What tips do you have for approaching your first sales call, especially the number one thing to keep in mind?
Your job is not to sell at this stage; your job is to learn everything you can about how the prospect is running their business. Approaching the call from a learning perspective rather than a sales perspective actually increases the probability of selling. Many people rush to sell too early and miss that building rapport and perceived authority is the best way to sell. You can build rapport by paraphrasing what the customer says in slightly different words, showing you understand them. Approach the call with curiosity and ask questions; genuine curiosity increases the chance of closing a deal. Set expectations at the start: let them know you're just there to learn about their business and that a firm decision isn't required by the end of the call unless they want it. Your goal is to see if you can help them, and ask a couple of quick questions to verify that. Now, to frame the conversation, ask what made them respond to your outreach, what they're looking for, where they're coming from and where they're going—think of it like a doctor diagnosing.
I do this kind of thing in Maker School, where we run through what a sales call looks like, show how to do a high‑quality call, give bullet points, and talk about kickoff calls. I don’t gatekeep automation knowledge—I do the builds live. If you want sales help, check out Maker School. Briefly, here’s how I structure a call: first, I set expectations and frame the conversation (e.g., confirm we’re on the same page about time). I start by asking why you responded to my outreach, then a few more questions about your business, and finally I explain how I might solve your problem. I want you to walk away with something tangible, so I’ll prepare a free document, asset, or template to give you by the end of the call. After that, we follow the frame we set: I ask ‘why me?’ and ‘why now?’, then I run a customer audit—covering your acquisition, fulfillment, onboarding, client management, HR processes, etc. After you walk me through those, I discuss my solution and send a proposal with the scope. I prefer not to handle objections or do hard selling on the call; I’d rather let the value speak for itself, which comes from my background in heart‑based sales. That’s my approach.
To answer that question, I close deals primarily by not trying to close the deals. Prospects are extraordinarily attuned to sleazy salespeople; we're pretty sophisticated as a market. If someone pushes sales tactics, I think most qualified B2B leads—people who aren't broke, have money to spend, and have had some success—know the game. So I tend to close deals by being very straight-up with the person I'm talking to and treating it more as a consultation than a sale. I ask them questions about their business and see if I could be of value on the call by giving answers, not just when they pay me. I find that this congruence comes across better than lines like 'But wait, Pete, one last question.' or 'Jack, if I could make you this much.' That stuff is all nonsense nowadays. So I'd be a lot more congruent, not putting on a face. Simple things: don't negotiate against yourself; when you give the price, be quiet. Those little things aren't something you can't just read in a sales book by Chris Voss and then not get the 80/20. Hopefully I've answered why I don't live stream—I think it's restrictive in the schedule right now, I've tried it before, and I really need to stick to a weekly thing, which I don't want to do.
First, congratulations on generating leads—that’s the hardest part. If you want to close more deals, consider partnering with sales‑oriented people on a revenue‑share basis; you can often find such partners in free communities or school groups. But the real key isn’t polishing your pitch; it’s sticking to a repeatable sales process and refining it through repetition. You can succeed with almost any outbound method as long as you put in the reps. My personal approach treats each call as a discovery session, not a pitch. I ask why they took the call, what stood out about my outreach, and what their goals are (e.g., learning more about X, Y, Z). This lets me understand their actual needs instead of pushing a preset solution. I then tailor my recommendation to their specific situation—much like a doctor diagnosing before prescribing. Because I’ve run this discovery process many times, I’ve become good at it, and it works well for me.
Your main issue is figuring out which problems in a business are worth solving. I use a simple four‑letter acronym, RACE, to evaluate any system: Reach – get more eyeballs on the brand; Acquire – generate interest and book meetings; Convert – turn that interest into revenue; Expand – increase the lifetime value of existing customers. If a system addresses at least one of these stages, it’s likely a solid opportunity for most businesses. Many companies, even large ones, get stuck on one of these bottlenecks, so focusing on them gives you a sizable market and higher urgency, allowing you to charge more. Approach every conversation as a consultation: determine whether the prospect has a big enough problem you can solve profitably. Avoid the "close at any cost" mindset; instead, deliver long‑term value. Ask prospects how they currently Reach, Acquire, Convert, and Expand their customers, and consider sprinkling AI into those processes for better results.