"What is the best thing way to start a sales call?"

This question regularly pops up during my sales courses and one that a lot of people seem to fret over for some reason.
 

The secret to opening a sales call is simple however you must first look at it from the other person’s point of view.
 

You are a complete stranger to your prospect and they might be as nervous about meeting you as you are of meeting them. What sometimes happens is that the salesperson develops a cheesy opening line that immediately puts the prospect on the back foot.
 

Let’s be honest if you were sitting in a coffee shop and someone sat next to you and started asking about your family or something personal you would be telling them to mind their own business
 

What you need to do is make the prospect feel at ease and engage them in a conversation. Most people are comfortable in a genuine conversation and like the conversation to be about them. So it is not what you say when you meet someone for the first time that is important it is what question you ask.
 

Give them a question that they can easily answer so that the conversation starts to flow naturally. The result is that you are both at ease and then you can seamlessly move into your sales call.
 

What do you think?