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Samir is the CEO and Co-founder of Veloxy. After spending 20+ years creating corporate systems, boosting revenue, and eliminating inefficiencies, Samir started Veloxy to help sales professionals shorten sales cycles, accelerate pipelines, and close more deals.
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Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or inside sales expert, we can all agree on a few things about achieving inside sales success. One; sales is no longer just about high pressure, ‘won’t take no for an answer’ pitches. Today, it’s more of a different dynamic where sales reps listen, empathize, and even kill pitches early if they sense the prospect isn’t
Sales teams today spend 70% of their workday on non-selling activities—a massive roadblock to hitting quotas. In my experience, the biggest culprits behind this inefficiency are bloated, disconnected sales tech stacks with poor training and low user adoption. When reps don’t know how to use their tools properly, or when tools don’t talk to each other, productivity takes a serious hit.
Cold Calling is not dead! Despite what you might be hearing in some trending podcast or from your sales team, cold calling is more alive and more profitable today than ever before. There are some thought leaders who disguise the term cold calling with ‘warm calling’. In short, they’re associating the use of high-quality business intelligence as warming a cold
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We’re at the beginning of another year of cold calling! As always, our persistence, belief in ourselves, and commitment to delivering value will pay off with more meetings and deals.
This is the perfect time to unwind, get loose, and share some laughs around the myths, truths, and common occurrences around cold calling (and sales in general).
We’re not just going to share the most popular cold calling memes with you—we’re going to give you the chance to win a free 3 month subscription to Veloxy!
All you have to do is review the below 45 cold calling memes and fill out the form at the bottom of this page telling us which one is your favorite.
Enjoy and Good luck.
1. The Cold Calling Olympian
If you’ve ever worked in sales, you know how rare it is to find someone who can schedule meetings like a machine. That’s what makes this meme so relatable. It’s inspired by the story of a U.S. men’s gymnastics team member whose sole job was the pommel horse. He’d sit on the sidelines, calm and collected, until it was his moment to shine—and he delivered every time. In sales terms, this is the SDR with a 25% call-to-meeting conversion rate. They’re not just making calls; they’re crushing them, turning prospects into meetings with a level of precision we all aspire to.
2. Dillon, You Son of a Cold Caller!
Cold callers know that rejection isn’t just part of the job—it’s basically the job description. That’s what makes this meme so funny. It shows the infamous handshake between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers, with ‘cold calls’ on one side and ‘cold emails’ on the other. The two are united by one universal truth: ‘accepting rejection.’ Whether it’s a hung-up phone or an unopened email, the grind is the same. But for sales pros, it’s not about avoiding rejection—it’s about pushing through it to build the pipeline and hit those quotas. The struggle is real, but so is the hustle.
3. Spamalot
You’ve probably been asked by your manager, ‘Are you making enough cold calls?’ It’s a question every SDR knows all too well. That’s what makes this meme, inspired by the Broadway play Spamalot, so spot-on. The punchline—‘Spam-a-lot’—is a lighthearted way to poke fun at the relentless grind of cold calling. Sure, it might feel like spamming sometimes, but behind every call is a serious effort to connect with prospects and drive results.
4. Is This a Good Time?
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a cold call, you’ve probably heard the classic opener: ‘Is this a good time?’ It’s the go-to question that sales reps hope will buy them a moment of your time—but let’s be honest, it’s also the question most prospects roll their eyes at. That’s what makes this meme so relatable. Pairing Bernie Sanders’ infamous ‘I am once again asking’ with this classic cold call line captures both the persistence and the awkward charm of cold calling.
5. Sugar Honeycomb Org Charts
Cold calling can sometimes feel like the Sugar Honeycomb challenge from Squid Game. While some reps are lucky enough to get accounts with simple, easy-to-navigate org charts, others are stuck with the ones that are a tangled mess. This meme perfectly captures that frustration. ‘Everyone else’s org charts’ are a single, straightforward triangle, while ‘your org chart’ is a complex puzzle of overlapping connections.
6. Drake and Your SDR Onboarding
For too many SDRs, proper onboarding is like a mythical creature—you hear about it, but you rarely see it. That’s what makes this meme so relatable. Using the famous Drake Computer GIF, it highlights the amazement and disbelief SDRs feel when they actually receive the training and resources they need to succeed.
