Ep 2: The Opening Script

Sam McKenna: Once rapport building is done, one question decides where the whole call goes. It's the handoff from small talk to the reason you're all here, and it's the single line we encourage every team we train to change. It looks like the easiest thing to fix, but for most reps, it turns out to be one of the hardest.

The question most reps default to sounds something like, "So what interested you in today's call?". On paper, it's open-ended and the rep is trying to shortcut straight to what the buyer wants, but play out the best answer you can get. The buyer repeats what they already typed into the form, and we miss the chance to get to true buyer pain. As their coach, this is the muscle to prioritize, because this one edit changes the entire trajectory of the call and the opportunity.

The version I teach allows reps to sell multiple products, show their buyers they've done their homework, and is so broad that it allows the buyer to give a long-winded answer. Here's what to watch for: when a rep gets it right, the buyer starts to nod, and you can even see them physically shifting in their seats as they start to take a breath and position themselves to give a nice, long-winded answer, which is exactly what we're hoping for. But before we get too far, let's pause here to watch what the standard opener looks like.

Sam (the seller): "Hey, so thanks for filling out our form. I know you had some things that you wanted to talk about. I'd love to hear what interested you in our call today."

Paul (the buyer): "Yeah, I think it's all there in the form, to be honest. It's mostly about the analytics for us, so we'd love to hear about that."

Sam (the seller): "Oh, yeah. Well, actually, I think our analytics are pretty amazing. Can I pull up a screen share really quick? Let me show you a couple of things and, just a second, I'll fire it up."

That felt open-ended, but look what it got me. He read from his own form right back to me. The energy flattened, and now I have nowhere to go. Moreover, when reps hear something they can sell, they're quick to demo or screen share rather than make use of the time to do proper discovery.

Also, here's a bonus tip: so many reps struggle in this area because a narrow question will get a narrow reply, just like you heard here. Then they aren't sure what to do next, so they ask another narrow question, hoping to get something that lands that they can run with, but usually get another narrow answer. Ask broad questions that give the buyer plenty of space to speak at length. Like, "Tell me about your team, your challenges, or what you're trying to accomplish this year.". Now let's watch as a broader question completely disarms the buyer.

Sam (the seller): Okay, so listen, I could talk about that forever, but I know there's some things that we wanted to get out of our call today. A couple of things on our side: I can talk to you about our top-of-the-funnel sales training that we do, our focus on the deep work that we do on discovery calls, and just leveling those out. But I'd love to hear from you first. I know you guys are focused on B2B at Parker Gale, right? You've got a handful of portfolio companies that you're working on. You're the go-to-market guy. So I can only imagine the unbelievable amount of questions that you get. But tell me about you. Tell me about the team, the challenges, things you're looking to achieve. How can I make great use of our time today?"

Paul (the buyer): "Yeah. So the thing to keep in mind is these are founder-owned businesses when they come our way. There might be a small sales team, but there hasn't been a lot of sales training or documented sales process, and certainly not like higher-level analytics or call reporting or some of the stuff that you and I would think of as foundational tech stack stuff. So a lot of my work in the first year is installing a lot of that for the first time, but also working with a new CEO to make sure that fits their vision in terms of what they want inside the company. So I would say the biggest challenge for us is, one, capacity—making sure I have enough time to do the training that needs to happen—and two, making sure that fits with everything we've learned in diligence. Sorry, I know that was kind of a lot."

See how disarming that was?. I gave him a quick menu so he knew I had done my "show me, you know me" research, and then I got completely out of the way. Note that while he may have inbounded for one of the three offerings I listed, those offerings are related, so he now knows that we do them and we can include them in our chat if appropriate. It's an awesome way to cross-sell right out of the gate.

And by the way, if your rep earns the apology—the "Sorry, I know that was a lot"—give them bonus points. That's a buyer who trusted us enough to professionally vent and who did exactly what we had hoped for. On the recording, look to see how long the talk track was from the buyer. If you see a short stint versus that long ripcord speech, it might signal that the rep needs help with their opening question.