THE POINT!

Trust
Your customer will tell you
everything you need to know in
order to sell to them.
Qualifying Call
LAUGH
CONTEXT:

1 5-10 Mins

Establish humanity, confirm

goals, understand roles
INTRODUCTIONS

AGENDA

2
WHY: FOUNDER STORY
15-20 Mins
Pitch, understand and educate QUALIFY

USE CASE

3
WHAT: 

10-15 Mins SELL
Establish credibility, identify
KPIs, contextualize value ROI

4
HOW: BANT
10-15 Mins
Map the close, confirm, NEXT STEPS
schedule
LOL
LAUGH 1-3 mins

INTRODUCTION • Self deprecation

AGENDA • Something that happened

FOUNDER STORY • Something you found out about their company, market, or

QUALIFY
industry

• Story about a mutual connection

USE CASE

• The fact you’re wired on coffee… Anything!

SELL

ROI

BANT

NEXT STEPS

TIP: Laughter establishes - or restores - a positive emotional climate a sense of

connection between two people. It literally forces two people to take pleasure in
the company of each other.
What’s in a name?
LAUGH 2 mins

INTRODUCTION
• How were you connected?
AGENDA
• Each person’s name, title, and responsibilities, including your
FOUNDER STORY own
QUALIFY • Confirm how much time you have

USE CASE

SELL

ROI

BANT

NEXT STEPS
TIP: Take notes on each person’s responsibilities and who and what questions are
asked questions during the meeting. If there are multiple people in a sales meeting, take
notes on the dynamics between the people. This will give you insight in the
management style of the organization and how to sell to this particular customer (top
down, consensus, executive committee).
Structure
LAUGH 2 mins

INTRODUCTION • Goals of the call

- Get an understanding of XX about them
AGENDA - Discuss how you can help them with XX

FOUNDER STORY
- Outline next steps if there’s a fit
• Set a structure for when questions should be asked
QUALIFY
- During the meeting, Discussion vs. pitch, Pause for questions
USE CASE • Ask them if they have anything they’d like to discuss

SELL

ROI

BANT TIP: “So I want to go over a quick agenda for the meeting today. My goals for the call
are to get a good understanding of how you guys currently do XXX. Then discuss how
NEXT STEPS
we can help you with XXX. If there’s a fit, we can go over next steps. Sound like a
plan? Great. Is there anything in particular that you would like to cover? One thing I do
want to ask is that we make this a discussion vs. a pitch. Though I love to hear myself
talk, your questions are much more enjoyable for me than the sound of my own voice.
If you have any questions, please feel free to interrupt me.”
Founding Story
LAUGH 3 mins

INTRODUCTION
• Before you start, ask what they know
AGENDA • Structure: What personal experience lead you to the problem, what
did you discover and how did you solve the problem?
FOUNDER STORY • 3-5 sentences, max…
QUALIFY • Make it relatable - make it about them not about you
• Simplify - less is more
USE CASE
• Pause for questions
SELL

ROI

BANT

NEXT STEPS

TIP: Your founding story is the first pitch of your product told through the lens of you, as
the customer. It should build trust and credibility.
Are they a good customer for you?
LAUGH QUALIFYING QUESTIONS
5-15 mins
INTRODUCTION

AGENDA • Value Based Questions (VBQ): You get 3!

- What do you need to know about the customer to know if they are a
FOUNDER STORY
good customer for you? Pain, $$, Qualifying Event
QUALIFY - What do you need to know to identify a relevant customer case
study to share
USE CASE
• Value Based Response (VBR): Educate
SELL
- Respond to every question in a way that establishes knowledge of
ROI
the industry and the credibility of the market or pain point your
product solves for
BANT

NEXT STEPS
TIP: Casual competitor name dropping in your VBR is a great way to peak
curiosity, build credibility and engage your customer. Statistics are a great way
to guide the customer’s thought process and quantify the problem that you are
solving.
Prove it through a story!
CASE STUDY
LAUGH
2-3mins
INTRODUCTION
• Establish credibility through others’ experience - Fact vs Opinion
AGENDA
• Should include the ROI for the customer

FOUNDER STORY • Make it Relatable - Industry, Title, Problem, Tech Stack

• Tie back to what you learned from your Qualifying questions
QUALIFY
• If you don’t have customers, use customer discovery stories
USE CASE

SELL

ROI

BANT

NEXT STEPS

TIP: Handle objections / concerns using customer examples. “That’s actually

something we hear a lot. XXX had the same concern. When they actually started
using the product they found…”
Contextualize value
LAUGH SALES QUESTIONS
5-15 mins
INTRODUCTION

AGENDA
• Value Based Questions (VBQ): Again you get 3!
FOUNDER STORY
- What do you need to know about the customer to quantify the ROI
QUALIFY you o!er this customer?
- What do you need to know to put together a clear use case for the
USE CASE
customer?
SELL • Value Based Response (VBR): Empathize

ROI
- Dive deep into the pain. Enhance the issue with customer
examples
BANT

NEXT STEPS

TIP: VBRs are not a pitch. They should be focused on relating to the customer’s pain,
educating the customer on the market and validating the problem your product solves
for the customer.
How do you help them?
LAUGH
USE CASE
2-5 mins
INTRODUCTION

• How will using your product impact their business?

AGENDA
• In your VBQs, what did you identify as the key benefits
FOUNDER STORY for this customer?
• Can you tie the benefit back into a ROI story for them?
QUALIFY
• The customer needs to understand this clearly to sell it
USE CASE into the organization

SELL • Pause for questions

ROI

BANT
TIP: Be clear and concise. If you’re doing demos on the first call, show the specific aspect of the
NEXT STEPS
product that applies to their needs. You don’t need to show the whole product, unless they need
to see the whole product. Focus on the parts of the product that are relevant to this customer. It’s
not show and tell. If you are a higher priced product, hold off on the demo until you have all the
stakeholders in the room. Avoid using your product / deck as a crutch to pitch vs. asking
questions.
Map the buying process
LAUGH BANT -BUDGET, AUTHORITY, NEEDS, TIMELINE

INTRODUCTION
5+ mins

AGENDA
• Budget: How do you typically evaluate tools like this? Is this
FOUNDER STORY something that you have resources/budget allocated for?
• Authority: Is there anyone else who would need to see the product or
QUALIFY
be involved in the decision making process? What is their role? What
USE CASE
do they care about?
• Needs: Already established earlier in the meeting
SELL
• Timeline: Have you ever purchased a tool like this before? What was
ROI the process like? Do you have a legal process? Is the purchase tied to
an internal deadline?
BANT

NEXT STEPS

TIP: After you feel you fully understand what happens on their end after the call, repeat what
you learned back to them and get confirmation that it is correct.
What’s next?
LAUGH 5+ mins

INTRODUCTION
• What is going to happen when you get off the call?
AGENDA • What is your homework? Confirm

FOUNDER STORY • What is their homework? Confirm

• ALWAYS schedule/confirm your next step!
QUALIFY
• Send a calendar reminder w/ the agenda for your next
USE CASE meeting

SELL

ROI

BANT

NEXT STEPS