7. Hitting Daily Call Quota Too Fast
Every BDR knows the grind of hitting their daily call quota, but there’s nothing quite like the moment you glance at the clock after making 50 calls… and it’s only 10:30 AM. This meme, featuring the always relatable Pepe the King Prawn, perfectly captures that mix of exhaustion and disbelief. You’re proud of the hustle, but now you’re wondering how you’ll make it through the rest of the day.
8. I Love Rings. Phone Rings.
This meme hilariously captures the double meaning of ‘loving rings.’ For most people, it’s all about wedding rings and romance. But for cold callers, it’s the sound of a phone ringing—music (or money) to their ears.
9. The Worst Call of Your Life, So Far.
Cold calling is a grind, and every SDR has walked away from a call thinking, ‘That was the worst call of my life.’ But, as this Simpsons meme reminds us, resilience is the name of the game. Homer’s response—‘That was the worst call of your life, so far’—is both hilarious and painfully true. Cold calling is all about persistence. You take the hits, learn from them, and keep dialing because the next call might just be the one that turns it all around.
10. They Don't Know I'm Cold Calling
This is a hilarious meme. What if the party goers did know he was a cold caller? Would he be the center of attention? Or is he preparing to cold call the people having a good time on Monday? Either way, the funny ways to interpret this meme are endless, and it’s great.
11. Watch Me Make Another Call
DJ Khaled dancing in place perfectly encapsulates the fearless spirit of successful cold callers. It humorously highlights the resilience required in the face of rejection, a common hurdle given that studies show 48% of people fear making phone calls. It serves as a light-hearted reminder that embracing rejection with a dance is what sets apart the courageous from the crowd.
12. Bite Your Tongue, Smush Your Lips
This meme captures the all-too-familiar moment of a cold caller holding their mouth closed, brilliantly portraying the challenge of maintaining professionalism in the face of adversity. It reflects the reality that cold callers often encounter overly negative or angry prospects and must exercise restraint, biting their tongue instead of responding in kind. It’s a humorous nod to the emotional intelligence and patience required in sales, making it a perfect addition to the list.
13. Don't Make It Harder for Yourself
Brandon Marshall’s famous meme is humorously used to capture a sales manager’s frustration with a sales rep who neglects the gold mine of a well-crafted cold calling script. It highlights a common pitfall in sales where reps might overlook the script’s strategic framework, designed to address prospects’ pain points, establish common ground, and present a unique selling proposition.
14. Dress to Impress, or to Feel Good?
This meme, featuring a sales rep in an uncomfortably tight dress shirt cleverly plays on the reality of cold calling roles where appearance takes a backseat to comfort. It humorously acknowledges the mindset of SDRs/BDRs who, making 60-120 cold calls a day, opt for comfort over formal office attire since their prospects can’t visually see them.
15. Waiting for the Progressive Dialer
Here’s a sales rep earnestly speaking into a microphone in an empty auditorium, perfectly encapsulating the experience of cold callers using progressive dialers. While these dialers are designed to enhance productivity by connecting agents only when a live person answers, they often face periods of waiting, sometimes extending over five minutes, akin to speaking to an empty room. It humorously highlights the anticipation and patience required in modern cold calling, waiting for that moment of connection, making it an apt representation of the silent gaps in a day filled with calls.
16. Supercharging Rate of Answered Calls
The Homelander meme has been one of the most popular GIF memes of this past year. It captures the perfect facial expression of a cold caller when an elusive lead picks up the phone. Thankfully it’s 2024, and dialers are getting smarter at prioritizing cold calls by a lead’s likeliness to answer.
17. When Great Cold Calls Don't End Well
Nothing is more frustrating for a sales rep than when a great cold call ends poorly. I’ve experienced this on calls that last ten or twenty minutes. The lead is repeatedly saying, “Yes!” and “Wow, that’s great!“, but when it comes to conversion time, they get cold feet and end the call. No matter how good of a cold caller you are, you’re apt to run into this problem frequently.
18. Slap Away Salesforce Data Entry
Since the third Salesforce State of Sales report in 2018, non-selling activity has gotten worse. You read that right! It’s hard to believe it couldn’t get better. For cold calling professionals, no non-selling activity is more painful than CRM data entry. Cold callers can spend 30 to 60 minutes a day manually entering data into Salesforce. Even worse—some sales pros wait until they get home to complete this activity.
You can solve this problem now by automating Salesforce data entry here.
