What’s your Sales Call
Reaction Face?
The brussel sprouts of client work?
Some (okay, very few) kids love brussel sprouts and eat ’em right up. But for most kids, it’s an acquired taste — one most of them have no interest in acquiring. Ever.
Sales calls are a lot like that. Most freelancers hate them. And they think, just like brussel sprouts, they need to suck it up and just get on with it.
But that’s not true. In fact, you don’t need sales calls at all. You need something entirely different.
Let me prove it to you…
The (Refreshing) Truth about (Great) Selling
You’ve seen the movies, right? The ones with salespeople in sharp suits, dogmatically hammering home the ugly truths about selling, like “always be closing” or “never take no for an answer.
And all those OTT characters. DeVito in Tin Men. DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street. Or the awfulness of those worker-ant call centers. Or the hopeless grind door-to-door.
You’d be forgiven for thinking selling for a living was the greatest professional tragedy that could happen to us.
No wonder we think sales is pure drudgery at best and sleazy and dishonest at worst.
But let me tell you a secret…
Screenwriters aren’t salespeople. They just make stuff up for a living.
This is how great, ethical sales calls really work…
Great sales calls establish genuine fit!
That’s it.
It’s ethical. It’s stress-free. And it’s a win-win. And…
It’s how you attract and sign better clients – you know, the ones who pay well and respect your process.
For you, that means matching your service with your prospects’ problem. If there’s a good problem-solution fit, and they can afford you? Deal’s on. And there is a clearly established framework for doing just that.
Once you understand that framework? Your calls are about establishing fit. This is the not-so-secret approach I’m going to show you how to use — it’s easy, and repeatable. It’s a step-by-step method to run ethical, stress-free and win-win sales calls. No pushy, creepy tactics. No need to “convince.” And never, ever sleazy.
Wondering how you establish fit, especially for creative services? Your answer starts with the Sales-Buying Conundrum…
Selling vs. Buying Puzzle
Being sold to, sucks. Yet we like to buy.
If you’re like me, the purchases you’re happiest about are the ones where you feel fully empowered to make the buying decision because you’re in the driver’s seat and no one’s trying to “close” you.
That is exactly how your prospects should feel about signing with you.
That’s what ethical businesses, including well-paid freelancers, already know and are quietly using every day to drive their success. No gimmicky growth hack or “insider secrets” or hot new social media trend.
Because the happiest clients, the ones who buy from you again and again, who refer you to more great clients, and who pay you your full value, are the ones who are empowered to make the decision to hire you. You are not selling. They are buying. That’s a huge difference.
And it’s your job to be the person who empowers them.
Let me put that another way…
The most successful freelancers are the ones who empower their prospects to make the best buying decision – even if that means going with someone else. Because sometimes the best deal for both of you is no deal.
Never be afraid to say no to a client. It’s a sign of integrity. And that client might come back to you in a year’s time when the fit is because you were honest with them, because they see you as a trusted partner.
The Partnership Reset
Once you embrace this new dynamic, the pressure to close is gone. Completely.
That’s precisely what happens on a successful, ethical sales call.
You’re helping your prospects make a solid decision that’s in their best interest. Period. In other words, you are not there to sell. You are there to help.
That’s what ethical salespeople understand: prioritize the win-win solution.
It’s how you build long-lasting relationships with your clients based on trust.
(This is also how you say goodbye to the stress and pressure of feeling you have to “sell.”)
Do that and you are halfway to making a great deal.
The other half?
That comes down to knowing what your ideal prospect must hear from you on that call to see you as their best-fit option.
Every client, no matter size or industry, has five questions they must have answered positively by the end of your call together. If you get the first four questions answered, you are very close to crossing that finishing line. Get the fifth one too? Becomes difficult for your prospect not to sign you.
Here’s a breakdown of those five questions.
Five questions every client (secretly) wants answered…
If great selling (and buying) is all about fit, let’s get specific about what “fit” actually is.
Your clients are looking for answers to five “Fit Questions” to decide if you’re right for them.
Yet they’ll rarely ask them all directly.
And they’re universal — so you can be prepared to answer them. Here they are…
1
Problem-Solution Fit?
This is the obvious one.
Your prospects must see and understand if there’s a good fit between your services and skills and their needs. That’s what your Discovery Call reveals.
Your job is to clearly identify the client’s root problem – which they might not even be aware of – and to show them how your services and skills can solve that problem.
2
Personality Fit?
Not every client is right for you. And you’re not right for every client. There absolutely needs to be a personal “click.” This part of the fit will emerge throughout the call. And you both need to trust your gut on this.
Remember too, that the client is unlikely going to behave better than on this first call. So, if they irk you now or are plain rude, imagine what they’ll be like once they’ve paid you. Again, trust your gut on this one.
3
Money and Time Fit?
