How to Start a Sales Call [5 Easy Steps]

Data-Driven Selling By Sales Insights Lab

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KEY MOMENTS:
0:44 . Open with distinction.
2:05 2. Show that you know their world.
2:55 3. Bring insight.
3:50 4. Share common issues.
4:40 5. Leverage a kickass CTA.

1. Open with distinction.

Take a moment to put yourself in your prospect's shoes. They’re sitting at their desk, their phone rings, and they automatically answer. Maybe they did it without really thinking—perhaps they thought it was their spouse calling. Instead, they hear this on the other end of the line: “Hey! Marc Wayshak here. How are you doing today?!” The prospect immediately feels a sense of dread; they know it’s a salesperson using a super-duper salesy approach and they immediately start planning how to get off the phone.

To avoid this reaction, we must learn how to start a sales call in a completely opposite way from what the prospect expects. That means dropping common openings like, "Hey, how are you today?!" and ditching the super-excited, enthusiastic sales voice. Instead, focus on being low-key. Use an approach to open the conversation that will break the usual pattern your prospect has come to dread hearing over the phone.

If you open with distinction, setting yourself apart from other salespeople right off the bat, it will catch your prospect off guard and break the pattern. In other words, at first, you really want your prospect to be unsure whether you’re a salesperson or not. Keep them on their toes for those first couple of seconds of the conversation.

2. Show that you know their world.

When learning how to start a sales call, demonstrating your knowledge is the second step in the process. One of the best ways to separate yourself from the hoards of other salespeople is to demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. Show that you know what’s going on in their world. The more you can demonstrate that you understand their world early on in the call, the more likely they are to allow you to continue with the conversation.

Most salespeople follow some lame approach that's focused on their own company. They immediately start talking about how great their company is or how amazing their offering is. Instead, start the conversation by focusing on the prospect. Show that you know their world and what's going on for them. They're more likely to say, "Okay, this person knows what they're talking about, I'll give them a few seconds." That's all you need.

3. Bring insight.

Once you’ve already demonstrated that you know what's going on in your prospect’s world, it’s time to bring some insight into the conversation. When it comes to mastering how to start a sales call, insight is the single most powerful tool that any salesperson has at their disposal.

Think about it this way: in your role as a salesperson, you’ve likely talked to hundreds, if not thousands, of people who were in very similar circumstances to your prospect right now. Use that insight; don’t let it go to waste. The more insight you can bring from this high-level overview, the more likely you are to demonstrate that you have real value to bring.

4. Share common issues.

Because it’s so important to the process of how to start a sales call, let’s dive deeper into what it really means to bring insight to your sales calls. So much of this step relies on your ability to demonstrate that you understand the common issues faced by people just like your prospect. Common issues are the key to getting any prospect to start to open up.

When you're learning how to start a sales call, it has nothing to do with your product or service. It has everything to do with the common issues you’re seeing—and engaging the prospect around those challenges. This is how you can start to bring real value to your sales conversation early on, get prospects to open up, and find more of them willing to have a real conversation with you.

5. Leverage a kickass CTA.

The next key to starting a sales call is to have a kickass call-to-action to get people on the phone with you. Most salespeople try to initiate a sales call with something weak like, "Hey, let's set up a phone call." Your prospect doesn't want to just have a phone call. They're not dying to talk to a salesperson; they just want real value. A kickass CTA must be something that is of tremendous value to your prospect; something that will get a complete stranger to be willing to engage you in a sales conversation.

What is something you can offer your prospects that will be truly useful to them in terms of solving the challenges they're facing right now? Something that’s beyond simply, "Hey, will you hop on a call with me?"—because they don't want to do that. But what they do want is some kind of value that will help them solve their top challenges. That's what the kickass CTA is all about.