Would you like to dance?...and other great opening lines

You can say almost anything you want...but newbies frequently have no idea what to say.

And most importantly, they don't know how to say it.

"Hi Joe, it's (your name)," needs to be said with real friendliness.

You certainly can mention what you'd like to talk about directly. And you must have a response to "What about it?" ready to go.

I like what you have to say about getting on the phone and talking to people, instead of doing time-wasting "research". Call and find out. It's much faster.

One of my favorite opening lines with a new prospect is "I'm not sure we should be speaking." They lean right into the call.

Sounds more like a line from a Hugh Grant movie.

David -- only way I can think of improving your "Dance" opener is to offer your hand along with asking. Little more of an assumptive close.

The opener I use is, "Hi Mr. Jones. My name is Rearden and I'm with Rearden Insurance. I'm here because *you* sent in this card here (hand it to them to see); most people send it in because they are either interested in *life* insurance or *burial* insurance. I'm the agent in the area that handles that, and like to take a few minutes to go over it with you."

This is face-to-face.

If I'm calling over the phone, I practically say the same thing, with a little more inflection and perhaps a slightly slower cadence, and request an appointment.

I attempt to turn around appointment objections just once.

PS: Do you address your prospect with which company you're with?

I've been in sales for a while. I've been trained to introduce myself and then go on to asking questions. In sales, IMO, it's easier to sell if you do more listening than talking.

David -- will you set an a face-to-face appointment with a prospect that is not in the buying cycle yet, but is interested in buying a product/service like the one you're offering on the cold call, but in the future?

More importantly, at what point in the call do you set the appointment, face-to-face, and under what conditions?

Excellent post.

I've never cold called as I have been lucky enough not to have to.

But I have been the recipient of many, many cold calls over 25 years and I know what has a chance with me and what hasn't.

This straight to the point approach does a couple of things that I respect as the recipient...
...it respects my time and doesn't try to mislead.

So it has a much greater chance of success than many of the approaches I have read here, especially the approaches which attempt to deceive or mislead.

Sebastian

This works really really well too:

Hi Joe, Dave Miller.......I wonder if you can help me? (wait for their response)

I'm a marketing consultant and I wanted to talk to you about a mobile version of your website.

Their positive response creates what we call 'cognitive dissonance'.

They always reply positively and their sub-conscience has to rationalise positivity towards the caller by concluding (sub-consciously of course) 'hey...this guy/gal is OK!

"I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number..." oh wait. Sorry. Wrong thing. LOL. ^what Jason said. The hardest part I find is being relaxed, but I've also found that letting them talk is an easy in too. Closed a deal for $800 on a "spruce up" of a site for a local mechanic. And all I did, once I took a deep breath or two, was call him up and be sincere when I asked him how he was doing. He talked. We got to his main objection and go through it, just by being honest. "I'm not sure spending $xxx is worth it as I want a simple site." "No problem! If price wasn't the issue, would you be willing to start tomorrow?" "Yes" and from there it was just finding out his spending limit. If you listen enough, they'll tell you their main objection and exactly how to solve it. If you listen, they'll tell you want they want (of course meeting in a coffee shop and showing them Google and where' they're not helps..).

Just relax. Be YOU. Don't get wound up about the outcome (I keep having to remind myself of this), and listen.

On the topic of dancing I found that a very high percentage of
women will say no when you first ask them to dance or something
like "I can't dance."

Especially attractive women.

To that I would say "Can you walk forwards?"

"Can you walk backwards?"

"Can you count to four?"

If they say yes to all of those then you say "then you can
dance. Because dancing is really just walking backwards
and forwards while you count to four."

The reality is you could say nearly anything and have good
success.

Women naturally have their defenses up because they get
approached by so many men...especially in a club or bar.


And it's the same with business owners.

They have their defenses up because so many people are
trying to sell them something and in many cases they've
been burnt multiple times by unscrupulous or incompetent
people.

Saying anything that establishes you're NOT the regular
type of person they're used to talking to is going to help
enormously.


On the topic of dancing again some women would still not
agree to dance after those questions.

Then I would say in a low sincere tone "It's okay. I've danced
with hundreds of women and you'll be fine."

Many people could not believe how I could get so many women
to dance with me.


The same principle is true with businesses.

Show that you're sincere and you only want to guide them to
doing something that's good for them and you really do know what
you're doing.


