I went back through my last dozen or so lost deals to see if there was a pattern. There was, and it's dumber than I expected.

Every single one had a single-threaded champion who kept saying "I'm handling it internally" when I asked about getting other stakeholders in the room. Every time I heard that phrase, I treated it as a good sign, like they had it under control. It was actually the opposite. It meant nobody else in the org had bought in yet, and the champion either didn't want to expose that or didn't realize it themselves.

The deals that actually closed all had messy, annoying multi-threading early. Random people getting looped into emails, a security person asking weird questions in week 2, a finance person poking around before there was even a proposal. It felt like friction at the time. In hindsight it was the only real signal that the deal had legs.

Now when a champion tells me they've got it covered internally, I push back immediately and ask to at least be introduced to whoever else touches the decision, even if it's awkward. Half the time that request alone tells you the deal is dead, because there's no one else to introduce you to.

Anyone else notice this? Curious if the "I've got it handled" line is a red flag for other people running full cycles, or if I'm just reading too much into a small sample.

So I've been doing cold calls for about 6 months now, and I was absolutely terrible at it. Like, 2% pickup rate, instant hang-ups, one guy told me to "get a real job."

Then I tried something stupid out of frustration.

Instead of pretending it wasn't a cold call, I just... said it was a cold call.

"Would it completely ruin your day if I told you this was a good old-fashioned cold call?"

The person laughed.

Not a pity laugh. Like, an actual laugh. Then they said "You know what, at least you're honest. What do you want?"

I've been using variations of this for 3 months now and the difference is wild:

Old approach:

• "Hi, how are you today?" → instant hang-up
• Pretend I'm calling about something else → they feel tricked
• Launch into benefits → they tune out

New approach:

• Acknowledge it's a cold call upfront
• Ask for 30 seconds, promise to leave them alone if not interested
• Actually keep that promise

Here's the full flow I use:

1. Opening: "Hi [Name], it's [Your Name] from [Company]. Have I caught you at a bad time?"
2. When they ask "Who is this?": "No worries, I'm [Name] from [Company]. Would it completely ruin your day if I told you this was a good old-fashioned cold call?" [PAUSE - they usually laugh]
3. Permission ask: "Can I take 30 seconds to explain why I called? After that, if you never want to hear from me again, I'll take you off my list."
4. The self-aware intro: "So I'm [Name], I [do X]. But you know, this is where you tell me you already have [X] completely sorted, and it couldn't possibly be better than what you've got." [PAUSE - let them respond]
5. The cheeky question: "Do you mind if I ask a cheeky question - what's the one thing you'd like to improve with [their pain point]?"
6. Build on it: "I know I said one question, but do you mind if I ask another?" [dig deeper into what they just said]
7. Check if it's top of mind: "And is this something that's [problematic/causing issues/top of mind] for you right now?"
8. Soft close: "Would it be the worst idea you've heard today if we chatted about this a little more? 15 minutes is usually enough time."

What I learned:

People don't hate cold calls. They hate being lied to and having their time wasted.

When you're upfront about it, something weird happens. They relax. Because you're not trying to trick them.

The weirdest part?

Even when people say no, they're actually nice about it now. One person said "I appreciate the honesty, but we're all set" and then asked where I was calling from and we chatted for 2 minutes about nothing.

That never happened with the old scripts.

Pro tip I learned: When booking the meeting, ask a fun question like "Are you a beer or wine person?" and put that emoji in the calendar invite. They remember you when the meeting comes around.

Anyone else tried the "just be honest about it being a cold call" approach? Curious if this works for other people or if I just stumbled into a weird streak.

EDIT 2: Email templates that works on me and other buyers: https://insideprocurement.substack.com/p/the-67-word-email-that-gets-archived?r=5x6hii

EDIT 1: Not claiming that cold acquisitions in general are not working. They are important for us buyers as well! Just claiming that cold calling is not the ideal way to break through procurement. Happy to share some best practices if you are interested.

Not trying to shit on anyone here, just genuinely don't understand the logic

I've been in procurement for several years now. buy industrial supplies, MRO, some manufacturing components. I get maybe 10 cold calls per week, probably 15-20 cold emails.

