What is the worst opening line?

"Do you have a minute?" — it is a yes-or-no question where the easy answer ends the conversation, and you asked it before giving any reason to say yes.

Should I say who I am first?

Usually. Not naming yourself leaves the person filling in the blank themselves, and their guess is worse than the truth.

Is humour a good opener?

It works for reps who are genuinely funny and fails badly for everyone else. It is not a technique so much as a personality that some people have.

Openers that survive the first three seconds

A good opener lowers threat and signals brevity before it does anything else. Name yourself, give a concrete reason for being on this street, and ask something easy to answer. Openers fail when they sound universal, when they demand a commitment to talk, or when they try to deliver the pitch before the homeowner has decided whether to listen.

What the first three seconds are for

Not persuading. The homeowner does not yet know what you sell, so they cannot be evaluating it. They are deciding whether you are a problem and whether this will be quick, and the opener either answers those or it does not.

Openers that consistently fail

"Do you have a minute?" hands them a yes-or-no question whose easiest answer ends the conversation. "How are you today?" from a stranger at a door reads as technique. Anything that could be said on any street tells them nothing is at stake in refusing.

The common thread is that each one asks the homeowner to commit before they have any reason to.

The easy question

Ending your opener with something factual and low-stakes gives the person a way to respond that is not yes or no. A question about the house or the street is answerable without agreeing to anything, which is exactly why it keeps the door open.

Common questions

What is the worst opening line?: "Do you have a minute?" — it is a yes-or-no question where the easy answer ends the conversation, and you asked it before giving any reason to say yes.
Should I say who I am first?: Usually. Not naming yourself leaves the person filling in the blank themselves, and their guess is worse than the truth.
Is humour a good opener?: It works for reps who are genuinely funny and fails badly for everyone else. It is not a technique so much as a personality that some people have.

More on scripts and objections

Openers, pitches and the objections every rep hears — with the answers that hold up on a doorstep.

All of scripts and objections