So what to say to a business owner?

The crazy part is you could say nearly anything if you have the right
tone of voice and mindset.

That's probably more important to practice than the specific words...
being relaxed, confident and genuinely concerned with the wellbeing
of the person you're talking to.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Great thread David,

Sorry to be a late bloomer.

Generally, Im pretty straight forward, but I have designed processes for call centers that are more covert...

Most of what you see below is something I have used in one way or another in the past, though maybe not verbatim...depending on the industry... Also Im assuming we are talking about COLD calls, there are a million other angles based around the way people generate their call material that I cant cover here...

As for me personally, if they see that Im a salesman ahead of time, I don’t care, because I AM one, and Im interested in talking to someone who KNOWS I’m one, and who still wants to talk to me, however I have included some more covert, proven tactics here as well.

I think a lot of it has to do with tone, as much as the actual line. If you act too nervous they will wonder why you are nervous and what you, in your own mind, think you are pulling over on them that would warrant such nervousness.

This is a deep subject, because there are so many angles, and a lot of it depends on your business model.

But Here are some straight forward lines I have used in the past, and some that are more covert.….

Like I said, a lot of it depends on the business model, and tone… remember, people buy into things because they “sound good” at the time, so you have top be able to execute and “sound good”.

You can approach it from the angles of:

1: Credibility: (In this example we will use police fundraising).

“This is John Durham calling with the local DDAC officers from the 24th precinct…No need to worry, there isn’t a problem or anything…the officers were just wanting to remind you of the…”

(Trust me, people perk up to that one and listen- MOST people that is)


2: “Borrowed” Credibility/Perceived Authority:


This is John Durham Calling With _______ we are the Authorized Google Affiliated Research Company here in The River Valley. Basically we calling to make sure you received your free Google advertising package… Have you folks gotten an email yet?

Okay, well let me fill you in real quick…


3: Unassuming


“Hey This is John Durham and I am a local web designer who is new in town, actually I just moved here from Chicago two weeks ago (Slight pause , so they can welcome you to town if they want, but not too long so as to be awkward)… I hate to take up your time today Bob, but, Im looking for a job right now, and in the in the meanwhile Im trying to dig up some web work to start a part time online marketing business for local business owners, I was wondering if you folks had any projects on the back burner, that you could throw my way, and give me a chance to show you what I can do?”

(Some people will respond to this one just because they admire you for trying to make the effort instead of whining that there are no jobs- and because you are sincere- Believe it- Next thing you know, you have referrals and you are in business)

4: Another Unassuming one- Non Threatening

Hi Im John Durham, with________ we are a new web design company in town, and briefly, Im just calling around to all the local business owners offering free quotes on web designs packages, hoping to potentially drum up some business, I was just wondering what kind of internet marketing plans you folks might have on the back burner that we could help you out with?

5: The “Free” Route

Hi Im John With______ we are a premier local online business directory, you may have heard of us…right now, we are offering local business owners like yourself a free page in our directory with no catch, I just wanted to make sure I had your information, btw the way , you ARE “Bobs Grocery store right?” Do I have the right business?

Okay great, Let me just ask a few questions so I can make sure I get your listing the way you want it.

(Give them a free listing, then try to upsell them to a premium one, in the same call)

6: The “prestigious” route

Hi Im John With___________ , and as you may know, we are the number one local online marketing agency in the River Valley, working with some of the most prestigious clientele in the state. You may know of some of our online promotional clients like ____________, ______________ or ________________… (Name prestigious companies.)

*Note: You can borrow credibility from national organizations by joining link share, picking some prestigious companies, and putting up web pages to promote them. When you enter an agreement to promote them online – As an Affiliate- they become a marketing client).

7: The “We forgot to call you” route.

Hi Im John With __________, I hate to interrupt but it looks like we forgot to call you back about about your free advertising package from Google last week, I apologize for that… I’m assuming you already got an email right?

Oh okay, well glad I called then… Just briefly….

9: The “Can I fax you?” Route:

Hi this is john, Im calling with the local employment guide, you have probably seen our stand on all the local street corners… I mean you can barely walk two feet without seeing one lol

(Let them agree)

Just briefly, Bob, I know you weren’t expecting my call, but we just wanted to make sure you had a chance to see our latest print advertising offers this week, that will enable you to reach a circulation of over 200,000 readers within the next seven days…

Like I said, I don’t want to hold you up on the phone, but is there a fax number I can go ahead and send a flyer to so you can check this out when you have a minute…?

