cold-calling · diff
v1.0.0 to v1.1.0
158 added, 80 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: cold-calling
description: >-
- Build and execute B2B cold calling programs — phone intent scoring, precision
- dialing, the Buckets methodology, multi-touch cadences, and conversation-to-meeting
- conversion. Use when setting up cold calling, training SDRs, improving connect
- rates, or building a phone outreach motion. Triggers on: "cold calling", "cold
- call", "phone outreach", "SDR calling", "connect rate", "dialer", "phone prospecting",
- "calling strategy", "cold call script", "phone intent", "precision dialing",
- or any request about outbound phone prospecting.
+ Build and execute B2B cold calling programs — phone intent scoring, disposition
+ bucketing, CRM activity buckets, ColdCall-Market Fit, multi-touch cadences, and
+ conversation-to-meeting conversion. Use when setting up cold calling, training
+ SDRs, improving connect rates, or building a phone outreach motion. Triggers on:
+ "cold calling", "cold call", "phone outreach", "SDR calling", "connect rate",
+ "dialer", "phone prospecting", "calling strategy", "cold call script", "phone
+ intent", "precision dialing", "bucketing", or any request about outbound phone
+ prospecting.
license: MIT
compatibility: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose
metadata:
- version: "1.0.0"
+ version: "1.1.0"
author: LeadMagic
category: outbound
- tags: [cold-calling, phone, sdr, connect-rate, dialer, outreach]
- related_skills: [multi-channel-outreach, cold-email-strategy, signal-scoring, sales-team-building]
- frameworks: [Ryan Reisert Buckets Methodology, TitanX Phone Intent, Sandler Up-Front Contracts]
+ tags: [cold-calling, phone, sdr, connect-rate, dialer, outreach, bucketing]
+ related_skills: [multi-channel-outreach, cold-email-strategy, signal-scoring, sales-team-building, list-building, revenue-team-onboarding]
+ frameworks:
+ - "Joey Gilkey — Disposition Science & Phone Intent"
+ - "Ryan Reisert — CRM Activity Buckets"
+ - "Ronen Pessar — ColdCall-Market Fit"
+ - "Tom Slocum — 3Rs / Sell the Meeting"
+ - "Jeb Blount — Fanatical Prospecting / Golden Hours"
+ - "Sandler Up-Front Contracts"
---
# Cold Calling
## Overview
Cold calling is not dead — blind cold calling is. The difference between a 3%
connect rate and a 25% connect rate is knowing who will answer before you dial.
When executed with precision, the phone remains the highest-converting outbound
channel because voice creates a real-time human connection that text cannot
replicate.
- This skill covers the complete cold calling motion: phone intent scoring
- (TitanX), the Buckets prioritization system (Ryan Reisert), multi-touch cadence
- design, and the metrics that matter. The phone is one instrument in a coordinated
- multi-channel sequence — not a standalone channel.
+ This skill covers the complete cold calling motion: **Phone Intent** scoring
+ (Joey Gilkey / TitanX), **Disposition Science** (outcome bucketing per
+ conversation), **CRM Activity Buckets** (Ryan Reisert daily workflow),
+ **ColdCall-Market Fit** (Ronen Pessar), SDR coaching patterns (Tom Slocum),
+ **Golden Hours** prospecting discipline (Jeb Blount), multi-touch cadence design, and the metrics that matter. The phone is one
+ instrument in a coordinated multi-channel sequence — not a standalone channel.
+ **Expert index:** `references/cold-calling-experts-index.md`
+
## When to Use
- "Build a cold calling program"
- "Improve our cold call connect rates"
- "Train SDRs on cold calling"
- "Set up a precision dialing workflow"
- "Write cold call scripts"
- "What's the best cold calling cadence?"
- "How do I get more conversations from cold calls?"
- "Our connect rates are under 5% — fix this"
+ - "Bucketing methodology for outbound"
## Authoritative Foundations
- **Ryan Reisert (Sales Bootcamp, Outbound Operators, CallBlitz)** — The Buckets
- Methodology: 4-stage prioritization system that ensures SDRs always do the
- highest-value activity. 100+ touchpoints per day per SDR. Process over volume.
