cold-calling

Cold Calling

Produce TCPA-compliant cold-call scripts and orchestrate dial sessions for Tier-1 prospects with verified phone numbers. Outputs: 9-second opener, discovery questions, gatekeeper handler, ≤15-second voicemail drop. Hard rules: no calls to DNC/invalid; no calls before 8am or after 9pm recipient local; SMS to mobile requires prior consent.

When to Use

• Tier-1 SAL-eligible prospects have verified mobile/landline phones
• Email + LinkedIn channels have plateaued (<2% reply)
• High-stakes accounts need live-voice contact
• JustCall/Aircall/Orum configured — need dial campaign setup
• Founder-led calls — need discovery questions and opener
• Multi-channel cadence needs a call leg
• Post-meeting no-show rescue

Quick Reference

Concept	Value
Hard gates	DNC scrub mandatory; quiet hours 8am–9pm recipient local; verified phone status
Phone-status drops	dnc (always); invalid; unverified → data-enrichment
9-second opener	Greet → state cold-call honestly → 5s purpose → permission ask. ≤30 words
Discovery framework	Bosworth pain→impact→buying-vision + Sandler Pain Funnel (4–6 questions)
Gatekeeper response	3 patterns: specific-pain / honest cold-call / permission-ask. NEVER pretend
Voicemail drop	≤15 seconds spoken (≤45 words). Name + reason + callback x2
Cadence	3 attempts over 5 days; D+0/D+2/D+4
Caps	80 calls/rep/day (warn >100); 40 voicemails/rep/day
Connect rate target	8–12% healthy; <6% = bad targeting/list/timing
Voicemail-to-callback	1–3% (compounding across multi-touch)
Optimal time	10am–noon, 2pm–4pm recipient local; Tue–Thu best
Compliance	TCPA hours, DNC scrub ≤30 days old, B2B-cellphone treated as restricted

Procedure

1. Validate prerequisites + determine mode — Read scored Leads with phone_status; load ICP P-T-O + message house; verify DNC scrub for US recipients. Dialer API → API mode; seat → manual; BYO → runbook. Block on gate failures.
2. Filter recipient list — Drop phone_status: dnc | invalid | unverified; apply tier filter (Tier-1 SAL); drop unknown-timezone; drop called-within-90d.
3. Pre-flight: capacity check — Compute total dials vs CALLS_PER_REP_PER_DAY_CAP × rep_count × duration. Surface; recommend multi-rep/extended if over.
4. Generate scripts — Per recipient: 9s opener (≤30 words); 4–6 discovery questions (Bosworth + Sandler); gatekeeper handler (3 patterns); voicemail (≤45 words). See ${HERMES_SKILL_DIR}/references/call-scripts-framework.md. Audit: word-count + cliché blocklist + no-pretend rule + hook citation.
5. Compose Touch records + schedule — Per conventions §2.1: channel call/voicemail; full provenance; scheduled_for (TCPA 8am–9pm); compliance metadata. Reference ${HERMES_SKILL_DIR}/references/tcpa-compliance.md.
6. Capture call disposition — Per dial: connected-positive / connected-not-now / connected-not-interested / voicemail-left / no-answer / wrong-person / bad-number. Route per disposition.
7. Push to CRM + run summary — Run ${HERMES_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/push_to_crm.py. Per dial as interaction:outreach with disposition. Run record: dial volume, connect rate, meeting-booked rate, recommended next skill.

Pitfalls

• Calling DNC numbers — TCPA fines $500–$1500 per violation
• Calling outside 8am–9pm recipient local — same penalty
• SMS to mobile without prior consent — same penalty
• Pretending prior conversation — dishonest, illegal in some jurisdictions
• No permission ask — launching into pitch in second 3
• Voicemail >15 seconds — long voicemails get deleted
• Skipping discovery to pitch — "We do X for Y, can we book a demo?" fails

Verification

1. 100% of dials have DNC scrub ≤30 days old; 100% within TCPA 8am–9pm recipient local hours
2. Every Touch's provenance resolves to hook URL or is honest cold-call pattern; connect rate ≥6%
3. Zero "pretend prior conversation" violations; voicemail word count ≤45