How to Break the Ice in a Face-to-Face Meeting

This morning's post "Sales Quiz: What's the Best Icebreaker" lets you vote on the best way to open a conversation with a new prospect, that you're meeting face-to-face for the first time. If you've haven't taken the quiz, go ahead (it only takes a few seconds) -- CLICK HERE.

The reason I wanted to make sure you took the quiz is because this post explains how to break the ice, and if you read this post first, you'd already know the answer. So, if you're ready to learn, in detail, how to break the ice, click on the link below for a full description.

CLICK to learn EXACTLY how to break the ice »
Here's EXACTLY how to break the ice in a face-to-face meeting, based upon a conversation with one of the best "icebreakers" in the business: Dr. Earl Taylor, a master trainer for Dale Carnegie.

RULE #1: Never walk into a face-to-face meeting without researching the prospect and the prospect's firm. Face-to-face meetings are too rare, and too difficult to set up to waste with an "I'll just wing it" strategy. Now, assuming you've followed this rule, your icebreaker has the following structure:

• Part 1. A Warm Initial Greeting. Deliver your initial greeting with the same graciousness and warmth that you would use to greet an honored guest in your home. When you welcome guests, you are typically glad to see them and you want them to feel comfortable and appreciated. The trick to delivering a warm greeting is to be truly grateful that you have this opportunity to meet the prospect and to be of service.
• Part 2. A Relevant Opening Line. Open the conversation with a remark that lets the prospect know that you have put some thought into the prospect and the prospect's firm. Needless to say, this requires that you do some research prior to the meeting. At the very least, you should have checked the Internet for an overview of the prospect's business and for any important biographical information about the prospect and prospect's career.
• Part 3. A Natural Follow-Through. Continue with a question about the business or the individual that leads towards a productive conversation that moves the meeting to the next sales step. This is a natural segue because you've already placed the conversation in a business context, while still showing a interest in the customer. What's more, you're not wasting the customer's time with remarks that have no relevance to your business relationship.

CLICK for some examples » Here are some examples:

Customer: IT Manager.

Initial Greeting: "I can't tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation with you."

Opening line: "I was on the web learning more about your company and I came across a keynote speech that you gave at a recent conference. What kind of response did you get?

Follow-through: "I'm not surprised it was well received because my firm has been working in this field for the past ten years and we know how vital these issues are. What progress have you been able to make addressing them inside your own shop?"

Initial Greeting: "I'm so glad that we have the opportunity to meet and I'll be brief because we're both busy people.

Opening line: "I noticed from your bio that you used to work in a different industry. What was the biggest challenge that you faced, as an executive, moving into this line of business?"

Follow-through: "That's really interesting. You know, I've often thought that the kind of alliances that are common in that industry would make sense in our industry as well. If we were to forge a strategic alliance between our two firms, how would could we craft it so that both firms achieved their goals more quickly?"

Initial Greeting: "I really appreciate that you're taking the time to meet with me when things are clearly so hectic."

Opening line: "I'll bet one of the reasons that you're so busy is that you're getting ready for that big reorganization that was announced last week."

Follow-through: "I had an idea of how my company might help you reduce inventory. When the new management looks at your department, how will they determine whether your inventory is running efficiently?"