+ **Joey Gilkey (TitanX)** — **Disposition Science** + **Phone Intent Platform**.
+ Six disposition buckets categorize every completed conversation (Meeting
+ Scheduled, Activated, Not Now, Not Me, Referred, Not Interested). Distribution
+ diagnoses list, message, rep, or follow-up problems. The 20% Rule: only ~20%
+ of any B2B market will answer a cold call; Phone Intent™ scoring finds the
+ reachable segment before reps dial. Conversation-as-KPI over meetings-booked
+ activity. → `references/joey-gilkey-bucketing.md`
- **TitanX (Joey Gilkey)** — Phone Intent Platform. The 20% Rule: only ~20% of any
- B2B market will ever answer a cold call. The other 80% will never pick up
- regardless of timing, script, or rep skill. Phone Intent™ scoring identifies
- the reachable 20% before reps dial. Precision dialing over parallel dialing.
+ **Ryan Reisert (CallBlitz, Outbound Operators, *Outbound Sales, No Fluff*)** —
+ **CRM Activity Buckets**: 4-stage daily-priority system (Uncontacted → In Cadence
+ → Priority → Scheduled). Work backwards from Bucket 4 to 1. Track completions,
+ not vanity dials. 100+ meaningful activities/day. Live call coaching via
+ CallBlitz. → `references/ryan-reisert-cold-calling.md`
+ **Ronen Pessar (Outbound Operators)** — **ColdCall-Market Fit**: prove phone
+ motion in a 3-hour Call Pilot before scaling SDR headcount. Tonality +
+ pattern-interrupt script framework; 50–100 conversation checkpoints.
+ → `references/ronen-pessar-cold-calling.md`
+
+ **Tom Slocum (The SD Lab)** — **Sell the Meeting** (nurse, not doctor);
+ **3Rs / 3×3** research before every block; dial discipline and SDR coaching
+ intensives. → `references/tom-slocum-cold-calling.md`
+
+ **Jeb Blount (Sales Gravy, *Fanatical Prospecting*)** — **Law of Replacement**
+ and **Golden Hours**: block 2–3 hours daily for prospecting before reactive
+ work; omni-channel habit across phone, email, and social. Pairs with Gilkey
+ (list) and Reisert (buckets) — Blount enforces **discipline**, not call script.
+ → `references/jeb-blount-prospecting.md`
+
**Sandler** — Up-Front Contracts. Apply to cold calls: earn permission, diagnose
pain, and mutually qualify — don't pitch.
+ **Distinction from email experts:** Jordan Crawford, Jason Bay, Guillaume, and
+ Justin Michael lead **written** outbound. This skill is **phone-first** — load
+ `cold-email-strategy` only for complementary cadence touches.
+
## Prerequisites
- Tight ICP definition (use icp-scoring skill)
- Verified direct-dial phone numbers (not switchboard numbers)
- - CRM with contact-level activity tracking
+ - CRM with contact-level activity tracking + disposition fields
- Optional: phone intent scoring (TitanX), precision dialer (FrontSpin)
## Step-by-Step Process
- ### Phase 1: Build the List
+ ### Phase 1: Build the List (Gilkey List Lever)
Cold calling performance is determined upstream of the dial. Fix the list before
you fix the script.
1. Define a tight ICP (firmographics, technographics, trigger events)
2. Source verified direct-dial phone numbers — never switchboard numbers
3. Enrich with phone intent scores (TitanX): P1 (high-intent, will answer),
P2 (moderate-intent, may answer), P3 (low-intent, rarely answers), bad data
- 4. Target 500 perfectly-fit prospects over 5,000 marginal ones
- 5. Verify a 5% sample manually before dialing the full list
+ 4. Apply Tom Slocum **3×3** research: 3 insights in 3 minutes per contact
+ 5. Target 500 perfectly-fit prospects over 5,000 marginal ones
+ 6. Verify a 5% sample manually before dialing the full list
+ 7. Cross-link list strategy: Jordan Crawford PQS (`cold-email-strategy`)
- ### Phase 2: The Buckets Methodology (Ryan Reisert)
+ ### Phase 2: Prove ColdCall-Market Fit (Pessar — Optional but Recommended)
- Work backwards from highest to lowest priority:
+ Before hiring SDRs or scaling dials:
- **Bucket 4 — Meetings Scheduled:** Confirmed meetings. Confirm week-of, 24 hours
- before, and 2-3 hours before. Low no-show rate is the metric.