Okay great, whats that number?

Super.

I will just call you back sometime this afternoon to make sure you got it and answer any questions you may have, how does say 2:00 or so sound to you? Great.

(Call them back while they have the fax in hand, and sell them down the page while they look at the visual illustration of what you are saying… direct them around the fax and point things out, get all their senses involved).

10: Free analysis/survey Route:

Hi I am _________ with ____________ , we are the River Valleys ONLY authorized google affiliated marketing company…. Im just taking a quick research survey today, in order to help Google provide more relevant search results for its end users

If you have a minute to answer a few quick questions to help us out, we will turn offer you a free website performance analysis, performed by a google certified technician, to help you more accurately target the customer who are actively searching for your specific services … and to say thank you for helping us out.

Like I said, it’s just a few quick questions, have you got a minute Bob?

I could easily come up with twenty more of these, and Im sure some of them in the minds of some are arguable, but I can assure you that they all work like a clock.

I use to be in charge of a "pilot" crew that would test new programs daily which would be offered to the call center in the form of "contracts" . We would pilot with small groups before deciding whether or not to "roll it out" across the floor, or take the contract.

As I said, new offers came in daily, and I was the person in charge of "making it work"...so I had to write the pitches, angles, train the TM's, rewrite where needed.

Like I said Im assuming these are cold calls, depending on how leads are generated this could go a hundred different directions.

I could do this all day and write 20 more, but dont want to hog the thread... just wanted to support my man David.

Again, these were off the cuff but give the general idea.


While Im here let me add this:

In the booth as an individual, I would work day to day for 8-10 hours straight sometimes.

When you do that, you get to where you can tell a difference within any 15 minute time period, whether or not you are "off", and you can try things, and within any fifteen minute time period you can make the change that puts you back on track.

Once you are familiar with how you should flow, which comes from lots of dialing, in an instant you can tell if you are out of synch somewhere.

What Im about to say will help bigtime with your greetings, because many times it isnt what you are saying, but rather "how you are saying it".

For instance I was in one gig where the average was 2-3 sales per hour.

If thirty minutes went by and I had no traction, I would check myself and say "I must be not doing something Im should be doing somewhere" and I had a list of things I would use to check myself.

MANY times.... it was because I was saying "Is Bob There"?

I had learned that if you just say the name in front of you, you get through more greetings and into your pitch more often, so I would put myself in check and go back to saying "Hi. Joe?"

And things would immediately go back on track. It was often something that simple.

You see if the name on your page is "Joe", and you say "is Joe around?" many will lie to you and say he wasnt around, when in fact it was him the whole time (this was in residential calling- A little more hardcore but the same thing applies).

However, when I said "Hi. Joe?" to whoever answered the phone, many times it was him, and he would say "yeah, this is him"...and more often than not, if it WASNT him, the person would say, "No this is Tom, but let me get him for you" and pass me on.

Little things like that count. You aren't changing your objective at all, just the way it SOUNDS when you approach it. People buy into stuff that "sounds good" at the time.

If you can list 10 of those little things in your greeting.... am I being enthusiastic? Am I being non threatening (depending on your approach) Am I asking for the person, or assuming its them? Am I lilting my inflection at the end of my introduction.

Here is an example of that "lilt":

Someone might say "This is John With Amway... You may have heard of us" (like a statement....then they move on)

Someone else might say "This is John ...with Amway? You may have heard of us?" ( A little sheepish with a lilt or question mark at the end, then they pause, as if they are looking for the customers approval to move on)

The second example gets shot down nine times out of ten, even though they both use the same words, they use them differently.

This second example is what I call "lilt" at the end of your introduction, and is viewed as weakness by the prospect. Its like you are seeking their validation instead of stating who you are and telling them they should be familiar with you...It is one of those things that will cut your conversion by 10% just by itself.

I have witnessed this with myself, and also and fixed it with many telemarketers, even though sometimes they go straight back into the habit. I would pull them to the side, and pull up their recordings and say "see how you are doing this? Fix that and you will get in more pitches...", and invariably they would...(also partially because they felt better for having gotten a justifiable reason for why they were failing, and that boosted the confidence as well. Alot of this is mental.)

Every time you fix it your conversion will go up.

