How To Open A Prospecting Call

Besides being very busy, your prospects probably get a lot of sales calls every week, and many of them from your direct competition. So why would they want to talk to you? What can you do to separate yourself from all the other calls they get?

Why Would Your Prospect Want to Talk To You?

You only have a few precious seconds to make a connection and establish interest, so you’d better have a good opening prepared in advance.

What makes you worth speaking to over your competitors? And how do you convey this differentiation to your prospect?

How Your Competition Is Opening Prospecting Calls

The answer is that you have to establish a real connection with your prospect and stop sounding like all the other sales reps who call them.  Here is what your competition usually sounds like (I hope you’re not doing this!):

“Hi, Mr. __________. This is _______ _______ with the XYZ Group.  __________, we are an industry supply manufacturer and we help companies streamline their production process. We work with many companies in your field and save them between 10 to 15% on the cost of their storage and delivery process. What I’d like to do is ask you some questions to see how our process may save you that kind of money as well. Where are you currently getting your…”

Pitching Is Not Rapport Building

Do you see how this opening makes no connection with the prospect?

Do you see how it just starts pitching at the prospect and doesn’t acknowledge that the prospect might be busy, or not interested?

There is no rapport built here and how it’s a one sided conversation.

How do you feel when someone barges in on your day and starts in with a pitch like this?

You’re probably thinking what most prospects are thinking: “How do I get this sales rep off the phone?!”

Always Make A Connection In The First Few Seconds

Now let’s look at the right way to open your call. Your goal in the first few seconds is to make a connection and get them to interact.

You have to acknowledge that they may be busy or that you respect their time and you need to establish some rapport and separate yourself from all the other sales reps calling them.

Try this:

“Hi ________ this is _______ _______ with (your company), how’s your Tuesday going?”

[ Allow them to answer. ]

“Great. Listen, _______, I know you probably get a ton of calls so I’ll make this brief.  Let me ask you, if I could show you a better way of tracking and shipping, while saving you money, would it be worth spending five minutes with me next week to show you how?”

Or:

“What is the one thing you could change that would have a dramatic impact on your productivity and that would save your company money?”

Or:

“If you had a magic wand and could change one thing about how you currently do business, what would it be?”

Can you see how this quick questioning approach is more effective than what you may currently be using now?

Adapt, Practice, And Implement

Eighty percent of your competition still barge in on their prospects and open their calls up with a long explanation about what they do and what they offer, and pitch their products and services without checking in with their prospects or establishing any kind of connection.

No wonder most people brush them off the phone!

You can separate yourself from this group instantly, starting today, by using the opening technique above. Once again, adapt it to fit your product or service, and then practice it until it’s natural and easy for you to use.

As you do, you’ll begin to notice yourself struggling less, making more connections with interested and qualified buyers, and you’ll have more confidence and feel better about yourself.  Just like the top 20% do!

You build deeper emotional connections when you interact with buyers and stakeholders based on who they are—not who you are. The A.C.E.D. Buyer Style Playbook offers best practices for approaching and flexing to each of the four buyer style types during sales conversations so that you can build relationships, gain trust, and close deals with confidence.