My system gets me 90% of meetings with owners and a 50%+ closing rate.

Hey guys! My name is Geoffrey Williams and a friend told me about this site. I've got some good advice off this forum so I decided to give back and share my system.


I've been making money online and offline for awhile and after lurking on here for awhile I decided to let you guys see my system that makes me a majority of my money (thousands a month) and gets me high conversion rates in both meetings and closing. Anyone can do this, I'm a college student so I don't have any crazy accolades that make people want to talk to me. Also, a good way to make great friends and contacts in the business world.

By the way, I've done this without a webiste, twitter, facebook page, and business cards. When trying to sell to offline business this just seems useless.

The Strategy
I know that relationships sell better than any advertising in the world (case in point: relatives or friends are usually most people's first sale)

So I need to contact cold leads and make them friends, dig for their problems, show value, and then close.
I call this a "set". To complete a set you must get "ok" from all four points listed above.

I break every year into 12 quarters (each month is a quarter), In each quarter there are 4 weeks. In those 4 weeks I run this one "set" on about 15-20 business; sometimes less, sometimes more.

This can work with anything your trying to sell and is very flexible. Meaning you can sell anything you want and not have to shove your one product or service down someone's throat ( more on this in a second week).

Week 1: Getting 90% of the meetings I go after
Contacting possible leadsI've always hated cold calling because you can't see the reactions of someone on the phone; also, its very easy for someone just hang up, lie, or just say no.

Since in week one we just want to build report this is how I get 90% of the meetings I'm after.

Dress nice, walk in to the business with one sheet of blank paper ( this brings stress levels down, if someone sees you with a briefcase or folder and in a suite they start thinking "oh great, a salesman, how fast can we get this guy out"). Then to further disarm I will say this to the front desk clerk or hostess

"Hey, is the owner in I would like to talk to him about important issues"

Make sure this is quick and strong (be sure to smile of course). The longer you talk the lower your precived value is and you want to make yourself look important enough to not look like a salesman. (the whole point is to position yourself as a non-salesman)

Quick point: make sure you be a stealth ninja and know his/her name beforehand. If you can't find it online when you walk in be extra observant.

Then the Boss/Owner will come out and I will follow it up like this:

"Hey Mr. Smith, my name is Geoffrey Williams I'm starting a business soon helping (whatever, it doesn't really matter at this point) can I ask you three (always odd number questions 3 or 5. Even numbers make it sound longer) questions it will take 5 mins of your time."

This gets me a meeting atleast 90% of the time. Usually the only time it doesn't work is if he/she isn't there in which if that's the case I come back when he/she will be there.

Ok, so your sitting with the owner/boss have three very broad questions that have everything to do about him and his business and (this is the most important part) NOTHING ABOUT YOU OR YOUR BUSINESS SERVICES OR YOUR LIFE. He/she doesn't care nor should he/she. Your questions should be report building questions, making the owner feel amazing, respected, and admired. The more you make it about him and his accomplishments the more the owner will like you.

Examples of questions I ask:

"So, Mr Smith the first thing I have to ask is you've been is business for x years, that's amazing, whats your secret to being successful for this long?"

"What was your proudest moment in business?"

"How does your family like having a (italin chef, plumber, bartender(if he owns a liqour store) around the house?" -----} this is usually said in jest trying to get him to talk about his/her family. If you can get the owner so comfortable that he starts talking about his kids your golden!

Finally, you say this exactly:

"Thank you so much for being friendly Mr. Smith, starting a business can be hard and its good to see you doing good, its great motivation. Do you have an email address so I can ask you some follow-up questions?"

I have never got a "No" from this. Then you send the owner a short email a day later saying this:

Hey Mr. Smith

Thanks for the great talk yesterday, I'm going to keep your words in my mind as I move forward and keep you updated. No response needed, just wanted to say thanks.

Thanks again
Geoffrey Williams.

Boom! A cold contact is now a warm lead. Estimated time frame 3-5 days.
Week 1 is done!

Week 2: Digging for information
The ninja work

OK, now in week two you will basically do the same as week 1 to get another meeting except this time its more detailed questions. Again, you need to do this right and not step into "salesman" territory".

You walk in and do them same as week 1. It should be easier and less stressful this week. Now you have to ask him detailed questions about his business without sounding like your setting him up to sale him something. A good strategy here is to make him feel like he is discovering the answers while you are having a conversation.

Some of the questions I ask:

"So, Mr Smith I see your doing yellow page ads are they good for getting leads/customers?" ---) trying to see what he spends on marketing

The rest of the questions should be aimed at trying to find problems you can solve. This is what I mean by flexible, instead of shoving your ideas and products you have to sell in his face that the client doesn't need; you on the other hand will be vigilant and look for common problems he is having and note the way he talks about these problems. Here are some questions that usually get those problems out:

"What are two things about your business that keep you up at night?"

"If you could change two things about your business what would they be"

"What would a perfect "enter business name" look like?"

Some possible answers you should be looking for

An actual conversation I had with a restaurant owner (paraphrasing)
"Well Geoffrey, I'm always worried about administrative costs, and I guess just making the restaurant nicer"

Me: "Nicer? how so?"

"just fancier, make us look legit..umm..our sign and menus. Things like that"
BING BING BING -- I hear easy money!

Me: "So you really worried about looking fancy. That makes total sense, in this day and age you have to look the part to get the clients"

"Yeah, Its just one of those things. You have to look like money to get money. Atmosphere is everything, I mean starbucks sucks but there atmosphere brings people in"

You should be taking everything he is saying down because you will come back and use his exact words to close him in week 4.

Some will say "but I don't know menu design I only know xyz". Stop being lazy and go on odesk, elance and craigslist and try to get as many quotes as you can.

Again, thank him for being friendly and send him a thank you email like above.

Week 3: Showing value
The hard work week.

Trust doesn't come easy, and to this point you and the owners should be very good acquaintances. Now to build trust and show your value to him you will be giving the owner something free.

This depends on you and what it sounded like the owner needed; however, it can be twisted into something your good at. Example: I'm good at facebook pages so what I did for the restaurant is make a very fancy facebook page with nice pictures and a online menu that looked ten times better than the one he had. Now he already had a facebook page, but I made a dummy one and went to show him.

Again, no calls, just head over there with a big smile and say "Mr. Smith I think your going to like what I have for you"

Show them the work you've done and make sure you show value. Don't let him think you just go around doing this for free. Example of what to say:

"Well, Mr. Smith I usually charge $280 for a fanpage but you've been so helpful these past weeks that I would be happy for you to have it as a token of my appreciation"

The look on there face is usually priceless and I usually get a free meal out of it (if its a restaurant).

Boom! You have now shown amazing value; not only doing $300 of work but then giving it away to a friend. Honestly, by now you should be able to sell them chewed gum.

A day later, send a email telling him you will keep up with the fanpage and if he liked the layout. Not really expecting a reply just something I want the owner to think about.

Week 4: The Close
Cha-Ching!

Here it is, the end of the "set". You are in week 4 and it is now time to close the deal. You SHOULD have been researching solutions to the owners problems and found a way to profit off of it. Example:

I my case it was obvious that he wanted a new image for his restuarant. Menus, Logo, Facebook (free work), and possibly website. I found a person on odesk that is good at menu design and logos and then contacted a online company that can take the designs and make it and ship it for pretty cheap. Then I design a quick mock up of how the website would look a and host it on a domain that I already own.

My final price for the whole package $1,600. Then broken down if they only want a couple of the services.

Note: That sometimes they only need something simple, if that's the case don't feel bad about making a small sale. I've made $100-$200 sales that have taken this much work just because I know that If they bought from me once they will do it again, and possibly for more money. Just be happy that money is coming in and you can convert them to a paying client.

Then you go in as a friend and tell him what you can do for him. I could seriously write a whole other post on closing because I have three favorite ones and I might If I get good feedback from this.


So, that is my system. If anyone asks what I sell, I just say "solutions" because it should be about the client and not about you. With elance, odesk and others there should be no reason not to solve the problems they NEED solved just because you don't have the skills. Find someone and find a way to make a profit off of it.

Thanks guys, I hope a fraction of this is helpful. Let me know if you have questions!

--Geoffrey Williams