Can your prospect afford you and can you deliver to their timelines? This is a practical matter and can be answered quite quickly. You want to be certain you’re both crystal clear on project timelines and deadlines.
To confirm, say something like, “The window we’ve identified for this project is from X to Y dates. I’m booked after Y, so I want to make sure we have a clear timeline, so you get exactly what you need. Do those dates work for you? Are there any principal stakeholders away during that time or do you have any other projects that might limit your availability?”
You’d be surprised how often a CEO/Decision Maker is suddenly away for two weeks with no warning.
4
Confidence Fit?
Every client wants to work with a freelancer who, a) fully delivers on their promises and, b) can manage the project. In other words, they want a safe pair of hands (and they fear a flake).
You need to demonstrate your professionalism during the call — how you run your calls telegraphs your ability to run a project.
Clients are paying very close attention here and that’s why having a solid framework is so important. It gives you confidence and your prospects will see you have a process. And smart clients love to see a good process.
(I mean, who doesn’t want to feel like they’re in capable hands)?
5
Preferred Expert Fit?
This one makes it rain!
You want to be seen as their perfect-fit expert – the one person who has exactly what they are looking for, who really understands their challenges and desired outcome — and who has the skills and experience to deliver.
Get this right and potential clients will see you as their number one (and perhaps only) choice.
Pro tip: lay the groundwork if you have an authority piece you can send before the call. Investing time in creating a handful of expert pieces (blogs, podcast appearances, videos, etc.) is a powerful way to demonstrate the depth of your expertise.
Time spent creating these pieces will be repaid many times over as they do the heavy lifting (some of those doors are immense) for you.
Putting it all together
These are the five “Fit Questions”. The job of your sales call is to answer each question with a resounding YES.
The best way to do that is by being honest and upfront about what you offer, digging deep to discover their real problems, and demonstrating that you have the skills and expertise to do the work.
That means…
You never, ever have to fake it. No salesy smoke and mirrors. And none of the manipulation trickery you see on TV or movies or dodgy YouTube videos. Instead, you learn how to have meaningful conversations, ask the right questions and assess their needs.
The challenge is, how do you keep all this straight in your head on a call that is most likely the first time talking with the prospect?
The answer is simple. A framework.
The framework that does the work for you
Hi!
In case we haven’t met, I’m Amy Posner.
With three decades experience and six successful businesses under my belt, I can point to the very moment I discovered how to teach people to love the sales call.
Many moons ago, I was hired to build a sales team from the ground up. And when I say the ground up, I mean people who had never worked in sales before.
Here’s how I did it.
First, I found the easiest, most stress-free method I could use myself. (Eventually this discovery earned me close to $30k a month).
Then I broke that into a step-by-step framework.
Then I taught it to my best team candidates. All pretty standard stuff so far, right?
It wasn’t an out-of-the-box success and we weren’t expecting that. What we wanted was a good starting point.
We kept modifying and testing and it started to come together. But there was a small number of my team who crashed and burned every time. They hated everything we were trying to teach them. Getting them on a phone was like getting a kid into a dentist’s chair.
Then, one day, I had one crucial aha moment (that took me years to get to) and the magic happened.
I told them I didn’t want them to sell.
We changed the framework so the goal of the call was to help the potential customer make a good decision for themselves about one next step.
Everything shifted. They were no longer salespeople. They were expert advisors whose role was to discover if there was fit. They felt great about what they were doing and making calls became an interesting challenge for them, instead of a dreaded necessity.
These were no longer Sales Calls. They were Discovery Calls. And we had a framework to run those all day long.
Perfected for Freelancers
Confident and Empowered
Amy’s course gave me the confidence and skills I needed to successfully and ethically sell as a creative freelancer without the usual “ick factor” that can come along with selling.
From delivering value to managing those sometimes uncomfortable conversations, I walked away with knowledge that was both engaging and practical. Amy is an inspiring teacher who knows her stuff and brings her deep well of knowledge and expertise to the table.
If you’re looking to level up your sales call skills so you can develop relationships with potential customers and close the deal without feeling sleazy, unprepared, embarrassed, or any of those other obstacles keeping you from getting the sales you need in your business, I highly recommend this course.
Jacinda Santora (she/they)
Marketing Strategy +
Implementation
A process that works
My discovery calls were haphazard and hit-or-miss. My potential clients seemed to take the lead during these calls, and I felt like an order taker.
Amy’s Breakthrough Sales Calls has given me a step-by-step framework that enables me to take the reins during discovery calls and position myself as an equal, an expert and a problem-solver. I love that it’s a repeatable process that I can depend on again and again to demonstrate to my potential clients that they can put their trust in me.
Jat Leng Low,
Messaging Strategist
Close your best-ever deals
Amy, as always, is brilliant and delivers valuable advice for anyone building a business.
