SaaSKicker1000

AE II

Please roast this cold call approach.

Context; AE here, our Sales Coach wants us to use this method to book meetings / spark interest / etc. because our SDR's are Trash Kellerman.

I think is awful, and there is no way an actual human being would be responsive to this, let alone want to set an appointment with you... but here we go.

" Hey General Corp, this is SaaSKicker1000 with MyCompanyisTrash.io. The reason for my call is to set a 20 meeting with you because we've been seeing other companies reduce their work by 20%, and I want to talk with you further about how we can benefit your company with our software, would 9:30 on Thursday work for you?"

that's the entire thing. not sure if the goal is to get the least qualified prospect possible or to have the shortest conversation possible, but here we are.

have at it folks. my last day is 7/18. ✌️

📞 Cold Calling

🐱 Off-Topic

💩 Shitpost

98 comments

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HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

The bluntness is fine, but reading that script made me feel like I was reading one of Josh Braun's LinkedIn posts haha.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Haha - that hit me in the feels because I’m trying to tweak my approach a bit, albeit not cut/copy/paste JB’s methods but I think he has some at least semi-insightful stuff - any recommendations otherwise?

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

I like a ton of what Josh does from a grammatical standpoint. But yeah, you just come so hard wreaking of Sal the salesman.

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

I do agree there's some insightful stuff he posts. That being said, I think giving them a reason for why you're calling their business and having a question around it could be a good way to go. (ex. "Hey noticed this about your company, we work with others to achieve X, how are you working towards this today?")

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Love that last line, asking THEM how THEY do things instead of telling them how great MY company is and how I am going to make their life better.

like people have said previously, I’d and me’s should not outweigh the you and yours,

Gottapumpthosenumbers

Opinionated

Biz Dev

I lol'd hard at this

No_ty

Politicker

Sales Dir.

Same

paddy

WR Officer

Director of Business Development

Yeah the intention shouldn't be to set a 20 minute meeting. It should be to find out if it makes sense to disqualify that prospect off the bat or not.

youKNOW

Politicker

Sales Manager

"To Q or to DQ...that is the question" - SalesHamlet Act 3 Scene 1

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

I’m a huge fan of DQ DQ DQ so that makes sense to me, not sure why our team believes otherwise.

During these roleplay / sales meetings i just spit out what I need to do that they can be appeased, and keep it pushing with what’s worked for me.

Rallier

Politicker

SDR Manager and Consultant

I hate this approach so much. Why would they take a meeting? They know nothing about you. You don't even know if they are qualified, it doesn't spark a conversation, and is all about you.

Even if they do agree to a meeting for whatever reason, your no-show rate would by sky high.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

completely agree! Prospects don't care about you, your company, or your product and rightfully so. They care about themselves.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

1. 1000% agreed. If people do book a meeting they’re more than likely a good fit, and will probably not show up, which wastes everyone’s time.
2. zero qualification is done which means I have no clue on their budget, timing, etc. FFS, they could be closing up shop the day before our meeting.

thanks for the insight Peeps, I know we’re preaching to the choir but it’s appreciated.

BasstheBear

Opinionated

Business Development Representative

Brutal. Everything is about you. I don't mind the "the reason for my call portion..." Being honest and upfront about your intentions is one thing prospects can respect and get behind.

Besides that it's just an email (a bad one at that) you're saying through the phone.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

“TRFMC” is pretty much the only thing I like about it, but you’re correct - it’s pretty much a bad email.

only thing worse would be “ At ACME company we help BLAH BLAH BLAH” and just word/feature vomiting on them.

Broncosfan

Politicker

Account Manager

So we just spam that and ask for time as our first question? Thats a great way to get the defenses up immediately.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

But of course! Why spend time actually talking with people when you can spray and pray?

taylor

Executive

Strategic Account Executive

If someone spat that out to me, I'd tell them I have no need basis, I'm not a decision maker, and my company has no need for that solution ever.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

🏆

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

🐐 response right there.

Chep

WR Officer

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

I don't hate the bluntness, but at the least give some relevance or I wouldn't take 20 minutes to reduce my work by 20%. That's just arbitrary numbers that are probably wrong.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Yeah, no context at all and spitting numbers doesn’t bode well.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

Counts of we/I: 6. Counts of them: 4

Seems like the conversation you're going to set will benefit you, not them.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Yeah… sad but true, hence why I’m gawking at the approach.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

If your BDR set you a meeting with that script what would they tell you about the opp? Probably nothing

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Obviously your sales coach wrote my company’s sales playbook. I should legit copy and paste the crap they literally want us to copy and paste in LI messages and inmail ⚰️

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

I mean no one’s gonna know it’s you haha why not

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Everyone knows it’s me. I gave up on anonymity long ago.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Copy that, I’m not on here enough to be in the know, but I don’t really care too much either way. Didn’t expect this post to be that popular so this is a surprise lol.

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

I don't get people's obsession w LI - if someone connects or sends me a message I can safely assume they are trying to sell me something. I'm right at least 95% of the time.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Yeah, I’m on there to try and get a 2nd revenue stream going + grow my connections / experience, I’m relatively new to sales w/ 1 and a half years of experience but i’ve been prospecting for 2, but I totally get where you’re coming from as well.

