Your Opener Is Killing Your Business

Most consultants lose the sale in the first ten seconds. The moment someone asks, “So what do you do?” the clock starts ticking. If your opener doesn’t land, they mentally check out. Game over.

Where It Goes Wrong

Almost everyone leads with their résumé.

“For the past 5 years, I’ve been helping teams drive operational efficiency…”

That’s where you lose them. They don’t care about your background. They care about one thing: Can you fix their problem?

If your opener sounds like a list of features instead of pure value, it’s dead on arrival. Vague is forgettable.

“I help founders, teams, and SMBs grow revenue through workflow operational efficiencies.” That’s a niche salad. Nobody remembers it.

Going into the Mind of the Buyer: What’s Really Happening

When you’re unclear, your audience loses trust. If there’s no recall, then there’s no sale. The moment you confuse them, they hit “skip.” It’s not their job to decode you.

How to Fix It

After 30 years of selling high-trust services on Wall Street, I’ve learned one thing: speed-to-clarity builds trust. The faster people understand what you do, the faster they’ll believe you can help them.

The best approach combines messaging and sales into a single communication system. Here’s how:

The Authority Sentence

Have one line anyone can repeat:

I help [WHO] with [PAIN] achieve [OUTCOME] through [PROCESS].

That’s it. One clean sentence that files you instantly in your buyer’s mind.

The 90-Second Talk Track

This is a short bridge from curiosity to conversation. Deliver it in five beats:

• Hook the pain (in their words)
• State the outcome you deliver
• Explain your mechanism (how it works)
• Show one proof-point
• End with a clear next step

Example:

1. “I help consultants who struggle to explain what they do.”
2. “By fixing their sales narrative, their calls close faster.”
3. “We do this through three live training sessions.”
4. “So far, four of my clients have become best-selling authors.”
5. “If you care, I host a free workshop called What to Say When You Sell.”

At that point, they either lean in to hear more or they don’t. Both are fine. You stopped losing opportunities to confusion.

Action Items

• Audit your opener. Can someone repeat it after hearing it once? If not, rewrite it.
• Memorize it. Write it neatly on an index card. The act of writing locks it in faster than saying it out loud.

When You’re Ready

There are four ways we can help you sharpen trust into revenue:

1. Free Live Workshop: “What to Say When You Sell” — Learn how to open any sales conversation so prospects instantly trust you. → Join the workshop
2. The 10-Day Sales Narrative Fast-Track — Fix your message, align your narrative, and turn trust into revenue in just 10 days. → Start the sprint
3. VIP Narrative Strategy — Private, done-with-you messaging support in 7 days. → Book a slot
4. Free Discovery Call Playbook — Lead better calls with five simple questions. → Download it