Now that I have trashed almost everything that you might have been taught about what to say on a prospecting call, I guess it’s time for me to step up to the plate with what you should do. And I will; you won’t be disappointed.

This one chapter could be worth many times more than your investment in the entire book. We are about to cover the step-by-step process for pulling together everything that we have covered so far—all of your planning and your intelligence gathering—and plugging it into your interest-creating opening statement.

The Jim Furyk Theory

I must preface everything I suggest about openings with what I call the Jim Furyk Theory. Furyk is a PGA golfer, and what makes him unique is that he has a very unconventional swing. I won’t mince words; it’s just plain ugly. However, Furyk has been one of the best golfers in the world; he’s won a major championship and many tournaments and has been PGA Player of the Year. There probably is not a golf teacher alive, though, who would ever teach a golf swing the way Furyk executes it. But what they do teach—and agree upon—is that the club head needs to be square to the ball at impact to realize the optimal result. While what happens before Furyk hits the ball is ugly, he squares the club at impact, and his results prove it.

You might have come across a Furyk or two in your sales career. They are the people who can pull off techniques that most people should not even try.

In Chapter 1 I mentioned Sean Jones, who went from homeless to millionaire by prospecting. I consider Sean to be a Jim Furyk because he uses a technique I am not a fan of. But it works for him. That technique is: after introducing himself he says, “I want to let you know this is a cold call.” Again, it works for him, but I’ve heard others fail miserably trying it, it gets the prospect’s mind stuck on the fact they are being cold called, and the rep wasn’t savvy enough to reverse that with a confident, smooth delivery of their value statement.

I do not claim to have the one and only perfect opening statement methodology for prospecting. In fact, there are many ways and variations to get to a prospecting goal. I know that there are wildly successful Smart Callers who combine my methodology with material from other prospecting experts whom I have the utmost respect for, such as Anthony Iannarino, Jeb Blount, and Mark Hunter.

The goal of my process is to help you to maximize your chance of squaring the club head at impact to get the result you desire, while minimizing resistance.

I’ve given you a number of “don’t say” phrases, and I am about to show you many more “to do’s” for your openings. These are based on what I know to work from my own experience, study, and implementation—and from thousands of Smart Callers and salespeople I have talked to and worked with. I also know that there are probably some Jim Furyks out there who can show some success using unconventional techniques. There are a number of ways to get the results we desire. That’s why I will present to you a number of options, and it will be your responsibility to mold, shape, and beat them into a form that works for you.

Two Objectives for Your Openings

Let’s first be clear on what you’re trying to do with openings. You have two simple objectives for your opening statement:

1. To move your prospects into a positive, receptive frame of mind to participate.
2. To move them to the questioning phase of the call and begin to get them talking.

That’s it. As we discussed in the last chapter, you don’t want to give a presentation, ask for a decision or appointment, or talk about products, services, or things. You just want them to be curious, interested, and talking.

The desired end result of the perfect Smart Calling opening is quite simple, really. We want them to lean forward and say, “OK, sure, what do you want to know?”

Scripting

The worst time to think of what you’ll say is when it’s already leaving your mouth. The solution is scripts. Just saying the word causes many professionals to crinkle their noses with disdain and screech, “No way! They make you sound canned!” The truth is that winging it usually leads to its own undesirable result: sounding like a blabbering fool. Not preparing a script for your opening and voicemail message is just plain foolish.

As for the claim that a script makes you sound canned, well, have you been to a movie or watched a TV series lately? This might come as a shock, but the actors were all working from scripts. Scripts don’t make you sound canned; the delivery of a poorly constructed script can make someone sound canned.

I define a script as the conversational combination of well-planned words that, when delivered naturally, elicit the listener response we desire. Dissenters who say they just like to wing it on the phone cause me to shake my head in disbelief, because winging it often results in a rambling, stream-of-consciousness monologue that never will be better than something prepared in advance.

Let’s put it in a different perspective and pretend that you were asked to write an article for the highest-profile trade publication in your industry. This article could give you celebrity status and maybe even cause prospects to view you as the expert in the business with whom they want to work. It could be a career-defining article. Would you scratch out the first thing that came to mind and submit your rough draft to the publication’s editor? No! You’d give it some thought, do some research, prepare an outline, do a first version, edit it, maybe have someone else look at it, revise it, and continue the process until you had something very tight that you were comfortable with. Why? Because you’d want it to be the best it could possibly be.

Now, let me ask you, if a sales rep dials the phone—completely scriptless—and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, just winging it, what is he submitting? It is essentially a rough draft, which, of course, is nowhere near the quality of something he might take the time to prepare.

Organizing what you’ll say in advance of the conversation allows you to fine-tune and economize the precise combination of words that will give you the result you’re looking for. The key to sounding smooth is in writing it in a conversational tone and then delivering it naturally. And just like an actor, that requires studying and practicing it.

