Cold calling script for digital marketing agencies (incl. SMMA)

It's written as a Call Flow: seven phases, one line per card, and a branch label on every card. Copy it as it is, or build it in BeastCaller and run it for your team.

What's inside: two openers and a gatekeeper line · the reason for your call · six discovery questions · a pitch built on results, not likes · two answers each to the 8 objections marketing agencies hear most · the close · a voicemail to read live and a follow-up email.

Jump to: Opener · Discovery · Objections · Close · Voicemail

Before you dial: five minutes of prep per lead

Agencies lose cold calls by pitching "more followers". Owners buy customers. Find one real observation about how this business gets customers today.

1. Check whether they run ads right now. Meta's Ad Library lets anyone search the ads currently running on Facebook and Instagram. Note how long they've run and where they send people.
2. Look at where the clicks land. A homepage with five menus, or a page with one offer and one button?
3. Look at their social accounts. When was the last post? Is anyone replying to comments?
4. Look at one competitor doing it better, so you can mention them.
5. Decide your next step. This script books a 15-minute call where you walk through three specific ideas for their business.

How to read this script

• Every card has an ID: O opener, G gatekeeper, R reason, D discovery, P pitch, X objection, C close, V voicemail.
• → tells you where to go next.
• [Brackets] are filled in live from your prep notes.
• Say it in your own words. The wording is a guardrail, not a teleprompter.

Phase 1: Opener

O1 · Observation opener (default)

"Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Agency]. It's a cold call, so I'll be quick. I noticed [Company] [is running Facebook ads that send people to your homepage / hasn't posted on Instagram since June / isn't running any ads while [Competitor] is]. Can I take 30 seconds to tell you why I called?"

• "Go on" / "Why?" → R1
• "We tried ads, didn't work" → X1
• "We already have an agency" → X3
• "Not interested" → X8
• A receptionist answers → G1

O2 · Question opener (when you have no clear observation)

"Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Agency]. We run [Meta / Google] ads for [niche] businesses in [region]. I'm calling owners with one question: where do most of your new customers come from right now?"

→ Answers → D2 · Pushes back → X8

G1 · Gatekeeper

"Hi, it's [Your name] with [Agency]. Who looks after your marketing, the ads and social media? Is that [Owner name]?"

• Puts you through → O1
• "What's it about?" → "It's about [Company]'s Facebook ads. I noticed [observation] and wanted to share an idea with whoever runs them." → Put through, or log the best time to call back.

Phase 2: Reason for the call

R1 · Why it matters

"Here's why I called. [Observation], and when ads send people to a homepage, a lot of them leave, because there's no single next step. We run [channel] campaigns for [niche] with one goal: booked jobs and leads you can count, not likes."

• Curious → D1
• "How much?" → X6
• "No budget" → X4

Phase 3: Discovery

Ask three or four. The numbers from D3 and D4 decide whether this is a real opportunity.

D1 · Where customers come from

"Where do most of your new customers come from today?"

→ D2

D2 · What they've tried

"Have you run ads before? How did it go?"

• "Didn't work" → X1
• "Worked OK" / "Never tried" → D3

D3 · What a customer is worth

"What's a new customer worth to you, roughly: an average job, or the first year?"

→ D4

D4 · Capacity

"How many more customers a month could you handle without hiring?"

• Gives a number → D5
• "We're swamped" → X7

D5 · Who does marketing now

"Who handles your marketing today: you, someone in-house, or an agency?"

• "In-house" → X2
• "An agency" → X3
• "Me, when I get time" → D6

D6 · Budget

"What do you spend on marketing in a normal month, roughly? Or what would you spend if you knew it came back?"

→ P1 · "Nothing" → X4

Phase 4: Pitch

P1 · What you do

"We build and run [Meta / Google] campaigns for [niche]: the offer, the ads, the landing page and the follow-up. Every week you see cost per lead and how many turned into booked jobs."

→ P2 or C1

P2 · Proof (only real, approved examples)

"We do this for [client, with their permission]. [One concrete, true result.]"

→ C1

P3 · A low-risk start (only if you offer one)

"Most clients start with [a 30-day test with a fixed ad budget], so you see real numbers before you commit."

→ C1

Phase 5: Objections

Two answers for each objection. Pick the one that fits the tone of the call.

X1 · "We tried Facebook ads. They didn't work."

Answer A: "That's common. Can I ask what 'didn't work' looked like: no leads, or leads that didn't buy?" (Listen.) "Usually it's the offer or the landing page, not the platform."

Answer B: "Fair. What were you sending people to when you ran them?" → If the homepage: "That's usually where the money leaks. It's the first thing we'd change."

→ D3 or C1

X2 · "We do our marketing in-house."

Answer A: "Great, then you know your customers better than any agency. Is the person running ads full-time on it, or fitting it around other work?"

Answer B: "Makes sense. Would a second pair of eyes on the ad account be useful? The 15-minute call costs nothing, and your team keeps the ideas."

→ C1 or C3

X3 · "We already have an agency."