Breakthrough Sales Calls is is packed with tips that make it easier to get valuable information that help you close incredible deals, it’s a must for anyone, whether you’re new to running a biz or have a boatload of experience..
Erin Pennings
Brand Strategist
Your proven, step-by-step framework for running
Breakthrough
Sales Calls
for Creative Freelancers
Win more business. Land better clients. All without selling.
The idea behind Breakthrough Sales Calls for Creative Freelancers is super simple…
Transform your entire sales-call game. From stress-inducer sales calls to total-confidence discovery calls. In sixty streamlined, info-packed minutes.
This is about getting you results, getting them quickly, and putting highly actionable content in your hands today.
And that’s good news for you if you’re super busy and/or neuro-diverse.
Bite-Sized and ADHD Friendly
I hired a professional course designer who made the course ADHD friendly (and kept me on track, taught me best practices, and a few other things that make me really proud of this work).
That means no waffle to let you drift off — plus clean, uncluttered slides that won’t distract you and clear, actionable steps.
The course is video based so you can control the playback speed and it’s well-organized so it’s quick to go back to anything you want to revisit in the future.
Tools Galore + My Iron-Clad 60-day Guarantee
The moment you enroll, you have lifetime access to everything, bonuses and all.
You’ll also get the PDF and worksheets I share in my Mastermind and with my 1:1 clients. These are the critical tools you’ll use to create your personalized sales-call framework.
I’ll walk you through each step of the framework in detail, including the red flags you need to look out for at each step – and I’ll share my best pro tips to help you sail right past some of the typical obstacles.
Lastly, there’s my personal, 60-day, no-questions-asked, 100% money-back guarantee.
What you get instant access to when you enroll...
- 15 bite-sized videos
- CC (subtitles) on all videos
- A clear and precise process that A-B-Cs you from hello to proposal request
- Your three internal meeting goals (that create the momentum and energy that clients love)
- The 15-minute, pre-call tip that can save you from disaster
- The Johnny-Carson Opener for every meeting that sets you up as the pro-in-control good clients look for
- How to position yourself as the expert your ideal clients most want to talk to (and how you can avoid the clients you really need to stay far away from)
- Why a NO might be more profitable than a YES (and even mean more work with that client)
- What you must do in every single meeting to catch throw-away gold
- The expert trait that elevates you to a consultant level and more than justifies your fees
- Why you shouldn’t and will never have to fake it till you make it
- What your client thinks they know, but probably doesn’t, when you first meet
- The Unbreakable Rule when talking money
- The easy and stress-free way to answer the stickiest money questions
- How to float a budget range and talk money like a seasoned pro
- How to turn being a newer, inexperienced freelancer into a significant advantage
Instant access to all 11 modules…
Section 1: Foundations
Module 1. Introduction: Craft and Business
Getting the balance between your craft and your role as a business owner is key. That’s the very first thing we cover to set you up to run your win-win calls.
Module 2. Sales Myth Busting
Time to put the biggest, baddest sales myth to bed. Because as long as this Big Nasty is roaming around in your head, you’ll always be spooked by your calls.
Module 3. Power Positioning as Partner and Problem Solver
This is the heart of everything. Get this right and it’s downhill all the way. All you’ve got to do now is steer.
Module 4. Vetting: How to find your most profitable NOs
The beauty of Discovery Calls is the freedom to say NO and to do that in a way that brings those prospects back to you when the time is right.
Section 2: The Framework
Module 5. Chit-chat
Breaking the ice and building rapport takes only a couple of minutes but if done right it sets you up as the creative professional they want to hear more from.
Module 6. The Segue Formula
This might take less than a minute but by using this formula, you signal leadership and set the agenda.
Module 7. The Challenge
Time to shine by digging deep and defining their problem. This is a great opportunity to show the prospect that you bring a lot more to the table than they expected. This module shares the technique I use to do just that.
Module 8. The Solution
Let’s turn it up a notch and demonstrate why they need you by connecting their biggest need with your custom solution and expertise. Plus, how to appear even more of an expert when you don’t have a ready-right-now answer.
Module 9. The Buy-In
This is the moment of truth. I’ll show you how to bring everything together so you are all 100% on the same page and ready to move to money talk.
Module 10. Budget
A sign of a pro is talking confidently about money and good clients will expect that from you. Here’s my playbook for doing precisely that.
Module 11. The Decision
If you want a YES, then you have to facilitate that YES. This is how you do it.
A little extra to help you reach your goals…
Proven tools of the trade (gotta have some cool extras, here're yours!)
Because I’ve taught the Breakthrough Sales-Calls Framework for so long, I know exactly what you need to make sure all the success you have on your calls turns into a well-paid contract. That’s why I’m adding these three bonus lessons….