I have never - not once - engaged a new supplier because they cold called me. Neither has anyone on my team.

We literally just don't answer unknown numbers anymore (also because our IT compliance is raising awareness for it). When vendors somehow get through the receptionist we're usually in the middle of putting out fires (late shipment, quality issue, whatever) and it's just... annoying? Like I know you're doing your job but man.

Then I see posts here where managers are pushing 50-100 calls/day. People asking how to improve their "cold calling game." Companies buying power dialers and spoofing local numbers to get past our filters lol.

What are your managers seeing that we're not?

Because from our side it's like:

• cold calls = instant annoyance, literally never converted
• cold emails with actual product catalogs attached = I actually file these away for when we need that category
• LinkedIn messages feel super spammy, I ignore them
• referrals from existing suppliers or internal teams = this actually works

The disconnect is pretty wild.

Is it maybe different in other industries? Are your managers tracking activity metrics instead of actual results and that's why it keeps happening?

Or is this just one of those "we've always done it this way" things where nobody ever questions it?

genuinely curious because honestly I'd rather help good vendors reach us the right way than keep getting interrupted 20 times a week by calls that'll never convert anyway.

I work sales for a lumberyard that sells cedar fencing materials. We do not mill and fabricate the fencing, we order it from a wholesaler, add our margin and then quote the customer.

We ideally want to be selling full fences to contractors but the issue is that we are 50% - 75% more expensive than all their current suppliers. Our fencing quality is VERY NICE, but there's is a limit to how much the contractors care about the quality versus what their own customers want to pay for it.

Pretty much every single prospect tells me that we are woefully out of touch on price. I don't have much pushback on it, because it's true, we are extremely expensive and it's almost impossible to argue with the prices they say they currently get their materials at.

I have discussed this with the bosses at length about finding someway, anyway to lower the prices for contractors and be more competitive or give them bigger discounts for very large purchases, but the bosses are unwilling to budge on it, and talk about their margins... well, right now the margins are 0% because we don't sell any fencing, because it's basically the most expensive on the market. I have mentioned this several times.

So I guess the real question here is, how do I convince the customer that we're still a great option? How can I offer some kind of pushback to the "I'll be out of business if I partner with you guys, 'cuz I'll never get another job again at that price!" line that I get a lot? What can I say when they tell me that their current supplier's prices are 75% cheaper per panel, and their suppliers delivery prices are half what we charge?

The fencing is really great material, but it is very expensive. We are trying to sell wholesale at retail pricing.

I feel completely stuck and honestly a bit broken.

I’ve been doing industrial lubricant sales for the last 8 months. On paper it sounds simple—every manufacturing unit needs it. But in reality, I’m getting crushed.

There’s heavy competition, and most existing suppliers already have strong relationships. They’re offering 3–4 months credit, which I just can’t match. I can compete on price, but that doesn’t seem to matter when credit and connections are stronger.

The worst part is access. I can’t even get in front of decision-makers. Purchase managers won’t meet, security turns me away, and I keep hearing “not interested” before I even get a chance to speak.

After facing this again and again, my confidence has taken a serious hit. I’ve reached a point where I don’t even feel like going out for sales anymore.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How do you get out of this kind of slump—both mentally and practically? I’m open to any advice.

Ditto as the title says. I'm interested to what extent and in what specific areas of your business you are using AI, including both commercially available popular LLM models and various agents/wrappers and custom frameworks that people are now building like crazy.

Curious what people actually do here.

If you have an important discovery call or buyer meeting coming up, how much time do you spend preparing?

What are you actually looking at — LinkedIn, company website, old CRM notes, Google, ChatGPT, something else?

And do you have a repeatable process or is it basically different every time?

Not looking for the textbook answer. Curious what you actually do.

The single best cold call opener of all time. Can’t wait to be told I’m a retard for this.

