The ten-second opener.
One sentence. Said in the doorway. Every variant we've tested, ranked by what actually closes.
The rule.
You have about ten seconds between pushing the door and losing the owner's attention. Whatever you say in that window needs to do three things: name who you are, name what you've brought, and hand over the phone. If it does a fourth thing, it's too long.
The openers, ranked.
We ran a handful of variants over [TBD] pitches. These are the close rates we saw. Take them as directional.
The winner is the top variant and it's not close. It names the thing ("a site"), names ownership ("for your shop"), and ends on an invitation ("want to see?") that only needs a nod.
Three things never to say.
- The word "website". Use "site". Shorter, less loaded, doesn't trigger the "we don't need one" reflex.
- The word "quote". You don't quote. You show. If they ask for a quote, it means the demo isn't doing its job.
- Anything about features. Not in the doorway. The features are visible on the screen — talking about them is redundant and slows the handover.
The handover.
Say the sentence. Wait half a second. Extend the phone. Stop talking. The mechanics are more important than the words — if the phone doesn't leave your hand in the first ten seconds, the pitch is already losing.
There's a separate guide (04 — "When to lower the phone") on the other end of that gesture. But the opener is where most pitches are won or lost. Memorise the one sentence. Say it in every doorway. Don't freestyle.