# I found the best cold calling script of all time **Channel:** Brandon Mulrenin **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrBL0YoPSBo **Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/BrBL0YoPSBo ## Chapters - 0:00 — Why Most Cold Calls Fail - 1:31 — Reverse Presumptive Questions Explained - 8:49 — The Four-Step Cold Calling Framework - 13:22 — Live Call Example and Appointment Close - 21:50 — Mindset Follow-Up and Next Video ## Transcript **[0:00] Speaker A:** Hi Kelly, this is Brandon with XYZ Real Estate. Uh how are you today? Hello? Kelly? If this is what most of your cold calls sound like, it's not you, it's the script you're using. And it's not just the script, it's how you're actually delivering the script. Listen, I've tested literally hundreds of cold calling scripts, and after doing this for 21 years, I finally found one that works almost every single time. Why? Because it's based on behavioral psychology, not old outdated sales methods. And once you learn it, prospects will stop getting mad when you call, objections will disappear, and you can start setting appointments literally every single day. So, here's what we're going to cover in this video. Number one, I'm going to teach you the most powerful sales technique to use when cold calling that no one on the internet is talking about. Two, I'm going to walk you through the four-step cold calling framework that actually works, and it doesn't matter what industry you're in, whether you're a financial planner, insurance agent, a real estate agent, if you follow this framework, it **[1:11] Speaker A:** will work. And then number three, I'm going to actually make a cold call so that you can have an example of what the script sounds like, and more importantly, how it gets delivered. And before we dive in, if you want access to all of my cold calling scripts, I'll put a link in the description. You can instantly download them all for free. **[1:31] Speaker A:** So, let's first start by talking about the most powerful sales technique of all time, in my opinion. You see, the problem with most traditional sales scripts and methodologies is that they are filled with what we call yes-oriented questions. Questions like, "Well, Mr. Prospect, are you interested in?" And here's the problem with those types of questions. See, when the salesperson asks, "Are you interested in selling your house?" They are hoping that the prospect says, "Oh my gosh, yeah, I'm just sitting by the phone all day hoping you would call me and yes, we're interested in selling our house." But the reality is not that. What actually happens is that salesperson is eliciting something called psychological reactance. This is what happens in the brain when we feel like someone is trying to control us or trying to influence us or trying to get us to do something that they want us to do. **[2:29] Speaker A:** And when that happens, the brain automatically starts to protect autonomy. And that's why prospects out of reflex are so fast to say, "No, I'm not interested. Take me off your list. No, I'm good." And it's not because they're not actually interested, but it's you causing the brain to actually respond this way. Yes-oriented questions like, "Are you interested in selling your home?" frames the salesperson as having an agenda. This is what causes reactance. The second problem with traditional sales questions like, "Are you interested in?" is it elicits something called, "Hey, really quick and we'll get right back to the video." But if you're watching this and you're a real estate agent who either A is worried about where you're going to get your next deal from or B you're sick and tired or stressed out riding the ups and downs of the commission roller coaster, I want to invite you to join me at my next live workshop. **[3:26] Speaker A:** I'm going to teach you how to consistently get clients every single month without having to go out there and buy leads, without having to post on social media, and without being the annoying realtor who is begging your friends and family for referrals. So, if you want to save your seat, I'm doing this in the next few days, I'll put a link in the description. Perceived bias. See, we're really, really good at knowing when somebody is trying to sell us something. We can feel it, we can taste it, we can smell it. We know it's happening. So, as soon as we ask a question like are you interested in doing X, Y, and Z, the brain automatically labels this as, "You know what? I got to be careful. I think someone's trying to sell me something here." And once that happens, prospects go in defense mode. **[4:17] Speaker A:** The conversation is no longer about moving or selling my house. It's how do I get off this phone call as fast as possible. Now, instead, let me introduce you to what I call the reverse presumptive questions. This is very, very powerful. And at first, it's going to take you a second to have like this aha moment. But we are doing the reverse. And so, let me explain to you or give you an example of a type of question that you could ask instead of saying things like, "Are you interested in selling your home?" So, you might say something like this. "Well, Mr. Prospect, I get the feeling that if I asked you about moving, you're probably