Mr.Pickles

Arsonist

Sr. Customer Success Manager

Be an enabler - not a seller. On a scale from Zero to Hero, I'd go for a zero with extra steps

No_ty

Politicker

Sales Dir.

makes sense

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Why do you think it's trash?

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Like Gyro mentioned, no formalities, which I think when already facing an uphill battle is a necessity.

this person could have just had a family member pass or recover from COVID or just took a huge shit, either way not at the minimum asking how they’re doing, etc is essential.

That point might be arguable, but I’ve always been pretty conversational so it’s seemed natural to me.

basic Discovery should be done as well to see if the conversation is even worth having.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Fair. I personally don't use "how are you" because everyone and their grandma asks and honestly we both know we don't care how the other is doing. I stick with "did I catch you at a bad time" instead.

But yeah, asking for a meeting right off the hop isn't ideal. Needs to be some disqualifing questions first.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

I like “ did I catch you at a bad time”, it might yield a “hell yeah every time is a bad time” but nothing is going to be 100%.

thanks for the help FunCoupons 👌🏼

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Honestly it's rare that people tell me "oh yeah it's a bad time." If they do, I ask them when I should call back and we go from there. Often people say it's a fine time or that they're allllwaays busy (insert a lame joke or banter here) but will give me a few minutes.

No worries, happy cold calling lol.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

I love the "did I catch you at a bad time" opener. Its human instinct to say "no" so this is leading the prospect to the answer you are looking for and snagging a few minutes to move through your open call. Something I teach my team all the time and works well.

Best part is that if they say yes, you can pivot to a better time like @funcoupons outlined.

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Why is the only question about assuming they want to book a time? No "how are you doing x, have you tried y" idk I always ask a lot of questions, there's just assumptions in this.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Yea i dont like starting the call talking about me me me. I prefer to talk about them them them and how me can help.

That sound remotely interesting to you?

Ha I just noticed your last day. Congrats! Im waiting for my last day as well whenever that is lol.

Also do they not want you to go off of that script?

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Thanks! I’m moving to a competitor lmao.

yeah no, don’t want us to move off of the script. Also, we’re sales-people, not SDR’s, so all this is in an effort to generate meetings for ourselves bc our SDR’s are shit. That line you mentioned about interest is good, at least it gives them the way out and also opens it to the possibility that your software might not be the best thing since sliced bread.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Damn they dont let you go off script? They want robots I suppose lol.

Best thing to do is work with the SDR team and give them pointers on qualifying the leads better. But if the numbers are quantity over quality then its an org issue.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Yeah at least for now they’re like “ so how’s it going with that approach?” Lol..

definitely quantity over quality, and SDR’s / Sales reps are dropping like flies. We used to be a team of 8 Sales reps 2 months ago, now we’re gonna be at 5 once I’m outta here.

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

I wouldn't pitch and just go for a meeting, why should they? Instead, go for probing questions, try to identify any possible pain they could have that you can solve, if possible, go further and find the pain behind the pain.

Have a contestation on how you can help them and then ask if they are interested in setting a time. Make your prospect know that you want to help them, not just make sale.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

These are things I tried to talk about and got shunned for… I agree, help people out and the money will come.

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

1,000 perfect, just help people solve their problems and they will buy your products!

DataSlangah

Politicker

SAE

NO way this actually works. If you get a meeting, your AE is going to get ghosted 99.5% of the time.

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

I also like saying 20 minute conversation to see if you're a fit for our software. It isn't sales, it's discovery.

DataSlangah

Politicker

SAE

Who gives up 20 minutes in their day to see if this might be a fit? It doesn't even say something like, I met with A, B, & C (your competitors) and they told me x, y, & z and they are struggling to save time in their day. How about 20 minutes so I can offer some ways that they became 20% more productive?

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

Yeah I gave what I would do above. Overall, I think the pitch as they gave them was weak if I'm being kind.

DataSlangah

Politicker

SAE

You are being kind. I would also fire that sales trainer. He sounds like a dope.

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

To be honest this sounds like the shit I would do my first year of sales when I wanted to be helpful and not salesy.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

1. He is a dope.
2. I’m surprised he’s not fired but our CEO — another conversation for another day.
3. matching competitors with pain points, big deal closing energy. That is a solid approach right there.
4. weak, god awful, plenty of ways to describe it.

mitts2

Politicker

Account Executive

Feels like a knock off Geico commercial... "15 min could save you 15% or more on car insurance."

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

HEY THATS MY GO TO AND YES 15 MINUTES COULD SAVE YOU 15% But not on your car. IDGAF about your car. Let’s talk cranes and bulldozers 😎

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

And tractors :-p

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

50 minutes reduces 50% of work!

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

1) if you say name with company they immediately know it's a sales call.
2) They couldn't give two shits what the reason for your call is.
3) Don't say things like "I want".
4) I don't end with questions like that. Here's my take:

Hey General Corp this is SaasKicker1000. I work with a lot of companies in your space and have been able to reduce their work by 20% using our software. My soonest availability for a 20 minute call to see if this could work for you is Thursday at 9:30, if that doesn't work I can do next Tuesday at 2:30. Which works best with your schedule?

