Cold Calls and Voicemail: When to Ring a Senior Buyer and What to Say

Why ring at all?

Email and LinkedIn let a senior buyer decide in private and say nothing. A call gets an answer in seconds. Even a short "not me, try Marcus" is more than most emails return.

The phone also costs more. A call to a senior buyer cannot be taken back, and a clumsy one is remembered. So in an account-based plan the call is never the first touch. It comes after you have written, it is made for a reason, and it is one step in a sequence. Our 17-day Tier 1 sequence has a cold call and a voice note in it, among several other touches, and not at the start.

When is a call worth making?

Ring when all four are true:

1. You have already written once. An email or a LinkedIn note has gone, so the call is a follow-up and not a surprise.
2. You can state a true reason for ringing today. A change at the company, a stated plan or a colleague you have spoken to. If you cannot finish the sentence "I am calling because", do not dial.
3. You know the person's role in the decision. Even roughly.
4. You are allowed to call. Calling rules differ by country: do-not-call registers, permitted hours, recording consent. Check them for the buyer's country before the first call. Do not assume that rules written for consumers leave business calls alone.

If one fails, send another message and wait. A call without a reason sounds like every other call.

The first 20 seconds

A senior buyer decides quickly whether to keep listening. Use four parts, and then stop.

1. Who you are. Your name and company, once, slowly.
2. Why now. The reason you are ringing today, in one sentence.
3. What you do. One sentence about the problem you help with. No product names.
4. One question. Small, specific and easy to answer.

The four parts, as a card

WHO:   "Hi [First name], it's [your name] from [your company]."
WHY:   "I'm calling because [dated reason]."
WHAT:  "We help [type of company] with [problem]."
ASK:   "How are you handling [specific part] today?"

Then stop. Count to three before you speak again.

The pause is the hardest part, and the most useful. Silence after a good question is where the buyer thinks. Fill it and you answer for them.

Ten tested openers, built from different reasons, are in our Cold Call Opening Lines for Senior Buyers. Pick the one that matches your reason and say it in your own words.

What do you do when someone else answers?

Assistants and switchboard staff are part of the account, not an obstacle between you and it. They know who deals with what and how the buyer likes to be reached.

• Ask for help, not access: "Could you tell me who looks after [area]?"
• Give the reason in a few words. If asked whether it is a sales call, say yes. Hiding it costs you the account.
• Take their advice on time and person, then follow it.
• Write down their name and what they told you.

An assistant who hears an honest, brief reason will often tell you more than the buyer would have done.

Voicemail

Leave one on the first attempt and one on the last, and nothing in between. A third message is the start of nagging.

Keep it under 20 seconds. Give your name twice, one reason and one way to answer that costs the buyer nothing. Do not pitch.

Voicemail, first attempt

"[First name], it's [your name] from [your company]. I'm calling about [reason].
I have one question on how it affects [their team]. I'll send it in a two-line email so
you can answer it either way. [Your name], [your company]."

Voicemail, last attempt

"[First name], [your name] from [your company] again, about [topic]. I won't keep ringing.
If it moves up your list, my details are in the email of [day]. If someone else owns it,
a name would help. Thanks."

Send the email within the hour, so the voicemail and the message support each other.

After the call

A call that reaches nobody still produces facts. Log every one, the same day:

The most important column in any call log is the one headed "others named". Every name a buyer or assistant mentions is another door into the same account. Add each to your buying committee map before you do anything else.

Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)

Quaywise sells warehouse software. Sam Carter works Northfield Logistics, a Tier 1 account. All names are invented.

Sam never spoke to Dana. The two calls still moved the account: they found the person who owns the question, and Marcus's reply gives Sam a better reason to write to Dana again.

What comes next?

You can now write, message and ring. The next lesson is about what happens after a first touch gets no answer: follow-up that adds something each time and stops before it becomes nagging.