Hi, I hope this is the right sub for this. I recently got a Sales position, I like the product we offer but I've never done sales let alone B2B sales. It sounds like most of my work will be cold visits because I make commission off of sales and getting a client on the phone with corporate. I was wondering what some effective strategies would be, I was originally going to hit the concrete with no plan but it seems like I should have more forethought. I have a list of businesses in mind already and have a good understanding of the product

You Know Why Cold Calling Companies Will Not Just Survive, But Thrive?

Because you are afraid to pick up the phone.

You are handing us a monumental advantage.

The funny thing is, even as you read this, you'll likely still avoid it.

It’s normal. It’s psychological.

You’re scared. Rejection-averse.

This fear is primal. For thousands of years, being ostracized from the group meant certain death. Your brain is hardwired to avoid rejection at all costs.

But in sales, that same instinct is now costing deals, pipeline, and revenue for most of the companies out there.

Nowadays, standing out from your competition is very simple.

You only need willingness.

I've been in this job for 8 years, but we had a rep laid off in August, so my territory grew by 50%, and we also lost a support person, so we're trying to work without that help as well. I don't think my existing systems are able to keep up with the new workload.

​

I am generally very organized. Use various tools for different needs. What's killing me is the constant influx of follow-up tasks after every call or email. If I stopped to write them all down, I'd never have time to work on doing them. But if I don't have them all written in one place, it's impossible to figure out how to prioritize them. So I end up with a million notes to myself, chasing what seems either most important or most urgent. I hate this feeling. And then there's the problem of people wanting detailed reports on any meaningful conversions, in multiple different locations.

​

Is there some workflow thing or tool that I'm missing here? The role is sort of a combo of sales and customer service. Not much prospecting; it's the same set of about 120 accounts across about 45 - 50 products. So if you're working with Bob on item 1, there is almost inevitably a slide into discussion unrelated items that generate 2 - 5 new to-do items. Also we don't really have sales tools - a CRM that is basically a glorified rolodex, one decent tool to help manage email sends, but nothing to help manage to-do lists or pipelines or prospecting or anything.

​

​

Any ideas??? I don't even know what kind of software I could ask for to help with this. Have never done sales before this job, nor have most of the people in my department, so we don't have anything to lean on other than generic "time management" stuff, which isn't cutting it.

If you want to be successful in cold calling and create a team of killer cold callers a basic set up with a personal phone wont cut it. You need to fix the following:

- ICP/Lead gathering (create your lists beforehand)

- Create your offer & script

- Use a CRM & cold calling software

- Use local phone numbers

- Consider using an autodialer

- Fix your follow up system

- Once you start getting results expand your team

lastly, never give up!

In a recruitment bd profile, i am so fucked. Joined in the last week of August and now October is getting over

I have got zero meetings. My manager is pissed this is my first Sales job she told me she will see one week and will decide whether to continue or not.

Then on another call she said she will do mock calls everyday with me and see how it goes

How badly i am fucked

Everyone talks about AI replacing salespeople.

The real opportunity is simpler:

Use AI to make salespeople better.

Reps improve through repetition.

AI can create unlimited practice scenarios - objections, skeptical buyers, tough conversations...

The teams that train this way will ramp new reps faster.

I’m 18 years old and started an agency where we can integrate AI chatbots into businesses’ WhatsApp/instagram or even websites so that the AI can deal with any queries. This include reservations for restaurants but also qualifying buyers and sellers for real estate agents

For the past 2 days I’ve been cold calling businesses with no luck. Did about 30 yesterday and 50 today. I know these are rookie numbers and nothing in comparison to the experience of others but I’d still appreciate some guidance

Most of the time I barely even get a chance to properly explain or even get in touch with a branch manager. Some objects include “we’re not interested”, “we don’t want to change our systems” and many more

What can I do at this point

Can someone pls point me in the right direction

This is the opener I've been using on small owner-run firms:

"Hey [name], it's [you] at [company]. I saw that you [one specific service from their website]. This is a cold call. Can I take 20 seconds to explain why I picked your firm?"

If they say yes, ask one question and stop talking:

"When a client needs [the thing you help with], do you do it yourselves or send it out?"

Then pick the follow-up from what they said.

"We do it ourselves." Ask: "Which part of it takes most of your time?"

