This article was updated on March 3, 2026 with an up-to-date FAQ section.
Sales is an exciting and an exhilarating role, however the most feared part of the role is cold calling. Lets face it, cold calling someone and interrupting their day to talk them about your product is one of the hardest things to do. Not only do they not know who you are, you are telling them about something that is probably not on the top of their radar. We asked Morgan J Ingram, a top sales development rep at Terminus, for his most actionable cold calling techniques:
When I first get on a call, I think there’s a couple things that I’ve been doing that I’ve seen success with that provide unique value to the prospect. I try to make the call feel as if I’m a human and not a robot reading from a script. If you have the initial approach with the prospect they will be more warm to talk to you and be more receptive to the value that you’re trying tell them on the call and be more willing to actually have a real conversation with you and seeing that if your product is something that fits one of their pain points are currently having within their organization.
1. Do your research
First, the most important thing that you need to do is research the company you are calling. if you do your research on the company you’ll be able to see who their competitors are and you’ll be able to have a unique opening to the conversation. If you are able to do that it shows that you care about their needs and it separates you from other sales reps. For example, I do my research through Linkedin and Owler to see what the company’s target market and to see if they have any competitors that are currently evaluating our product. The reason I do that is because it will allow me to have an opening for the prospect and they won’t treat me as another sales rep.
2. Don’t be another number to prospect
Second, you may get someone who will say “I’m not interested at this time”. When you have this, you can overcome that objection with, “Would it be ok for me to take 30-60 seconds to explain to you what we do here to see if this is a good fit”? The normal response for any type of prospect is to get you off the phone because they’re just seeing you as another number.
Get further in-depth conversation to explain the benefit of your product so that you can bring them value for their company. It is important to understand to go against the norm. The norm is that everyone wants to back down, believe in yourself and the product and present the information to see if it is a solution they need in their organization.
3. Do the follow-up
So you are at the end of the call and all goes well, you get past the initial approach and you have a good conversation make sure to if you set the dinner to have a good follow-up. We recently talked about this in our meeting a couple weeks ago with our SDR team, Director of Sales and Sales Development about why good professional follow up is important. By giving them value in the follow up, you provide insight and get them really excited to see a demo of your product. The follow-up is really important because there is so much happening during the day so it’s important to provide them with the information so they are well informed of your solution before getting on the demo.
Whether you’re an SDR, salesperson or even a startup founder, everyone struggles when learning how to make cold calls but Morgan’s advice should put you well on your way to more effective cold calling.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What research should I do first before calling?
- What should I send after a good call?
- How do I sound human, and not scripted?
- How do I ask for 30-60 seconds?
- What if the prospect says “not interested”?
- Which objections should I prepare for?
- How do I uncover a real pain point?
- What metrics will show my prep is working?
What research should I do first before calling?
Cold calling techniques work best when you research the company’s market, competitors, and current priorities before dialing.
Use a short, repeatable checklist: what the company sells, who they sell to, recent news, and one competitor or initiative you can reference naturally. Morgan J Ingram’s point is simple: relevant context creates a unique opening and signals you respect their time. Keep it tight; two minutes per account is often enough to sound informed without over-prepping.
Tip: build a “pre-call dashboard” so you can scan insights fast. This overview of sales prospecting tools to maximize outreach productivity can help you choose what to standardize.
What should I send after a good call?
Send a short recap that restates their goal, your agreed next step, and one piece of value that helps them show up informed.
Morgan highlights that follow-up matters because prospects get pulled in many directions; your message should make it easy to remember why the conversation matters. Keep it scannable: 3-5 bullets max, include the meeting details, and attach only what you referenced on the call. If the call was exploratory, offer two time options or a clear “reply with X” prompt.
Tip: use a consistent template your whole team can adopt; see why professional follow-up matters in the importance of sales follow up.
How do I sound human, and not scripted?
To sound human, lead with a simple reason for calling and talk like you would in a real conversation, not a memorized pitch.
Keep your first line short, then pause; your tone and pacing matter as much as the words. Aim for a calm, confident delivery that invites a response (“Did I catch you at an okay time?”), then adapt based on what they say. Morgan’s core idea is to avoid “robot mode” so the prospect stays open to hearing relevant value.
Tip: record and review your first 20 seconds weekly; small changes to pace and clarity add up quickly.
How do I ask for 30-60 seconds?
Ask permission directly: request 30-60 seconds to explain why you called, then earn more time by staying specific.
The goal isn’t to “trap” them into listening; it’s to lower resistance and create a fair exchange of time for relevance. Once they agree, deliver one crisp value statement tied to their context and end with a question that invites them to confirm or correct your assumption. If you ramble, you lose the benefit of the permission-based approach.
Tip: write one 20-second version of your value statement and practice it until it sounds natural.
What if the prospect says “not interested”?
When you hear “not interested,” acknowledge it calmly and pivot to a quick relevance check instead of arguing or retreating.
Morgan’s approach is to avoid being “another number”: ask for a brief window (“Would it be okay if I took 30-60 seconds…”) and then connect your reason for calling to a plausible business outcome. If they still decline, exit professionally and secure the next best step: permission to send one helpful follow-up, or a better time to call.
Tip: aim to win the right next step, not the whole meeting, on every tough interaction.
Which objections should I prepare for?
Prepare for the handful of predictable objections (timing, authority, priority, and “already have a solution”) and rehearse concise responses.
The best objection handling sounds like a conversation: validate their point, offer a simple reframing, and ask one focused question. Don’t stack multiple rebuttals; pick one direction and move forward. Your prep should include two things: the most common pushbacks for your ICP and one proof point or customer outcome you can mention without over-selling.
Tip: build an “objection library” and role-play one objection per day to sharpen reflexes under pressure.
How do I uncover a real pain point?
Uncover pain by asking one specific, situational question that connects your value to what their team is doing right now.
Start with what you learned in research, then test a hypothesis: “I noticed X; how are you handling Y today?” If they engage, follow with a single deeper question about impact (time, cost, risk, missed targets). This keeps the call consultative and helps you avoid generic discovery. The outcome you want is clarity: either there’s a live problem worth exploring, or there isn’t.
Tip: write three ICP-specific “hypothesis questions” and rotate them to learn what resonates fastest.
What metrics will show my prep is working?
Your preparation is working when connection-to-conversation rates rise and you consistently earn permission to continue past the first objection.
Track a few leading indicators weekly: meaningful conversations per hour, percentage of calls where you reach discovery questions, and meetings set from live conversations. Qualitatively, listen for fewer “just send me an email” brush-offs and more “tell me more” moments after your opener. If metrics stall, tighten one variable at a time: research quality, opener clarity, or your first question.
Tip: review five call openings every Friday and score them on relevance, brevity, and the question you asked next.
Morgan graduated from the University of Georgia with a major in Sports Management and Finance.
He is a Sales Development Representative (SDR) at Terminus, which helps B2B Marketers do Account-Based Marketing at scale.
He is the host of The SDR Chronicles, which is a YouTube channel specifically geared for SDRs that provides motivation, advice and tactics.
Morgan has also been featured in Sales Hacker, A Sale Guy’s Blog, Treeline blog and the Terminus blog for his work in sales development.
Follow #TheSDRChronicles on YouTube.
