Feeling a little down on your sales wooing game? Is the harsh, cruel reality of denial becoming all too familiar? Are your tried-and-true pickup lines leaving you out in the cold? You’re not alone. We’ve all been there, and we’ve all suffered the crushing blow of a stone cold shutdown in the midst of the all-important sales icebreaker.
If they’re not jiving with what you’re putting down, perhaps it’s time to change your method. Maybe they’re expecting a little more from you. After all, customers are already 57 percent of the way through the sales process before they ever engage with a sales rep, meaning they’re educated and on the critical path toward finding the perfect solution. They don’t need to be sweet talked so much as they just need support in closing the deal.
Knowing this, may we suggest some new sales conversation starters for your repertoire? These lines, mixed with a little social insight, will have you saying all the right things at just the right time, cutting pre-call research by 70 percent and creating meaningful conversations that are the building blocks to long-lasting relationships.
If large corporate acquisitions were snowflakes, I’d send you a blizzard.
Show customers you care by staying educated on their current events. Did they just go through major leadership changes? Navigate a giant merger? If so, then maybe it’s time to call them up and talk about growth. Did they just file for bankruptcy? Lay off a large chunk of the workforce? Steer clear and lay low until they’re on the upswing.
Wanna get a coffee? Because I like your tweets a latté.
There’s plenty of insight to be gleaned through a prospect’s social feeds. What are they tweeting about? What hashtags are they using? Who are they following? Listening in on their social feeds gives you a front-row seat to what’s on their mind, helping you a) identify their pain points and priorities, and b) jump in at the right time and add your own thought leadership to the mix.
I hope you know CPR because your connections take my breath away.
There’s no shame in a little name dropping here and there—10 percent of executives respond to cold calls or unsolicited emails, but 84 percent engage with sales when they share a connection. It behooves you to sift through your connections and pinpoint the mutual friends, colleagues, and general acquaintances, because nothing warms up a cold lead like, “Don’t you just love Eddie’s extensive holiday sweater collection? Me too. What a great dude.”
Did you have Lucky Charms for breakfast? Because your org chart is magically delicious.
Don’t waste time buttering up the wrong people. There’s sales productivity to be had! Use social insights to assess the lay of your prospect’s corporate land—who’s who on the buying team? Who’s making the decision? Who holds the veto power? Once you find them, take it a step further and look into their tweets and LinkedIn posts to brush up on the problems they’re facing and what they’re looking for. You’ll know what they need before they even know you know they need it!
Feel like you need a more detailed crash course on sales conversation starters? Get ready to visit Microsoft Dynamics CRM Insights powered by InsideView if you’re all set to really boost your sales game and increase win rates by 15 percent. Otherwise, there’s always “Do your legs hurt? Because you’ve been running through my mind all day long.”
Best of luck!