19. The Turbulent Sales Tech Stack
Here’s another fact from Salesforce’s latest report: Sales reps are overwhelmed by too many tools. Fortunately for cold callers, sales managers plan to consolidate sales tech stacks sometime in 2024. This will not only improve their stack’s ROI and team’s profitability—it will improve their sales team’s overall morale!
20. When You Get What You've Never Got
The average sales rep makes about 33 cold calls every day. After suffering through hours of voice mail greetings, hangups, and “No thank you.“, salespeople are often shocked when a prospect calls them back. Many times, they’re so surprised they experience reluctance to pick up the phone. We’ve actually found it’s not due to nervousness, but rather a lack of instant access to the incoming call’s contact and account records. Be sure you integrate your dialers with your CRM!
21. When You Sell Like a Human, You Win
If your cold callers are spending 72% of their time not selling, you could say they’re spending that time ‘not being human‘. Humans are not meant to spend hours every day typing in email addresses and other admin work. Salespeople are built to engage with customers and help them improve their daily lives. With this being said, it’s no surprise that sales teams that spend 90%+ of their time on selling activity consistently crush team quota.
22. New Year, New Challenges
New Year’s resolutions are constantly in flux. What you resolved in 2023 is less likely to need your attention in 2024. The same is true regarding sales challenges. New gatekeepers are being hired to block you from the decision maker. Contacts are getting promotions or moving to new companies. The dialer or cold email software you liked is being replaced. Whatever new challenge this year has waiting for you—take it head on!
23. Let's Get Real About Sales Targets
Unrealistic sales targets was the number one reason why sales professionals want to leave their job. However, if that’s their complaint at one job, let’s just say the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. As a cold caller, be proactive and make suggestions to your manager on how you and your cold calling colleagues could be more productive and efficient. Because sometimes sales targets are unrealistic because of inefficiencies in the workplace.
24. Post Covid In-House Competition
When Covid hit and sales reps were forced to work remote and leverage their tech stack, inside sales reps flourished. Remote cold calling and Zoom calls were nothing new to them, and they consistently hit or exceeded their numbers. Outside sales reps on the other hand had trouble adjusting to remote selling due to travel restrictions. However, now that field reps are back to being road warriors, they’re also back to driving success in call blitzes and closing deals.
25. Everything But The Kitchen Sink!
As cold callers, we’re always prepared to bring value to each phone call. Sometimes, the value we offer is not seen in the same light by the prospect. That’s why it’s always best practice to better know your personas so you can personalize the value offered. Your prospects will eventually believe you have everything to offer—even the kitchen sink!
26. Getting Past the Gatekeeper
If you’re an experienced cold caller, you know far too well about the dreaded gatekeeper (aka. receptionist). Some are very skilled at sniffing out a cold caller, but if you’ve read our article on cold calling tips, you know how using their first name is a great way to build familiarity.
27. Sales AI for Cold Calling
There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the role artificial intelligence plays in sales. Some salespeople fear that AI will displace them. But in 9 out of 10 cases, sales teams that use AI exceed quota and expand in size. Check out our Sales AI guide for more information on the many benefits to cold callers.
28. Buyer Intent & Dialers
When cold callers settle in at 8am, they’re typically provided with a spreadsheet, alphabetical list, or a randomizer dialer program. This has long been a pain point for salespeople. Today, data analytics is automatically prioritizing cold outreach based on buyer intent signals. Salespeople are now predictively setting more meetings, and closing more deals, in a fraction of the time.
29. Follow up Reluctance
Cold callers commonly find themselves in a state of reluctance. They scale back cold emailing, Salesforce data cleaning, or anything else they think prevents them from getting the next deal. One of the biggest forms of reluctance is follow up. Data has shown that the more calls you place, the more likely the prospect will pick up the phone. Just keep hitting the phones, or better yet, use predictive analytics as suggested in the previous meme.
30. Cold Calling is Really Cool
Salespeople prefer not to call prospects that have no demonstrated interest or knowledge of their solution, let alone their name. This is why we often recommend leading with cold email before calling. You can use talking point subject lines to discover potential pain points, thereby warming the cold call to a cool call. Plus, you could use email tracking so you know when your prospect is more likely to pick up the phone.
31. You're an Authority, Not a Telemarketer
Presuming that prospects and leads do not want to talk with you may be caused by scripts, hawking managers, or a lack of confidence. Most of the time, it’s because the salesperson sees themselves as an interruption and not a value-added consultant. Rethink how you want to position yourself and you won’t feel hurt like Michael Scott anymore.
