My Favorite Sales Call Question Of All Time I’ve always been irritated by meaningless questions like “How are you doing today?” I mean, does the person asking actually care or not? And getting called can feel like a violation, even when it’s someone you know. This tip is a small but critical detail, which is why it deserves its own section. In fact, Steel Shaw, who worked for me at Salesforce.com, often said later that this question was the best sales tip he’d ever learned. Without further adieu, this is the best question ever to use to open calls: “Did I catch you at a bad time?” Conversationally, it might be used like this to open a call: “Hi ___, it’s Aaron from PebbleStorm calling. Hey by the way, did I catch you at a bad time?” While this question is useful for any call, it is most useful with unscheduled calls, when the person isn’t expecting you (even if they know you). It helps you make a positive first impression and set the tone of the first two minutes of the conversation, which then determines the rest of the call (and even whether you get to have the call at all). When you begin a call with “Did I catch you at a bad time?” you’re asking permission to chat and putting them at ease; they feel less defensive or violated. It’s much better than “Is this a good time?” (No—it’s never a good time for busy people). Here’s what will usually happen when you use this question—they’ll say something like either: “No, what’s going on?” “Yes, but I have a minute, how can I help you?” If they pick up the phone, and it truly is a bad time for them, they’ll say so, and