The call felt great. You listened, you helped, you gave away three good ideas. They said thank you.

Then nothing.

I hear this from founders all the time: I'm talking to so many people, I'm helping them, and they never pay. I've been there. On the show I said it plainly: "they're just too nice." We start working in minute one, and nobody ever agreed that this was a sales call.

I talked this through with Hayleigh Hayhurst on Employee to Boss (July 2024). Listen to the full conversation: Three Steps to Double Your Sales in 90 Days

A nice chat is not a sales call

I get sales recordings from clients and give feedback. The first miss usually shows up in the first minute: the call has no opening frame. It just starts, like a coffee with a clever friend.

Without that frame, you can do everything else right and still walk away with a thank you. "If you don't start with a mini contract, you won't sell anything because it's not a sales conversation."

That has a price. Run five of those calls a week at 45 minutes each and you've handed out almost four hours of free consulting. Every week. Meanwhile the pipeline goes stale, the target keeps slipping, and the new hire you're training learns one thing from you: be nice and hope.

The mini contract, in 30 seconds

Three moves, right at the start. Say something like this, in your own words:

Welcome. Here's what happens in the next 45 minutes. What's on your agenda? These are mine. By the end, either this is an outcome we both want to take further, or it isn't. Do you agree?

That's it. Time, agenda, outcome, and a small yes.

🐬 Listen to how the room changes after that small yes. You're no longer the visitor hoping to be liked. You're the person leading the call, and they agreed to it. No begging, no chasing. That's control of the sales conversation, and it starts before the first real question.

You don't need to hype yourself up

Hayleigh told me she knows founders, years into business, who still hate sales calls. So I asked what picture they have in their head. Usually it's the used car guy who doesn't listen and wants to push something on you.

Nobody says that about the Dalai Lama. People want to sit with him, because "we are seen, we are heard, and we will be laughing." And yes, he sells too. Thousands of people buy into what he teaches.

So drop the idea that you have to perform. Some people jump on a trampoline before a sales call. You don't need that. "It's more like going to lunch with a friend."

Then let them do the talking

When I review calls, I mostly see sellers talking 50 or 60% of the time. That leaves a bitter taste on the other side.

Hayleigh gave a perfect picture of both ends. Her best sales experience: the seller asked questions, she gave a lot of detail, and at the end he recapped all of it. Her worst: she said about two things, the seller went on and on, and she just asked what it cost so she could leave.

That price question is the exit door. "It's the best polite reason to, to say no." So the order matters. "You don't say any price before you are at step six." That's Step 6, Investment, in the 8 Steps of the Repeatable Sale, after the buyer has told you what doing nothing costs them.

🐯 One of our sprinters says that when he does his best selling, people don't even remember he was there.

Record 50 calls and you'll hear it yourself

A tennis pro knows how to stand on their legs. They still watch 30 minutes of footwork, because 1% in the angle of a knee decides points, points decide matches, and matches decide championships.

Sales works the same way, and the curve is steep: "if you record just 50 of them, that's enough." You'll hear your talk time, your weakest question, the awkward silence you rushed to fill.

I still record mine. Our clients bring us their best call and their worst call each week, and we practice both. Chew on what that does over a quarter. Write your opening down and it also stops living only in your head, which is the first thing a new hire needs.

Start this week

1. Write your mini contract. Time, agenda, outcome, one small yes. Four lines.
2. Open your next call with it. Out loud, in your own words.
3. Hold the price. If they ask early, tell them you'll get there once you know what this problem costs them.
4. Record the call. Listen back once and note your talk time.

Picture the end of that call. They've done most of the talking, they've said what this problem costs, and they ask you: when can I start? That's the fresh feeling of a sale that didn't need any begging. And it buys back your evenings. That's Sprintlife: control of the sales conversation, and the time freedom it buys you. 🌴

Listen to the full conversation with Hayleigh Hayhurst: Three Steps to Double Your Sales in 90 Days

Grab the free tools and practice with other founders in the Sprint Club: https://www.strategysprints.com

Ready to accelerate now? Book a Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/strategysprint/discovery-call

Happy hunting.
Simon & The Sprinters 🐬⚡️🐆