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I, as a writer, am well aware of the value of strong hooks. A compelling hook is critical for keeping your audience engaged and ultimately persuaded that you're worth listening to. In sales, it's no different.
A strong sales hook might prevent a prospect from hanging up the phone or deleting your email altogether. A fantastic sales hook may begin your discussion on the right foot by setting the tone early on.
We asked six salespeople what they suggest in terms of generating a convincing sales hook in order to convert prospects into customers.
But first... What is a sales hook?
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What is a sales hook?
A sales hook is a shortened form of a sales pitch.
A sales hook (or pitch) is a brief commercial presentation that quickly establishes the context for your business and your product or service's key advantages.
A sales hook is a one-two minute explanation of how your product or service may benefit your prospect.
A succinct, convincing sales hook paves the way for follow-up discussions.
Your sales hook, often known as an elevator pitch, can be delivered via email, over the phone, or in person.
However, depending on the platform you employ to connect with the prospect, your plan must change.
A physical presence has a distinct sound from an email presence.
Let's look at how to create a sales hook next.
5 Tips for Creating a Sales Hook
1. Do your customer research
To develop a sales hook, begin by researching the client — especially their unique problems, pain spots, and requirements.
Consider what your prospects' objectives are — and then work backward.
What difficulties might your prospects encounter in order to achieve their goals?
What do they lack in terms of a present strategy?
How can you help them save time or money?
Getting creative about finding out about your prospect's circumstances is part of doing your research.
Assume you're giving a presentation on a social media tool.
Begin by examining your prospect's existing social media postings for areas where they can improve, and then use this knowledge to help develop your hook.
"I noticed your brand is active on LinkedIn and Facebook, but it hasn't taken advantage of Instagram.
A competitor I've worked with in your sector saw a 37% audience growth and a 12% sales boost as a result of using our social media tool to develop a strong Instagram influencer strategy.
Want to learn more?
"In this scenario, a strong hook might be: "I discovered that your company is active on LinkedIn and Facebook, but that it hasn't used Instagram yet.
As a result of implementing an effective Instagram influencer plan utilizing our social media platform, another company I've worked with has seen audience growth of 37 percent and a revenue increase of 12%. What are your thoughts?"
2. Figure out the customer's pain points
Your hook does not need to emphasize the benefits of your product or service, as any psychologist will tell you: "The stress of losing is twice as bad as the joy of gaining."
This is why your hook shouldn't focus on the advantages of your offering. Instead, it should highlight your prospect's pain areas and how you can help.
You're in luck if you're unsure how to study a client's pain areas; we've dedicated an entire article to the subject.
Positioning pain points, financial pain points, and process pain points are all examples of customer suffering (i.e., "No one knows who our company is").
It's critical to figure out your consumer's most pressing issues in order to develop a narrative in which your product or service becomes a must-have for your customer's success or long-term development.
Of course, you don't want to deceive and pretend that your product is a cure if it isn't one.
If you identify a prospect's problem spot and realize that your product isn't the ideal solution, it signals that you should move on and find prospects who are a better fit.
3. Ask a question as your sales hook
"As someone who came from a restaurant background and moved into this B2B sales environment cold, Dan Taft, an Inbound Growth Specialist, suggested beginning with a question," according to Onboardly. "
To put me in the shoes of the person I'm selling to — for example, using bland subject lines like 'Alore intro' instead of something more personal like 'growth strategy' or 'revenue targets 2022,' which can help me relate to people on subjects they're interested in."
Taft adds, "It's also a good idea to use leading questions when you're looking for an answer."
As an example, he offers the following: "You might say something like, 'How many hours does it take you each week to produce reports?,' which is excellent if you get a response like, 'Too time-consuming.'
4. Practice active listening skills
Give a catchy hook rather than making a statement and leaving. It's not about making a statement and walking away; instead, it's all about spending more time listening to the prospect than you do talking.
Active listening is the ability to pay attention to what the consumer is actually communicating, rather than launching into a pre-planned pitch once they've finished speaking.
Active listening is a four-step process that involves listening, confirming you heard the customer correctly, asking pertinent follow-up queries, and allowing the client to steer the conversation.
5. Make it personal and fun
Consider using an instrument like Icebreaker, which loads the prospect with articles that have already been prepared by your own internal teams, to re-engage them and elicit a response.
Additionally, equipping your salespeople with a tool like Co-Pilot, which collects personalized conversation openers linked to local weather, local and corporate news stories, or local holidays might go a long way toward increasing the personalization of your outreach efforts.
In Conclusion
Finally, learning how to write effective hooks is a process of trial and error.
Keep track of which hooks work best for keeping the conversation going with prospects as you test out new ones.
You're well on your way to developing strong hooks that attract new consumers for the long run using these ideas and examples as inspiration.