Bonus One – IMPACT PROPOSALS
My personal checklist for creating and presenting client-winning proposals. Includes the exact structure of the proposals I use and teach to my private clients.
Bonus Two – PRICING YOUR PROJECTS
My guide to pricing your projects so you get paid fairly for the work you do and make the money you need to run and grow your business.
Bonus Three – CONTRACT CLAUSES
How to use your contract to head off problems in a clear and concise manner your clients will appreciate.
“So I just burned through the Breakthrough Sales Call course. It’s so good. It’s so good. I can’t even get over how good it is.”
Message to Amy from a Mastermind participant after getting access to the course.
Veronika Bryskiewicz
Email & Direct Mail Strategist
Conquer confidence and show up like a pro
Even after being in business for a few years, I always need refinement and improvement in my discovery/sales calls and processes. My two biggest challenges with sales calls are timing — my original process caused me to rush through this as a 20-minute call — & winging it without a plan/not asking enough of/the right questions.
After completing Amy’s training, I’m completely revamping my discovery/sales call process. I have a pre-worksheet completed to drive the direction of each call. I have a concrete outline for running my calls, a handful of strategic questions to ask each prospect, and a method for determining if each project is the right fit.
As a bonus, I’ve updated some key points in my proposals and contracts thanks to wisdom from these sections — Amy’s experience and guidance on things to include, how to present my information, and how to show up like a pro are invaluable.
Lindsay Hope
Email Strategist &
Conversion Copywriter
Your two price choices
(and a thank you)…
Breakthrough Sales Calls, plus the bonus interviews, with lifetime access, is $197.
But… you have a second buying option.
As a thank you for considering Breakthrough Sales Calls, I’d like to offer you a second buying option.
You can now get my Sales Calls course, with all bonuses, as part of a bundle that includes my flagship course, Complete Breakthrough Freelancer.
Complete Breakthrough Freelancer is everything I teach in my $8k mastermind distilled into a single course. This is by far my most comprehensive course on building a freelance business.
Right now, you can get Breakthrough Sales Calls for just $197. Or… Breakthrough Sales Calls + Complete Breakthrough Freelancer for only $497. That’s both courses, with all bonus content.
To help you decide, here’s the page with all the information on the Complete Breakthrough Freelancer course.
To buy Breakthrough Sales Calls with bonuses as a stand-alone course, just keep reading…
Your final gut check
As I said, Breakthrough Sales Calls for Creative Freelancers is $197, it’s available right now.
But should you buy it?
If at this stage you aren’t Hell yes!, then don’t. It’s not for you. At least not right now.
I only want you to buy if you feel the urgency (and excitement) about making a significant and lasting difference in your own business – and about getting paid fair value for the work you do.
If yes, then this course is for you. And to remove all risk, check out my 60-day guarantee.
Enroll right now by clicking the button just above to take you to your payment page.
If you are not 100% thrilled,
I’ll buy back your course
Let’s tie this up with my personal guarantee!
You have my full, 60-day, buy-back guarantee.
That’s a no-strings-attached guarantee even if you complete the entire course and all the bonuses. If you think you didn’t get the value you were promised, just let me know and I’ll send you a full and prompt refund — no questions asked.
Run seamless sales calls, confidently and ethically
“For the average creative (myself definitely included) the sales process is the least palatable part of running a business.
Show up confidently and demonstrate value to other business owners? More like panic, cold sweats, and pre-call head trash.
Fortunately, there is Breakthrough Sales Calls, which is a breath of fresh air for those of us who dread sales.
Amy has managed to completely remove the ‘yuck’ and the panic from sales calls and replace it with thoughtful and digestible advice for seamlessly running a meeting from start to finish … Ethically, and while not sacrificing the actual sale.
Amy is a natural teacher and a gifted coach, and watching her course was like having coffee with a friend. She doesn’t waste words on content that isn’t 100% relevant to improving your ability to conduct an effective sales call, and as a result, there is a ton of value packed into this short course.”
Heather Dileepan
Website Copy Specialist
A personal message…
I can’t tell you what’s possible for you using what you’ll learn on my course. But I’ve seen my coaching clients do extraordinary things with this knowledge.
One of those clients used my framework to land his very first paying client for $6,400. His very next for over $17,000. To put that in perspective, the average project for well-trained newer freelancers in his space is $2,000-$3,000.
He now uses the same framework to sign $30,000 projects.
Is that typical? No. But in ten years of being paid to help freelancers build their businesses, I can say this….
There’s you and what you do next. And knowing your options and knowing what has worked over and over again for other creative freelancers is the surest way I know to get you to where you truly what to be, creatively and financially.
If you take me up on this offer, I’ll be thrilled to be part of your journey. If not, I want to wish you all the best and thank you for your time today. I genuinely appreciate it.
Disclaimer
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