From the book · Unleash Your Business With AI
Chapter 10: A sales team that learns
The 9 prompts from Chapter 10, ready to copy, with the chapter's mistakes to avoid and three tasks for this week.
1. Qualify a lead
Here is a new enquiry, with the name and phone number removed: [paste the enquiry] We sell [products] to [type of customers], usually with a minimum order of [MOQ]. Tell me: 1. Is this a likely fit for us, and why? 2. What is unclear or missing? 3. The 3 questions I should ask first to judge whether it is worth a quotation. Use only what is in the enquiry. Do not assume a quantity, budget or timeline that the customer has not stated.
What you should get back: a short verdict with a reason, a list of gaps and three questions. It helps the team spend time on the right enquiries first.
Check: the verdict is an opinion on one message. A salesperson who knows the customer can overrule it. Every enquiry still goes into the log from Chapter 7.
That's the first one
Open the rest, free
Enter your email once and every prompt page and guide on this site opens.
- 2. Prepare for a call
- 3. Handle a price objection
- 4. Follow up after a quote
- 5. Restart a quiet customer
- 6. Summarise a sales call
- 7. Write a proposal intro
- The monthly lost-deal review
- Practice on a difficult customer
- Mistakes to avoid
- Do this week
2. Prepare for a call
I have a call with a [retailer / distributor / corporate buyer] in [city] who wants [product]. What I know: [past orders, what they asked, any concerns; no personal details] My goal for the call: [for example, a trial order of 2 items, or agreeing payment terms] What I am allowed to offer: [terms, or "standard terms only"] Give me, on one page I can read on my phone: 1. A 3-line opening. 2. 5 questions to understand their need. 3. The objections they are likely to raise, with a calm, honest answer to each. 4. What I should not offer on this call. 5. One clear next step to ask for at the end. Use only the facts I have given. Do not invent anything about the customer, their business or our competitors.
What you should get back: one page to read in the five minutes before you dial. Run it before the call, not during.
Check: point 4 matters most for a junior salesperson. Read it with them. They should know, before the phone rings, what they cannot give away.
3. Handle a price objection
A customer says our price for [product] is higher than [a competitor / their current supplier]. Their words, with personal details removed: "[paste the objection]" What we offer that they may not be getting: [quality, finish, delivery, credit terms, after-sales; only what is true] What I am allowed to offer: [for example, "nothing on price; free freight above a set order value"] Write 3 replies, each under 60 words: 1. A value reply that explains our price using only the facts above. 2. A question reply that asks what exactly they are comparing. 3. An option reply that offers an alternative (a smaller order, a different item, different payment terms) within what I am allowed. Calm tone. Do not run down the competitor or invent facts about them. Do not offer a discount. No pressure and no false urgency.
What you should get back: three short replies that take different routes. The question reply is usually the safest one to send first. Until you know what they are comparing, you may be defending your price against a different specification.
Check: every claim in the value reply must be one you can prove. Discounts stay your decision, not the AI's. If a discount is right for this customer, a person with the authority gives it, on purpose, and writes it in the log.
4. Follow up after a quote
I sent a quotation for [product and quantity] to a [customer type] on [date]. No reply yet. Write a short, polite WhatsApp follow-up that adds one useful detail: [stock status / delivery slot / new design; only what is true]. Under 50 words. End with one easy question. Do not write "just following up" or "checking in". Do not mention a discount, and do not add any urgency I have not stated.
What you should get back: one message that gives the customer something, then asks one thing.
5. Restart a quiet customer
This customer last ordered or enquired on [date] about [product]. Write a friendly WhatsApp message to restart the conversation around [Diwali / wedding season / new stock / new range]. Offer: [the offer, or "none"]. Do not mention any discount or offer unless I have written one here. No pressure, and no reference to their silence. Under 60 words. End with one simple question.
What you should get back: a message with a real reason to write. Seasons and new stock work well.
Check: the season, the stock and the range must be real on the day you send it.
6. Summarise a sales call
Here are my rough notes from a sales call, with personal details removed: [paste your notes, or the text of your voice note] Turn them into: 1. Customer need. 2. Products discussed. 3. Objections raised. 4. What I promised, and by when. 5. What the customer will do, and by when. 6. Stage for the enquiry log (New / Qualified / Quoted / Follow-up / Negotiation / Won / Lost). 7. Next step, with a date. If something is not in my notes, write "not mentioned". Do not guess. Then draft a short message to the customer confirming the next step. Do not add any promise that is not in my notes.
What you should get back: seven lines that go straight into the row in the enquiry log, and a confirmation message for the customer.
Check: read the summary against your notes, especially line 4. Then share it in the team group so that nothing is lost if you are away tomorrow.
7. Write a proposal intro
Write the opening paragraph of a proposal to [customer type] for [product or service]. Their main need: [need]. Why us: [2 or 3 real strengths that I can prove]. Tone: confident and plain. Under 90 words. Use only the strengths I have listed. No superlatives. No figures, certifications or client names that I have not given you.
What you should get back: one paragraph that starts with the customer's need and not with your company history.
Check: only list strengths you can prove. The AI will not know which ones are true.
The monthly lost-deal review
[Paste your business note from Chapter 5] Here are our lost enquiries for [month], with the stated lost reason and notes. Customer names are replaced with codes: [paste the rows from the enquiry log] Task: 1. Group the losses by the real reason. Look past the stated reason: for example, "no reply" after a quotation may really be a slow quotation or a weak follow-up. 2. For each group, count the enquiries in it, from this table only, and list their enquiry IDs so that I can check the count. 3. Suggest the 3 changes to our sales process most likely to reduce losses. Be specific: which stage, and what to change. 4. List anything in the data that is unclear or that you are unsure about. Do not invent numbers or reasons. Count only what is in the table.
What you should get back: a few groups with counts and enquiry IDs, three suggested changes and a list of doubts.
Check: count the rows yourself against the IDs. AI is weak at counting, and a wrong count will send the meeting in the wrong direction. Treat the "real reasons" as questions to put to the salesperson who handled each enquiry.
Practice on a difficult customer
You are a customer at our [type of store or business]. You want [product], but you think the price is too high and you are comparing us with another [shop / supplier]. Stay in character. Reply in short messages, the way a real customer would. Do not make it easy for me. Our rules, which I must stay within: [for example, no discount without the owner's approval; exchange within 7 days] When I type END, step out of character and give me feedback: what worked, what to improve, and any place where I promised something outside the rules above.
What you should get back: a conversation that pushes back the way a customer does, then a short review of how it was handled.
Check: read the feedback together with the staff member. You decide what is right for your store, not the AI. Its feedback is one opinion, and it has never stood at your counter.
Mistakes to avoid
- Prompts saved in one person's phone. If the best prompt lives in a personal chat history, it leaves when that person does. Keep all seven in the shared document.
- Letting the objection prompt offer a discount. Tell it what you are allowed to offer. If you leave that line blank, it may fill the gap.
- Running the call-prep prompt during the call. Reading a screen while a customer is talking loses more than it gains.
- Accepting the stated lost reason. "Price" and "no reply" are where the review starts.
- Trusting the counts. Check every number in the lost-deal review against the rows.
- Treating role-play feedback as the standard. The standard is yours. The AI only supplies the practice partner.
Do this week
- Copy the seven prompts into one shared document, with your products, customer types and minimum order already filled in, and send the link to everyone who sells.
- Before your next important call, run the call-prep prompt, and after the call run the summary prompt and paste the result into the enquiry log.
- Put two recurring entries in the calendar: a monthly lost-deal review for the owner and sales manager, and a weekly fifteen-minute role-play for the newest member of the sales team.