Ask the Expert: Should You Ask Permission on Cold Calls?

Hey friends.

Now that we’ve made it to August, it’s time for a check-in. 

How’s your summer been? Are you feeling on track to hit your goals this month?

If you want:

• The truth about permission-based openers

• Recent exec moves that could be your next “in”

• Upcoming events you can’t miss

… we’ve got you covered.

Let’s get to it.

Ask the Expert: Do You Have 30 Seconds?

"Dear ZoomInfo, What's the deal with permission-based openers on cold calls? I get mixed signals from sales experts...should I use them or not?"

Hi Cold Caller, 

Everyone you ask will have a different opinion on this, because what works for every seller is so personal. 

But for me, I’m not a fan of “Do you have 30 seconds?” 

Here's why:

When I lead with a permission-based opener, it honestly makes me feel like I’m shrinking myself and the value I bring. Why am I asking for a slice of your time when I know I’ve got something worth saying?

If I were booking an appointment somewhere, I wouldn’t call and say, “Hey, do you have a second so I can maybe ask about making an appointment?” I’d just do it. I’m here to say what I’m going to say. Same thing on cold calls.

What works better for me is this:

Start with presence, not permission.

You don’t need a green light to speak. You need to sound like someone who belongs in the conversation. For me, you gain permission by being slow and concise in your intro. The person on the other end will either cut you off (because they’re busy) or keep listening (because you’ve earned it). But you didn’t give them an out too soon.

Tonality and pacing matter more than the exact words.

If you sound rushed or overly polished, people tune out. Real > rehearsed. Be yourself. Speak like a human. That builds trust way faster than a clever opener ever could.

My go-to line is simple:

“Hey Taylor, this is Megan from ZoomInfo. I was wondering if you could help me with something really quick?”

You’re not pretending it’s not a sales call. But you are inviting them into the conversation instead of bulldozing them with a pitch. That line consistently gets people to stop and listen, because now they’re curious.

From there, I ask one specific question, like:

“Are you guys taking on new business right now?” Or: “Are you currently using Salesforce as your CRM?”

It’s relevant, quick, and disqualifies fast if it needs to. But more importantly, it feels like a real person asking a real question. Not a rep relying on a script.

Bottom line: Use what makes you feel confident. If a permission-based opener makes you feel stronger and more natural, then cool — go for it. But if it makes you feel like you're asking for a favor, toss it.

You’ve got value. You don’t need to lead with a disclaimer.

Now get dialing and try it out!

—Megan Huston , Manager, Sales Development at ZoomInfo

Have a question you’d like one of our experts to answer? Fill out this form.

On the Move

Here are a few executive shuffles the ZoomInfo platform tracked recently. Get a taste of these and more with a free trial of ZoomInfo:

• Bristol-Myers Squibb hired Cristian Massacesi as its Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Head of Development. Massacesi previously served as Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca.

• Hormel Foods brought on Christie Crouch as its Vice President, Marketing - Snacking and Entertaining. Crouch was previously Vice President & General Manager, Chef Boyardee at Conagra Brands.

• Walmart named Daniel Danker as its new Executive Vice President, AI Acceleration, Product, and Design. Danker was the Chief Product Officer at Instacart.

• Georgia Tech announced that Joseph Lewis will serve as Associate VP, Information Technology & Chief Information Security Officer. Lewis last held the role of Vice President, Cybersecurity Solutions at Leidos.

• CISCO promoted Mark Patterson to Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Patterson served as Chief Strategy Officer. 

Upcoming Events

ZoomInfo’s calendar is brimming with exciting upcoming events, both in-person and virtual. Find more information and additional events here.

Work Smarter, Sell Faster: Time‑Saving Tips to Move Deals Forward and Master Your Day

Wednesday, August 20 | 11:00 am ET (virtual)

In sales, your time is your most valuable and limited resource. Yet most sellers get sucked into low-impact activities like task saturation and chasing after low-probability deals. 

In the next session in the “Find Your Edge” series with Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy, and Will Frattini, Principal Enterprise Account Manager at ZoomInfo, they’ll unpack:

• Identifying and exiting from low-probability deals early

• Reclaiming control of your sales day

• How to use AI to sharpen your focus even further

• Proven templates to navigate common buyer pushback

Register here

From Data Chaos to AI Success: Building the Revenue Intelligence Foundation

Thursday, August 21 | 5:00 pm ET (virtual)

Our wine club events continue with this end-of-summer executive roundtable with ZoomInfo and Google Cloud. 

Enjoy premium wines from Stoller Wine Estate as we dive deep into data strategies that drive measurable revenue growth. 

Join revenue leaders William Jennings, Manager of Data Solutions Architecture at ZoomInfo and Seth Siciliano, Director of ISV Partnerships at Google Cloud to learn how top-performing companies are turning data chaos into competitive advantage.

Discussion Topics:

• Strategies for aligning Sales, Marketing, and RevOps around shared intelligence

• Custom dataset examples that solve specific industry challenges

• ZoomInfo’s Data-as-a-Service integration with Analytics Hub and BigQuery

Wine kits are limited, so reserve your seat today. Due to limited capacity, a member of our team will confirm your participation.

Yankees vs. Washington Nationals

Monday, August 25 | 7:05 pm ET, Yankee Stadium

Join us in the ZoomInfo VIP Suite at Yankee Stadium for an evening of networking, food, drinks, and baseball.

We’ll be watching the Yankees take on the Washington Nationals from the comfort of our private suite, and we’d love to have you with us!

There is limited seating available, so please register using the link above to express your interest. Pending availability, we’ll send a confirmation with next steps on how to retrieve your digital ticket.

Register here

Thanks for reading!

Have something you’d like us to cover in an upcoming newsletter? Let us know in the comments. We promise, we read all of them.

Subscribe to this newsletter to get notified when we post.