The BIGG Successs Show
What Is Your Pick-Up Line?
Learn how to grab someone’s attention with a good opening line. Listen to the show & read the summary here.
Welcome to our 50th big success show. Today we ask you, what's your pick up line? The big success show with George and Mary Lynn. After we lined out today's show, we asked our editor to eliminate anything that wasn't interesting. So in conclusion, hey, thanks for listening. Here's to your big success. But seriously, the good news is this. Well, maybe the bad news, depending on your point of view, but we do have some thoughts today on great opening lines. And when we think of opening lines, what inspired the title of pickup lines is we usually think of social settings. Yeah, Mary Lynn, I think specifically, you're talking about what's commonly known as meat markets, right? Yeah. And I'm sure you've heard some good pickup lines over the years. What's the worst? Good or bad, however you choose to look at it. Yeah, I've heard some that I could not repeat right now, but I'd say the cheesiest one is, if I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me? It said just like that. I mean, how else can you say it? It's so hokey. That didn't work? No, absolutely not. Yes, obviously. Well, you know, in social settings, we think of pickup lines, but it's also important in our professional lives to have a good opening line. Yeah, because you're trying to make a connection and get someone's attention, whether it's by phone or in person. In W. Clement Stone, the paper boy turned billionaire, wrote a book called The Success System That Never Fails. And W. Clement Stone was a door-to-door salesperson, specifically selling accident insurance policies. He had a great opening line. For I give it to you though, let me tell you exactly how he delivered it. He would knock on a person's door complete with visual aid in hand. And on that visual aid was the names of that person's friends and neighbors who had done business with W. Clement Stone. And he would knock on the door. When you came to the door, he would point at the visual aid and say, "I believe this will interest you also." So no wait, that was what he started the conversation with. He didn't say, "Hi, I'm W. How are you today?" Nope, Mary Lynn. That was exactly what he opened the conversation with. And he said he arrived at that after much testing. That's why the book's called The Success System That Never Fails. All right, so let's look at why that is such a good opening line. Well, the first reason is this, I think. It's very you view, right? If you're going to sell something to somebody, if you want to get someone's attention, you have to think from their point of view. Yeah, have you heard the term with them? With them. With them. You brought them. There were a few pictures that I knew who could with them. But it's the what's in it for me factor. And that's what I want to hear right away. Everybody's busy, so you've got to get right to the point. Absolutely. And the second thing that you need to do is engage them. You know, picture W. Clement Stone standing at your door with visual aid in hand, names of all your neighbors and friends on it. Yeah, well, now that opening line really intrigues me. I mean, why should I be interested in this product? And why are all my neighbors interested? Well, and you know, what he's doing is basically making a comment that disturbs you, right? Or you can also ask a disturbing question. Have or notice, you know, we're all familiar with the whole Andy Rooney routine, right? What's disturbing to me is the close-ups of him on 60 minutes. Both eyebrows, right? Well, the thing is, another thing you can do is if it doesn't ring true, that sometimes gets people's attention. Yeah, we did a show recently called does it pay to be smart? Well, yeah, obviously it pays to be smart, but you know, it gets people saying, what's the rest of the story here? What are they talking about? Well, speaking of that, Marilyn, another way to engage people is by telling a short story with humor, tell a gripping story, an inspirational story. Well, and that brings us actually to the third component of a great opening line, appeal to their emotions. Don't you climate stone? Is that my door? I'm looking at this list of people that I know? Well, heck, I don't want to be left out. That's right, that, you know, that fear of being excluded, not being part of the end crowd, right? Coming up, a great opening line that worked wonders for retailers. Today, we're talking about opening lines, and we've said that you need to think you view, engage the person who's attention you're trying to get, and also appeal to their emotions. And you know, Marilyn, a great example of that is Michael Gerber in his great book, The Emith Revisited. He stands for entrepreneur, actually, in that case, but he did a bunch of consulting with retail stores. And when you walk into a retail store, if you're lucky enough to find someone to help you, what do they usually say? May I help you? May I help you? And what do you do? Usually I have to say, oh, no, thanks. Right. And that's what most people did. And here's what Gerber found out. If they changed the question, it made a difference. So they changed the question to this. Have you ever been to our store before? I'd still probably say either yes or no. Well, here's the thing. If you said yes, I'd say, well, here's the specials we have for new customers, don't it, get your attention? Yeah. And if you said no, I'd say, well, here's the specials we have for our repeat customers. And so that one change in opening line made a difference in sales of 16%, one little sentence. So it's all about coming up with a line that engages the customer and then opens that door for dialogue. What's your opening line? What works for you? Help out other professionals in the big success community and leave your suggestions in our comments section at big success.com. That's also where you'll find a written summary of today's show. And we also have links to the books we referenced today, the success system that never fails and the emith revisited. And before we go, George, let's get our big quote for the day. This big quote, Mary Lynn was written over 2,500 years ago. And it's by the mathematician and philosopher. That's hard to say. Pythagoras. The mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras, who said this, do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few. A great opening line will open doors for you. Next time, we'll talk about how to tap into your hidden potential. And until then, here's to your big success. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] You