Part 13 of 20 in How to Sell: The Key to Success← Part 12Part 14 →
This chapter offers a 30-day practice plan for improving sales skills, inspired by Bettger's method. It's designed for founders looking to enhance their approach to selling.
- Week one focuses on enthusiasm and creating a list of 20 potential contacts.
- Week two involves tracking outreach efforts and understanding customer rejections.
- Week three emphasizes asking 'why', building confidence, and attempting real closes.
- Week four is about learning from experiences and deciding on future hiring needs.
- Success is measured by improved conversations and understanding customer needs.
Bettger did not try to become a different man in a weekend. He carried one idea at a time, often for a week, written small enough to reread. You can do the same, mapped to the four sales and to the customers you do not have yet. Thirty days is long enough for the fear to become boring, which is the beginning of skill.
Week one: enthusiasm and the list
Write the twenty names. Family, candidates, angels, buyers. Not “the market.” Names. Each morning, before you open the product, act the first call: stand, say the opening sentence, make the call or send the specific note. In the evening, one line on whether you were in their problem or in your pitch. End the week having spoken to eight of the twenty. Enthusiasm is the week’s only theme. Do not audit the whole company.
Week two: fear and the record
Count. Outreaches, conversations, asks. Put the five postponed calls on the calendar and clear them. After each, four lines in Customer Truth. The standard is the number, not the feeling. At the end of the week, look at the nos and write the reason under each. A no without a reason means you forgot why.
Week three: why, confidence, and the close
In every serious conversation, ask why and what else. Admit one limit unprompted. Bring one witness, even if the witness is a pilot user with a modest result. Make one clean ask, and practise the silence. Attempt at least three real closes: a paid pilot, a joining date, a family agreement on the next six months, an angel yes or no. Fog does not count.
Week four: learn, then decide what not to hire
Read the document. Cluster the pains. Change one public sentence on the site to a buyer’s phrase. Decline one kind of customer in writing. Fill the six-question brief. If it is full, you may draft a hiring note. If it is not, your next month is still founder-selling, and that is the correct strategy, not a delay. Use the AI prompts only to shorten the admin around these conversations.
What good looks like on day thirty
Not a full pipeline. A founder who can sit down with a parent, a hire, an angel, or a buyer and do seven ordinary things. Show a pulse without hype. Walk in prepared. Ask why. Find the key issue. Prove you are safe to believe. Ask for a decision. Write down what you heard in their words. That is the skill. Revenue, a teammate, a calmer house, a round: these are consequences. Bettger’s income followed his behaviour. Yours will follow the same order. Behaviour first.
Failures mean nothing at all if the next conversation is better than the last. The record is how you know.
End with an invitation, not a summary. Write down the key issue from your last stalled conversation, in the buyer’s words. The founders who can do that are the founders worth sitting with. The founders who can only send a deck are still on Chapter 1, and that is a fine place to be, provided they start the list tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
How should I handle rejection during the second week?
Track outreach efforts, note rejections, and understand the reasons behind them to improve future interactions.
What are the key activities in the third week?
The third week involves asking 'why', admitting limits, bringing witnesses, and attempting real closes.
What should be achieved by the end of the 30 days?
By day thirty, you should be able to conduct effective conversations and understand customer needs without relying on hype.