I have a lot of respect for sales people who need to make cold calls for a living. Virtually no one is sitting on the edge of their chair just hoping and waiting for someone to call them up or for someone to stop by in person to sell them something. Everyone is busy working on their own issues and problems. We don’t want to listen to some story about how great the xyz product or service is, especially if we don’t know anything about it. Why would you possibly want spend ten minutes of your time on the phone listening to a story about a company or product you have never heard of before they called you, let alone taking time out of your day to sit down with someone you don’t know or have never heard of.

Good sales people know that sales is a numbers game, and that the faster you can get through the no’s the faster you can get to the yes’s. But great sales people know that when you sell a higher percentage of the people you contact it is a much shorter time between “no” and “yes.” Beyond a good quality product, price and promotional efforts, to increase your percentage of closes, you need to be talking to the right people, and you need to capture their attention with an opening statement that will make them interested in listening to your value proposition.

A common mistake made by sales people is to try to explain too many features and benefits at once. This is sort of like taking out a 500- page catalog and asking “See anything you like?” One reason this happens is because the person trying to make the sale may not know what their prospect is really interested in or needs, so they throw everything against them to see if anything sticks. This approach can lead to confusion and doesn’t give the products or services which might have had a better chance of being accepted, the proper chance to be heard or appreciated. Before cold calling some form of qualification should take place to insure that the target of your call will be receptive, so your time is better spent with people who have a higher likelihood of wanting, or needing, the product or service you are selling.

Your opening statement can, and should be, much like a newspaper headline or the headline you use in your advertising. The statement should tell enough to grab someone’s attention and get them interested. If you can do nothing else but accomplish that, you will greatly increase your chances for success. After all, if the headline doesn’t grab your target audience’s attention the chance of them reading the whole article is greatly diminished In a similar fashion the chances of a prospect responding to, or even taking your cold call, are significantly reduced if you don’t capture their attention and interest with your opening statement or voice mail message.

To arrive at a strong opening statement think about how you are going to qualify your prospects. What is it that makes your products unique and distinctive? Who could benefit the most from what you have to offer? What single feature or benefit creates the most value or solves the biggest problem for the audience you are trying to attract. How would you profile the people or companies who fit this description? Where are they located? What sort of publications do they read? Where do they get their information from? What sort of tone and manner do they use in their everyday conversation?

Once you know your best target audience you can try to find more people, companies, or organizations, just like them. Targeting similar prospects that stand to gain the most from your offerings will increase your chances for success. Crafting your message or opening line to speak to how you can solve a major problem they might face or help them make more money, or grow their business, will get their attention. Don’t try to do too much with your opening. Leave something for their imagination so they can begin to visualize the benefits themselves. Remember the objective is getting an audience with your prospect so you can listen to what they are trying to accomplish, or understand a problem they are trying to solve. Then you can explain how your product or service can help them. Taking this “consultative” approach will increase your close ratio, and develop a valued partner instead of just being viewed as someone who wants to take up my time trying to sell me something I don’t want, have never heard about, and don’t care about.

Try a few different opening lines to see which ones work best for you, and the target audience you are going after. You might try one for twenty or thirty calls, and another you are considering for another twenty or thirty. See what works best and ask the people who responded what made them decide to call you back or to listen. Using this technique will help you increase the effectiveness of your opening line over time so can make more money with less effort.

About the Author – Scott Francis is President of Topline Development LLC a Strategic Marketing Consulting Group that helps companies determine how they can make the most amount of money with the least amount of resources. To learn more visit their web site at www.ToplineDevelopment.com or contact Scott directly at Scott@ToplineDevelopment.com