How should a B2B cold call open in the first 30 seconds?
Use four parts in this order: who you are, a plain admission that the call is unexpected, one reason you are calling this person, and a question they can answer in a word. Keep it short enough that the other person is speaking well before the 30 seconds are up.
The opening has one job, which is to earn the next 30 seconds. You do not explain your whole service or ask for the meeting in the first sentence. You stop after the question and let the other person speak.
What should the first sentence say?
The first sentence should give your name, your company and a short description of what the company does, followed by a line that owns the interruption. For example: "Hi Mr Tan, this is Ravi from Lim & Co, an accounting firm. I know I'm calling out of the blue. Can I take 30 seconds to say why I rang?"
The second part is the reason, and it should be specific to the listener. "We prepare year-end accounts and ACRA filings for retailers with 10 to 50 staff, and I saw you are in that range" gives the person something to check against their own situation. "We help businesses grow" does not.
End on a question that has a short answer, such as "Is that something you handle, or is it someone else?" If they say it is someone else, you have a name to ask for, which is a useful result on its own.
Which cold call openers perform worst?
Among the openers Gong reported, the weakest was "Did I catch you at a bad time?", at a 2.15% success rate. "How's your day going?" reached 7.6%, while "Heard the name tossed around?" reached 11.24% and a permission-based opener reached 11.18%.
Gong's analysis covers calls recorded on its own platform. The figures come from a software vendor and are not peer-reviewed research, so treat them as a direction rather than a rule.
Small talk is the other common habit to drop. Gong notes that a reply to "How's your day going?" can signal that the prospect already knows it is a sales call.
Does the Do Not Call Registry apply to B2B cold calls in Singapore?
Calls to an organisation for the organisation's own purposes are generally outside the Do Not Call (DNC) rules, but that protection is lost once the call is about the person's own needs. A call to a finance manager about the company's bookkeeping is on one side of that line. A pitch for personal insurance to the same person is on the other.
Where the rules do apply, numbers are checked against the Registry at dnc.gov.sg, and a check result is valid for 21 days. Some older pages still say 30 days. The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) page on the Registry for businesses points to the Advisory Guidelines on the Do Not Call Provisions for the detail, and the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 is the underlying law.
This is general information, not legal advice. If your list mixes company lines with personal mobile numbers, or your product could be read as serving the individual, read the Advisory Guidelines and check with a lawyer before you start.
Moneylenders should note that unsolicited calls by moneylenders have been banned since 1 April 2025.
Should you make the calls yourself or pay for them?
Calling yourself costs your time and nothing else, and it suits a short list where you want to hear every reaction. Hiring a caller or paying a service starts to make sense when the list is in the hundreds or thousands and the calls keep slipping behind client work.
Greetsby calls the people on your own list and books meetings into your calendar. You approve the opening and the reason for the call before any call starts, and Greetsby books meetings only, without giving product advice. Every call is recorded, including the ones that did not book, and you can play any of them.
Greetsby charges one flat price for each batch of numbers called. A batch of 1,000 numbers is S$1,800, 2,000 numbers is S$3,600 and 3,000 numbers is S$5,400. That is S$1.80 a number, covering up to 4 attempts on different days between 9.30am and 6.00pm. You pay before calls start, there is no contract, and you decide afterwards whether to order another batch. Greetsby does not guarantee a number of meetings. The first batch shows what your own list produces.
You check your list against the Registry before uploading it and confirm that you have. Financial advisory firms can use the service, but individual representatives cannot sign up themselves; the firm must appoint it. Questions go to hello@greetsby.com, and replies come within one working hour between 9.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
Questions
How long should a cold call opening be?
Short enough that the prospect is speaking well before the half-minute is up. Stop at a question so they can answer.
Should I ask "Is this a good time?" at the start?
Gong's data puts "Did I catch you at a bad time?" at 2.15%, the lowest of the openers it reported. A permission-based opener reached 11.18% in the same analysis.
Do I need to check the Do Not Call Registry before calling a company?
Calls to an organisation for its own purposes are generally outside the DNC rules, but not once the call is about the person's own needs. Checks are made at dnc.gov.sg and are valid for 21 days. Read the PDPC Advisory Guidelines and ask a lawyer about your specific list.
What should I do if someone asks not to be called again?
Note it straight away and do not call that person again. If a service is calling for you, it passes the request to you so your own records stay correct.
Sources
- Gong Labs: The best and worst cold call openers, backed by data
- PDPC: Do Not Call Registry and Your Business
General information for businesses in Singapore, not legal advice.