The words barely even matter, it just needs a catchy tune. Think of tone and rhythm.
Your tone can’t be too excited right off the bat or you’ll be immediately recognized as a salesperson. You also can’t talk too fast or you’ll seem as if you’re expecting to get hung up on.
The first words need to be very clear and casual. If you have the client’s first name from your list of leads, I recommend simply, “Bob?”
Just the first name with an inflected tone at the end to make their name sound like a question. The tone is everything here. The knee-jerk reaction to hearing your name asked like a question is to say, “Uh, yea, who’s this?”
Now, consider the alternative that most sales people use: “Hi, this is Cole from ABC Company, how are you today?”
Too wordy, and you play all your cards at once. In other words, the client knows exactly who you are and they have the power to hang up on you if they don’t want to hear from the ABC Company. Whereas, with the client’s first name, asked like a question, Bob is going to start the conversation for you and ask who you are.
Then you can express a little excitement: “Hey Bob!” Not too much, just a little to let him know you’re glad to be on the phone with him. And then introduce yourself casually, and always end with a genuine “How’s it goin?” I prefer this as opposed to a stiff “How are you today?” Which can seem a little overly formal and robotic.
So, all together it sounds like this: “Hey Bob! This is Cole from ABC Company, how’s it goin?” Notice we include the company info at this point (because you have to introduce yourself sooner or later). But the key here is to mask your statement with a question. You don’t want to leave a cliffhanger after you introduce yourself—this would give Bob the opportunity to hang up again. If you end with a question, again, the knee-jerk reaction from the client is to answer.
So Bob’s going to say, “Fine, how are you?” Now you’re in, and it’s time to build some rapport (if the client is friendly and you have some breathing room): “Oh, I’m alright, a little rainy outside. How’s the weather in (client’s city)?” It sounds cliché but weather is the safest topic imaginable—everyone can talk about it.
Or the client might be short and you have to get straight to showing value: “The reason I called today, Bob, is that …”
And that’s the opener. If you get this far, next it’s about starting your elevator pitch, showing some value, and giving the client a reason to stay on the phone.