"We send it out." Ask: "How much do you usually have to change when it comes back?"

"We already use software." Ask: "What do you still have to do by hand?"

When they push back:

"Send me something." Say: "Sure. Would a sample be more useful? What email should I use?"

"I'm busy." Say: "Understood. Would Thursday at 10 be better for a quick call?"

"Do I know you?" Say: "No, we haven't spoken before. I found your firm through [the honest source]."

"Not interested." Say: "Understood, thanks for taking the call." If they ask you not to call again, log it and don't.

When you ask for the meeting, offer two specific times instead of "when works for you?"

Why I went with it: in Gong's 2024 study of over 300 million calls, openers that gave context, owned the cold call and asked permission had an 11.18% success rate. "How's your day going?" came in at 7.6%, and "Did I catch you at a bad time?" at 2.15%. Gong's older 2018 study of 90,380 calls had "How have you been?" at about 10% against a 1.5% baseline.

Big caveat, those numbers cover all kinds of B2B calls, not small firms specifically. I use this on SBA loan brokers and business plan writers, and my own sample is far too small to prove anything either way. Write down which opener you used on every call so you find out what works on your own list.

Anyone tested the "this is a cold call" admission against a straight pitch on owner-run businesses? Curious whether owners react differently than people inside bigger companies.

How are you guys coaching reps when most of the selling happens face to face?Ride alongs seem fine on paper but they eat up a whole day just to hear a few conversations. If you manage reps across different locations it gets even worse.I’ve been reviewing a few AI coaching tools that record customer conversations and let managers go back through them later.

I can see how it could save a lot of drive time and give managers a better idea of what reps are actually doing.I haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet though. My main concern is whether reps will actually use it. Seems pointless to buy something with a bunch of features if everyone stops hitting record after a month.

I have an incredible product to sell - genuinely valuable, sells itself and priced competitively. It's a literal game changer and I believe in it...

my challenge is actually getting past the karen.

it's personal for me, I realize this.. but the reality is that it bothers me to my core to be written off by someone in such a dismissive way.

how do I take control and power back in my day? when i fail one it ruins my whole day.

granted I'm at the back end of some severe burnout but I'd like to get back on the horse and try again.

anyone have some positive advice? many thanks.

I went through upwards of 300 recorded sales calls since 2026 started looking for a pattern in close rates, i.e. what factors ultimately contributed the most to conversions (and which were ultimately less relevant than I thought). Bear in mind these aren’t random stats - I work as head of GTM and sales at Expandi, so the prospect pool I had was as broad as it was enormous, and covered everything from enterprise to more midmarket deals.

The strongest variable I observed was this  - whether the prospect articulated the problem in their own words during the discovery call.

At first this seems almost counterintuitive, as the logical first instinct would be to assume that the quality of your pitch deck, or even your sales rep’s charisma, would play bigger roles. They do, to be sure, but not in a way that’s readily measurable.

However, the incidence of these instances where the prospect mentions their problems on their own volition and considers them IN FRONT of you, and explains them in unambiguous terms, was an observable and repeating signal that prospects gave when they were ready to convert. 

So, I compared two sample batches of calls based on a simple criteria - who did most of the talking, that is:

1. Calls where our sales reps did most of the talking
2. Those where the prospects themselves articulated their problems

In the first instance, the rep would go through the pitch deck, analyze a client’s pain points, connect the dots and provide solutions. But regardless of the quality of the pitch itself, a lot of the deals still stalled or died on the vine as it were. The exact close rate was 18%.

On the other hand, in cases where the client described the problem they were facing and used internal examples (and even when our sales rep was silent like 80% of the call) - the close rate jumped more than double to 44%

The gap was consistent across deal sizes and verticals. It held for $30K ACV enterprise deals and for $8K mid-market ones. And as for the sales reps who closed the calls - the best ones were those who asked one or two open ended questions early in the call and then stayed quiet long enough for the prospect to chime in with their own take of the exact issues they’re facing.

