Discovery. Ask, don't pitch.

Tonality

Slow, curious, slightly unsure — never confident-salesy.

Anti-pattern

Cheery 'How are you doing today!?' — the universal trigger for 'Not interested, click.'

Steal these

• "Hey {name}? ... I was hoping you could help me out for a second..."
• "I know you weren't expecting my call — do you have like 27 seconds before I let you go?"
• "Totally cold call — feel free to hang up if it's not relevant. Mind if I tell you why I called?"

Tonality

Neutral, almost note-taking. You're a reporter, not a pitcher.

Anti-pattern

Skipping straight to a pitch. If you don't know their situation, every claim sounds generic.

Steal these

• "What are you currently doing for {topic}?"
• "How long have you had that in place?"
• "What made you go that direction originally?"
• "Out of curiosity — who else is involved in a decision like this?"

Tonality

Soft, almost gentle. Trail off. Let silence do the work.

Anti-pattern

Telling them their problem ('A lot of our clients struggle with...'). Their problem only matters if THEY say it.

Steal these

• "Are you happy with how that's working — or are there things you'd want to improve?"
• "What about it would you change if you could?"
• "How long has that been a thing for you?"
• "What do you think is causing that to happen?"

Tonality

Curious, slightly puzzled. Like you genuinely don't know what they want.

Anti-pattern

Jumping into a demo the second they admit a problem. They're not ready to buy yet.

Steal these

• "If you could wave a wand and fix that, what would it look like?"
• "Have you tried to solve it before? What happened?"
• "What's stopped you from getting it handled until now?"

Tonality

Concerned, almost reluctant to ask. You don't want to be morbid — but...

Anti-pattern

Skipping consequence. Without it, the prospect 'thinks about it' forever — there's no urgency.

Steal these

• "What happens if you don't get that fixed in the next 6–12 months?"
• "How is that affecting you personally — not just the business?"
• "If nothing changes, where does this end up?"
• "Have you thought about what that's costing you already?"

Tonality

Matter-of-fact. You're as willing to disqualify as qualify.

Anti-pattern

Pitching to anyone with a pulse. Sharp reps disqualify fast and protect their calendar.

Steal these

• "If we found something that solved that, is this something you'd want to handle in the next 30 days — or is it more of a someday thing?"
• "What kind of budget do you typically set aside for something like this?"
• "Walk me through how a decision like this gets made on your end."

Tonality

Almost takeaway. 'Are you sure you want me to keep going?'

Anti-pattern

Launching into the demo without permission. The prospect mentally checks out.

Steal these

• "Would it help if I walked you through how we'd approach that?"
• "Do you want me to show you what that would look like for your situation?"
• "Are you open to hearing what we do — or is now not the right time?"

Tonality

Confident now — but still anchored in their language.

Anti-pattern

Generic pitch deck. If you'd say the same thing to anyone, you're doing it wrong.

Steal these

• "You mentioned {their exact words} — here's specifically how we'd handle that..."
• "Does that line up with what you were picturing?"
• "What questions does that bring up for you?"

Tonality

Calm. Assume the close. Offer a specific time.

Anti-pattern

'I'll send you some info and follow up.' That's not a commitment. That's a graveyard.

Steal these

• "Based on what we just talked about, where would you want to take this from here?"
• "I've got Thursday at 10 or Friday at 2 to walk through specifics — which works better?"
• "Is there any reason we wouldn't move forward with a deeper conversation?"

Tonality

Unbothered. Curious. Like you've heard it 1,000 times because you have.

Anti-pattern

Defending or rebutting. The second you push back, their guard goes up and the call is dead.

Steal these

• "(Price) Aside from the cost, is there anything else stopping you from moving forward?"
• "(Think it over) Yeah of course — what specifically would you need to think about?"
• "(Send me info) I could do that — but most folks ask for that and never read it. Mind if I ask: what would you actually look for in there?"
• "(Not interested) Totally fair. Out of curiosity — is it that you've already solved it, or just nothing's broken enough to fix right now?"