Build questions for a first sales call

Build the questions for a first call.

***The goal is to find out whether this is real, not to present.***

1. **Questions that establish whether there is a problem at all:**
   - What they do now, ***step by step***
   - **What it costs them** — ***time, money, or risk.* **In their terms, not mine**
   - ***What they have already tried.* **This tells me more than anything else**
   - **What happens if nothing changes** — *if the answer is "nothing", there is no deal*
2. **Questions about how a decision gets made:** who else, what has to be true, what has killed similar things before, when
3. ***Questions I would rather not ask*** — **budget, competing options, whether this is actually a priority.** **Mark them and say when to ask**

**Per question:** what a good answer sounds like, and ***what a vague answer means***.

**Rules:**
- ***More open than closed.* **No question answerable with "yes"**
- **Do not put my product in the question.** *"How are you handling X?" not "Would a tool that does X help?"*
- **Leave room for silence.** *The useful part usually comes after the pause*

**Then:** ***the one answer that would tell me to walk away***, and what I should say if I hear it.

⚠️ ***Do not write a pitch. Do not assume their situation beyond what I told you.***