In this blog, our aim is to understand Chief Technology Officers (CTOs).
They’re perhaps not the most obvious targets for a cold call. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get results!
And with our ultimate cold calling script for CTOs, you’ll find out what makes them tick and how to get them on your side.
Scroll 👇 to get the script.
Why cold call CTOs?
The truth is, whatever ICP you’re targeting, there’s no silver bullet.
The most important thing to know ahead of time is:
What are the jobs these individuals need to get done?
You need to understand what they have on their plate!
When you know what they’re focused on, you'll be able to speak their language.
What does a day in the life of a CTO look like? What are they working on?
In reality, a CTO isn't a very common title for people to target.
The reason being:
CTOs aren’t usually involved in the decision-making process on the business side.
Usually, a CTO is engaged in building a product. They’re generally not making decisions on budgets and toolsets.
So why contact them then?
Well, they can be very effective buying champions.
Let’s find out more 👇
How should you talk to CTOs?
Guess what! CTOs are very technical people.
How do they differ from other B2B prospects?
It’s essential to think about value drivers.
Cost, risk and opportunity. These are the big ones, and you’ve got to be relevant to them.
What’s the personality of a CTO?
They tend to be on the front end - early adopters.
If you’re going to find success, you need to be specific and relevant.
But what about revenue?
CTOs aren't really interested in that.
Their focus is to ship the product and make sure that it works.
For them, it’s about innovation and threats.
Their interest is more in the realm of new things that tie into their world.
You should think about how you can make their job easier, faster and more efficient.
Ryan Reisert, sales expert, says:
“It’s a different conversation around optimisation, deliverability storage and uptime.”
“They're definitely not going to worry about revenue.”
Relevance or personalisation?
Before we get into the script, we should talk about relevance and personalisation.
They're the two routes you can go down in outbound sales.
Personalisation is about tailoring. You can tweak your outreach based on clues on your prospect’s LinkedIn profile.
While with relevance, you need to understand the prospect’s job title. Then, apply the product to their goals and responsibilities.
According to Ryan:
“Relevance will trump everything when it comes down to outreach.”
“I’m reaching out to discuss what it could look like working differently. That’s going to beat: Hey, it looks like you enjoy sailing on the weekend. Who cares!”
It’s easy to get caught up in individual personalisation.
But you’re not selling to an individual. You’re selling to an organisation!
You’re selling to a person or group of people who have jobs that need to get done.
Ryan added:
“You might get someone to respond to you through personalisation. But it will not drive meaningful pipeline if it’s not relevant and timely.”
What if the timing is off?
A ‘not right now’ isn’t bad if it’s relevant, so long as you have an effective follow-up strategy.
The CTOs cold calling script
Opener
There is no perfect way to open a cold call.
But, there is a way to keep someone on the line.
Don’t be afraid to admit that it’s a cold call right away!
You’ll always run into people who say, ‘no, I don’t take cold calls’.
As long as you admit it immediately, you're on a level playing field. Having an idea of what they’re getting into will reduce any tension.
Brad Norgate, Enterprise SDR at Cognism, opens with:
“Hey, it’s Brad from Cognism. I realise I’ve caught you out of the blue. Do you have 30 seconds for me to explain?”
Body
It’s all about discovery in the body of the call.
SDRs often don't do discovery well. All they talk about are features!
Often they’ll say:
“Our product can do X, Y, Z - what do you think?”
This is the wrong approach.
The key is active listening. Be thoughtful; ask questions that are relevant to the CTO and their role.
Don’t just ask one question and leave. Ask a series of thoughtful questions and open up a dialogue.
If you’re relevant and can prove you can solve their pain points, they'll be much more likely to accept a meeting.
This is especially true for CTOs! They deal with logistical and technical pain points every day.
Close
At this point in the cold call, it should be clear what the CTO's pain points are.
This is where you have to lock them in. Get that meeting booked!
Tonality is crucial. The key to success is to be assumptive and confident.
Take the attitude that they want the meeting to proceed. Assume a yes, unless there’s pushback.
Brad uses the following:
“If I said that Cognism could solve those issues, is there any reason you’d be closed off to looking at what we can do?”
It’s hard to say no to that!
Want to polish your cold calling technique?
Each month we host cold calling live workshops on our Revenue Champions podcast.
Previous guests include Josh Braun, Ryan Reisert, Morgan J Ingram and Dave Bentham.
Click 👇 to listen.
