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Crafting an Engaging Opening Statement for your Initial Outreach (Cold) Call is key to structuring your thoughts and ensuring a seamless start to the conversation. As you master this skill, your delivery will feel effortless and natural, setting the tone for a successful interaction.

5 Essential Components

Here are 5 crucial elements to incorporate into your introduction:

1. Find the "bridge" - what is your point of connection or Common Ground?
2. Personal Introduction - Include a Greeting and the reason for your call.
3. Company Introduction (Benefit Statement) - What does your company help increase or reduce and why would it be worth talking to you?
4. Qualify - Are you talking to the right person? Is this company a good fit for you?
5. Transition - Add a seamless transition to a question to generate dialogue.
   
   

Let's begin to break these down further.

1. Find the "Bridge"

Before picking up the phone, conduct online pre-call research via LinkedIn or other sources to find a common point of connection between you and the person you are about to call. The connection point could be similar industry experiences, people you both know professionally or personally, competitors you have worked with, etc. The stronger the connection, the faster your audience will trust you.

2. Personal Introduction

We often hear "Hello, my name is ______ and I'm calling from _____".
We suggest you consider "Hello, it's _______ calling from ______" instead.

While this may not be a noticeable difference at first glance, using this introduction can help put the prospect at ease since it is more casual and almost appears as if you know them. The traditional introduction can come across as a very formal tone, immediately denoting to the receiver that you are a stranger, often leading to a defensive response.

From here, try to use the "bridge" to quickly find common ground with your prospects and ease them into the conversation.

Remember to be upfront in announcing you don't formally know each other. Honesty, in our opinion, is always the best policy. Doing this will quickly illustrate your vulnerability which often triggers people to be less defensive and more empathetic. 

Here are some examples:

Example 1:

"Hello, it's Joe Smith from _____.

Since we haven't met before I wanted to call you to make a simple introduction. From what I've read, I understand your organization ______ (state simply and concisely what you know about them) and based on that, I think our 2 companies may be a good fit because we help companies _____"

Example 2:

"Hello, it's Joe Smith from _____.

The reason I'm calling is because we recently have ____ (state a recent milestone or success your company has had that you feel would be important, relevant and relatable to them) and while I don't know if you have a need for what we do, given you are/do _____ (state why you thought that the milestones or successes would be relevant/relatable for them - for example, they are in the same industry or use the same technology/equipment), I thought it was important enough to reach out to you to make an introduction."

3. Company Introduction (Benefit Statement)

Remember: This is NOT a pitch. You are not trying to sell products, services or solutions yet. You are trying to find a business connection, generate curiosity and drive a further conversation.

Before you begin asking questions, give a quick snapshot of who you are by telling your contact what you do to help improve or reduce. This statement serves to pique your customer's interest and desire to listen to more.  Here are some tips:

• Keep it brief: Nobody wants or has the time to listen to you go on and on about your company.
• While your product/service would have dozens of benefits, select the (1) one benefit you feel will register/resonate with that prospect the most - not what you do. Tell them the "what" and the "why" but not the how. For example:
  • "We help companies _____" OR "We save our clients ______"
  • "We increase productivity by ______"
  • "We are the largest company for ______ and that means our customers enjoy _____"
• Be direct! People are busy. Most people will appreciate a more direct approach.

Here are some examples:

Example 1: 

"I know you get dozens of calls from companies like mine so I am sure you are wondering how different we are. We are different because _____."

Example 2:

"We specialize in working with companies to reduce their overall  ____ (e.g.web design expenses) while _____ (e.g. generating more traffic to their website.)"

Example 3:

"The reason I'm calling is that we may be able to help you _____ (e.g. cut down on your shipping expenses)."

The challenge most sales reps have, however, is a lack of understanding of what benefits their product or service truly offers. Therefore to uncover the benefit, start by answering the following questions:

• What problems do your products/services solve for customers?
• How do these products/services solve their problems?
• What impacts/symptoms of these problems would your customers experience?
• What result should your customer expect from your product/service as it pertains to their problems?
• Why would a customer be better off with your product/service vs. the competitors?
• Why would a potential customer not want your service?

Before moving on to the Qualify component, you need to get the prospect involved in the conversation, now that you have introduced yourself, and your company, and outlined what you can help them improve and/or reduce. The objective here is to tell them, that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information.

Example 1:

"I have a few ideas that I would like to discuss and see if this would be of any value to you and your company."

Example 2:

"To determine this, I'd like to find out what you are using for ____"

Remember to avoid questions like "Is this a good time to talk?"

4. Qualify

This next step is an important one for both you and your prospect to ensure you don't waste each other's time.

Qualify the Company: If you haven't been able to get answers to your qualifiers through your pre-call research, now is the time to ask your remaining qualifying questions to ensure the company is the right fit for you.

Example:

At Focus, our qualifying criteria include:

• • • B2B Companies
    • Owner Operated
    • Between $2M - $30M in Sales
    • Less than 10 people in Sales
    • No dedicated Sales Manager (often the President or Best Sales Person assumes this responsibility as part of their role)

Remember: Needs or interests at this moment are NOT qualifiers.

Qualify the Person: To find out if this prospect is the right person to speak with, simply ask them "What role do they play in making decisions regarding your product/service?". You can also ask "How are decisions made in their organization regarding your product/service?"

NOTE: Avoid asking them if they are the decision maker. In our experience, this often results in a defensive response.

5. Transition Questions and Next Action

If you have done your introductions and qualifications well, the transition should feel very natural. During this phase, you are simply trying to learn more about the prospect by asking lots of open-ended questions about their current business situation as it pertains to the relevance/appropriateness of your products/services.

Remember to leverage any information you have discovered in your pre-call research at this stage. E.g. "I understand you do ___" OR "Given that, how do you ____".

Unless your prospect desires to have a more in-depth conversation, this is a great time to plan for your exit in the conversation.

To exit:

• ALWAYS start by recapping what your prospect just said, especially recalling what is most important to them.
• Then introduce a "next action" - something you are going to do next. Be very clear in describing what this is. E.g. Are you going to send them something? If yes, what are you going to send them, how (email/mail) and when?
• If you plan to follow up with them, be very specific about when.

General Tips - Do's & Don'ts

• Do ask a lot of "open" questions:
  • aim to ask 2 times more questions than they do.
• Don't try to sell, just try to get to "know them"
  
  
• Do be Vulnerable:
  • be upfront that you don't know them but you felt it was worthwhile to call and introduce yourself for "__" reason. Be clear on what the reason is before you call.
• Do Match their Style:
  • Are they short and direct? Don't talk about the fluffy stuff.
  • Are they social? Listen, share and note.
  • Do they ask lots of questions? Engage them.
• Do Show Empathy:
  • Show that you understand what is truly happening in their business.
• Don't ever close the call without a next action:
  • Commit to facilitate this next action, no matter how simple it may be - Note "I will call you soon" is not a specific enough next action.
• Do Build some Basic Trust and Rapport:
  • This is the main goal of a cold call that you can build upon during your next call. Anything more than this is a bonus!

To explore customized training solutions for your Sales Team, contact us today for more information on how we can assist in your growth journey. Let's Unlock Your Team's Potential and Drive Growth!