+ 1. One ICP, 1–2 personas, one focused list
+ 2. Run Call Pilot or internal blitz — 50–100 completions minimum
+ 3. Iterate script/tonality: try → listen → learn → refine
+ 4. Read Gilkey disposition distribution — diagnose list vs message
+ 5. Decide: full-time SDR, agency install, or email-primary segment
+ ### Phase 3: CRM Activity Buckets (Reisert)
+
+ Work backwards from highest to lowest priority daily:
+
+ **Bucket 4 — Scheduled:** Confirmed meetings. Confirm week-of, 24 hours before,
+ and 2–3 hours before. Low no-show rate is the metric.
+
**Bucket 3 — Priority (Working):** Contacts who have engaged — replied to email,
- answered a call, referred to a colleague. Hot leads. Call 2-3x per day. Every
+ answered a call, referred to a colleague. Hot leads. Call 2–3× per day. Every
touch documented in CRM.
**Bucket 2 — In Cadence:** ICP contacts with documented attempts but no engagement
yet. 100 contacts in this bucket at all times. Research completed, notes in CRM.
**Bucket 1 — Uncontacted (Target):** New ICP contacts not yet reached. Research
and qualify before first dial. Only ICP-fit contacts enter this bucket.
- ### Phase 3: Precision Dialing (TitanX)
+ ### Phase 4: Disposition Science (Gilkey)
+ After each **completed conversation**, assign one disposition:
+
+ Meeting Scheduled · Activated · Not Now · Not Me · Referred · Not Interested
+
+ - High **Not Me / Referred** → list/title problem (build v2 list from referrals)
+ - High **Not Interested** → segment by rep before blaming message
+ - Need **50+ completions** before distribution is actionable
+ - Optimize with **King of the Hill**: change one lever (list OR message) per test
+
+ ### Phase 5: Precision Dialing (Gilkey / TitanX)
+
- **Know who to call before you dial.** Phone Intent scores segment contacts by
- likelihood to answer. Call P1 contacts first — they are your highest-converting
- prospects.
- - **Precision dialer over parallel dialer.** Call one contact at a time with full
+ likelihood to answer. Call P1 contacts first.
+ - **Precision dialer over parallel dialer.** One contact at a time with full
context. Parallel dialers create dead-air pauses that trigger spam flags.
- - **Channel match to reachability.** High phone-intent contacts get phone-heavy
- outreach. Low phone-intent contacts get email and LinkedIn sequences. Bad data
- gets marketing nurture, not rep time.
+ - **Channel match to reachability.** High phone-intent → phone-heavy cadence.
+ Low phone-intent → email and LinkedIn. Bad data → nurture, not rep time.
- **Protect caller reputation.** Rotate caller IDs, monitor spam labels, stay
- TCPA-compliant. Carriers flag high-volume low-answer callers as spam.
+ TCPA-compliant.
- ### Phase 4: The Call Structure
+ ### Phase 6: The Call Structure (Reisert + Pessar + Slocum)
- **Opener (earn the next 30 seconds):**
- Pattern-interrupt + permission. "Hi [name], this is [name] from [company]. I
- know you weren't expecting my call — can I have 30 seconds to tell you why
- I'm calling, and you tell me if it's worth continuing?"
+ **Opener (Pessar — pattern interrupt + permission):**
+ "Hi [name], this is [name] from [company]. I know you weren't expecting my call
+ — can I have 30 seconds to tell you why I'm calling, and you tell me if it's
+ worth continuing?"