going to tell me you're in your forever home. Am I right?" This works because it flips four psychological triggers at the exact same time. One is the brain's prefrontal cortex. **[5:08] Speaker A:** This is the part of the brain responsible for corrections and detecting errors. So, when somebody hears something that's incorrect, they automatically want to fix it. Not because they want to, because it's the brain forcing them to. So, when you say, "You're probably going to tell me this is your forever home," if it's not true, the brain is compelled to correct that error. That correction becomes, "Well, no, actually, you're wrong. We're not going to be here forever." And now, it's the prospect introducing their motivation to do something, not you. And that completely changes the dynamic. Number two is reverse psychology. When you say you're not moving, this gives the prospect a safe place to disagree. So, instead of defending against a sales pitch, the brain thinks, "Wait a minute. Let me clarify that." And the response becomes, "Well, you know what? We we actually might be moving." **[6:10] Speaker A:** And now you've successfully got the prospect to sell themselves on their reasons for moving instead of you attempting to sell them on your reasons for moving. Number three is the removal of sales pressure. It does something very very subtle. It doesn't ask the prospect to sell. It does the exact opposite. So, the brain interprets this interaction as non-salesy or non-threatening. And therefore, it doesn't need to defend anything. And then number four is the curiosity gap. The phrase, "I get the feeling," signals to the prospect that you observed something. And humans are hardwired to close these loops. And the prospect thinks, "Huh, what makes you feel that way?" This is what gets prospects to stay engaged. It's because you're opening up curiosity loops that the brain is forced to close. So, in traditional sales methodology, it's the salesperson who brings up the idea of the of the prospect wanting to potentially sell. **[7:16] Speaker A:** In reverse selling, we get the prospect to introduce the idea that they want to sell. Psychologically, this is a major deal because prospects never believe what you tell them. They only believe what they tell themselves. So, to make this technique really stick, here's what you want to do. Step one is to strategically make an incorrect assumption. You say things like, "Mr. Prospect, you're probably never moving." Step two, allow the prospect to correct you. Get the prospect to say, "Well, actually, it's funny that you should call. We're not going to We're not here forever, but" and this is where they relinquish their own motivation for doing something in the future. This is the prospect in self-persuasion. All right, so let's recap and make sure that this technique really sticks. Step one, when you're calling a prospect, you want to make an incorrect assumption on purpose. Say something like, "Mr. **[8:19] Speaker A:** Prospect, I get the feeling you're never moving no matter what. Am I right?" Step two is to allow the prospect to correct you. Get the prospect to say, "Well, we're not going to be here forever." And then step three is to allow the prospect to relinquish the truth voluntarily. Get the prospect to say, "Well, it's funny you should call. We've been thinking about making a move." But probably not until and they give you the time frame. Now the conversation is the prospect's idea, not because of your sales pitch. **[8:49] Speaker A:** All right, so now let me introduce you to the four-step cold calling framework. Step number one is the opener. Step number two is uncovering the prospect's pain. Step number three is to uncover any potential opportunities and then step four is the invitation. So, let's do a deep dive on step one, the opener. Now, when the phone rings, the prospect has some very fair questions that they start to ask themselves. Who's calling me? Should I pick it up? Is this something important? And if you want to nail the first 10 seconds of a cold call, your script must include three things. Number one, it must lower the prospect's guard immediately. Number two, it must open a a loop. And number three, it must get the prospect's permission to have this conversation. The opener will set the tone for how successful this conversation will be or not be. **[9:49] Speaker A:** Step two is where you uncover the prospect's pain, aka their motivation to do something or not to do something. This answers the question, "Why are you calling me?" And this step is all designed for you as the salesperson to discover whether or not the prospect has any pain or not. And for most sales people, this is where they really, really struggle. See, you are looking for symptoms of a problem that your product or solution can solve. And so, if there is no pain, if there is no symptoms, there's literally no sale to be had. Move on. And so, when we talk about pain or motivation or symptoms, we're talking about three things specifically. Number one, does this person have a want or desire to do something that your service can help them with? Number two, why do they want to do the thing? And then number three, when do they want to do it? **[10:55] Speaker A:** And we already