Breaking the Ice: Creative Opening Lines for Follow-Ups

"The first 20 seconds of your pitch are crucial. You need to grab the customer's attention in those first few moments, or you've lost them." - Zig Ziglar, "Secrets of Closing the Sale"

🧊💥 Are you ready to shatter the ice and set your follow-ups on fire?

Buckle up, because we're about to turn your opening lines from snooze-fests into show-stoppers!

Your follow-ups are drowning in a sea of sameness.

Your prospects' eyes glaze over faster than a donut at a police convention.

Your brilliant ideas are getting buried under an avalanche of "Just checking in" and "Following up on our last conversation."

Feel that knot in your stomach? That's the dread of knowing your carefully crafted follow-ups are being ignored, deleted, or worse - marked as spam.

Your quota is slipping away, your pipeline is drying up, and your manager's starting to give you the side-eye.

The clock's ticking, and with each generic opener, you're inching closer to becoming just another statistic in the sales graveyard.

But what if I told you there's a way to make your prospects' eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning?

A method so powerful, it'll have them racing to reply before they've even finished reading?

Hang onto your hats, follow up fam, because I'm about to hand you the keys to the follow-up kingdom!

How To Craft Irresistible Opening Lines for Your Follow-Ups

Why should you care about mastering this skill?

Because a killer opening line is like a VIP pass to your prospect's attention.

It's the difference between being seen as a trusted advisor and being mistaken for a spam bot.

With the right opener, you'll boost your response rates, slash your sales cycle, and watch your commission checks swell up faster than a bear before hibernation.

Unfortunately, most salespeople are stuck in the stone age of follow-ups. They're like a broken record, playing the same tired tune over and over again.

Here's why so many struggle: 

• They're afraid to be different and stand out

• They copy-paste generic templates without personalizing

• They focus on themselves instead of the prospect

• They forget to add value in their opening line

• They neglect to create curiosity or intrigue

But fear not! I'm about to turn you into an opening line virtuoso. Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Embrace the power of pattern interrupts

This step is crucial because our brains are wired to ignore the familiar. You need to short-circuit your prospect's auto-pilot mode.

Here are my top 3 pattern interrupt techniques:

1.  The Cliffhanger: Start with an incomplete story that begs for a response

Example:
"You wouldn’t believe what happened in my last meeting with [competitor's name]—but I’ll get to that in a second.

First, I wanted to see if we could talk about how we might... (then transition into your ask or follow-up)."

This creates intrigue by leaving part of the story unfinished, encouraging the prospect to respond to find out more.

2. The Bizarre Question: Ask something so out-of-left-field, they can't help but engage

Example:
"Quick question—if your business were an animal, what would it be?

Weird question, I know, but it might actually help me understand your approach better."

A quirky question like this feels playful and out-of-the-ordinary, making the prospect curious enough to respond.

3. The Faux Pas: Pretend you've made a mistake (but make sure it's harmless and amusing)

Example:
"Oops, I just realized I may have completely misread the situation!

Did I assume correctly that [mention a minor detail]? If not, I’ll be glad to fix that!"

This light, self-deprecating “mistake” helps break the ice in a non-threatening way, making the exchange feel more human and approachable.