Sales Openers Should You Greet With Hello Hi Or Starkly Recite Your Name

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

You're sitting down to make some phone calls to a prospecting list that you've assembled or purchased.

Everything looks good, and you even have your script, your sales spiel, in front of you.

But I'll bet there's something you either forgot to insert into that call path or that you didn't completely think through: the very first words that would flow from your lips.

Specifically, what is the VERY FIRST WORD you're going to use, and did you select it after fully considering its impacts?

Let's examine three starters: (1) Hello; (2) Hi, (3) and I.

(1) Hello is probably your first impulse, but it sounds formal, as if you are a stranger to that company. You're on your best behavior with hello, and a call screener will recognize it, and she'll be put on her guard believing there is a refutable presumption that you don't deserve to get your way and to speak with the intended target of your call.

If you think I'm overstating this, recall the last time someone introduced you to someone else, in person. If you said "Hi" and the other person replied, "Hello," you might infer she is standoffish, that she wants to remain detached, and to behave as strangers.

(2) If you use Hi, you might get the screener to reflexively say Hi back to you, which is a good start. It's hard for people to become unfriendly and forbidding after they have just sounded so welcoming.

The downside to Hi is that it can sound too informal, too casual, and you can seem like a peer with the screener, which he or she will probably disrespect.

(3) Try starting a business to business call WITHOUT Hello or Hi. Begin with words such as these: "I'm Gary Goodman, President of The Goodman Organization."

Then, pause for emphasis, inducing the screener to respond with a showing of recognition and respect: "Yes sir," he'll probably say.

That's a great beginning because you have established your status, a serious intention for the call, and you've altered the typical script through which guards prevent you from entering the palace.

In a word, you've taken control and now, they're doing your bidding. If you're at all hesitant to try a new approach such as this one, don't be.

Your current method, if you can call it that, is at best, traditional and habitual.

But as a wise person once said, if you want improved results don't expect to get them by doing what you've always done.

By the way, different dynamics pertain to handling inbound calls, so please apply what I've said here only to outbound conversations.

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 800 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.