No prospect just picking up a ringing telephone wants to listen to a cold caller carry on about their company, product, or service. The typical cold call is short (less than 5 minutes, more than 2 minutes if you are lucky), so the caller must capture attention quickly and establish why it is important for the prospect to listen.

• Your value proposition must be stated clearly and confidently, preferably referencing a success story with an existing client to establish credibility.
• Identify what topics or phrases excite the prospects you are trying to reach and engage with them in an unscripted conversation about these.
• Pre-prepared scripts are useful tools but should act more as guidelines for discussion so they do not sound like the typical 6^th grader delivering lines in the school play.

Cracking the code on the Right Message on a consistent basis may take a while and is likely to vary depending on the role of the individual prospect.  So keep calling and adapt your message to what resonates with your target prospects.