Never: "Did I catch you at a bad time?" or "How are you today?"
- **The Reason (specific, account-relevant):**
- Reference a trigger signal — funding, hiring, tech change, content engagement.
- "I'm calling because I saw [specific trigger] and in our experience, companies
- at that stage usually [insight]."
+ **The Reason (Slocum 3×3 — account-specific):**
+ Reference a trigger from prep — funding, hiring, tech change, content engagement.
- **Discovery (diagnose, don't pitch):**
- 11-14 questions per call. Talk less than you listen. The goal is a qualified
- next step, not a close. SPIN question structure: Situation → Problem →
- Implication → Need-Payoff.
+ **Discovery (Reisert — diagnose, don't pitch):**
+ 11-14 questions per call. SPIN structure. Slocum: sell the **meeting**, not the
+ product — nurse, not doctor.
- **Close to Next Step (crisp, specific):**
+ **Close to Next Step:**
"Based on what you've shared, I think a 20-minute call with [specific agenda]
would make sense. Does Thursday at 2pm work?"
- ### Phase 5: Cadence Design
+ ### Phase 7: Cadence Design (Reisert)
3-5 call attempts, front-loaded across days. By the 3rd attempt, 93% of all
- conversations have already happened. By the 5th attempt, 98%. Calling a 6th or
- 7th time wastes effort — move on and revisit in 90 days.
+ conversations have already happened. By the 5th attempt, 98%. Stop at 5; revisit
+ in 90 days.
- Coordinate with email and LinkedIn:
+ Coordinate with email and LinkedIn (phone ≠ email-only motion):
+
- Day 1: LinkedIn view + connect request
- Day 2: Cold call (first attempt, Wednesday or late afternoon)
- Day 3: Follow-up email referencing the call
- Day 5: Cold call (second attempt, different time)
- Day 7: LinkedIn DM
- Day 9: Cold call (third attempt)
- Day 11: Value-add email (case study or insight)
- Day 14: Final call + breakup email
- ### Phase 6: Metrics That Matter
+ ### Phase 8: Metrics That Matter
| Metric | Weak | Average | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dials per day per rep | <50 | 80-120 | 120+ |
| Connect rate | <3% | 5-10% | 20-30% (with phone intent) |
+ | Completions per 100 dials | <5 | 5-15 | 20-25+ (Reisert target) |
| Hold rate (stay on line) | <50% | 65% | 80%+ |
| Conversation-to-meeting | <10% | 20-40% | 40%+ |
| Dials per meeting | 250+ | 100-200 | <100 |
| Meeting show rate | <70% | 70-85% | 90%+ |
- Track per rep, per list, per segment. A blended number hides the segment
- converting at 9% and the one at 1%.
+ Track per rep, per list, per segment, per disposition. Blended numbers hide
+ the segment converting at 9% and the one at 1%.
## Output Format
Cold calling playbook with: ICP targeting criteria, phone intent workflow,
- Buckets tracker template, call script (opener + discovery questions), cadence
- calendar, and rep scorecard with per-metric targets.
+ CRM Activity Buckets tracker, disposition fields, call script (opener +
+ discovery questions), 3×3 research template, cadence calendar, and rep
+ scorecard with per-metric targets.
## Quality Check
- [ ] ICP definition is tight — specific firmographics, technographics, triggers
- [ ] Phone numbers are verified direct dials, not switchboards
- [ ] Phone intent scoring applied (or manual prioritization by known signals)
- - [ ] Buckets system implemented in CRM with 4 contact stages
+ - [ ] CRM Activity Buckets implemented with 4 contact stages (Reisert)
+ - [ ] Disposition Science fields on every completed conversation (Gilkey)
+ - [ ] 3×3 research completed before call blocks (Slocum)
- [ ] Call script includes pattern-interrupt opener + discovery questions
- [ ] Cadence coordinates calls with email and LinkedIn touches
- [ ] Metrics tracked per rep, per list, per segment (not blended)
+ - [ ] ColdCall-Market Fit validated before SDR headcount scale (Pessar)
## Common Pitfalls
- 1. **Calling a loose ICP.** A call to a marginal-fit prospect converts at 1/5
+ 1. **Conflating two bucketing systems.** Gilkey dispositions diagnose outcomes;
+ Reisert buckets prioritize daily work — use both, not interchangeably.
