One of the quickest ways you can capture your prospect’s attention is using a three-sentence solicitation. It works in several presentation settings, including the ones we rely on for remote selling: phone, email and text.
Let’s do a quick breakdown of how this kind of solicitation works, sentence by sentence. Here’s an example of something a sales professional could send to hospital:
“Over the last 3 years, we have helped 8 hospitals within 10 miles of yours reduce their utility bills with an average savings of 15%.”
This is what I call the “Big Dog Sentence”—proof that this isn’t your first rodeo and that you have previous experience working with their peers. Also, notice that the numbers are quantitative: the number of years, the number of hospitals, the number of miles and the percentage of savings.
Now here is the second sentence: “It occurred to me as I was driving past your facility last night that your rooms have the same lighting we removed from five of those hospitals with an average energy savings of 25%.”
This is what I call the “I could have had a V8!” sentence. This makes your prospect think, “I’m looking more like the ‘before’ photo instead of the ‘after’ photo!” Then you close with your third sentence:
“If you’d be interested in exploring how we could extend the success we’ve had with other facilities like yours, I’d be open to a conversation.”
This is a very soft sell without any demands or pressure. Still, in my experience, it’s an invitation prospects find hard to resist.
