It is common knowledge among all sales reps that making a solid first impression on a prospect and building rapport is simultaneously one of the most difficult, yet rewarding experiences. A sales person who is able to consistently foster strong personal connections and develop professional, consultative business relationships will find the sales process to be infinitely simpler and faster.

Below are my top 5 tips for having a successful first call:

1. Introduce your personality ASAP

It seems like there was a script developed hundreds of years ago for sales calls that every sales person has been following. Break the mold. You are talking to a real, live human being on the other end who may have a spouse, kids, loves soccer, brews their own beer, watched the finale of “So You Think You Can Dance,” etc. Get to know them.

Here is a quick transcript of how I introduce myself for the first time:

*Ring Ring*
Prospect: Hi, this is Mary
Me: Hi Mary, this is Kimling from Meltwater News. How are you?
Prospect: I’m okay Kimling, how are you?
Me: Well, I actually got up a bit early this morning and went for a jog. I ran to a part of town I haven’t explored yet and found a tiny coffee shop where they brew the most amazing Café au lait I have ever had. After years of Starbucks, I have rediscovered my love for coffee! How has your day been?
Prospect: Haha that sounds fun. My day’s been good I had a cup of coffee… *Chat*

From that point on, I will always have the ability to reference coffee as a conversation piece with Mary.

2. Have client references ready

One of the easiest ways to gain credibility and trust in the eyes of any prospect is to reference clients that your company works with in their industry. I always take a couple of minutes to research my next prospect’s industry, see if we work with any of their competitors, and educate myself on how they use our services. I also look up the person I’m about to call on LinkedIn to see which companies they used to work at. If we happen to work with any of those, that makes for yet another fantastic way to get a foot through the door and schedule a demo with them.

3. Throw in a bit of X-Factor

While conceptually presenting to a client how they could use our services, I always have one “out of the box” idea that I hope to use to prove my worth as a business consultant. I will try to think of smaller details that will impact the business of my prospect which may be overlooked in a generic sales pitch – I.E. the danger of choking on caps for any pen/marker/water bottle company as opposed to just focusing on competitors. For example, if you are calling a company that makes dry-erase markers, I might reference that they could use our solution to track any media coverage on the toxicity of said markers in K-5 schools or if there are any articles on the danger of children choking on the caps of markers – then they could directly reach out to that publication and ask them to write a follow-up on how Expo Markers are addressing those concerns.

4. Talk to the VP or C-Level Executive

There is no greater waste of everyone’s time than presenting to someone who does not have the authority to make a decision, especially in today’s economy. It may be a bit easier to get someone lower down on the totem pole on the phone, but you will indefinitely lengthen the sales process and risk losing the sale to a savvier sales person who gets the almighty Decision Maker on the phone. So spend your time crafting strategies to get the attention of a top-level executive via E-Mail or Cold Call and you will be a more successful sales person who will learn about how business is conducted in upper management – one of the greatest perks of sales and perhaps a reason why 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs started in sales positions

5. Schedule your next appointment

One of the most common mistakes that I made was to get the attention of a CMO, have them be genuinely interested in Meltwater News, and then spend way too much time pitching the service on the first call to the detriment of actually scheduling a demonstration. I had to force myself to learn. One of the most valued principles in the entertainment world is to end on a cliffhanger and keep the audience wanting more. Therefore, just when a first call is going exceptionally well:

Me: Well, I would love to actually show you just how we can (Insert Prospect’s Statement) for your firm – bear with me one second as I pull open my calendar. Do you have some time a bit later this week to take a look at our service?

I have found that my sales cycle gets MUCH shorter when I have a 30-45 minute appointment with the prospect where I can relax, build rapport, showcase the value of our service, and then ask for the business!

And in conclusion, don’t worry about letting your hair down and taking an opportunity to showcase your funny bone – nothing lightens the mood like a good play on words or highlighting a particularly humorous event in your life!