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You’ve just walked into the office of hot prospect for your first face-to-face sales call. You shake hands and you both sit down. What’s the smartest way to start out the conversation:
你怀着满腔热忱走进客户的办公室与他面对面地谈你们的第一笔生意。你们互相握手、坐下，这时候怎样开启你们的对话才是最聪明的做法呢？
ICEBREAKER #1: Compliment something in the prospect's office, such as the family photo, the motivational poster on the wall, the view out the window, etc.
破冰方式 #1：称赞一下对方办公室里的某样东西，比如家庭照片、墙上的励志海报以及窗外的景色。
ICEBREAKER #2: Make a reference to something in the news, like a big win by a local sports team or a major world event.
破冰方式 #2：对新闻发表一些看法，比如当地运动队的一场大胜或者世界上发生的大事。
ICEBREAKER #3: Make a remark that lets the prospect know that you have put some thought into the prospect and the prospect's firm.
破冰方式 #3：发表一些评论令对方知道你对他和他的公司有一点想法。
If you answered #3, you’re absolutely right.
假如你认为破冰方式 #3是最聪明的打破僵局的方式，那你就答对了。
Icebreaker #1 is a dumb move because almost everybody who comes into that office for the first time makes that exact same remark. So that icebreaker just makes you one of the crowd.
破冰方式 #1非常呆板，因为几乎所有走进那间办公室的人都会发表相同的评论。所以这样的开场白会显得你只是个路人甲。
Icebreaker #2 is similarly stupid because the news story is utterly irrelevant to the reason that you’re in the prospect’s office. You’re not the prospect’s friend. You’re there to do business. Trying to be “friendly” just makes you look smarmy.
破冰方式 #2也比较愚蠢，因为这些新闻故事和你为什么出现在客户办公室里完全没有联系。你不是他的朋友，你是来谈生意的。尝试显得“友好”只会显得你很谄媚。
More importantly, both those icebreakers signal, loud and clear, that you haven't bothered to do any research on the customer and are "winging it" (which is probably the case). By contrast, opening the conversation with a remark that’s relevant to the reason you’re in the prospect’s office tells the prospect that you’re not there to waste time or chit-chat.
更重要的是，这两种破冰方式都清楚地表明了你没有耐心去研究你的客户而只是在即兴发挥（说不定就是这样）。与此相反，以和你在他办公室的原因相关的话来开启对话，会令客户知道你不是在浪费他的时间或者在闲聊。
Once you’ve started the (business) conversation, you can continue with a question leads towards developing the opportunity or further qualifying the prospect.
一旦你开启了这次商务对话，你可以继续提出和发展这次机会以及更长远地绑定这位客户相关的问题。
Unlike the two traditional icebreakers, the business-oriented opening remark opens a natural segue to the sales process because you've already placed the conversation in a business context, while still showing a interest in the customer.
与前两种传统的破冰方式不同，商务指向型的那种开场白能自然地把对话引向销售过程，因为你已经把对话放入了一个商务语境中，与此同时也表达了对客户的兴趣。
Needless to say, making an intelligent remark means doing some research prior to the meeting. At the very least, you should have checked the Internet for an overview of the prospect's business and for any important biographical information about the prospect and prospect's career.
毫无疑问，要发表一番聪明的言论意味着在会见前要做不少研究工作。最起码你应该在网络上搜索一下客户公司的基本情况，以及他本人及其职业生涯的重要的个人信息。
Here are a couple of examples adapted from a conversation I had with Dr. Earl Taylor, master trainer for Dale Carnegie:
以下是两则我和厄尔·泰勒博士交谈的例子，他是戴尔·卡耐基的培训师：
Icebreaker: "I noticed from your LinkedIn bio that you used to work in the telecom industry. What was the biggest challenge that you faced, as an executive, moving into a new industry?"
你可以这样开始：“我从你的LinkIn简历上看到你曾经在电信行业工作过，对你来说进入一个新的行业遇到的最大的挑战是什么呢？”
Follow-through: "I've often thought that the kind of alliances that are common in the telecom industry might make sense in our industry, too. If we were to forge a strategic alliance, how could we craft it so that both our firms achieved their goals more quickly?"
你可以这样接话：“我始终认为在电信行业中很常见的那种联盟在我们这行也有用。假如我们要组建一个战略联盟，我们要如何组建它以使得我们双方的公司都能够更快地达到想要的结果呢？”
Icebreaker: "I really appreciate that you're taking the time to meet with me when things are clearly so hectic. I'll bet one of the reasons that you're so busy is that you're getting ready for that big reorganization that was announced last week."
你可以这样开始：“我很荣幸您能在百忙之中抽空和我见面，我敢说你这么忙的原因之一是因为你在为上礼拜宣布的那次大规模重组做准备。”
Segue: "I think my company might help you reduce inventory. When the new management looks at your department, how will they determine whether your inventory is running efficiently?"
你可以这样接话：“我想本公司或许能帮你减少存货。当新的主管人员看到你们部门时，他们会怎样断定你们的存货是否在高效地运转呢？”