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

That’s so much better.
1. Alternative time-frames, people love options
2. Actually sounds like a human speaking to a human instead of praying to the commission overlords.
3. sounds like a pretty low-risk meeting; you’re not pitching, selling, etc. Just trying to evaluate.

love it, thanks Veep.

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

Tis why I'm one heartbeat away from becoming Pres lol!
Also on your first point I don't really give him the third option to say no (of course it's always there). I've been taught pieces of this along the way and it kind of guides their objections. The natural response to this information is more than likely "well what does your software do." Then you can say:

Well I want to respect your time so I'll go at a high level - DumbassiO can handle/manage/maintain your X,Y,Z. I can go into this in a little more detail on Thursday at 9:30 if you wish so if it is a fit, you know exactly how it works.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Awesome! Congrats on the soon-to-be promotion!

when people ask what my company / software does, it’s music to my ears. I love that close as well, thanks!

will definitely be useful during my ramp-up at my new role lol.

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

Oh I was kidding like how Veep is one heartbeat away from being POTUS. Nah I won't be president for a long long time.

I'd love to hear how this works out for you. I had a coach who compared this to baseball, if you do this enough you'll see the objections coming in slow motion like when you know what pitch is coming (I guess, I'm a soccer player tbh) so you can pull it if you need to.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

What does "reduce their work" mean? Can the bosses fire 20% of the people now?

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

I guess so - boom, what’s your CC info

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Blitz Masters?

countingmyinterest

Politicker

Account Executive

Holy shit this is so bad. This literally makes me want to gauge my eyes out. Wonder when the last time your leadership hopped on the phone

RealEstateVeep

Politicker

VP of Real Estate

Clinton was President, the Yankees were good and Friends was the top rated show.

No_ty

Politicker

Sales Dir.

Painful

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Probably in 99 if I’m being honest.

”I used to be in Sales too”

yeah in 2005

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

I think the first problem here is that you have a "sales coach" that probably has never sold your product before, and based on the script outlined here, never sold anything in the last 10 years.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

Yeah the intention shouldn't be to set a 20 minute meeting.

thatseoulguy

Inside Account Executive

(Current AE) Simply offering my two cents here:

I'm a fan of the bluntness. As a previous SDR, it really depends how the SDR is paid. In one of my previous SDR roles, I was paid on Sales Accepted Leads (SALs). My personal approach was to qualify a lead as much as possible for an AE so I wasn't handing over shit, but a lot of colleagues would flip hot garbage and most of those leads would SAL based on our SAL criteria, but only because the AE did the actual selling.

So, all this to say, if your SDR is comp'd based on SAL's and not SQL's, their approach could very much be, "I'll schedule a meeting, and it's the AE's job to 'sell' them." It sounds like your SDRs' Sales Coach could be comped based on accepted leads rather qualified leads.

I recognize all of this is complete conjecture, so please tell me if I'm off!

tonysoprano

Big Shot

Sr. AE

I'm really curious to hear how this went because yeah it's not great. i dont see how anyone, especially an exec would respond positively to this

GDO

Politicker

BDM

Being direct is good. But I think you should check and see the industry and tell them, a 20% reduction in work with other similar companies in xxx sector.

I would say that you want to see if your product would be a potential fit for them.

hurtscuzimold

Opinionated

Dude abiding

If the universe is tens of thousands large. Sure. If we’re talking about your entire pipeline, please No.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Infinite possibilities… so there is a chance it works… but not a realistic one

cifu

Opinionated

SDR

it's kind of cringy

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Very - it’s sad man it really is

bamageorge

Celebrated Contributor

International Sales Director

Yeah, you definitely need to identify some pain points otherwise what would be the point of setting a meeting? just my two cents.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

I think their approach is to find out the pain during that meeting, but i don’t think that’s nearly the best approach because it’s basically a vapor ware conversation.

“hey I booked a meeting so they can tell me how great their software is and how it’s so great. Meanwhile they know nothing about me”.

Not sure many execs would be too keen to that conversation.

bamageorge

Celebrated Contributor

International Sales Director

Wow, yeah.. I don't like that approach one bit, they are basically going to find out during the meeting if that prospect is a right fit or not. Two words: Opportunity Cost. Lol

woof

WR Officer

Account Executive

Personally, I hate the presumptuous "would 9:30 work?" as if they have already agreed. It makes people get on the defense.

I like the train of thought you have but I would spin it to - the reason for my call is to let you know what we do and if it's of interest, we can set up another time to chat.

You're leading by asking for their time with zero value or incentive to them.

SaaSKicker1000

Politicker

AE II

Yeah, Sales Coach didn’t really think about that part. I think you’re alternative is on the much better I’m-not-a-car-salesman path

champchamp

Arsonist

Certified Savage

I feel like I read this script or something very similar on "Fanatical Prospecting" by Jeb Blount. Anyone else read it?

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SaaSKicker1000

Please roast this cold call approach.

98 comments

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