One last note:

If you tell people they should be familiar with you, most will assume they should be... No matter who you are, and half of them will agree and say "Yeah I think I have heard of you", even if they havent. The other half will listen because they feel left out that they should have heard of you but have somehow been in the dark.

Test it.

If they say they havent, then you have proper justification to say "Okay well, we are....".

Now think.

If there are five points in your greeting that affects conversion by as much as 10%, then keeping a check on those things can increase your conversion as much as fifty percent.

And I am living proof of that as I kept a tight watch on myself to stay on top when I was in a booth, and then others as I monitored them later.

Anyway, there are some more tips regarding your opening lines.

Hope this helps.

-John

Thanks David,

I myself have stopped writing scripts personally, as of recently, because I think its more valuable to teach people how to "execute", and give them principles they can create their own scripts with... Unless they have a big budget that enables me to train their telemarketers on it, which a couple here have done, but most cant, and Im phasing out of that anyway.

When I write my own scripts, I will generally just write out something basic, get on the phone, and tweak it out over 20 calls to where the words flow and roll of the tongue smoothly (as most will want to do with the above ideas, because they are based on proven principles, but maybe not your manner of speaking...) ...

When calling for myself, I usually dont get fancy, because I have learned that as long as you are straight up and you dial, and include all the basic elements, otherwise just telling it like it is, you will find the customers that match your own style., but some people are "noid" about being seen as a salesman...so more covert methods make them more comfortable.

The above are all ideas (I have edited and tweaked them some since original post BTW) based on proven concepts that a person can take and run with, along with using some of the principles gained from some of the other threads we have out there... to get started in a successful direction with their call sessions.

I have been wanting to jump on this thread, but preferred waiting till I could give it the energy you deserve, with the way you contribute to my own so comprehensively.

-John

Ps. There is definitely a difference between a call center style and an individual style...and the robotic call center style works GREAT, but it may be hard to pull of as an individual because the energy working from home is different. If you work alone, you will put out a more sincere vibe just to be straightforward and, ACT LIKE IT!

Still using a verbatim script, so you can duplicate your success predictably, but in more of a small potato style. Dont try to act like you are with a big organization...too many traps you can fall into. Make it easy on yourself and use a script, but let it represent what you are really doing as an individual or small company. If you are a start up just say it...many people support that.

To substantiate what Im saying here...more warriors have reported success to me with the below script than any other, and its because it represents where they really are and comes off more naturally:

4: Another Unassuming one- Non Threatening

Hi Im John Durham, with________ we are a new web design company in town, and briefly, Im just calling around to all the local business owners offering free quotes on web designs packages, hoping to potentially drum up some business, I was just wondering what kind of internet marketing plans you folks might have on the back burner that we could help you out with?

This seems to work for individuals like gangbusters.

Do you have any references?

Well thats exactly why Im calling, like I said we are new, and currently trying to generate some good local references, which is why we are offering a handful of business owners like yourself a very special deal on our top website package. Our goal is to get some of our best work up as quickly as possible so we can develop some great sites for showcasing to the rest of the local business community!

We were just hoping you folks might be interested in getting a good deal on a package, and being one of those that we showcase.

Let me ask, do you currently have a site up?

Great! Well maybe I called at just the right time then...our fully optimized 5 page website package features....

This works, for an individual, because usually its genuine. People appreciate that.

Some also use the bower style script with success as Stewart Alexander mentioned in another thread, because it also represents the truth of where they are and what they are doing...no big fancy parade... parades work for telemarketers in large call centers, because they come on with conviction being that they are REALLY in one. lol

Organizational sounding scripts are for people who are ready to scale or already have a team.

I did not know you did coaching and scripts. I bet your good at it.

I like getting them to talk about themselves/their businesses as soon as possible. Often a little homework on the business pays off big, like "Hey Tom, how's that new menu rollout going? Generating some more dinner covers with it?"

Guys like duncanbbb make the sharing all worthwhile. This stuff is alot more rewarding than just a little extra coaching cash or whatever... You dont get rich doing it, thats for sure...It's more than that.

Thats why I trained telemarketers offline for years, the pay wasnt any better than any other management job most times, but the lightbulb coming on in peoples eyes, who realized they could achieve, and had breakthroughs....PRICELESS!

Actually the pay is alot better when they are your own telemarketers, which I found out later.