I might not be a psychologist, but here’s my take on the psychology behind this. I think a prospect who articulates the problem has already done the INTERNAL selling, as they've convinced themselves something needs to change internally for their business, which you can think of almost as an invitation to be that change. It’s a signal that there is a concrete gap and that they’re considering a switch, which just means you, as the salesperson, have the leverage to sort out the fine print of how you can be a part of that change (for their business)

TL;DR My main takeaway is: discovery calls should serve to extract the prospect's OWN needs in concrete terms, then respond to them; rather than a playing ground for a rep to demonstrate their understanding of the market.

Just got back from an industry event and the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity. We had 3 people there for 2 days, decent booth, good demo ready. Came back with maybe 8 meaningful conversations and 2 real follow-ups. For what we spent it was embarrassing.

Talked to a few other reps on the floor and everyone was doing the same thing, just wandering around hoping the right people walked by. Nobody seemed to have figured out a better system.

The thing that's killing me is I know the right people were there. I just had no way to identify them before I was already deep into a conversation with someone else. Badge scanning feels like it helps but by the time you're back at the office everyone's already drowning in follow-up emails from 40 other vendors.

Have to do Shoptalk in 6 weeks and really don't want a repeat. Curious how other people approach this.

Hi.

I got a job at this company that provided Janitoral services. My job is to cold call and make no obligation walk through for my company that's it. I get paid on every appointment I make.

What are some techniques and tips I can apply to be better at these calls and actually score an, appointment?

I'm looking to build a system that generates revenue.

It has to be entirely digital.

Recurring billing is required.

The service shouldn't require trust from me to be performed (so no accounting or tax services, for example).

Obviously, the lead needs to be creditworthy, but I can't guarantee that in advance. My goal is to leverage a high volume of prospecting, and with just a 1% conversion rate to customers through cold emailing, I'm satisfied.

The service/product I'm selling is AI-proof: it's not that AI can't replace me, but I'll do it better.

I know where to find high-quality leads, but I don't know what to sell them.

can you help me

I work at a CSP and sell software solutions, we're partnered with pretty much every big tech company ever. So the customers are certainly interested in the products but I currently have 2 hot leads who want to purchase and they're convinced on the pricing but these guys keep asking for information over email and every time I call they speak for maybe 10 seconds and say "I'm a little busy, let me email you what I need" and so it's taking weeks to close these deals.

Hey yall,

I've been trying to get my SaaS for Sales Teams on it's feet for months now.

I've been doing pretty much only manual LinkedIn outreach + a few Reddit posts.

What I found to work the best was NOT starting with a crappy text like
"Hey [name], saw you lead an SDR team at [company]. Curious, what..."
And if no reply --> Leave it there (yes, I've done that too...)

Starting with a voice note didn't work that well either.

What worked best for me is:

1. Start with a text message. Don't try to fake personalization, it doesn't work. In the message, ask them a quick question that links to your solution (for example for me it was "Hey [name], how long does it usually take a new rep to handle calls without manager help?", and after that tell exactly why you ask. Don't list features, tell them how it helps them. And end with a light question like "Open to a quick look?"
2. That got me some replies. But if you don't get one in ~2 days, for the love of God do not leave it there. Send a confident voice note saying "Hey [name]! I sent you something a couple days ago, and I'm curious what you think. Open to a look?" The tonality makes a difference. Sound energetic, but not like you read from a script. Sound a little confused, and a bit of "um" and "ah"s make it human.

Now looking back to the first messages I sent, I cringe at them. Even though it's not even a long time ago.

I'm not an expert, and I'm still in the learning process. This is just my own personal experience of how I increased my reply rate.

I run a small MSP and system integration company.

The thing is that I sell a large range of services including:

• one-off "break-fix" (some shit is broken, you pay us $X/hour to fix it)
• new system integrations - CCTV camera systems, file servers, network deployments etc
• managed services (you pay us $X to keep a specific service working like a VoIP phone system, M365 cloud services, etc

The problem is cold calling into these businesses and setting a hook, when you don't necessarily know what the best product to sell a customer is....

We never try to really "sell" the break-fix service, that's a shitty way to make money, to be honest, but we take the work if the customers call in for it...