[MUSIC] In the last video, I walked you through the challenging process of getting a prospect's direct phone line. Now, what you want is to make sure that you contact him or her at the best possible time. Well, this is very simple. Let me share a clear best practice here called the "4 golden hours for calling". Those are the hours when the probability that your prospect is in his office is much higher than average. Namely, early in the morning before his morning meetings, late in the morning before he goes to lunch, early in the afternoon when he comes back from lunch, late in the afternoon after his afternoon meetings. Before you call, what do you think are things to keep in mind that will help you make the best of your limited time? 1. Business plan, 2. Go to market strategy, 3. Elevator pitch, 4. Product or service description. The most important tool to have with you is a well-prepared elevator pitch. When you finally manage to talk to your prospect, as we said earlier in this module, you basically have 20 seconds before he cuts you off. So you should write down the first 30 seconds of your elevator pitch, word for word. The first times you call, simply read it, and soon, you will know it by heart. Would you agree with me at this point if I told you that you could have a generic script for calls, with no additional preparation needed? 1. True. 2. False. Actually, every time you go through the process of finding your prospect's contact information, you gain more knowledge. Preparing and adapting your pitch to a particular sector can make all the difference for some sales. There is, however, no general rule here. And it really depends on what you're trying to sell. Just keep these few tricks in mind: if you have talked to someone else in his department when trying to obtain your prospect's direct line, mention that person when you begin to talk. This could be something like "hello Mr. X, I am calling you following my conversation with Mrs. Y". Your prospect will immediately listen to you more closely, and you will gain some precious seconds. Never ask "is this a good time to talk?" It is never the right time to talk, and 99% of the time they will tell you to call at another time. At the end of your pitch, ask for the meeting immediately. Your prospect needs to know you want to meet him. Be simple, and talk in a very dynamic, yet humble tone. Your prospect must feel good about the first seconds of your call. Finally, even if you have zero clients, mention the fact that you are discussing with other prospects in his industry. You can say, for instance, something like "our company is currently meeting with a few key professionals in your industry, like Mr. X or Mrs. Y." Your prospect needs to believe that he must see you because if not, he might give an opportunity to his competitors. Also, the second you have your first client, begin by mentioning him. Say something like "our company works for clients like Mr. X to help them". Last, never say "I". Say "we". Saying "we" implies that your company already has several employees, while saying "I" could imply that you're alone. In the next video, let's listen to one of our guests about the small tricks he used to obtain his first sales meetings. [MUSIC]