You finally convince your team that they need to make more outbound sales calls. You’ve heard the excuses—“no one answers the phone anymore”—but you know the truth.

They weren’t making enough dials to get statistically meaningful results. And they were hiding behind call reluctance.

So you course-corrected. You gave them a phone opener that actually works. Now they’re getting past gatekeepers.

Prospects are picking up. You hear your reps say the magic words—

“Would it be OK if I asked you a few quick questions to see if what we offer may be of some help?”

And the prospect says:

“Sure, I’ve got a minute.”

That’s it. Window open. And then…

It stalls.

The Confidence Gap After the Opener

Your reps freeze. Not literally, but mentally, they hit a blank spot. They go from sounding sharp and confident to clunky and unsure. They say something generic like:

• “Tell me about your current process.”
• “What challenges are you facing right now?”
• “What do you like about your current solution?”

Sound familiar?

That’s the moment the prospect’s tone shifts. Their energy drops. They go into defense mode. The conversation becomes transactional.

And you’ve lost the momentum.

Not because your rep couldn’t sell.
Because no one taught them what to say after the opener.

Why Reps Wing It (And Why It’s a Bigger Problem Than You Think)

Winging it isn’t a strategy. It’s a symptom.

Most reps aren’t lazy. They’re not careless. They simply haven’t been given a repeatable structure for what happens after the opener.

They got trained on how to sound confident for the first 15 seconds of the call, but no one handed them the rest of the map.

So when a prospect says, “Sure, go ahead”—they panic. They improvise. They default to whatever question pops into their head.

And it sounds like that. Unprepared. Uncertain. Easy to dismiss.

This is where deals quietly die—every single day.

And it’s costing your company revenue.

Why Weak Questions Kill Momentum

The wrong question right after the opener derails the call.

Here’s what doesn’t work:

• “What challenges are you seeing?” – too broad, too soon
• “What tools are you currently using?” – sounds like a pitch is coming
• “Tell me about your current setup.” – puts pressure on the prospect to do all the talking

These feel safe to the rep. But they don’t engage the prospect. They don’t direct the conversation. And most importantly, they don’t help the rep uncover whether a problem even exists.

Without problem recognition, there’s no urgency to solve anything.
And without urgency, there’s no sale.

The Real Goal: Start the Right Conversation

After the opener, your rep’s job is to ask a question that:

1. Feels natural and conversational
2. Gets the prospect talking about a pain area or problem space
3. Helps both sides discover whether there’s a problem worth solving

This is what we call an Engagement Question—and it’s the first step in the qualifying phase.

It’s not a random icebreaker. It’s a strategic move designed to shift the prospect’s focus into a space where they recognize the cost of inaction.

Done right, it doesn’t even matter how they answer. What matters is: they do answer.

Real Example: From Opener to Engagement

Rep: Hi [Prospect], this is Michael Pedone with SalesBuzz.com.
The reason for my call—we recently helped [Competitor A] generate 25% more sales appointments per month by eliminating call reluctance. If I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions just to see if what I have to offer may be of some help. Would that be OK?

Prospect: Sure, I’ve got a minute.

Rep: Appreciate that. Well, I guess my first question is… your sales team, are they using the phones to set up face-to-face appointments, or are they handling the whole sales process over the phone?

This kind of question:

• Sounds natural
• Doesn’t put the prospect on the spot
• Gets them thinking about their sales team
• Opens the door to real conversation

If Your Reps Sound Like Captain Wing-It…

Here’s the hard truth:

If your reps are getting people on the phone, but not getting past the first 30 seconds of real conversation, it’s not a lead quality issue.
It’s a process issue.

And no amount of motivation, pep talks, or “just make more calls” speeches is going to fix it.

They need to be taught what to say next.

When to say it.
How to ask it.
And how to guide the call toward a qualified opportunity, or a clear no.

This is where quotas start getting hit again.

Next Step: Give Them the Roadmap

We teach sales teams exactly how to guide the conversation after the opener—so they don’t wing it, waste it, or walk away wondering what went wrong.

Want to see how it works? View Our Online Sales Training Program Now

Sales Training That Turns Dials Into Deals

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