The Smart Call Interest-Creating Opening Statement Process

It’s time to explore the step-by-step opening statement process. (I’ve put together a template following this process, along with more messaging suggestions. Get it in your Smart Calling Companion Course in Chapter 10, SmartCallingBook.com.)

Putting It into Action

Let’s look at some full examples, using a few different PVPs.

• “Hi Dr. Moeller, I’m Stephen Drury with Smile Marketing. I noticed the coupons you are running in the school paper and spoke with your office manager about some of the marketing you are doing to build your practice. We specialize in working with pediatric dentists who are building their practice. We can help cut their cost of new patient acquisition by an average of 50%, while increasing their number of new patients by 25% within six months. Depending on what your goals are, we might have a few options worth taking a look at.”
• “Dan, I’m Karen Browning with Integrated Software. I was at your website and downloaded your report from the new book on managed health care. In speaking with Kelly, your marketing assistant, I understand that you’re exploring options to streamline the steps it takes to do your online follow-up with those types of leads. We specialize in working with health industry publishers who want to optimize their marketing and help them to lower their cost per inquiry. In many cases we’ve helped cut their software costs, saving hours of time, and in some cases, doubling their online book sales. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if this might be something worth taking a look at.”
• “Heather, I’m Kyle Johnston with Personnel Solutions. I saw your Twitter posting mentioning how many unqualified applications you had to go through the other day. We specialize in reaching high-level managers in your industry who otherwise might not be looking for positions. Recruiters who use our career postings tell us that the candidates they attract are better qualified—which saves them hours per week by not having to deal with applicants who would never be considered. I’d like to ask a couple of questions to see if we should have a conversation.”
• “Hi Jack, I’m Zack Krandle with Hometown Construction. In reviewing some of the reports from the city permits department, I came across some of the properties that your firm manages. Our specialty is in helping property managers who want to minimize the hassle of the inspection process. We have a good relationship with the inspectors here in town; we know their tendencies and specialize in working with landlords whose properties failed building inspections and fix them so they pass. If this is a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions.”
• “In reading your company blog, I saw that there have been some challenges with customer deliveries over the past few months. We specialize in working with businesses that ship with UPS, Federal Express, and DHL, helping them take advantage of the guaranteed refunds the carriers offer for late delivery. We’ve been able to help most of our clients get refunds ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars per year, depending on shipping volumes. If I’ve reached you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions to see if it would be worth our while to talk further.”
• “Mr. Prospect, I’m ______ with ______. I was speaking with your business manager and understand that a growing part of your noninsurance business is paid by credit card—and you’ve recently had your transaction fees raised. We’ve worked with a number of auto repair shops and helped them cut some obscure credit card processing fees they weren’t even aware they were paying—thereby allowing them to keep a greater percentage of every ticket. We might be able to do the same for you; I’d like to ask a few questions to see if I could provide you more information.”

Does Length Matter?

I’m often asked about the proper length of an opening, how long is too long, and the like. As a general rule, you want to say as much as you can with the fewest number of words—which means that every word should add to the impact of the opening. If a word doesn’t contribute, edit it out.

I know from experience that some people might look at the opening examples here and say, “Too long!” My response is that something is too long only if it is delivered poorly and doesn’t interest the listener. If your opening is laser-targeted to the prospect’s world, she will listen. Conversely, if it is irrelevant, even one sentence is too long in his mind.

The Time Issue

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, you might want to verbalize respect for prospects’ time. I can understand that. Some people want to do it all of the time, while others think that it provides an opportunity for the prospect to say, “I’m too busy to talk.” Since I can argue both sides of that issue, I suggest that its use is purely a matter of personal preference. My one rule, however, is to not simply say: “Do you have a few moments to talk?” right at the beginning (as I pointed out in the previous chapter). If you do want to mention time, I always recommend that you do so after making your PVP. Notice that in one of the examples of my formula, I use the phrase “and if I have reached you at a good time.” That is not a question but a statement, one that’s strategically positioned after the value to give the prospect a reason to stay on the phone. If they are so busy right now that they can’t speak with us, they’ll let us know (actually, they probably wouldn’t have picked up the phone in the first place). Otherwise, it’s embedded in the sentence where we suggest that we’d like to ask a few questions.

Smart Caller Janelle Lott shared a technique that I like a lot. At the end, after your PVP, she says, “I’d like to ask you a few questions … I won’t keep you long.”

That’s a great way of respecting their time, without the risk of asking for it.

My friend Mike Weinberg, author of New Sales. Simplified., has a great option for addressing the time issue. He suggests, “Let me take a minute …”

For example, “Joe, Mike Weinberg with ACME Consulting. I head up new business development for our firm … let me take a minute …” and then you continue with your value opening.

By the way, the “I head up …” is another of Mike’s techniques that I like. It positions you as an important person.

