Go beyond persuasion during a sales call. Use "pre-suasion" to shape the conversation's context beforehand. By strategically sending relevant content, links, and discussion topics, you can prime the prospect to focus on your strengths, making the eventual sales meeting far more effective.

Leverage AI to conduct comprehensive research on a prospect's company, industry, and the specific individuals you're meeting. This allows you to bypass basic discovery questions and dive into more relevant, informed conversations, making the sales call more efficient and valuable for the customer.

When you aren't thoroughly prepared for a sales call, your mental energy is spent thinking about what to say or ask next. This prevents you from being truly present and actively listening to the customer. Deep preparation frees you to listen, use your intuition, and react genuinely to their needs.

Most reps prepare for calls, but this effort is often invisible to the prospect. By explicitly showing your work—like presenting a hypothesis slide based on your research—you demonstrate conscientiousness and earn respect, especially when selling to more senior executives.

Avoid generic small talk about weather. Instead, start the call by demonstrating you've researched their business and respect their time. This builds immediate credibility and prevents prospects from multitasking before the real conversation begins.

Instead of simply showing up to a first call, create a repeatable system. After a prospect books a meeting, automatically send a short introductory video about you and your company. This warms up the lead, sets expectations, and differentiates your process before the conversation begins.

Buyers don't want to educate you; they want to feel understood. Begin calls by presenting a hypothesis based on your research. This signals expertise, builds trust, and fosters a more natural, collaborative conversation rather than an interrogation.

Your primary role in a discovery call is not to solve a problem, but to guide the prospect to clearly articulate it themselves. This act of achieving clarity is a valuable service that builds immense trust and provides the prospect with a sense of relief, even before a solution is discussed.

Instead of asking prospects to educate you with generic questions, conduct pre-call research and present a hypothesis on why you're meeting. This shows preparation and elevates the conversation. Even if you're wrong, the prospect will correct you, getting you to the right answer faster.