32. Lord of the Ringer
Here’s another hilarious cold calling meme that drives home the fact that “the pitch” is the last thing you should be considering when making a cold call. Unlike Boromir, you want to approach calls like Frodo, with sincerity, kindness, and service.
33. Rookie Mistakes
We’ve all been there. Your first cold calling job. Maybe you were an account manager or an SDR. Either way, you probably started off with a lot of hangups and “No!”. Successful cold callers know that persistence and continual improvement pays off in the long run. Just look at Shaq. He improved his free throw percentage 67 points in 2002 (don’t ask me how he fared after that year, though).
34. Taken a LinkedIn to You
Is there a more memorable action movie scene? Most decision makers cringe at the surplus of LinkedIn connection requests and Sales Navigator messages they receive on the daily. While those are good tactics, simply visit the buyer’s profile after each call. Curiosity will get the better of them, and you’ll be showing respect by not joining the fray of Inmails and messages (ok, I’ll stop with the Liam Neeson jokes now).
35. Look to the Bright Side of Hangups
Being a ‘Glass Half Full’ cold caller can have endless benefits for you professionally and personally. Now must not have been a good time. You’ll followup with them later. On to the next great opportunity. We don’t recommend doing a push up for every hang up…unless you have really, really clean floors… and a handy protein shake.
36. Cold Calling is More Popular Than Ever!
You would think that the increase in sales technology would decrease the practice of cold calling. On the contrary, sales technology has made cold calling more effective, productive, and flat out exciting. Just look at what Five9’s Dialer and Veloxy’s Quick Dialer can do for your cold outreach efforts.
37. Monday, Monday. So good to me.
Is the hit song from The Momas and The Papas playing in your head right now? There’s nothing like starting out the week with the first call—at 2pm. Yes, unless their is significant buyer signals coming from a prospect, it’s best practice to hold off on cold calls until 2pm on Mondays. If you think Monday mornings are tough, imagine being interrupted at 9am before your first cup of coffee.
38. Say "Yes." With Confidence.
But never sound too enthusiastic with the receptionist, as that’s a common salesperson signal that they look out for. The best thing you can do is say, “Yes, it’s about the email I sent him last week.” You’ll get put through 7 times out of 10.
39. Goodness Gracious, the Data is on Fire.
This carefree dog would be feeling really fine if they integrated their cold outreach with Salesforce automation. By automating non-selling activity like data entry and admin tasks, the dog would increase his data quality and calling numbers by 142%—now that’s en fuego (in a good way)!
40. How to Be Smart and Smarter
This is another friendly reminder that cold calls interrupt a buyer’s day. When a prospect blows you off with a call back request, you can pivot one way to keep them engaged, or agree and pivot another. If you want to keep them on the call, you better use the two number approach (you’ll need data handy). “Okay [FirstName], I could call back in 6 months, but by then you would have lost an additional $62,500. I only need 15 minutes of your time, otherwise I will set a call back for 6 months.” See how powerful that is? Armed with the prospect’s largest financial pain point, the cold caller calculated how much they’d lose by not meeting now. Lastly, if they do rush off the phone, leverage direct mail like Sendoso.
41. A Better Way To Blitz, Mmm Kay.
Say “No.” to TPS reports and say “Yes!” to cold call blitzes from your favorite smartphone. For years field sales reps were locked to their desk to make their dial numbers. Now they can extend the functionality to their favorite device.
42. Choose the Cold Pill.
It’s a cold hard fact that B2B decision makers will still take a call from cold callers. Let your competition pull back on their cold outreach and take advantage of your buyers lack of cold calls!
43. Beware of All-Star Gatekeepers
This one made me laugh the hardest. There are some very well trained and experienced gatekeepers out there. Cheers to those receptionist and admin assistants!
44. Celebrate Your Wins
Okay, it’s not like you picked up a new set of wheels by attending an Oprah recording, but you should celebrate every single win, every single day.
45. Break Out of the Funk
We’d be surprised if you had that many bad calls in a row when using predictive analytics, however, to those of you who don’t use buyer signals, this one’s for you.
Conclusion on Cold Calling Memes
I trust you enjoyed this change of pace from your friends at Veloxy. It’s the best time of year to unwind and share some laughs with your sales colleagues. Fill out the form below and we’ll let you know if you’re a winner!
Choose Your Favorite Cold Calling Meme
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Helpful Resources for Cold Callers
Here are some helpful and popular resources to further improve your sales game: