During the initial 20 seconds of a cold call, you should aim for two things – 1. get your prospects' attention and 2. make them stay on the call. You can do this by starting with a pattern-interrupting opener to snare their attention and encourage them to stay on call. Here's one such example from Sam Holeman, best-performing sales rep from Momence: "We've worked with a lot of people who have used {competitor} in the past and just haven't been happy with their software or looking for something more modernized. I had this idea for you."