That's how long you have before the prospect decides if they're staying on the line. Not 30. Not a minute.
80
Dials per day is the SDR baseline. Below that, something is broken in your process.
2h+
Saved per week when calls are recorded, transcribed, and logged automatically with Allo.
Chapter 01 — Prep before you dial
The biggest time killer in cold calling is disorganization.
Reps spend 10 minutes researching one contact, call them, get no answer, then waste another 10 minutes finding someone else. Fix this before you ever pick up the phone.
Batch research and calling into separate blocks
Never do both at the same time. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to build targeted prospect lists. Use Apollo.io to enrich contacts with mobile phone numbers. Direct dials skip gatekeepers entirely and this alone will change your connect rate. Export and clean your list before you start calling.
Define your ICP tightly
"My target is every mid-market company in the US" is a death sentence for your pipeline. Even if you sell one product, the CEO cares about revenue impact and the HR director cares about hiring speed. You're pitching the same thing but the opening has to be completely different.
For each persona, map out:
Their #1 goal
Their top constraints
How your solution fits those constraints
The language they actually use to describe their problems
Create your Sales Book
This is your cheat sheet for every call. Not a rigid script. More of a framework you internalize. It should include:
Your hook (why you're calling, in one sentence)
Your approach per persona
Your pitch (how your solution maps to their pain)
Your common objections + responses, split into universal vs. industry-specific
Pro tip
Database creation is its own skill. If you're on a team, push for a dedicated data analyst or growth person to build your lists. Salespeople should be calling, not scraping LinkedIn.
Chapter 02 — The first 5-7 seconds
You don't have 30 seconds. You have five.
Forget 30 seconds. You have 5 to 7 seconds before the prospect decides if they're staying on the line.
The full open sounds like this
Sara's opener
Hey Julie, its Sara from SellingSara. You are totally going to hate me, but this is a cold call. Do you have 27 seconds to chat quickly, and if what I say is not valuable I'll never call you back again.
Sara Uy, SellingSaraThat's the whole thing. No apologies, no filler, no rambling.
What to avoid in your opening
Do
State a clear, direct opener
Name background noise if you hear it: "Sounds like you're on the go, want me to call back in 15?"
Offer a humor line: "I tend to catch leaders at the worst times, so what did I catch you in the middle of?"
Give them a clear out (that still builds trust)
Don't
"Sorry to bother you"
"I know you're busy"
"Am I catching you at a bad time?"
Permission-based: "Would you rather hang up or give me 30 seconds?" — you just handed them a pre-built rejection
Sara's humor line
"I tend to catch leaders at the worst times, so what did I catch you in the middle of?" Builds a humanized approach. Usually gets a laugh. Knocks the walls down.
Chapter 03 — Tone and delivery
Your tone matters more than your words.
Four micro-techniques top callers use without thinking. Tap each card to see how to apply it on the next call.
Tone 01
Mirror their energy.
Tap to reveal →
How to apply
If they're calm and measured, slow down. If they're upbeat, match it. If they're whispering (yes, this happens), whisper back and then laugh about it together. Mirroring builds unconscious rapport in seconds.
Tone 02
Slow down. Always.
Tap to reveal →
How to apply
In training rooms, you need high energy to keep attention. On the phone, you need to slow down. Listen to a recording of a great cold caller. You'll be surprised how slowly they actually speak. Slow = confident.
Tone 03
Smile while you dial.
Tap to reveal →
How to apply
Cliche, but true. Your emotional state transmits through the phone. If you're calling while frustrated or angry, the prospect hears it. Smile before the line connects. It physically changes your voice.
Tone 04
Stand up. Or lie down.
Tap to reveal →
How to apply
Call standing or walking if you can. It puts you in a state of action and energy. That said, some top callers work lying down (seriously). Find whatever position makes you feel most natural and confident.
Chapter 04 — Handling objections
Not all objections are real. Some are reflexes.
Your job is to figure out which is which and respond based on that. Click any card to see Sara's actual response.
Objection 01
"Send me an email."
Tap to reveal →
If said immediately
Sure, I can definitely send you an email but it'll be fairly generic. So let's still meet tomorrow or Wednesday at 2pm or 4pm EST. Which one works best for you and that way we can go over the email in detail together!If said after some conversation: "Absolutely. I'll send that over. Quick question: when's a good time for me to follow up so it doesn't just sit in your inbox?"
Objection 02
"I don't have time."
Tap to reveal →
The move
If they hang up, no problem. Call back another day. If they stay on the line, that means they have some time:
Totally get it. The idea was just to find 15 minutes that work for you. How does next Tuesday 10am or next Thursday 3:30pm look for you?
The person who says "I don't have time" but doesn't hang up is telling you they're interested but busy.
Objection 03
"I'm not interested."
Tap to reveal →
The move
If said before you've explained what you do:
Totally fair, you don't even know what I do yet! Quick version: [one-sentence pitch]. Does that change anything?
If said after your pitch, dig for the reason: "Got it. Is that because you've already got something in place, or is it more of a timing thing?" People naturally justify their no, and that justification reveals the real objection.
Objection 04
"It's not the right time."
Tap to reveal →
The move
When would be the right time? And once they respond: what's going to happen between now and then?
"Not the right time to talk" just means call back. "Not the right time to buy" means you need to understand what's blocking them.
Objection 05
"I'm on vacation."
Tap to reveal →
The vacation close
True story: a prospect said "I'm on vacation." Instead of backing off, the caller said:
Nice! Where'd you go?
The conversation loosened up, and they booked a meeting during the vacation call. When someone is relaxed and off-guard, they're sometimes more open, not less.
Objection 06
"Who are you? Why are you calling me by my first name?"
Tap to reveal →
The move
Don't hang up. Calmly explain who you are and why you're calling. Plenty of these calls end with a meeting booked or a referral to the right person. The hostile opener is often just a test.
Don't forget the callback
Lock in the next step before you hang up. Then follow up 10 days later: "Hey Julie, I sent that email over. What did you think?"
Chapter 05 — Active listening
One mouth, two ears. Use them in that ratio.
The best cold callers talk less than you'd think.
Hear the environment
Traffic noise? Meeting chatter? A child in the background? Name it. It shows you're paying attention to them, not just running through your talk track.
Ask the right question, then shut up
When you hit the right nerve, people talk. Let them. Don't interrupt a monologue that's giving you everything you need to close.
Stay on the line when it gets uncomfortable
A prospect pushes back hard: "Who are you? Why are you calling me by my first name?" Don't hang up. Just calmly explain who you are and why you're calling. Plenty of these calls end with a meeting booked or a referral to the right person.
Build callback campaigns
Keep notes on every call. People who said "no" 6-12 months ago are worth calling again. Situations change, budgets reset, new people get hired into the role.
One example: calling back CFOs who had said "no" the previous year generated three new meetings in a single month.
Sara Uy
Founder, SellingSara
Chapter 06 — Getting past gatekeepers
Your default strategy: skip gatekeepers entirely.
Use Apollo, Lusha, or similar tools to find direct mobile numbers. If your prospect is on LinkedIn, you can almost always find a cell number. This eliminates the gatekeeper problem for most B2B calls.
When you must call a main line
Don't announce yourself. Salespeople constantly volunteer information nobody asked for when they get a receptionist. The receptionist's job is to route calls. Let them do that.
The whole script
Hi, could you put me through to Julie Smith?
That's it. No title, no company name, no reason for calling. If they ask, keep it brief and vague.
Three hacks that bypass the gatekeeper
Tap each card for the actual play.
Hack 01
Press a random extension.
Tap to reveal →
The play
When the automated system says "dial 00 for reception," try pressing 36 or 24 instead. You'll land in a random department. Say:Oh, I was trying to reach Julie Smith. Could you transfer me?Internal transfers almost always go through.
Hack 02
Call after 5pm.
Tap to reveal →
The play
Receptionists leave at 5. Directors and managers often stay late. Calling between 5pm and 7pm gets you straight to the decision-maker, no filter. Same logic: try before 9am for early-bird execs.
Hack 03
The wrong-name trick.
Tap to reveal →
The play
Say a name confidently that doesn't match anyone:Hi, is Julie there?When they say "No Julie here," act mildly confused and ask to be transferred to your actual target. The confusion resets the gatekeeper's screening reflex.
On voicemails: always leave them
Don't ask them to call you back, but give them a task instead. For example: "Hey Julie, no need to call me back but I'm shooting you a text right now so feel free to answer me there!"
The only exception to the "task-based voicemail" rule is when you have a scheduled meeting and the person no-shows. Leave a voicemail to confirm or reschedule. That's relationship maintenance, not cold outreach.
Chapter 07 — Multichannel sequencing
The phone is your fastest feedback channel. Not your only one.
Certain prospects never answer calls. Others live on LinkedIn and ignore email. Some won't respond to anything digital but will pick up on the second try. You need all three channels working together.
Don't forget social selling either. Posting on LinkedIn can loosen up leads and make you look more trustworthy and authoritative before you even dial.
Option A: Phone first
Best for testing new markets
Call (if they answer, you know your targeting is right immediately)
If no answer: LinkedIn connection request + short email (consider a voice note over LinkedIn too)
Follow-up call 2-3 days later
Second email with a different angle
Final call
Option B: Digital first, phone as closer
Best for scaled outreach
LinkedIn invite
Two LinkedIn messages (spaced 3-5 days apart)
Three emails (spaced 3-5 days apart)
If no response to any digital: pick up the phone
Key principle
Do each channel well rather than just doing more of them. A sloppy email followed by a generic LinkedIn message followed by an unprepared call is worse than one great phone call.
When you book the meeting
Send the calendar invite while you're still on the call. Confirm they received it before hanging up. Don't send a follow-up email saying "as per our conversation." The invite is the confirmation.
Stop splitting attention between listening and note-taking.
The old way: dial, scribble notes, half-listen, hang up, spend 5 minutes logging the CRM, forget what was actually said. Multiply by 100 calls a day. Allo records, transcribes, summarizes, and updates your CRM automatically. You're 100% with the prospect.
Auto-recorded & transcribed
Every call captured. AI summary written for you. No more manual notes.
Synced to your CRM
HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and 15+ tools updated automatically.
AI follow-up drafts
Emails and SMS drafted from what was actually said on the call.
Crystal-clear audio
Voice infrastructure powered by Ericsson. If they can't hear you, nothing else works.
2+ hrs
saved per week, per rep, on manual logging. Over a month, that's a full extra day of actual selling.
Multichannel sequencer (Lemlist, La Growth Machine) to automate LinkedIn + email sequences so you can focus on calling.
A written Sales Book. Not software. A Google Doc works. But you need your hooks, objections, and persona angles written down somewhere.
What you don't need
Cascade / parallel dialers. (Calls 5 people simultaneously, connects you to whoever picks up first.) The prospect hears a 2-3 second delay before you speak. That silence kills trust before you even say hello.
AI voice agents for cold calls. AI is great for research, transcription, and follow-ups. But the human voice is the whole point of cold calling. Don't automate the one thing that actually makes it work.
An overly complex stack. Phone + Apollo + HubSpot + Allo is enough to book meetings. Don't let tool shopping replace actual dialing.
Chapter 09 — Call rhythm and mindset
How many calls per day?
If you're a full-time SDR, 80 dials per day is the baseline. If your entire job is prospecting and you're making fewer than 80 calls a day, something is wrong with your process. Usually it's too much time researching between calls.
If you're full-cycle (prospecting + closing), block 6 hours per week dedicated to prospecting calls. Put it in your calendar and treat it like a client meeting. It doesn't get moved, it doesn't get skipped.
When you're in prospecting time, you're prospecting. Whatever happens next, forget about it.
Sara Uy
Founder, SellingSara
Adapt to your target's schedule
All of the below should be tested. Start with 9-5 but experiment before 9 and after 5 too.
Office workers: standard hours, avoid Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.
Retail / service businesses: call during their work hours (Saturday mornings for store managers).
HR directors: try Tuesday through Thursday, they tend to have lighter schedules mid-week.
Executives: try early morning (before 9am) or after 5pm when gatekeepers are gone.
Mindset before a session
Believe in what you sell. If you don't, fix that first. Prospects hear doubt.
Check your energy. If you're in a bad mood, put on music that lifts you up. Do 10 push-ups. Walk around the block. Don't call while angry.
Pre-book your sessions. Put prospecting blocks in your calendar like gym sessions. Once they're booked, they're non-cancellable.
Warm up with easy calls. Start with callbacks or warm leads before hitting pure cold lists.
During the session
Don't check email between calls. Don't research between calls (that was done beforehand). Log the outcome in your CRM immediately after each call. Keep momentum going. The energy from a good call carries into the next one.
After the session
Send all promised follow-up emails and calendar invites. Set callback tasks in your CRM for everyone who said "not now." Review any difficult calls. What could you have done differently?
Quick-reference checklist
The pre-flight check.
Print it. Pin it above your monitor. Run it before every prospecting session.
Before the session
Prospect list built and enriched (mobile numbers included)
Sales Book open and ready
CRM open, logged in
Allo connected
Good energy, good posture, phone charged
During each call
State who you are + one-sentence reason for calling
Propose specific next step (meeting time)
If objection: identify if it's reflex or real, respond accordingly
If meeting booked: send invite while still on the call
After each call
Log outcome in CRM
Set follow-up task if needed
Move to next call immediately
Now go dial
People buy from people. Still. Always.
Cold calling works in 2026 for the same reason it worked in 2006. The tools have changed, phone numbers are harder to find, prospects have more ways to ignore you. But when someone picks up and hears a real person who clearly did their homework? That still works. It works really well.
Stop automating your way out of conversations and pick up the phone.
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Why Sara recommends Allo
