
On a cold call, one honest question after a brush-off is usually fair. If the answer is still no, thank them and move on.
What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
Titles vary by company. Often BDRs prospect outbound and SDRs qualify inbound leads, but many teams use the names interchangeably. The call skills are the same.