+
+ 2. **Calling a loose ICP.** A call to a marginal-fit prospect converts at 1/5
to 1/10 the rate of a perfect-fit prospect. Narrow the target ruthlessly
before the first dial.
- 2. **Dialing stale data.** Reps lose over 25% of their time to wrong numbers.
+ 3. **Dialing stale data.** Reps lose over 25% of their time to wrong numbers.
B2B data decays ~2% per month. Refresh phone numbers quarterly.
- 3. **Pitching instead of diagnosing.** Reps who pitch on the first call talk past
- the prospect. Discovery: 11-14 questions, listen more than you talk, aim for
- a next step — not a close.
+ 4. **Pitching instead of diagnosing.** Reps who pitch on the first call talk past
+ the prospect. Slocum: sell the meeting. Discovery: 11-14 questions.
- 4. **Parallel dialing without phone intent.** Calling multiple prospects at once
- and connecting to whoever answers first creates awkward dead-air pauses. It
- also burns through your TAM — carriers flag you as spam.
+ 5. **Parallel dialing without phone intent.** Creates awkward dead-air pauses
+ and burns TAM — carriers flag you as spam.
- 5. **No coordination with email and LinkedIn.** The phone is one instrument.
- A LinkedIn view before the first dial, an email after a voicemail — each
- touch aware of the others.
+ 6. **No coordination with email and LinkedIn.** The phone is one instrument.
+ Each touch should reference the others.
- 6. **Using switchboard numbers.** 209+ dials per meeting with switchboard
- numbers vs 30-80 with verified direct dials and phone intent. The investment
- that moves the program is always upstream of the call: better data.
+ 7. **Using switchboard numbers.** 209+ dials per meeting with switchboard
+ numbers vs 30-80 with verified direct dials and phone intent.
- 7. **Activity metrics over outcome metrics.** 200 dials with 1 conversation
- loses to 50 dials with 10 conversations. Measure conversations, not dials.
+ 8. **Activity metrics over outcome metrics.** 200 dials with 1 conversation
+ loses to 50 dials with 10 conversations. Measure completions and
+ dispositions, not dials alone.
+ 9. **Hiring SDRs before ColdCall-Market Fit.** 9–12 months of guessing vs
+ 50–100 conversation pilot (Pessar).
+
+ ## Execution Artifacts
+
+ - `references/cold-calling-experts-index.md` — Phone expert router (repo root)
+ - `references/joey-gilkey-bucketing.md` — Disposition Science + Phone Intent
+ - `references/ryan-reisert-cold-calling.md` — CRM Activity Buckets + call structure
+ - `references/ronen-pessar-cold-calling.md` — ColdCall-Market Fit + tonality
+ - `references/tom-slocum-cold-calling.md` — 3Rs, sell-the-meeting, call blocks
+ - `references/jeb-blount-prospecting.md` — Golden Hours, Law of Replacement
+ - `references/framework-notes.md` — Named frameworks and reference tables
+ - `templates/output-template.md` — Deliverable shell for agent output
+ - `scripts/check-output.py` — Lightweight deliverable validator
+
## Related Skills
- **multi-channel-outreach**: Coordinate calls with email and LinkedIn
- - **cold-email-strategy**: The email side of the outbound motion
+ - **cold-email-strategy**: Complementary written outbound (not a substitute)
+ - **list-building**: Upstream list quality + Gilkey list lever
- **signal-scoring**: Signals that indicate phone-intent prospects
- **sales-team-building**: SDR hiring, POD structures, compensation
+ - **revenue-team-onboarding**: Cold call ramp and certification
- **meeting-prep**: Pre-call research and discovery questions
+