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:你懷著滿腔熱忱走進客戶的辦公室與他面對面地談你們的第一筆生意。你們互相握手、坐下，這時候怎樣開啟你們的對話才是最聰明的做法呢？
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：稱讚一下對方辦公室裡的某樣東西，比如家庭照片、牆上的勵志海報以及窗外的景色。
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：對新聞發表一些看法，比如當地運動隊的一場大勝或者世界上發生的大事。
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：發表一些評論令對方知道你對他和他的公司有一點想法。
If you answered #3, you’re absolutely right. 假如你認為破冰方式 #3是最聰明的打破僵局的方式，那你就答對了。
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，因為幾乎所有走進那間辦公室的人都會發表相同的評論。所以這樣的開場白會顯得你只是個路人甲。
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也比較愚蠢，因為這些新聞故事和你為什麼出現在客戶辦公室裡完全沒有聯繫。你不是他的朋友，你是來談生意的。嘗試顯得「友好」只會顯得你很諂媚。
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，這兩種破冰方式都清楚地表明了你沒有耐心去研究你的客戶而只是在即興發揮(說不定就是這樣)。與此相反，以和你在他辦公室的原因相關的話來開啟對話，會令客戶知道你不是在浪費他的時間或者在閒聊。
Once you』ve started the (business) conversation, you can continue with a question leads towards developing the opportunity or further qualifying the prospect。一旦你開啟了這次商務對話，你可以繼續提出和發展這次機會以及更長遠地綁定這位客戶相關的問題。
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。與前兩種傳統的破冰方式不同，商務指向型的那種開場白能自然地把對話引向銷售過程，因為你已經把對話放入了一個商務語境中，與此同時也表達了對客戶的興趣。
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。毫無疑問，要發表一番聰明的言論意味著在會見前要做不少研究工作。最起碼你應該在網絡上搜索一下客戶公司的基本情況，以及他本人及其職業生涯的重要的個人信息。
Here are a couple of examples adapted from a conversation I had with Dr. Earl Taylor, master trainer for Dale Carnegie:以下是兩則我和厄爾·泰勒博士交談的例子，他是戴爾·卡耐基的培訓師：
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?"你可以這樣開始：「我從你的LinkIn簡歷上看到你曾經在電信行業工作過，對你來說進入一個新的行業遇到的最大的挑戰是什麼呢？」
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?"你可以這樣接話：「我始終認為在電信行業中很常見的那種聯盟在我們這行也有用。假如我們要組建一個戰略聯盟，我們要如何組建它以使得我們雙方的公司都能夠更快地達到想要的結果呢？」
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."你可以這樣開始：「我很榮幸您能在百忙之中抽空和我見面，我敢說你這麼忙的原因之一是因為你在為上禮拜宣布的那次大規模重組做準備。」
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?"你可以這樣接話：「我想本公司或許能幫你減少存貨。當新的主管人員看到你們部門時，他們會怎樣斷定你們的存貨是否在高效地運轉呢？」