In this video, we hear a cold call opener from a recruiter where he says:

We are a nationally recognized recruiting firm, which is why I am giving you a call today.

We view this as a product opener and recommend trying to avoid using this type of opener for these reasons:

  • All about me: when you open a cold call by talking about the product you sell, this is more of an “all about me” approach, and it can be more productive to try to make the cold call opener more about the prospect.
  • What is in it for me?: This is the main thing your prospect cares about, and talking about your product does not answer this question.
  • Not in buying mode: It is more likely than not that your prospect is not in buying mode for what you sell at the exact time that they answer you cold call.
  • Sell the meeting, not the product: The goal of the cold call should be to sell the meeting, not the product.

For those reasons, when you use a product opener, you increase the odds of a mismatch between what you are trying to do and where the prospect is at. This can increase the likelihood of the prospect giving you objections and trying to end the call.

Here are three other alternatives for you to use as a cold call opener.

 

Value Opener

Instead of talking about the product you sell at the beginning of the cold call, talk about the value your product has to offer. Staying with the same product as the example, here is a value opener for recruiting and staffing services.

Reason for the call is that we help businesses to:

  • Reduce the time it takes to fill open positions
  • Improve the quality of the people they interview and hire
  • Decrease time spent searching, screening, and interviewing applicants
  • Improve their screening and interviewing processes

I am not sure if you are concerned about those areas and that is why I am reaching out.

 

Pain Opener

Here is a pain cold call opener that uses the pain points that can be resolved with recruiting and staffing services.

Reason for the call is businesses we work with have challenges with:

  • Takes a long time to fill open positions
  • Hiring the wrong people is extremely costly
  • Time-consuming to properly find, screen, and interview applicants
  • Difficult to determine which applicant to hire and make the right decisions

But I am not sure if you are needing to improve those areas and that is why I am reaching out.

 

Customer Example Opener

Here is a customer example opener that shares an example of a previous customer.

Reason for the call is:

  • We worked with a startup business owner and not only helped to decrease the time to fill open positions
  • But also helped to improve the caliber of employees they were hiring

I am not sure if we can help you in the same way or not and that is why I am reaching out.

 

We hope these three options give you some new ideas for your cold call opener!