Get prospects to the call and run it 1 of 25 in this group
SOP 53
Run the setter scripts
What this page is for. Use it to work a phone list of people who have already raised a hand. A pair of scripts exists, for different jobs, and this page is about running them — the preparation, the dial discipline, the order the questions go in, where the call is most likely to die, and the conditions that travel with both.
SOP-53-Run-the-setter-scripts.md
Three conditions travel with everything below, and none of them is optional.
- They are rough outlines you build your own script from. They are not to be read aloud.
- Take legal advice where you operate. Whether a call run this way is compliant is a question for a lawyer in your region, and each script says so on its face. The condition is not a formality and nothing on this page waives it.
- The bracketed figures inside them are placeholders, not measurements. Hundreds of results, over a thousand people helped, a show rate of one in ten — these sit inside a template as illustrations. Do not carry them into your own version as facts.
Both scripts are laid out beat by beat on SOP 18 §11. This page is how you run them.
1. Which script, for which call
| Script one | Script two | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are calling | Somebody who replied to an email or a message | Somebody who signed up for a front-end offer |
| What you are selling them | A longer conversation about their business | An appointment with a specialist |
| Who you claim to be | The coordinator at the company | Somebody taking the call on the specialist's behalf |
| How the call ends | A booked call within 36 hours, plus a video sent | A booked appointment, held with a card on file |
| Where it fits | Business-to-business | Consumer |
Both scripts carry the same compliance condition on their face: whether a call run this way is lawful is a question for a lawyer in your region.
Neither is warm outreach. Both are calls to somebody who already responded to something, which is why the opening does not have to earn the right to be on the phone — it only has to remind them why they are.
2. Before you dial
The preparation and conduct rules are given as absolutes rather than suggestions.
- Smile before you pick up the phone. Always.
- Print the script and keep it in front of you. Physically in front of you.
- Assume you have the right number and the right person. This is the one that changes the opening line: you say the name, you do not ask whether it is them.
- Do nothing else while you are on the call. No multitasking, all of your attention on it.
- Open with energy. Treat every call as the one chance to make a first impression on somebody who could be a client for years.
- If they answer, finish the conversation. Do not offer to call back and do not accept being called back — the chances of either happening drop significantly once you hang up. If they have answered, work the call to its end, and take payment details on the phone if you possibly can.
Dial twice. If the first call goes unanswered or to voicemail, hang up and call straight back immediately. What follows from it: it signals you are not a telemarketer, and people are far more likely to pick up on the second call.
3. Opening, and the difference between the openings
Script one opens by placing the call. Their name, your name, the company, a word of warmth, then your role and the reason you are calling — that they responded to something specific, about getting help with a specific problem. Then one question: is now a bad time?
That question is the turning point of the opening, and each answer is scripted. If it is a bad time, you say you understand and that you will be quick — said warmly, not apologetically, and you keep going. If it is not, you continue as written. Note what is absent: no branch offers to call back.
The second script opens by borrowing authority. Their name, never "is this" and never "can I speak to". Then you are taking this call for the specialist, and the company is named along with its standing. They have probably heard of the company. Then the reframe that does the work: response has been so heavy that not everybody can be taken, so this call is to check they are a good fit and get them booked. The call has stopped being a sales call and become a qualification.
Both of those framings are template language with the specifics blanked out. Whatever you put in those blanks is a claim you are making on the phone, and the legal-counsel condition at the head of this page covers it.
4. Stating the purpose, and getting them talking
Script one states its purpose out loud before asking anything: to learn a little about their company, where they are with their goal, and to share how you work so both sides can see whether you can help. That is a two-way frame, and it is what earns the questions that follow.
Then the move that sets the tone: you say you have looked at their site and have a general understanding — and then ask them for a twenty-to-thirty-second overview in their own words, including what makes them different. You have shown the work, and they are now talking.
The response to whatever they say is fixed in shape. React positively, then pay a specific compliment. The general pattern of acknowledge, compliment and ask is SOP 14, and it runs underneath this whole section.
5. The question order
Both scripts run a discovery sequence, and the order is load-bearing.
Script one, in order:
| The question |
|---|
| What in particular made you respond? |
| Have you started on the step toward the goal yet? |
| What have you done so far? |
| Zooming out — what is the big goal? |
| How soon are you looking to do it by? |
| A recap of where they are and where they want to be, then: what made you reach out? |
Question five is the one to listen hardest to. If there is a real deadline you have it. If they say they do not really need it by any date but it would help — listen for what it would help with, and ask if they do not say. That answer is the lever you have for motivating action, and it is the only thing in the script explicitly named as one.
Before you compliment progress at question three, note the instruction attached: if they have made progress, compliment them for it, because it is not easy.
Script two, in order:
| The question |
|---|
| What motivated you to sign up — is it this, this, this, or all three? |
| Where are you starting from? What is your current situation? |
| What is your goal? Where do you see yourself? |
| Which of those bothers you the most? |
| How long has it been bothering you? |
| What habits got you here? Most people say one of these three — what is yours? |
| What has your current situation cost you? |
| Ten years down the road, still dealing with this — who are you going to be? Is that who you want to be? |
The opening question and the habits question both offer options rather than a blank page.
The cost question has digs written into it. The first dig names specific areas — family, relationship, work, how they see themselves, sleep, what they can wear, how they feel. The second dig is used only if they claim it has cost them nothing: you say, warmly, that you need them to be straight with you, that you understand it is hard because it is a problem, and that you cannot help until you know what is actually going on — and then you ask again whether there have really been no consequences at all.
Then listen and take notes. That instruction is written into the script at the end of the sequence, and it is the only thing you do there.
