Off the Cuff: That Great Opening Question

Jermaine Edwards

Off the Cuff Interview Question: “What is an example of a great opening question to get a cold prospect to talk to you?”

For most sales professionals just getting the right person on the phone is a struggle enough. By time a prospect actually answers the phone they’re more surprised than prepared. Before opening a call, your mindset and philosophy matters. Meaning the thoughts, intentions and purpose you have on each call impact the quality of questions you might ask, and how you’re experienced by your prospect.

Rather than being perspective with a list of questions, here’s how you can create your own.

Start with the end in mind and write down questions that meet the goal you have, the feeling you want your prospect to have, and the reasonable incremental action they could take.

You ideally want questions that…

1. Stir curiosity
2. Demonstrate that you respect their time
3. Show you’re someone worth speaking with
4. Get them involved

When you focus on these areas you will immediately differentiate yourself from other sales reps as a person of value.

Without giving too specific an opening, here are four example questions you can experiment with. This will vary depending on your industry and/or service offering:

1. How today are you generating insight to help you make the best possible decisions on (area/topic) in your business?
2. Came across your name on LinkedIn after speaking with a client and saw the opportunity to add value to you in (problem area). For the next five minutes, would you be open to exploring this?
3. I did some research on your business and noticed (area) where you could get (x results) like clients similar to you. Would you be open to a scheduled call to discuss?
4. What is the biggest goal you have this year that will most challenge your people?

Remember this is all about intent. Intent focuses your questions and great questions create bridges that connect you and the prospect faster than any other sales technique.

Take the time to master successful question asking and you’ll have more successful prospecting.

Pipeliner CRM empowers salespeople to know exactly what questions to ask. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.