10 Business Pickup Lines

I received a number of requests recently for suggesting opening lines for salespeople when speaking with a prospect or client. Here are a few that work for me:

1. "Thanks for inviting me in to meet with you." Goal: to position yourself as an invited guest and not a pest.

2. "Just to let you know, I will be sending you an email summarizing this meeting within 24 hours." Goal: to set their expectations about what will happen next.

3. "Would you like to review calendars for another appointment, especially if we don't have time to complete the agenda for this meeting?" Goal: to assure you have enough time to understand their needs.

4. "If this meeting exceeds your expectations, do you have another step in mind? Or would you like me to suggest a next step?” Goal: to get a sense for their decision making process.

5. "Please tell me more about the concern you expressed earlier to me.” Goal: to focus on the prospect's issues.

6. "What is the personal impact, if this concern is not addressed?" Goal: to make them see how this affects them.

7. "Do you have a budget set aside to make these concerns go away?" Goal: to have them share any budget restrictions.

8. "Who besides you is responsible for helping you make this decision?" Goal: to find out who else should be involved in future meetings or conversations.

9. "Before I present information about my solution, would you let me know what is on target and what isn't?" Goal: to partner with your prospect and assure your presentation is on target.

10. "On a scale of 1-10 (1 being no way that you want to move ahead, and 10 being a done deal), where do you stand?" Goal: to solicit feedback and find out what you could have done better.

On May 7th, Criteria for Success will host an executive workshop, “I Don’t Want To Be a Salesperson; I Want To Be a CEO.” The event’s panelists will include NY Report publisher and editor-in-chief Robert Levin. Visit http://www.criteriaforsuccess.com/events/ for more information.