Cold calling is usually much more productive as a way of prospecting for leads than it is in making the actual sales. In sales skills terminology, "prospecting" often means looking for industrial parks and the like, then doing a quick sweep in order to rapidly scan and flush out potential prospects. 71811
In those sweeps, you speak briefly with the receptionist or secretary to make a quick determination of whether it is worth calling back to see the Decision Maker.
Just what information you are looking for at this early stage of your search for viable leads will vary with your product and the market.
While these sweeps are, technically-speaking, cold-calls, the purpose is more to gather useful information: information you will draw from later in determining whether to come back here, with an appointment, as well as what kinds of questions to ask and information to present.
The checklist below is a starting point; adapt it to your own uses.