How to create a phone sales pitch script [Free template]

If you’re doing inside sales, you know that a phone call can be an incredibly effective tool to reach out to potential customers and close deals.

One hour after coming up with the idea for ElasticSales—the on-demand sales company we launched before Close—we had already created our first sales script.

We didn’t waste time on market research, a website, a logo, or a name. We wanted to validate the idea as quickly as possible, so we got on the phone.

Our goal was to close 1 deal in 4 weeks. Instead, we landed 7 paying customers in 14 days. We even had to reject customers because we didn’t have enough capacity to service them.

Our secret? A great sales pitch script. (You can download the same free template we've used here.)

If you’re looking to level-up your calls, having a sales pitch script can make a huge difference.

But you might be wondering: Doesn’t a script just turn reps into robots?

Nobody wants to be a robot. And actually, a script can help you NOT sound like a robot (when you use it right).

So, what are the benefits of using a sales pitch script? And what lessons can you learn from the script we used to get 7 paying customers in 14 days?

This is what you’re going to see in this chapter:

• 6 reasons to use a sales pitch script for your team
• The best sales pitch script template we use and why it works
• Cold call script structure to model your calls after

6 reasons to use a sales pitch script for your sales team

Rather than turn you into a robot, a well-crafted sales pitch script can actually boost performance for your sales team.

Here are 6 reasons you should consider using a sales pitch script:

1. Refine your process through collaboration and A/B tests

An effective sales process is in a constant state of refinement. When you create sales pitch scripts, you take a step towards refining an essential part of your process: your cold outreach.

As we talked about in Chapter 1 of this guide, your sales pitch must be based on customer research, not guesswork. So, as you work through the research and start to write things out word-for-word, you’ll add a level of polish and finesse to your cold outreach that couldn’t be done without a script.

This is a process that you should do with the rest of your sales team, since each member will have valuable insights and clever phrases that will help your pitch reach its full potential.

Having a script also allows you to A/B test different introductions, conclusions, and phrases in the middle. As the whole team uses variations of the sales pitch script, you can see how prospects react and build a pitch that is truly outstanding.

2. Train new hires faster and more effectively

Whenever a new sales rep comes onto the team, there’s a learning period where they must develop their knowledge of the product, the brand message, and the sales style of the company.

When a sales team already has a carefully developed sales pitch script, those new hires can start hitting the phones even sooner, knowing that their pitch is effective and builds on solid research into the ideal customers.

3. Minimize low-performance days

While a sales leader may depend on their high-performers to reach the team’s sales goals, different factors can affect their performance on a day-to-day basis. Whether it’s because of issues in the office, trouble at home, or a global pandemic, your high performers will have some bad days.

Using a sales pitch script can help minimize the effect of a low performance day by giving everyone a baseline to follow. While most high performers will ad-lib off the script on a normal day, they will always have that safety net to fall back on when they’re not feeling as creative.

4. Empower your team to listen better by decreasing stress

Doing cold calls is stressful. Everybody knows it, even those who don’t want to admit it.

But when you’re so concentrated on (and stressed about) what you’re saying, it becomes very difficult to listen effectively to the other person.

Sales leaders: do you want your reps to listen better on the phone? Then give them a sales pitch script.

With a written script, reps have their thoughts and words clearly in mind. Then, when they ask questions, they can actually listen to what the prospect is saying instead of scrambling for their next line.

This empowers sales reps to engage in meaningful conversations with prospects over the phone, giving them the ability to focus on the prospect and not stress excessively about what they’re going to say next.

5. Give creative license to top-performers

When your high performing sales reps are at the top of their game, they probably feel like they don’t need a sales pitch script.

And it’s true: these people know how to sell.

But a script gives the call structure. It gives reps the right words at the right moment, and it also allows them to take that structure and give it some of their own unique flair and pizzazz.

Once they know that script, they can experiment with their own ideas and add some personality. Ultimately, you want to empower your reps to trust their instincts and be better than the script, but only once they've internalized the script.

6. Keep messaging focused and concise

What is your brand message? What tone of voice does your website display? How are things worded in your pricing page, or within the product?

The words you use and the style they’re portrayed in should be uniform across all aspects of sales, marketing, product, and customer service. So, when you create your sales pitch scripts, take into consideration the thoughts and suggestions from these other teams. Let the product team take a look at how you pitch certain features. Let customer service help you explain use cases concisely.

Scripts that are made with the help of all these different teams will bring your brand message to the fore, and keep your reps on-brand at all times.

The best sales pitch script template we use and why it works

When you use a sales pitch script that is well-developed, it gives you guidance on the phone to go from one step to the next in a proven model that actually delivers success and produces positive outcomes.

Back when we started ElasticSales, we saw how this works in real-life.

Ready to hear the sales pitch that got us 7 paying customers in 14 days?

Here it is:

Why did this work so well? Let’s break down the opening lines:

Hi, my name is Steli Efti.

With this opening line, we established context right away.

It seems like a no-brainer to start with your name, but you’d be surprised how many people ignore this step.

Forget your pitch for a second. You need to let prospects process who you are: otherwise, there’s zero chance they’ll pay attention to anything else you’re saying.

Some salespeople recommend small talk after the introduction—“How’s your day going? Is it raining there, too?”—but we don’t. Maybe small talk sets a friendly tone, but who has time for that?

In a cold call, assume you’re interrupting prospects on a busy day. Get to the point. Prove that you value their time.

I’m calling some startups in the area to find out if they are a good fit for our beta program.

We chose these words carefully. In one sentence, we were able to let our prospects—Silicon Valley startups who’d raised a few million dollars in venture capital—know:

• Who we help (“startups”)
• Where we’re located (“in the area”)
• What we’re looking for (“a good fit”)
• What we’re offering (“beta program”)

We chose “good fit” over “customer” for a reason: these were exploratory calls. And “beta program” because many prospects were in tech. It was a subtle way to let them know that we spoke their language.

The details of your script will ultimately depend on your target audience and your ideal customer profile, but keep these ideas in mind as you write your own.

What we do in a sentence is we provide companies with a sales team on demand.

This was our elevator sales pitch. No fluff. The key to a great elevator pitch is clarity and brevity. Try to keep this to one sentence. If it takes thirty seconds to explain what you do, that’s a problem. Prospects don’t have patience, especially during cold calls.

Does this sound generally interesting to you?

We cared how they responded to this question, but it never really mattered what they said.

• If they said yes, I’d say, “Awesome! Tell me about your sales process.”
• If they said maybe, I’d say, “Interesting. Tell me about your sales process.”
• If they said no, I’d say, “Okay. Tell me about your sales process.”

The truth is that neither of us had enough information to decide whether the call was a waste of time. I still had a few qualifying questions to decide if they were a good fit for our beta, and they still had time to decide whether to continue or hang up the phone.

Here’s the other reason why this question was important: it gave prospects an opportunity to say no. If the pitch didn’t sound interesting and they weren’t able to verbalize a quick objection, they’d be thinking, “How do I get off this call?” for the rest of the conversation. I’d never get any information out of them. The early no actually allowed me to keep the conversation going, even if it was only for a few more seconds.

Cold call script structure to model your calls after

Now that we’ve covered the opening lines, let’s take a deeper dive into the overall sales pitch call.

The basic structure involves these 6 steps:

1. Raise curiosity: Clearly state who you are and why they should care.
2. Give context: This is your elevator pitch, a one-sentence overview of what you’re offering and who you’re offering it to.
3. Ask for permission to continue: A simple question gives prospects the ability to say no or allow you to continue your pitch.
4. Ask questions: Learn about prospects' needs and define if they are a fit.
5. Test close: Use questions to discover price sensitivity, decision timeline, and other factors.
6. Schedule next steps: Never leave the cold call without clear next steps in place.

These 6 steps should all be included in your sales pitch script, allowing you and your sales team to follow a clear, relevant structure throughout the call.

Here is the sales pitch script template you can copy and adapt to your own process:

Opening (steps 1-3)

• Hi, my name is___________. I’m calling some startups in the area to find out if they are a good fit for our product/service/beta program.
• What we do in a sentence is we provide companies with XYZ.
• Does this in general sound interesting to you?

Qualifying (step 4)

• What is your current XYZ process?
• Who are your customers?
• How do you currently solve XYZ?

Test closing (step 5)

• We would want to start in X weeks.
• Does this work for you?
• The beta program is heavily discounted. It’s going to be $X per day.
• What is the decision making process in your company?

Next steps (step 6)

• Great. Sounds like this could be a good fit. Let me send you our brochure and schedule a time next week to discuss all your questions, etc.
• What’s the best email to send you information and the calendar invite?
• What’s a good time to chat next week?

Swipe this script template and adapt it to your own sales process.

If you think sales pitch scripts turn salespeople into robots…

Then you’re not using them correctly. When you mindlessly read your lines, you’re going to sound like a robot. But scripts aren’t meant to lock you into a conversation. They’re meant to help you refine your process, maximize performance for all members of the sales team, reduce stress, and keep messaging focused.

True, having a script won’t give you a 100% success rate. Here some quick sales pitch script hacks to help you face objections:

• Learn to love the no, and try to understand what kind of no they’re giving you
• Create an objection management document so you’re ready to face anything your prospects might say.
• Make a lot of calls to get your script exposed to many prospects (The right technology can help you accomplish this with less effort, which is why we built our predictive dialer right into our sales CRM.)

When you include creative workarounds to common objections in your sales pitch scripts, you’ll be better prepared to continue the conversation despite the objection.

Create a sales pitch script you can be proud of

There are few things more important to your long-term sales success than a winning script, so apply what you’ve learned here.

And remember: creating a winning sales script is a never-ending process. If you regularly revise your script, you’ll keep finding new ways to close deals. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time—just set aside 15–30 minutes every month for a focused sales script session with your team. Even if you only do it once a year, that alone can make a huge difference to your bottom line.

Wondering how to take this sales pitch to your email outreach? Jump ahead to the next chapter: Writing a sales pitch email: subject lines, email examples + 5 steps to close