Kick Off a Sales Call with a New Prospect in 120 Seconds

Kick Off a Sales Call with a New Prospect in 120 Seconds
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Kick Off a Sales Call with a New Prospect in 120 Seconds in 5 Steps
Starting a sales call with a new prospect is a delicate balancing act that sets the tone for the entire conversation in two minutes or less. An effective opening can establish credibility, build rapport, and open the door to meaningful dialogue. Here are practical steps to ensure you make the most of those crucial first moments.

  1. Be Prepared
    Sales pre-call planning is the foundation of a successful sales call — especially when selling to senior executives. Research the prospect’s business, industry, and potential pain points. Familiarize yourself with their professional background, roles and responsibilities, and recent company news. This not only demonstrates professionalism but also allows you to customize your opening remarks to their unique situation.
  2. Have the Right Mindset
    While you may have sales targets to meet, if you want to be heard, your focus should be on your prospect’s goals, problems, and needs. This client-centric mindset should help you approach the call with confidence, curiosity, and a genuine desire to help. Take this as an opportunity to solve a pressing client problem rather than make a sales pitch to foster client trust and engagement.
  3. Nail the First 10 Seconds
    First impressions matter. We know from solution selling training that sales reps. have about 10 seconds to make a good first impression. Good first impressions have two components: a connecting reference and an engaging question.

    Connecting Reference
    For example, a connecting refence can be something as simple as:

    “Hi Lisa, this is Tom with LSA Global, I was talking with Ted over in Finance, and he suggested I reach out to you…”

    The goal of a connecting reference is to let your prospect know that there is a connection, and that this isn’t a cold call out of the blue.

    Engaging Question
    Immediately following that connective reference, pose an easy and engaging question. We define an engaging question as a simple yes or no question like:

    “I understand you’re the VP of _____ at ______. Is that right?” or
    “We talked 6 months ago about business sales training…. Do you remember our conversation?” or
    “Susan suggested I reach out to you… Did she tell you I was going to call?”

    The above questions are different than, “Do you have time?” or “Are you interested?” or “Are you the right person to speak with?” These questions can be the kiss of death for initial sales calls.

    The power of the engaging sales question is that the answer doesn’t really matter. The goal is simply to engage your potential client. We know from sales negotiation training that prospects are predisposed to stop listening, tune you out, and brush you off. But your simple question will hopefully keep them on the line long enough to get to the next step in the sales conversation — why it’s worth their time to talk to you.

  4. Establish Client-Centered Value
    You have about 30 seconds to describe why your ideal target client should continue speaking with you. To ensure that your unique value proposition gets through, make sure that you share something that your prospect either needs to know or that is out of the ordinary.  That means that your message must:

    — highlight a pressing problem that they are currently facing
    — share a creative or unknown insight about how to solve that problem
    — outline how you are uniquely positioned to make it happen compared to others

    It must also relieve any sales pressure by letting them know it’s their choice to continue to engage.  At this point, you aren’t selling your solution, you’re earning the right to continue the conversation. For example:

    “I noticed your company growth strategy has shifted, and I wanted to share how we’ve helped leadership teams like yours get aligned for growth…But I’m not sure if your teams are struggling to get on the same page.”

    By giving prospects an out, you are taking away the inherent sales pressure. When you say you’re not sure, this may also cause them to wonder if you could potentially offer something useful to them, and chances are, they’ll give up a few minutes to find out.

  5. Ask for Permission
    Now’s the time to ask for permission to continue the conversation. Say something like:“Would it be okay if I asked you a couple questions, to see if this might be worth exploring?”We know from business sales training that this sounds a lot different (and better) than “Do you have time?” No one has time. But a “couple questions” is a lot lower ask if your unique value proposition has hit the mark.

The Bottom Line
The first two minutes of a sales call can make or break the interaction. By preparing thoroughly, starting with unique relevance, and prioritizing the prospect’s needs, you create a strong foundation for meaningful sales discovery. Mastering these 5 steps to kick off a sales call with a new prospect ensures your calls are not only productive but also pave the way for long-term client relationships.

To learn more about to kick off a sales call with a new prospect, download 30 Research-Backed Sales Questions that Matter Most

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