3 Expert Insights About Cold Calls (February 2025)

Cold calling is one of the toughest jobs in sales.

In 2025, who actually enjoys making phone calls? The last time I made one was six months ago on vacation in Greece 🙃 Otherwise, the only time I’m on the phone is when I need to go to the door to pick up my delivery.

The good news is that you don’t have to figure out cold calling on your own. By learning from experts, you can turn calls into a reliable sales channel.

Here are three expert insights you can apply today to your cold calls.

Use the cold call opener that feels natural

Which of these call openers is best?

1. “Hi [name], this is Yuriy with AiSDR. How are you?”
2. “Hi [name], this is Yuriy Zaremba. We’ve never spoken before, but I was hoping you could help me out for a moment.”
3. “Hi [name], this is Yuriy from AiSDR. Full transparency – This is a cold call. Do you might if I ask you a quick question, or would you like to hang up? No problem.”

According to Josh Braun, there is no answer. Rather, the best cold call opener is the one that feels most natural to you.

In the context of cold calling, specific word choice is less important than confidence, tone, cadence, and delivery.

How you can apply this

Here’s how you can apply these insights to your sales outreach:

• Find an opening line that feels natural – Instead of searching for the “perfect” opener, you should use lines that feel comfortable, even if it breaks sales best practices. After all, you’re the expert in your culture and industry. If you believe in what you’re saying, your confidence will come through.
• Prioritize delivery over script – The way you say something is often more important than the words themselves. A tone that’s confident, friendly, and steady can make even simple intros compelling.
• Adapt to the prospect – Different situations call for different openers (no pun intended). If you know something about the prospect, reference it. If it’s a true cold call, you can say it upfront and set the right expectations.
• Prepare, but don’t overthink – While practicing openers is helpful, don’t get hung up on using a script word for word. Instead, use the script as talking points and focus on your overall approach and message. 
• Engage right away – Cold calls aren’t monologues (unless you reach the answering machine). Your opener should invite conversation rather than delivering lines. You can use a question or insight to spark engagement.

Use scripts for the first part of cold calls

According to Florin Tatulea, sales teams should create scripts for the first part of a cold call.

The first section of the call script breaks down into three parts:

1. Permission-based opener
2. Menu of pain
3. Open-ended question

The first and third parts are fairly self-explanatory. They try to keep the conversation going, first by getting permission to talk (since you are making an unsolicited call) and then by asking a question that expects an answer (assuming you’ve gotten this far).

The menu of pain is the hardest, yet most important, part. The menu highlights three common challenges, and if you’ve done your research well, at least one of them is something they’re thinking about.

How you can apply this

Here’s how you can apply these insights to your sales outreach:

• Create a script for the first ~30 seconds of your call – Rather than scripting the entire conversation and walling yourself in, script out just the first part. It’s the only section you have control over and can predict. You never know what the open-ended answer will be.
• Use a natural-sounding permission-based opener – A low-friction, natural question gives the prospect a sense of control. This reduces resistance and makes it easier for you to transition into the main conversation.
• Leverage a ‘menu of pain’ – The menu of pain is three key pain points that your prospects commonly face. You have better chances of connecting on one of three pains than with a call built around 1 pain.
• End with an open question – Thoughtful questions shift the call’s dynamic from a monologue to a dialogue, and encourages prospects to share insights about their challenges.
• Refine messaging to match your audience – Deep lead research and several conversations will help you tailor your menu of pain to your ICP, making it better at driving conversations.

Use calls as an additional outreach channel or follow-up

According to Yurii Veremchuk, calls work well as an additional B2B sales channel for following up with unresponsive leads.

As he shares, you might consider pairing calls with emails or LinkedIn voice notes.

But like other follow-up methods, you don’t want to spam leads with too many in too short a time.

How you can apply this

Here’s how you can apply this insight to your sales outreach:

• Mix your follow-ups – Instead of relying on a single channel, use multiple channels like calls, social media, and text messages. While email is the dominant channel in most cases, it’s not the preferred channel for all cases.
• Use calls strategically – If a prospect ignores or doesn’t answer your call, you can follow up immediately (or the next day) with an email or voice note mentioning the call. This is a simple way to build some common ground and justify reaching out. But if a prospect does pick up and you promise a follow-up after the call, make sure to do it.
• Strike a conversational tone – Aim for quick, casual messages. If you’re using a voice note after a call, you might say “Hey [name], just tried calling you. Wanted to connect about [pain]. Let me know if you have a sec to chat!”

If you’re unsure how to structure your call, try a call script generator like AiSDR, which writes up personalized scripts using your lead’s data. 

You can use the script from AiSDR verbatim or as talking points to guide your conversation.