In the February issue of NU, I showed you some of the worst cold-calling scripts I've found and why they don't work. Now, let's take a look at some of the best. Although the scripts are focused on financial advisors, the same suggestions hold true for insurance professionals.

Best advice for cold calling

In the example that follows, I'm taking on one of toughest types of cold calls. We will develop a script to call CEOs or CFOs of small to medium-sized companies. Personalized is the only way to go.

The best advice I found when I searched “best cold calling script” was at the Teamgate Blog. I took each step of their advice to craft a Personalized script, that is, one that's tailored to each prospect. The company I researched has 500 employees and is on the list of 100 fastest-growing companies in Utah. That would be a good catch, right? The quotes from the Teamgate blog are in italics. My commentary follows.

Step 1: Provide Context

“Knowing who you're calling is crucial, but so is placing your call in a context. If the only reason for your call is that a prospect happens to be on your to-call list that day, you're just another intrusive salesman with nothing interesting to say. Instead, leverage social media channels, media coverage, new hire announcements and news updates to find a valid reason for your call and determine which of your prospects are ripe for engaging at that particular moment.”

My research on this company took a few minutes. Great website. Big section on “our people.” Within two minutes, I had the names of the CEO and the VP of Operations, both compliments of LinkedIn. I checked Glassdoor, obviously.