6. The turn from questions to booking
Script one turns through an opinion and a video. You acknowledge that what they have described is hard, thank them for sharing it, and say it sounds like it could be a good fit. Then you ask permission before giving advice. With permission, you say briefly why what they are doing is not working and hint at what does — a gap, not a solution. Then you offer a video that walks through it, with a choice: watch it on the next call, or watch it in between. The choice is the point. Letting them pick makes it theirs, and more of them watch.
Then you offer two times and book within thirty-six hours.
The second script turns through a reflection and a constrained choice. You tell them they are just like the people who get the best results, and you say why using their own answers. You restate where they are now and where they want to get to. Then: morning or evening? They pick, and you go looking — and the script instructs you to go quiet for a few seconds while you look. Then one slot, on one day, at one time. Does that work?
7. Where the call dies, and what is written for it
Script one — the wrong people are on the call. Immediately after booking, while you are typing notes, you ask their exact title and whether they are the founder. Then you ask whether anybody else might usefully be on the call, and who should be copied in — and the reason you give is that with the nature of this work you like to have all the founders present. You take the email and add it to the invite there and then.
Script two — the card. The appointment is held with a card on file. The reason given on the call is that the offer is at a deep discount, so a card is required to hold the slot and reserve the discount. Then the closed question: debit or credit?
Three prepared responses are written for the objection, and they are written to be used in order:
| The response |
|---|
| It is the same as booking any other personal appointment — a card holds the slot, because the specialist is giving up a paying one to meet you free. Nothing unusual. Fair enough? |
| We used to do it without a card and about one in ten people showed up. They had no skin in the game, and the specialist sat waiting all day to help people free. This fixed it. What are the first four digits of the card you want to use? |
| Delivered as a joke — is the worry that I am going to go on a shopping spree, or that you will not turn up? |
Note what the second one does at the end. It answers the objection and then asks for the first four digits rather than the whole number. The one-in-ten figure inside it is a template figure and the warning at the head of this page applies to it.
8. Closing and confirming
Script one closes by checking both things arrived. You say it was good to speak, confirm you have sent the invite link — and wait for the answer. Then confirm that video arrived — and wait for the answer. Then the last question: our calendars are full, so is there any reason I will not see you at that time on that day? That question exists to surface a doubt while you are still on the phone.
The second script closes by removing friction on the day. You tell them you will text the address, parking instructions, and a photograph of you and the specialist so they know who they are looking for. You confirm the number you have is their cell. Then you send it: a confirmation naming the day, the time and the specialist, the address, a number to call — if you can't find us, call and we will come out and get you — and the photograph.
9. What this page does not decide for you
These are gaps in the procedure, not omissions from this page.
- What to do when nobody answers after the second call. No attempt limit, no interval between attempts, and no voicemail script are given.
- What to do when the answer to "is now a bad time" is yes. The instruction is to be quick; nothing says what to cut.
- What disqualifies somebody. Script two frames the call as deciding fit and never states a criterion for failing it.
- Which times to offer, beyond one narrow choice and then one slot.
- What to do when they will not give a card. Three responses are written; what happens after the third is not.
- Whether to book anyway when the other founders cannot attend.
- What that video contains.
- Any figure for what these calls produce. This page gives no figure for a booking rate, a show rate or a conversion rate from either script.
10. The checklist
| Question | The answer |
|---|---|
| Who runs this | A setter, working a list of people who already responded |
| How many scripts | A pair, for different jobs |
| Script one's job | Book a longer call, business-to-business |
| Script two's job | Book an appointment with a specialist, consumer |
| Before you dial | Smile; print it; assume the right person; no multitasking; open with energy |
| If they answer | Finish the conversation — do not accept a call back |
| If they do not | Dial twice — hang up and call straight back |
| How you open | With their name, never by asking whether it is them |
| Script one's turning-point question | Is now a bad time? |
| The overview you ask for | Twenty to thirty seconds, in their own words |
| Script one's lever | What the deadline would help with |
| Script two's digs | Name the specific areas; then challenge a claim of no impact |
| The choice that raises video watching | On the next call, or in between |
| When script one books by | Within thirty-six hours |
| Script two's booking device | A card on file to hold the appointment |
| Responses prepared for the card objection | Three, in order |
| What the second one asks for | The first four digits |
| Script one's last question | Any reason I will not see you? |
| Script two's confirmation | Address, parking, and a photograph of who they will meet |
| The bracketed figures in both | Placeholders, not measurements |
| Booking, show and conversion rates | This page gives no figure for any of them |
11. What this page does not cover
The beat-by-beat outline of both scripts is on SOP 18 §11, along with the organic outreach message that arrives with them. The reply pattern these calls run on is SOP 14, building the list is SOP 17, and asking for introductions is SOP 19. Cold calling somebody who has not responded to anything is SOP 28 and SOP 30, and how much of it to do is SOP 29 and SOP 52. The offer the booked call leads to is SOP 5, and the guarantee it may be sold with is SOP 7.
Objection handling after the appointment, pricing and the sales call itself are not covered on this page.
Terms defined on this page
- Card on file (appointment hold)
- In the setter's second script, a card that holds the appointment and reserves the discount. Three prepared answers to pushback are used in order; the second asks only for the first four digits.
- Dial twice
- Another name for the double dial; see that entry.
- Double dial
- Calling a lead back at once when the first call gets no answer. The lead gave permission, and many phones screen a first call from an unknown number but let a second through, and people are far more likely to pick up the second call.
- Setter
- The person who works a list of people who already responded, qualifying them, filling in call notes and booking a longer call with a closer, who runs the selling part.
- Setter scripts
- Two rough outlines for calling people who raised a hand: one for businesses, booking a longer call within 36 hours; one for consumers, booking an appointment with a specialist, held with a card on file. Not for reading aloud; get legal advice where you operate.