Immediately establish rapport on cold-calls by matching your prospect's voice qualities - tone, pace, and emotion. Matching the emotion, or mood, of your prospect is key. If you begin your call sounding excited when she is not, you will be immediately branded as a salesperson, and the prospect's guard will be way up.

By matching her emotion, you immediately get her thinking "this person is like me". And we all want to talk to people like us. Begin your call with a simple question to verify the prospect's name even though you know who you are calling. This is your first chance to establish rapport.

Let's say that the next name on your prospect list is Dave Jackson:

DJ - "Hello. This is Dave Jackson"

You - "Hello, is this Dave Jackson?"

DJ - "Yes it is."

Repeat his name while matching his voice qualities - tone, pace, and emotion. You ask the name verification question, even though he stated his name, to break his thought pattern.

Then make a judgment about just how busy he is. If the prospect feels receptive go ahead and deliver your attention grabbing intro.

Do not ask if this is a good time to talk. If you do, you will only give him a chance to get rid of you before you have a chance to gain his interest.

If he sounds busy, tell him so, and ask when would be a good time to call back. He will likely ask why you are calling, giving you the perfect opening to deliver your attention grabbing introduction.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/