Answer A: "Good. Are you getting the numbers you want from them, cost per lead and booked jobs?"

Answer B: "Then this is a free benchmark. I'll show you what we'd test in your market. If your agency's already doing it, great."

→ Unsure about results → C1 · Happy → C3

X4 · "We don't have the budget."

Answer A: "Understood. If a new customer is worth [their D3 number], how many would you need a month to make [ad spend + fee] worth it?"

Answer B: "Fair. When does budget usually open up: next quarter, or after your busy season? I'll call you back then with ideas ready."

→ D3 or C3 with a follow-up date

X5 · "Send me an email."

Answer A: "Happy to. So it's useful: what's the one thing you'd want more of, calls, bookings, or walk-ins?" … "I'll send three ideas for exactly that. Can we go through them for 10 minutes on [day]?"

Answer B: "Sure. I'll send a short video of your ads and landing page with what I'd change. What's the best email?"

→ Agrees to a time → C2 · Email only → log a follow-up, C3

X6 · "How much do you charge?"

Answer A: "Management runs [your real range] a month plus the ad budget, which you pay directly to the platform. Before that means anything: what's a customer worth to you?" → D3

Answer B: "It depends on channels and budget. Most clients our size spend [range] all in. Let me ask two questions so I'm not guessing." → D3, then D6

X7 · "We're busy enough."

Answer A: "Good problem. Is it the work you want most, or would you swap some of it for [higher-value service]?"

Answer B: "Is it busy all year? Campaigns take a few weeks to tune, so now is when you'd start for [quiet season]."

→ C1 or C3

X8 · "Not interested."

Answer A: "No problem. Is that 'not interested in ads at all', or 'not right now'?"

Answer B: "Understood. Before I go: are you getting enough new customers from online right now?"

→ Opens up → D1 · Firm no → C3

Phase 6: Close and next step

C1 · Book the strategy call

"Let's do 15 minutes. I'll walk you through three ideas for [Company]: the offer, the audience and the page they land on. [Day] at [time], or [day] at [time]?"

• Picks a time → C2
• "Just email me" → X5

C2 · Confirm

"Great. The invite goes to [email]. Should anyone else join, like whoever handles the ad account? And is [number] best if the link fails?"

→ Save outcome: Booked

C3 · Graceful exit

"No problem, [First name]. Mind if I check in again in [month]? … Thanks for your time."

→ Save outcome: Follow up or Not interested

C4 · Callback opener

"Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Agency]. We spoke on [day] about your [Facebook ads], and you asked me to call back. Is now a good time?"

→ R1 (short version), then C1

Phase 7: Voicemail

V1 · Voicemail (about 20 seconds, spoken live)

"Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Agency]. I noticed [Company]'s [Facebook ads send people to your homepage]. I've got three ideas that should turn more of those clicks into customers. I'll email them over; if you want to talk, call me at [number]. Again, [Your name], [number]."

E1 · Follow-up email

Subject: 3 ideas for [Company]'s ads

Hi [First name], I just left you a voicemail. I looked at [what you looked at]. Three ideas: [1], [2], [3]. Happy to walk you through them in 15 minutes: [two time options]. [Your name], [Agency], [number]

Compliance note (B2B calling)

This script is written for live, person-to-person calls to businesses, with a real person saying every line, including the voicemail. Rules still apply, and they differ by country:

• US: most business-to-business calls are exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, but its rules against misrepresentation still apply. The TCPA still requires consent for autodialed or prerecorded calls to mobile numbers, and many small-business owners answer on a mobile.
• UK: screen business numbers against the TPS and CTPS before making live marketing calls.
• Germany: calls to businesses need at least presumed consent (§ 7 UWG).

Only use proof and results you can back up. If you record calls, tell the people you call at the start of the call. Pre-recorded audio in calls is regulated in many markets (e.g. US TCPA/TSR, UK PECR, Germany UWG). Only use it where you have the required consent. This is general information, not legal advice.

Run this script as a Call Flow in BeastCaller

In BeastCaller, this script becomes a Call Flow your whole team runs the same way:

• Phases: Opener, Reason, Discovery, Pitch, Objections, Close, Voicemail. Reps move between them with the ← and → keys.
• Cards: each card above becomes a card: the ID and name as its title, the wording as its text, and the "If they say…" line as its trigger, for example "They say: we tried Facebook ads". Use Live cards (⚡) for everything reps say in their own voice.
• Branches: make D5 a Logic Split (in-house, agency, nobody) so the rep sees the right objection answer for each reply.
• Number keys: every card that isn't a Live card gets a number key by its position in its phase (1–9, then F1–F12). A rep can record an approved clip on a card and play it with that key. (See the compliance note above.)
• Outcomes and hand-offs: name the campaign's call outcomes after this script's endings (Booked, Follow up, Not interested), and add a Quick Action that sends a booked lead to your calendar tool or CRM with one click.
• Selling more than one service? Run paid social, Google Ads and social media management as separate campaigns, each with its own Call Flow.

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