Most sales trainers and managers believe that the best sales people prospect fearlessly. But what “fearless” truly means is up for debate. To me, being fearless doesn’t mean forcing your way past a prospect’s objections and desperately trying to turn their “no” into a “yes.” Instead, true fearlessness is accepting the “no’s” with just as much grace as the “yes’s.”
If a buyer doesn’t want to talk to you for half an hour, you can’t and shouldn’t make them do so. Your determination to get one particular prospect to agree to a meeting means you have less time to find five new prospects who would welcome your invitation.
Once you appreciate what “fearless” really means, use the following one-liners to grab your prospects’ attention and entice them to take another call with you. Some of them go against conventional sales wisdom, but if you try them, you’ll work your way through your call list with increased speed and effectiveness.
Attention-Grabbing Sales Prospecting Phrases
1. “We haven’t met before”.
Prospects often perceive a sales person’s friendliness as familiarity, and this can confuse them. Have they met you before? Do they know you from somewhere? They’ll likely spend the first minute of your conversation wondering if and how you know each other. But when it becomes evident that this is a sales call and the rep is in fact a stranger, they feel tricked, and become angry.
Take the guesswork out of your intention by stating up front, “We’ve not met (or spoken) before,” This sets the prospect’s expectations and ensures they don’t feel the rep is being deceptive. In the long run, being straightforward and honest is always better than relying on cheap tricks to perk buyer interest.
2. “This call will take three minutes”.
During prospecting calls, many sales people say something along the lines of “this call will only take a few minutes.” But the lack of a specific time frame is a red flag to prospects. They know that “a few minutes” doesn’t actually mean a few minutes; it means however long they’re willing to listen to you talk.
Set a clear finish line so the prospect isn’t desperately trying to think of a way out of the conversation while you’re talking. A time limit allows the prospect to concentrate on the content of your speech because they know they won’t be on the phone long.
In addition, this keeps the conversation brief, and shorter, more frequent touches are always better than longer and less frequent contacts in sales.
3. “I don’t know much about your company”.
Sales people should always research their prospect’s organisation before a call and demonstrate that knowledge while on the phone. So why would you tell your prospect “I don’t know much about your company”?
The answer is simple: Prospects respond more positively to curiosity than credibility. Every sales person tries to portray themselves as an expert, but not many take on the role of a curious student. And this latter approach is more appealing to buyers.
Just make sure to follow this statement up with an insight that shows off your knowledge. For example:
“Now, I don’t know much about your company, but I noticed that you just launched your third software release this year. What have the results been like?”
Sell the prospect on your curiosity first, and then demonstrate your credibility. This will earn you more interest than the other way around.
4. “I’m lost. Can you help me”?
Use this phrase to get start a conversation with the prospect. Or say something like, “This is my first call to your company and I’m not sure where to start.” Not only does this disarm the prospect, but it also sets the expectation that you need their help, and they need to decide if they’ll help you or not. If they don’t help you, it lets you know that you should spend your time prospecting elsewhere.
Words like “help”, “lost”, and “start” are easy expressions to understand and connect with. It’s likely your prospect has needed help, was lost, or had trouble getting started with something, so this is a great way to connect with them.
5. “Our companies have spoken in the past, but I haven’t reached out before. I’m trying to decipher the notes from the previous account manager who spoke with you”.
This comes in handy when you inherited an account from someone else and you’re not sure where to start. And it can be used if your company has had a prior relationship with a prospect’s company. Similar to the previous phrase, you’re relying on the customer to help you out. Frame it in a way where you’re seeking assistance from them and express your genuine interest in learning more about the company.
6. “I’m looking to get more detail or background about your executive and what they like or don’t like about sales calls”.
If you’re talking to an executive assistant or receptionist, ask them about what their executive is expecting from a sales call. You could even add something along the lines of, “I’m doing my prep to understand exactly what they’re looking for.” Not only will you build a connection with the assistant, but you’ll have an idea of what you should include or avoid when speaking with the executive in a future sales call.
7. “Thank you”.
Maybe you’re calling for a referral to the right person to talk with about your product. If the contact gives you the name and email address of the appropriate colleague, don’t drag the conversation out. Simply thank them, wish them a pleasant day, and end the call.
But you’re not done yet. After you’ve hung up the phone, pick it up again and call the same person back. When they answer (and it’s highly likely they will since you just talked with them), say the following:
“I’m sorry to call you back, but I forgot to ask you — why is John the person to talk with about this?”
This two-call approach can often generate far more information than if the sales person tries to cram all their questions into one long conversation.
Again, frequency always beats duration. Two five-minute calls are more agreeable to the prospect and more valuable to the sales person than one half-hour long meeting.
Are you or your sales struggling to get the attention of prospects? Maybe we can help.
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