talked about the fact that you cannot call a prospect and ask them, "Mr. Prospect, are you interested in selling your home?" for all the reasons we've already discussed. And so, I'm going to show you what this sounds like in just a second. I'll show you exactly what you say instead. And then step three is where you uncover if there's a potential opportunity for you to be the person to help the prospect solve their problem, to solve their pain, to help them with what they're motivated to do or not do. In this step, we're going to find out, are they already working with a real estate agent? Are they already working with another service provider? Or do they need our help? This is when we're going to find out. And no, we can't just ask, "Well, Mr. Prospect, are you already working with a real estate agent?" **[11:47] Speaker A:** Because we know yes oriented questions like that don't work very well. So, I'll show you what you're going to ask when I show you the live call in just a second. And then step four is the invitation. This is where you're actually going to set the appointment. And for most sales people, this is where they get it completely wrong. They try to force their way into these appointments using old, outdated, high high pressure sales tactics that are super super cringe. Like the forced choice close. Saying things to prospects like, "Mr. Prospect, listen, I'm going to be in your area on Friday. Why don't I come over? I can show you what I can do to get your property sold and I could be there at 3:00 or would 4:00 be better?" Right. Like you sly fox. Like you're just going to randomly be in the prospect's neighborhood Friday afternoon. **[12:37] Speaker A:** Come on. Like this stuff has to stop being used. It doesn't work and it continues to give the sales profession a bad name. We cannot use this crap. Instead, we have to plant the idea of meeting inside of the prospect's subconscious mind. Specifically in the limbic part of the brain, which is responsible for all decision-making. And I'm going to show you exactly what to say in order for you to do this. Because it has to be the prospect's idea to invite us over. We cannot force our way over if you're going to set a lot of appointments. All right, so let's have some fun with this. **[13:22] Speaker A:** All right, I'm going to give you an example phone call of what the script sounds like and how it gets delivered. Hello. Hi Kelly. Yeah, who's this? Kelly, uh my name is Brandon. Listen, I'll be up front. I'm a real estate agent and I was just hoping to ask you something before you hung up. Would that be all right? Okay, so two things are happening right here. Number one, we're getting the prospect's permission to have the conversation, which is exactly what you want to do. When somebody feels like their autonomy is being protected or respected, compliance goes up. It's when we pressure prospects and we take away their freedom, we take away that autonomy, do we actually elicit defensiveness. And then number two, we actually acknowledge the fact that we are interrupting their day. We're acknowledging the fact that this is a sales call. We're acknowledging the fact that they probably want to hang up because we're the first ones who call that out. **[14:32] Speaker A:** And by doing that, we buy ourselves a little reciprocity. Because we are calling into reality that we are interrupting this person's day, that they probably don't want to be on this phone call. We respect their autonomy. Because both of those things are happening, we buy ourselves a little bit of goodwill with the prospect, which gives us that next 10 seconds that is so valuable. Sure. Yeah, I appreciate that. Listen, I know this is probably a long shot, but I've got a client looking to purchase a four-bedroom colonial, kind of like the one that you guys have, but I'm assuming you're going to tell me uh you guys are never moving. Am I right? And so now we open up the curiosity loop. When we say this is probably a long shot, the prospect is curious to say, "Hmm, I wonder what he's going to ask me." **[15:24] Speaker A:** And then when we make a false assumption on purpose, we are triggering the part of the brain responsible for making those corrections. So, when we say to the prospect, "Listen, I get the feeling that you're going to tell me you are in your forever home and you're never moving." It forces the prospect to correct the error. Well, it's actually funny you're calling because my husband and I are planning to move, but not till next summer. Next summer, okay, interesting, okay. And you know, I don't know if this is the same thing for you, but typically people that tell me that they are moving out of Woodbury do so because they want to relocate out of state or they're just looking to get something a little bit smaller. I mean, is that the same thing for you guys or or is it something else just out of curiosity? **[16:15] Speaker A:** This is how we get people to tell us their motivation for why they want to do something. See, if we just come out of the gate and say, "Well, you know, why are you selling?" Then people get defensive and they say, "Well, why is that important? Or why are you asking me that? Or that's none of your business." And so, the technique being used