Episode #412: Arlo Hill
Meet
Arlo Hill
Arlo is a startup founder & Broadway actor who coaches leaders on how to present with confidence and authenticity. Today, he works with founders, CEOs, and leaders of all levels on how to connect with their audiences and inspire trust, even in the most high-pressure scenarios. As a performer, Arlo has been seen on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and his solo work has been written up in the New York Times. As co-founder of SecondBody, he developed one of the first AI-powered conversation practice platforms.
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You can give two sellers the same script. One seller sounds like they’re reading the script in a monotone voice. The other achieves amazing results because they modulate their voice. You can also control tonality.
You can vary the pitch of your voice. You can increase the flow of your breath to change how you sound. If you drill down and really strive to understand these things, they move from the realm of art and become a science.
That’s why Arlo believes that your voice is your #1 cold-calling tool. When used properly, your voice can propel you toward the results you desire. Arlo shares the methods and techniques he uses to master cold-calling in this episode of Sales Reinvented.
How Arlo prepares for a cold-calling session
Arlo helps people prepare for presentations, meetings, cold calls, etc. His background is teaching others how to connect with people. The key to cold-calling is getting someone to want to talk to you in those first few seconds.
To achieve that, before any cold-calling session, Arlo recommends a body and voice warmup. Why? It reduces tension and makes you sound cooler, confident, and at ease. He also meditates to slow down and focus on what he’s about to do.
Arlo isn’t always a fan of raising your heart rate before a call because it can make you talk faster and sound nervous or anxious, which makes the prospect react accordingly.
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it
Arlo keeps things simple by saying “Hey, this is Arlo from Vocal Presence, how’s your day going?” It sets a good tone. They may jump into an objection. But the goal is to sound casual and nice.
Arlo is a fan of Ronen Pessar, Belal Batrawy’s mic drop method, and Josh Braun’s poke-the bear-method. Each method establishes that you know something about the prospect’s business. You may drop a question like, “Do you use x tool?”
Then you’ll drop something that shows you know something relevant to them that they may not have thought about. Arlo might say, “Do you have a way of letting sellers practice cold calls on their own without calling prospects?”
Arlo’s top cold-calling dos and don’ts
Arlo is careful to follow these dos and don’ts when it comes to cold-calling:
- Get your voice warmed up. It’s your #1 tool for cold-calling and you need to sharpen it.
- Slow down. It transmits a sense of ease and confidence and makes people want to listen to you.
- Listen to understand and then respond. Everyone has their scripts that they want to dive into but you have to be careful that you don’t miss crucial things your prospect is saying.
- Don’t pitch too early. You’ve memorized and practiced your pitch. You want to jump in. Avoid that until you can’t.
- Don’t give up. Objections are often smokescreens that you can move past.
If you can get past each level of objections and get to the final boss, fantastic. If you can’t, you try again on the next call. If you start to take it personally, go on a walk, take some deep breaths, and try again.
Turn a cold call into reconnaissance
Arlo runs into people who say “I’m not the right person” or “I don’t have any decision-making power.” However, those people have insight and may also have time to talk to you. You can say, “This is a decision that could really affect you. Can you tell me a little bit about what’s going on (how you use this tool, what the problems are, etc.)?”
Suddenly, they’re revealing important information. You may learn who the decision maker is and have a name to drop. You’ll also be given context about what’s happening at the company. So a call that could be perceived as a waste of time could be reconnaissance.
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What was a pivotal moment or experience in your career that shaped your approach to cold calling, and how did it change your perspective or strategy? Everything changed the first time I heard someone on a cold call who did not sound scripted or fake—they were simply being themselves. I think it may have been Ronen Pessar, who spoke with ease and laughter, and sounded the least salesy a person possibly could sound. It made me realize that tone is everything.
Can you share a specific tactic or approach you’ve used in cold calling that significantly increased your success rate? Smile and slow down. That’s it.
Cold calling often comes with its set of challenges and rejections. Can you share a particularly tough challenge you faced while cold calling and how you overcame it? I learned to handle rejection in my years as an actor. You are rejected at auditions hundreds of times, and it’s hard not to take it personally. So every once in a while, if something really hits you personally—a bad rejection, an insult, a ‘no’ at the worst time—here’s what you do. You take 10 minutes to write down everything you can about the experience: how it went, why it bothered you, what you could have done differently. And then you close the book and move on. That brief exercise lets your mind disconnect from the frustration and get back into it.
What are the top three tools or resources (e.g., software, books, training programs) you consider essential for someone looking to improve their cold calling skills and outcomes? I’ll tell you what I would do if I myself were hitting the phones full time next week. #1 Is an improv class so I can be on my toes and ready no matter the scenario. #2 is a boot camp to drill with a master cold caller (e.g. Ronen Pessar) who will put me through my paces and help me build my own talk tracks. #3 is an AI-powered practice platform (SecondBody, Hyperbound, Replicate, etc) to make my talk tracks second nature.
How do you foresee the practice of cold calling evolving in the next few years with advancements in technology and changes in buyer behavior? What advice would you give to sales professionals to stay ahead of the curve? I see AI getting good enough—very soon—that prospects simply assume most sales calls (and emails) are AI-generated. On the one hand, this will be horrible because the role will have a more negative perception than ever before, and prospects will be quick to rudely dismiss callers without a thought. But on the other hand, it provides an opportunity to stand out by simply feeling like a human being. So what I would suggest is: lean into being yourself. Be human. Be authentic. Use your full voice and full range of emotion. And you will make connections to other human beings—which at the end of the day is the key to it all.
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