Ascend 101

Lessons about building a one-person business, writing, and self-improvement

Last week we went over building connections through DMs. And that’s great for growing your account and all. But we’re here to earn ourselves a living as well. And we’ll need to make sales to do so. Preferably high-ticket ones.

While they might look similar. The underlying goals of building connections differ from making sales. This means our strategy will also change.

Making sales depends on making our prospects aware of their problems and our solutions. We want to nurture and guide them towards wanting (needing) our product/service.

You’ll see how this entire process focuses on raising the awareness level of your prospects. Let’s get into it.

My 8-Step Framework for Getting People On Sales Calls

There are a few things you need before you get people ready to buy and on sales calls:

– An offer (this can be a service or a product)
– A scheduling software (Calendly is great to schedule calls)
– A qualifying form (you want to filter the number of calls people book)

That qualifying form is optional. But it’s highly recommended not to allow everyone who finds your Twitter to book a call. It can be time-consuming and we’re not aiming to build another 9–5.

However. It’s beneficial to skip this if you’re just starting out. It’s good to get the practice in. Even if you know some people simply can’t afford your prices.

What follows is the 8-step framework I used to get people on sales calls, something I talk more about in my Abundant-Client System, which teaches you all about getting leads, qualifying your prospects, and landing clients consistently and effortlessly.

Step 1) Find someone to DM

This step is the same as before. You can’t send a DM to someone if you have nobody to DM. That much is obvious.

The difference is where we’ll find the people we want to DM. This time we’re looking for prospects. Warm traffic.

We’re looking for people with similar interests as you but who are 1–2 steps behind you on their journey of solving their problems.

You’ll find these people:

– In replies, likes, retweets, DMs, or other forms of engagement with you
– In the engagement section of other people that create similar content
– In the “following” or “followers” section of accounts that are similar

Find 1–5 people every day that engage with your actionable or educational posts. These people are the most interested in the topics you talk about.

Step 2) Send the first message

Don’t overthink this part. Be open. Friendly. And authentic.

Example:

– Hey ___! I’ve seen you engage with my content a few times now. Thought I’d come say hi. How’s everything going?

Literally anything goes.

(If they send YOU a DM first. Reply to their message and transition into the next steps.)

Step 3) Transition

This is the moment when we’ll want to uncover their goals and what they’re trying to achieve.

In the best-case scenario, they’ll briefly describe how they’re trying to go about it. You can always ask them yourself if that’s not the case.

The goal here is to understand their desires and get a feel for who they are. You’ll also be able to tell whether they’re a good fit for your service based on the answer they’ll give you.

You don’t want to spend your time pitching a high-ticket offer to someone who isn’t at least aware of their own problems.

Example:

– That’s awesome man. Glad to hear it. What are you working towards?

Step 4) Identify the roadblock

There’s a crucial rule of sales that you need to remember. People pay to solve problems. If there’s no problem. Then there’s nothing to buy.

It’s important then to understand what they’re struggling with. What are their current obstacles? It’s your job to identify them.

Then build your offer around helping them overcome those obstacles.

Example:

– Sounds like an impressive goal. I’ve helped a good amount of people reach a similar goal in this space actually. What’s your biggest obstacle so far?

Step 5) Dig deeper

The first problem they mention is never the real problem. It’s the surface-layer symptom of a deeper root cause. Figure out what the root cause of the problem is. Ask as many questions as you need to understand their situation.

Asking questions makes you look like you know what you’re talking about as well. This builds up trust & authority before you’ve even given a single piece of advice.

Examples:

– Have you done anything to try and fix it yourself?
– Why do you think that approach failed?
– Is this related to [some other problem]?

Tip: use carefully crafted questions to guide your prospect to a realization. This is a great way to raise their level of awareness before you pitch your offer.

Step 6) Pitch

Now is the time. It’s time to pitch your offer.

There are 2 ways to go about this. You can either:

– Full-on pitch your paid offer and get them on a sales call immediately
– Help them for free with one simple obstacle and ask if they’d be interested in continuing with you

Most people immediately jump for the first option. They want to get paid without wasting any time. And that’s fine. If you know what you’re doing.

But if you’re just getting started. Give the second option a chance. This gives you the opportunity to:

– Get more experience
– Build up more trust
– Get testimonials

And you can still pitch your offer at the end of that call. Do a good job on the call and they’ll want to pay you for your service.

Example (free call):

– I see. I’ve actually implemented a system for myself that might be able to help you. Would you be up for a call so I can tell you how it works?

Example (immediate pitch):

– I offer a pack of 4 calls that would run you through my entire system and solve your obstacle for good. Is that something you’d be up for hearing more about? I’m happy to schedule a call to get to know each other and see if it would help. If not. No worries. Happy to [help some other way].

That other way could be just sending a document/course of your system or some resource you’ve found. It could be hopping on a short one-time call as well. It’s up to you.

The most important is to build connections with people. You want everyone to get to know you. People will start referring their friends to you as you keep doing this. With time those referrals will start compounding so much that you don’t have to do any work yourself.

Step 7) Send a form or calendar link

Have a Calendly event prepared and send it to them when they say yes to your previous message.

Once you’re more experienced you’ll want to transition to sending them an intake form. Think Google Forms or Typeform.

This is to limit the number of calls you have to get on. That way you can qualify them before you hop on a call. No point in pitching your $5,000 coaching service if you know they’ll never be able to afford it.

Sending a form will also make it easier for qualified people to hop on a call with you. They’ve already invested time & energy in filling out the form. This reduces the friction of hopping on a call. Win-win.

Step 8) Follow Up

This process won’t go smoothly all the time. You will get people who don’t respond. You will get conversations that die out.

Most sales aren’t made the first time you contact someone. The real money is in the follow-ups.

How you follow up is up to you. You can send them a resource of something you’ve found related to their goals/obstacles. Or you can simply mention that you’d wanted to check up on them again and see how everything’s going.

An example follow-up schedule might look something like this:

– First follow-up: spaced 2 days apart after the initial message
– Next 2 follow-ups: spaced apart 1 week after previous follow-ups
– Last 2 follow-ups: spaced apart 2 weeks after previous follow-ups

Just let them go after those follow-ups. There’s no point in wasting your time any longer. Your time is better spent with other people at that point.

And that’s it.

If you’d like to learn more about getting leads, qualifying your prospects, and landing clients consistently and effortlessly, then be sure to check out my Abundant-Client System.

In it, I’ll show you my entire system, every single framework I use, and how to adapt it to your business, so you can get paid (with or without having to hop on sales calls).

P.S. Whenever you’re ready. Here’s how I can help you:

Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove all of your uncertainty. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.
Work 1-on-1 with me: We’ll determine where you stand and where you want to go. Then we’ll devise a roadmap to get you from A to B. And get you there in the next 30–60 days.
Download all my products (free & paid): Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

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