SELLI NG

OVER THE
PHONE
TI PS FOR
YOUR OPENI NG
STATEMENT
WRI TTEN BY:
SI MON WARMAN-FREED
CEO I NTELLI GENT BUSI NESS GROWTH

2
Simon has over 25 years proven international
management, sales, business development and
strategy experience with particular emphasis on
new business start up, growth and acquisition:
He has built a number of highly successful
multi million start up IT and services companies.
Simon also spent time as a Sales and marketing
director with Big 4 professional services
frm with a focus on helping entrepreneurial
and mid-market companies optimise their
strategy to deliver signifcant growth.
Simon founded Intelligent Business
Growth which has successfully worked
with many companies to build and
implement sales and marketing strategies
and deliver signifcant business wins.
He has a deep expertise in understanding the
issues and pressures facing business owners
and people within businesses at all levels, and
a track record of delivering strong results.
SI MON WARMAN-FREED
CEO I NTELLI GENT BUSI NESS GROWTH

3
copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
YOUR
OPENI NG
STATEMENT
The hardest part for people who are
selling over the phone and speaking
with someone for the frst time is their
opening statement.
You have 30 seconds to make an
impression to gain their interest and
attention so that the person you are
speaking to will wish to engage in
further dialogue. The trick is how to
make these 30 seconds count.
Below you will fnd some tips as to how
you can make your opening statement
as impactful as possible. If you or your
sales team are selling over the phone
then it would make sense to compare
what is being said against the points
covered in this document.
WHAT DO
I SELL?
Answer this using as few words as
possible. Avoid words or phrases
that mean nothing to outsiders (e.g.,
industry acronyms, fuffy corporate
communication language, etc.).
HOW DO MY
CUSTOMERS
BENEFI T
WHEN THEY
BUY MY
PRODUCT/
SERVI CE?
If you sell to businesses, be sure to
include the emotional benefts to the
buyer/decision maker in addition to
the more specifc benefts realized by
the company (a good buy or product
implementation can be the road
to promotion or status within an
organization). Youre looking for several
true benefts, not simply features.

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copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
Build several opening statements for
the different scenarios you might face
(e.g., catching a decision maker without
a screen or gatekeeper, catching a
decision maker on their way out the
door, delivering the opening statement
to a screener or gatekeeper who insists
on knowing what it is in reference to?,
or for voice mail, etc.). Address each of
the following in whatever order seems
most appropriate for your particular
sales world (just make sure the beneft
to your prospect is mentioned within
the frst 10 seconds and its real
not fuff).
Who you are
Who youre with (company name)
What you sell (in very simple terms)
How your prospect will beneft
from your product or service
A question to gauge
interest of the prospect
KEEP I N MI ND
Opening statements arent meant to
close a prospect. Theyre meant to
get attention and engage interest.
Maximize every word, every
syllable, and every pause.
Never leave a misleading or vague
voice mail message hit them
with your complete and prepared
opening (it should be short enough).
If it was worth dialling the phone,
its worth leaving your opening
statement. You will not trick
someone into buying something
because you caught them.
Never use industry jargon or
unnecessary thousand dollar words.
Avoid being vague.
NOW. . .

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copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
WORDS TO
CONSI DER
USI NG
maximize, increase, grow
[sales, customer retention,
productivity, etc.]
minimize, reduce, decrease,
eliminate [expenses, customer
service challenges, diversions, etc.]
proft from
specifc, specifcally
save, conserve
accumulate, acquire
prevent
fully
immediate, now
PHRASES
TO AVOI D
These phrases may be used at other
times during the sales process but
they have no place in the opening
statement. They dont create immediate
attention or encourage the prospect to
engage with you and therefore can take
away from the initial attention allotted
to you by the prospect.
How are you today?
Id like to learn a little more about
your business to determine
Were the leading provider of
We work with several of
your competitors.
Id like to see if there are some
ways we might work together.
Is now a good time to talk?
Did I catch you at a bad time ?

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copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
SAMPLE OPENI NG
STATEMENTS
Hi, [frst name]. We provide [product/ service] in order to help
people [take advantage of, minimize, maximize, prevent, etc.]
[something of importance] Im calling to see if this might be
helpful to [you/ and of your clients].
Hi, [frst name]. This is [sales name] with [company name]. We
provide [product/ service] in order to help companies minimize
their [whatever] expenses and maximize monthly sales revenue. Im
calling to see if this might be valuable to you and your team.
Hi, [frst name]. [sales name] with [company name] We help
companies fully proft from their existing resources through our
[product/ service] that [does/ has/ have whatever differentiating
point or feature] Im calling to see if youd be interested in
discussing how it might help your [whatever] efforts/ initiatives
Hi, [frst name]. [sales name], [company name]. We deliver [product/
service] which might be able to save you more than [specifc
percentage] on your [whatever] expenses. Would you be interested
in discussing how it might ft into your environment?

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copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
ARE YOU EXPERI ENCI NG
ANY OF THESE CHALLENGES
OR I S SOMETHI NG ELSE ON
YOUR MI ND?
If so, IBG have helped over 300 Business Owners
overcome many of the challenges that have been
identifed in this book and many other challenges too.
But its not what we say that is important. It is what
our clients think about us that counts! So please feel
free to look at http://www.ibg-world.com for a video
testimonial and http://ibg-world.com/testimonials-2/ for
written testimonials.
If you are experiencing any challenges within your
business and would like to get in touch please feel free
to call me directly on 020 368 6606 or alternatively
email me at simon.warman-freed@ibg-world.com.
YOU CAN ALSO FI ND ME ON
ituf

8
copyright Simon Warman-Freed 2013
CLICK HERE
to contact us or Contact IBG on
+44 (0) 20 368 6606
or email at
si mon.warman-freed@i bg-worl d.com