A phone script for selling a product has five parts: a 15-second opening that says who you are and why you called, two questions about their situation, one sentence matching the product to what they said, the price stated plainly, and a close that asks for the order or a dated next step. Write each part as speech, rehearse it aloud, and drop whatever sounds like reading.
The example below sells a countertop convection oven to restaurants, but the structure fits any product you can describe in a sentence. If you sell a service rather than a product, the same bones appear in a cold call script for B2B.
Know the rules first
The Federal Trade Commission's guide to the Telemarketing Sales Rule says a telemarketer must promptly disclose, before any sales pitch, the identity of the seller, that the purpose of the call is to sell goods or services, and the nature of those goods or services. It also lists calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. as abusive. The guide says most phone calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt from the rule, with exceptions that include retail sales of nondurable office or cleaning supplies, which matters if that is your product. If you sell to consumers instead, the whole rule applies, including its Do Not Call provisions: check numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry before you dial, and keep your own list of people who asked you not to call again. The rule has more parts than this summary, so read the FTC's guide or ask a lawyer if you call at volume. Our piece on whether AI cold calling is legal goes further into automated calls.
Good practice matches the rule even where it does not apply: say your name and company, say you are calling to sell something, say what it is, and call during working hours.
Part 1: The opening, 15 seconds
"Hi, is this Mara Okonjo? This is Theo from Kilnworks. I sell a countertop convection oven to restaurant kitchens, and I'm calling because I saw you opened a second location. Do you have a minute?"
That sentence does four things: confirms the name, gives your name and company, says what you sell, and gives a reason for calling this person. It takes about twelve seconds. Asking "Do you have a minute?" at the end is a courtesy, and a "no" gets a quick "When is better?" instead of a hang-up.
Part 2: Two questions
"How are you baking and roasting at the new place today?"
"What does the power bill for that equipment look like in a month?"
Ask one about the situation and one about the cost. Then listen. Write down her words, because you will use them in part three. A person who talks for twenty seconds while you listen will trust you more than a person who lists features.
Part 3: Match, in one sentence
"You said the old floor oven adds about $400 a month in power and you're always short on shelf space. That is the problem this was built for: it holds six trays on a counter and heats up in minutes."
Use her number and her phrase. A match built from what she said sounds like help. A match built from your brochure sounds like a pitch.
Part 4: The price, stated plainly
"The oven is $2,890, and the optional service plan is $64 a month. Most owners compare it to the power bill."
State the price in the same calm voice as the rest. If you hesitate, the buyer hears a number you do not believe in. Do not apologize for it and do not bury it behind five minutes of features. A buyer who has to ask "How much?" three times stops trusting you.
Part 5: The close
"Would you like to start with one oven at the new location? I can ship it Thursday, and you can run it for 30 days before deciding on the other site."
Ask for something specific, with a date. If she is not ready to buy, the fallback is a dated step:
"Then let me send you the one-page price sheet and call you Wednesday at 10 with an answer to anything it raises. Is that fine?"
Handling the usual replies
| They say | You say |
|---|---|
| "Send me some info." | "Happy to. So I send the right thing, what matters most: the price, how it works, or the proof it works?" Then send exactly that, and say when you will call. |
| "We already have a supplier." | "Good, that means you know what you pay. Would it be useful to see the numbers side by side?" |
| "It's too expensive." | "Compared to what you pay now, or to something else?" Then listen. |
| "I need to ask my partner." | "Of course. Would it help if I joined a short call with both of you? Thursday at 3?" |
| "Not interested." | "Understood. Thanks for your time." End the call. If it is a firm no, record it and do not call again. |
For a gatekeeper who answers instead of the buyer, how to get past the gatekeeper has the wording, and best time to cold call covers when to dial.
Rehearse it three times
- Read it aloud once. Cross out any word you would never say in conversation.
- Record yourself and listen. Most people speak too fast on the first sentence.
- Call a friend and pitch it. Ask where they got lost.
Keep the script on one page with the five parts as headings, not full paragraphs. You want a prompt, not a speech.
Track what happens
After 30 calls, count how many people picked up, how many stayed for the two questions, how many reached the price, and how many agreed to a next step. The step where most people drop away is the part of the script to rewrite. Change one part at a time so you know what caused the difference.
Cold calling is a fair way to sell if you have the stomach for it, and a hard thing to keep up when the day fills with other work. If you would rather not do the dialing, Rocketship's AI salesperson researches a buyer from their own website and emails them from your Gmail, follows up and books the meeting, with the calls kept for the people who answer. The 7-day trial needs a card to start.