As part of my preparation for customized training programs for companies, I like to listen to participants’ recorded calls. On the first few calls with one particular client, I heard the rep introduce himself and his organization and then say, “I’ll be brief, if that’s okay with you.” My first reaction was negative, thinking that was a bit cheesy. Then I heard the rep use it on almost every call, and not one prospect responded, “No, please, be as verbose as you can.” Everyone responded with something like “Sure, go ahead.” This may not be for everyone, but it is an option I’ll put in the Jim Furyk category.

Weasel Words

You might have also noticed I used a number of words that are not typically associated with strong sales language. They might actually seem weak, but that’s by design. I suggest using some weasel words like:

• Might
• Maybe
• Perhaps
• Depending on

In Chapter 9, I advised against using declarative statements. We use these weasel words instead because we want to avoid having prospects see us as that pushy, cocky salesperson. These words soften up the opening, and help us transition into the questions:

“… and depending on your satisfaction with the speed and downtime of your Internet connection, we might be able to help you cut down on the time you spend waiting for pages to load, and minimize those interruptions in service your assistant said you are experiencing …”

And notice how this leads right into questioning.

“… and if I’ve reached you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions …”

A Unique Addition to Your Opening

If you are in an uber-competitive space and your prospects get tons of calls daily, not only from your competition but from reps selling virtually anything, here’s a technique I’ve been recommending and lots of my clients have been using.

It helps you stand out because it’s unique, it empathizes with the prospect, helps them let down their guard, and, depending on what you say, gets them talking, which is your goal.

The technique is this: “Hi Mary, Tom Davis with Logistic Partners. First, let me ask you how many calls you got today from sales reps who told you they could save you time and money? (pause) Well, I’m not going to tell you that, yet. We’re a bit different. We specialize in …”

Then you give your opening, which does still hint at a result, and then you get into your questions.

Another variation of this is, “Hi Dale, Kate Stevens here with Nation Coverage. I’d imagine you get contacted all day long by people who want to quote on your health insurance. Well, I might want to ask that, but we’re quite a bit different than everyone who asks that … What we do is …”

Using “Status Alignment” in Your Messaging

Oren Klaff is the author of the best-selling book Pitch Anything. His PR people pitched having Oren on my podcast to discuss his follow-up book, Flip the Script. I agreed.

I always do my research before shows and read the preview copy of the book. In it, Oren talks about “status alignment.” This means that in order to connect with a decision maker, he/she must feel that you both are on the same level of the “dominance hierarchy.”

These hierarchies exist in pretty much everything. For example, Oren’s a motorcycle enthusiast, which I asked him about right at the beginning of the show because it was part of his intro. He’s into high-end, collector bikes most people have never heard of. I know nothing about motorcycles and would never get on one.

I jokingly asked him if he’s ever been to Sturgis, which is kind of like a Woodstock for bikers (think Harley types). He seemed offended, and said he wasn’t into those types of motorcycles. We obviously were not in status alignment on the topic.

The way we can use status alignment is in our Smart openings and voicemails, to show we know something about the prospect, to build credibility, and to show we are on their level.

He suggests it is done in one of three ways,

1. Use specific industry lingo.
2. Describe a recent action you have taken.
3. Mention a real situation everyone in the industry cares about.

Great Smart openings incorporate all three. Here’s an example for the CIO of a financial institution:

“Hi Ms. Prospect, I’m Pat Seller with Secure Systems. I understand you are looking into enhancing your protection against server breaches due to stolen credentials [#3 above]. We specialize in working with banks to minimize this at the multifactor authentication level, while being in compliance with FFIEC [#1]. In fact, after having our system for just a week, one community banking group identified and stopped a breach that would have cost millions [#2]. I’d like to ask a couple of questions to see if I could provide some information.”

This language would be way over the head of most regular people, but it would be in perfect status alignment with the prospect whose job relied on that.

Create Your Smart Voicemail Message

Remember, your opening statement does double duty as your voicemail message to the prospect. The only difference is the ending. In a voicemail, simply let the prospect know that you will call again and that you will provide your number in case they’d like to reach you.

I also like to tell them I will send an email (containing the same message) and that if they hit “reply” and send a couple of times to speak, I will call back then.

I’ll modify one of the openings I shared previously into a voicemail message:

“Hi Jack, I’m Zack Krandle with Hometown Construction. In reviewing some of the reports from the city permits department, I came across some of the properties that your firm manages. Our specialty is in helping property managers who want to minimize the hassle of the inspection process. We have a good relationship with the inspectors here in town; we know their tendencies and specialize in working with landlords whose properties failed building inspections and fix them so they pass. I will call you again Friday morning, and if you’d like to call me before then, my number is ###-###-####. I’ll also send you an email, and if you’d prefer, just hit ‘reply’ with choices of times you are available.”