Permission Based Openers Didn’t Start on LinkedIn.

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of posts from people acting like they invented “PBOs” — Permission-Based Openers — like it’s some new concept.

It’s not.

The first time I learned a real permission-based opener was back in the 1990s from a guy named Mike Kaplan — one of the best sales pros I’ve ever met.

And he taught it the right way:

Start with WIIFT (What’s In It For Them), then ask for permission to continue.

Here’s what it sounded like:

“We help service techs identify intermittent errors instantly, and if I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask you a few questions to see if what we offer may be of some help to you — would that be OK?”

Simple. Direct. Respectful. Effective.

To give context, we were selling diagnostic software to small computer repair shops. Their nightmare? A customer would bring in a crashing computer… but by the time the tech powered it up, it worked fine. No crash. No fix. No invoice.

Our opener cut straight to a real pain point and invited the conversation. That’s what a true PBO does.

Not a gimmick. Not a hack. Just a smart way to sell.