Dearest Reader,

Do you send follow-up emails post sales call to your buyers? I commend you (far too many sellers skip this step).

But. Do your follow-up emails fall flat? Do you hear crickets?

Great news: it’s not because you didn’t say the right thing. But it probably IS because you didn’t hear the right thing.

Let me explain: Most founders think they’re selling the outcome—the transformation. But more often than not, they’re mostly recapping their offer. There’s a massive difference—and your close rate lives in that gap.

How this client improved her close rate by 200%

One client came to me with a steady stream of leads, but a weak close rate, hovering around 20%. She was doing a lot of things right: qualifying her buyers, a discovery call template, and a tidy follow-up email. But something wasn’t landing.

Here’s what we did: she started recording her sales calls, and I would listen to them afterward. The point wasn’t to critique her, but for me to identify what the buyer was truly looking for.

The challenge that many sellers face—especially the founders, entrepreneurs, service providers I work with—is hyper-fixating on the details of their offer. They tend to emphasize what the buyer gets (the deliverables). But my ears—trained over 20 years of doing this—know what to listen for: not the buyer’s surface-level “need,” but the evolution they truly desire.

Yeah yeah yeah. Intellectually, we know we’re supposed to sell the transformation (how many times have you heard to “sell the 🏝️, not the ✈️”?), but most sellers don’t know how to do that.

I was listening for the words the buyer used to describe their evolution—that’s what closes a sale. I’d send my client notes, like:
→ “Here’s what they’re actually trying to solve for.”
→ “Here’s the part of your offer that speaks directly to that.”

We rebuilt her post sales call follow-up emails to reflect the prospect’s words. She started anchoring in evolution, not features, and her close rate jumped from 20% to 60%—a 200% increase. Her offer didn’t change a whit, but her ability to talk about it—from the buyer’s perspective—did.

Two shifts to transform your follow-up (and close rate)

If you’re dissatisfied with your close rate, or your follow-up strategy is spaghetti-on-the-wall, here’s what I recommend:

1. Focus on the prospect, not the offer. Use a format like this in your follow up: “here's what I heard you say [use the buyer’s words], this is what you're looking to do [the shift], and here's the piece that we're can work on together [the part of your offer that directly relates to the transformation].
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2. Seek support. Most founders, entrepreneurs, and service providers sell in isolation. They might have training, but they rarely have space to role-play in advance or debrief postmortem. I have an idea for how to fix this, because I want sales to feel accessible and authentic to everyone. Sales is lonely, but it doesn’t have to be—so watch this space! 👀 In the meantime, see if you can practice with peers or friends. Even a single debrief can help you focus less on your offer and more on buyer transformation.

Sell the evolution
​My most succinct sales advice is this: Selling is not about you.

It’s not about how great and amazing your offer is. It’s not about how knowledgeable and experienced you are. It’s about your buyer and what they desire, every single time. That’s what you’re selling, always.

Start mirroring the change your buyer is craving. You’ll spend less time convincing, and more time closing.

Now, I want to hear from you: Where in your sales process do you feel most unsure, repetitive, or stuck in your own head? Reply and let me know—I want to know!

Until next time, happy selling!

—Talica

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