here is called an ABC question. We use a We tell them, "Hey, here's what other people that are moving tell us why they're moving." And we allow them to associate that with other people. By doing this, they don't feel defensive. They don't feel like they're being interrogated. It's like, "Listen, it's safe. Other people do it for this reason." We ask them, "Is that the same reason for you or is it something else out of curiosity?" Uh yeah, we're looking to downsize, but also to get off the lake. **[17:11] Speaker A:** Got it, okay, you're looking to get off the lake, okay. Um and I I don't know if this is the case, but I'm assuming, you know, when the time comes for you guys to actually sell the house, you guys have already interviewed some agents and you've hired someone that's going to help you next year. Would that be fair? **[17:29] Speaker A:** And there we go again. We use the reverse presumptive questioning technique to come up with some type of assumption that is false on purpose. See, by doing this, we know the likelihood for the prospect to have already interviewed realtors and hired a realtor a year in advance is almost next to 0% because if we don't do this, if we ask the prospect, "Well, Mr. Prospect, do you know someone in the business or are you already working with an agent or do you already have somebody in mind?" That comes across so salesy that the prospect, even if they don't have somebody in mind, you force the prospect to defend their position and say things like, "Yeah, yeah, we've got somebody in mind." because you turn the conversation from being curious, genuine curiosity to a sales pitch and they can feel the sales pressure. So, they think to themselves, "Well, I'm not going to fall for this one. **[18:30] Speaker A:** I know that if I say, you know, if you if you ask the question, 'Hey, are you working with an agent already?' if I say no, they're going to try to sell me." So, they mislead, they misguide you. They flat out lie to you because they don't want to be sold. **[18:49] Speaker B:** I know, we haven't gotten that far yet. Okay. All right, fair enough. Well, um can I make a quick recommendation then before I let you go? Again, respecting the prospect's autonomy, it's the prospect pulling from us instead of us forcing a sales pitch. Sure. Yeah, and and if this doesn't make sense, Kelly, obviously you can let me know, but, you know, I talked to a lot of people that are thinking about moving 6 to 12 months in the future and they have questions like, "What is my house going to sell for?" And what are the cost of selling? And you know, what do I have to do, Brandon, to prepare my home to be sold? So, See, it's us planting these seeds into the prospect's subconscious mind. See, when I called this person out of the blue, as an example, they're not thinking about these questions, but as soon as I planted the idea that other people like them had these questions, does the prospect think to **[19:50] Speaker B:** themselves, "Well, interesting. Yeah, we we probably Yeah, we have those questions, too." This is how you start to plant the seed in the prospect's subconscious mind. I guess let's just pretend for a second you guys thought it was a good idea to meet with me now and after we met, you guys had a clear plan on getting your home sold. I mean, would there be any downside in maybe inviting me over to explore that a bit more? And there's the future pace. Let's pretend we met. Let's pretend it was your idea that we met. And you got what you wanted from the meeting, which was a clear plan on how to get your property sold when the time comes. So, the future pace is, "Hey, let's pretend this is already happened." So, we get the prospect into something called their child ego state. So, they're imagining, okay, I've already decided to invite this person over. **[20:49] Speaker B:** It was my idea. I met with this person. It was genuinely a good conversation and I left with this thing that I really thought was valuable. That has already occurred in the future pace. So, that when we ask them, "Is there a downside to doing this?" they have already decided that they should do it, and because they did it, they validate that decision because it was a good experience. Then, we're about to take and remove all of the risk away from them agreeing to the meeting, knowing you guys aren't going to make any decisions unless it made sense. Am I right? And this is where we get the prospect to think to themselves, "Yeah, I guess that's a good point. I mean, there's there's really nothing nothing to lose here." They logically to themselves think, "Yeah, this is only there's only upside to this." And that last tie-down is where we gain their agreement and we set the appointment. **[21:48] Speaker A:** Uh you know, I think that'd be okay. **[21:50] Speaker A:** All right, so now you have the technique, literally step-by-step on how to successfully make cold calls. But, the big part now is your mindset. So, now you know how to do it, but now you might be struggling with, "Man, I still struggle with a mindset." So, I made a video that walks you through exactly how to conquer your fear of cold calling, how to overcome this mindset of call reluctance. If you want to watch it, you can click this video next.