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Then you ask a question—something that is job-related and will get the prospect talking about his work. The actual words are not important. It’s that you’re acting interested, positive, and upbeat. You do this in a complimentary, admiring way.

After using this technique successfully for decades, I’m convinced you can do it walking backward and talking in sign language if you do it right. You can’t ask the wrong question to the right person, and you can’t ask the right question to the wrong person. Knowing that should have you asking away, as relaxed as a wet noodle.

It’s all in the delivery! It’s not what you say—it’s what you convey.

But since you still crave a phrase that pays, here are some examples:

How were you able to design your lobby so well?

How were you able to increase your market share so dramatically?

Where will you be setting up future factories?

What’s your secret to finding and training the best people?

What do you like best about managing such a successful business?

After the first few hundred times, you’ll be yawning because everyone will be interviewing you. After a while, you’ll want to see if you can blow it, just for fun. As long as you’ve done it for at least two weeks solid, go for it! Here are a few off-the-wall openers I’ve used to get the identical, successful results:

Did you marry into the Bloomingdale family?

Are you a “lifer” at Consolidated?

When are you going to give the competition a break?

Even nonsense like that will open up the offeror if you use the Magic Four Hello. I think it’s the smile, but who’s trying to figure out the trick when it’s so obviously magic?

This is what behavioral psychologists call pacing. I was going to tell you how to get the huge amount of scientific research backing it up, but if I do, you might be tempted to check it out. Ergo, that would get you tired rather than hired. (Well, there is one place you can look. Just promise you won’t do it until you start pumping out interviews. It’s Chapter 4 of How to Turn an Interview into a Job.)

Gathering Information

One way or another, you’ve opened the door. The way to enter into the instant interview is with a sentence like:

“I’ve been watching the success of Dynametrics and would like to join your team.”

Analyzing the Successful Approach

Note why this approach is so powerful:

Watching shows that you’ve been attentive, but not compulsive. This is supposed to be casual, or you’d have just sent in a resume with a cover letter like everyone else. (We spell résumé without the fancy accents. You should too, for reasons I give in Do 5.)

Success means different things to different people. But any manager will have successes to brag about and can only appreciate that you’ve observed them.

Like to join is not the same as asking to join. Keep in mind that, until the genie appeared, there was probably no thought of anyone’s joining. Newbie salespeople will ask for the sale here—and lose it because the prospect isn’t ready for the close.

Your is a major mover. Have you ever noticed how odd it sounds when the manager of a global company says something like, “I’ll have my operations manager get on it right away!”—as if it’s really his company? As though the people really work for him? He’s probably an at-will employee who could be gone tomorrow if “his” company wanted it. But he feels that he owns the place. So flatter him. You agree that it is his.

Team is one of those sports words that has been adopted by employers everywhere. Along with team members, teammates, associates, partners, and even owners. And we’ll use team, too, pretending it’s more than a group of randomly selected what-have-you-done-for-me-today employees.

Note also that this is not a question. You’re not asking for a job. Who wants someone who wanders in unannounced interrupting the workday when there are no openings? No—you’re declaring that you want to be there because the person’s so great—no room to turn you down there.

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