What a strong opener does
Every Cold Call Gym practice call is graded on four skills, and the opening is the first. The grader applies the same opening rubric to the opener you paste here.
Who, where, why, and permission
Your name, your company and a specific, relevant reason for the call in the first 15 seconds, and you ask for permission to continue or give the prospect a reason to engage.
Clear, but generic
A clear intro and reason, but the hook could be said to anyone, or you assume permission instead of asking for it.
Something's missing
The prospect can't tell who you are or why you're calling, or they have to cut through a rambling start to find out.
No real introduction
No intro at all, a misleading opening, or an opener that leaves the prospect asking who's calling.
On a live call, the opening grade also weighs how the prospect reacts. A written opener can't show that, so here the grader credits openers that ask for permission or give a clear reason to keep listening.
What scored well in 3,679 practice openers
We pulled the first three lines of 3,679 scored practice calls on Cold Call Gym and compared them with each call's opening score. These are correlations from calls with AI prospects, so they show what scored well, not what booked meetings.
Ask for a moment
Only 9.2% of practice calls opened with a line like "Do you have 30 seconds?" Those calls averaged 59.4 on the opening against 47.1 for the rest, 26% higher. Permission-based openers, explained.
Say why you're calling
2.6% of calls used a line like "The reason I'm calling is…" and averaged 61.6 on the opening against 47.5. That's only 94 calls, so treat it as a strong hint rather than a law.
Skip "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
In real calls, Gong's 2018 analysis of 90,380 cold calls found this line made a call 40% less likely to succeed, and its 2024 follow-up ranked it lowest of the openers it measured.
"How are you?" is fine
16.3% of practice calls asked it, and they averaged 51.8 on the opening against 47.5 without it. Use it if it sounds like you, then get to the reason for your call.
More on the first few seconds: The first 7 seconds of a cold call.
Frequently asked questions
What does the opener grader score?
It scores the first 15 to 20 seconds of a cold call out of 100, using the opening rubric Cold Call Gym applies to every AI practice call. The grader checks whether you said who you are, where you're from and a specific reason for the call, and whether you asked for permission or gave the prospect a reason to keep listening.
Is the opener grader free?
Yes. It's free and needs no account. You can grade up to 30 openers a day.
Is my opener saved?
No. Your opener is sent to an AI model to be graded, and Cold Call Gym doesn't store it.
Why can a written opener score differently from a live call?
On a live call, the opening grade also depends on how the prospect reacts. Here the grader only sees your words, so it credits an opener that asks for permission or gives the prospect a clear reason to engage. To test your delivery, call 424-458-7771 and say it to an AI prospect.
What is a good cold call opener score?
85 and up means you gave your name, your company and a specific reason for the call, and asked for permission or earned the prospect's attention. 70 to 84 is a clear intro with a generic hook, or permission assumed rather than asked for. 50 to 69 usually means the who or the why is missing, and below 50 means there's no real introduction.
How do I practice my opener out loud?
Call 424-458-7771 from any US phone. An AI prospect picks up, you deliver your opener and run the call, and the whole call is scored out of 100 on opening, discovery, objection handling and closing. Your first 3 practice calls are free, with no signup.
An opener only counts out loud
Dial 424-458-7771, open on an AI prospect, run the whole call and get your score by text when you hang up.
Call 424-458-77713 free practice calls · No credit card · Available 24/7