How To Turn First Conversations Into Real Clients

The first minutes of a new business conversation can shape everything that follows. We unpack how to start strong, build trust fast, and guide a casual chat into a scheduled discovery meeting without feeling pushy or scripted. If your networking and outreach feel busy but rarely turn into real opportunities, this episode shows the exact moves that change the outcome.

We start with the core of effective selling: authenticity. People buy from people they trust, and trust shows up through voice, posture, and a genuine smile. You’ll hear why dropping the “sales mask” matters, how to signal warmth, and how thoughtful listening reveals priorities you’d never surface with a canned pitch. Then we map the transition from small talk to business: when the setting is noisy or rushed, use simple language to acknowledge timing and suggest a specific appointment. Options like “Tuesday or Thursday?” reduce friction, while a short, relevant assignment invests your prospect in the next step.

From there, we highlight the role of a clear call to action at the end of every interaction. Whether you’re in line at Starbucks or wrapping a phone chat, forward motion depends on asking for the next meeting and confirming what both sides will bring. You’ll get sample phrasing you can use today, plus a preview of what’s coming next: qualifying prospects so you spend time where it counts. Along the way, we reinforce practical sales habits—be yourself, listen more than you talk, and always close the conversation with a simple, specific ask.

If you’re ready to convert friendly conversations into real pipeline, press play and take these steps into your next meeting. Subscribe for more practical sales tactics, share this episode with a teammate who needs a stronger CTA, and leave a quick review to tell us which transition line you’ll try first.

Chapters

• 0:00 Authenticity Sets The Tone
• 2:03 Show Purpose And Podcast Mission
• 2:54 Step One: The Initial Conversation
• 4:14 Move From Chat To Discovery
• 5:08 Authenticity, Warmth, And Listening
• 6:15 Ask For The Appointment
• 7:35 Always End With A Call To Action
• 9:18 Sample Language For Transitions
• 9:59 Next Up: Qualifying Prospects
• 10:39 Closing And Resources

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

If you look like, by your mannerisms or the sound of your voice, to be anything less than your authentic self, well, there's a real good chance they're not going to do business with you, and you may not even may not even build a friendship. We're suggesting that if you work at making it happen, it probably won't. If you are your authentic self, you have a much better chance of building a true professional business relationship. Welcome to the Commission Code Podcast. We're here to help you overcome the challenges that most of us face in our business from time to time. You know, it seems like feeling like you're on a plateau and you just don't need to grow your business, or maybe feeling overwhelmed when the begins lead, and yet it seems like you're always working. Or maybe you've done quite well for a while, but you know, nothing seems to be working anymore. Well, we want to help you solve those problems and many more. Our objective is to provide you with practical solutions so you can grow your business and have more time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. My name is Morris Tims, and I'm going to be your host for this show. I've spent years, okay, decades really, in the corporate world teaching business owners how to increase their revenue and use professional sales processes and run their business more effectively and efficiently. I started my own consulting and training business about seven years ago again, so I'm helping my clients do just exactly that. Get more revenue, increase their revenue, and have more time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. I gotta tell you, I'm having more fun than ever helping people build successful businesses. So, with all that said, let's get on with today's episode of the Commission Code for your success. Hey, welcome back to the Friday uh short podcast for the Commission Code. My name is Maurice Sims, and I'm really excited about going through the sales process that we started last Friday and getting into some of the detail and some of the things that you can use today. So here we go. The initial conversation is step one, and it in the olden days we used to call that the approach, but it's where that professional business relationship really begins. As with most relationships, it's all based on a conversation. You know, I ask you questions, you answer, then you ask me questions, and I you know how it goes, right? But by the end of the conversation, we can decide whether we might be able to do business together or not. We've either built the beginnings of a friendship or we haven't. And you can move on if you haven't. And that's you know part of the fun of that initial conversation. At the very least, hopefully you're gonna leave there with a new friend. But the first conversation may be a detailed conversation, or it could just really be a time to ask for an appointment where you can get into the details, and that that's the next step. That's the discovery process. And sometimes you can do that all at the same time. Others, you want to be able to get out of the cocktail party or the meeting or wherever you happen to be, the line at Starbucks, and be able to say, you know, maybe there's a better time for us to do this. Uh, can I buy you a cup of coffee next week? Whatever it may be, you move into that discovery process. The objective is really to build that business relationship in this initial conversation. So, yeah, just like any conversation begin or like any friendship, it begins like a conversation. The key is to continue to show your authentic self with complete sincerity. If you look like, by your mannerisms or the sound of your voice, to be anything less than your authentic self, well, there's a real good chance they're not going to do business with you, and you may not even may not even build a friendship. We're suggesting that if you work at making it happen, it probably won't. If you are your authentic self, you have a much better chance of building a true professional business relationship. As well as, you know, being a friend. Because mom taught us, right? To make a friend, be a friend. It sort of works that way in an initial business conversation as well. You can't wear a mask, figuratively or in reality, and build any trust on which you build a relationship. Authenticity is what really matters if you want to build trust. So you want to show warmth in your voice, an inviting look with your body language, and by all means, smile. It's it's just really makes all the difference in the world in how you come across to people when you smile. That's worth repeating. Be yourself, your authentic self, and be truly sincere about everything you say and sincerely interested in what the other person has to say. You know, listening is still a skill that, oh golly gee, I'm not sure all of us really know how to do it properly or do it well, but it is so vitally important. Your initial conversation with a prospect might be just introduce yourself and make an appointment to take the conversation further. That's where I see so many young salespeople run into problems, is they go out and meet a lot of people, they have a lot of face contacts, but they never take it to the next step, which requires asking for an appointment. It requires moving into that that point where you can begin to have that discovery conversation and actually talk about business. So that that I think is one of the real keys to the initial conversation is first building that relationship, being able to have a conversation, but then being able to transition that conversation into business. And that's where things really can take off and make good good things happen. So if you're in a place where you can continue the conversation, like maybe on the telephone, and the client's open to it, you can begin to ask discovery questions. And that's what it really boils down to. No matter where you are or what the situation is, you always end any conversation with a call to action. You need to ask the person that's listening, the person you're with, you need to ask them to do something. In the case of an initial conversation, that call to action is generally the request for the next meeting. An assignment, in addition to the request for the next meeting, is also a good idea. Ask them to think about something and be ready to discuss it at the next meeting. Ask them for some specifics about what they want or most anything that has to do with the case at hand. The key here is to help them become invested in making that next meeting a reality. Now, this is just the beginning, but it's absolutely necessary. Without a positive experience with the initial conversation, it's really doubtful that the prospective client is going to actually proceed to the next step. Getting off on the right foot, making a good impression, having a good experience with this first step in building a business. Oh, golly, it's super important. So, how do you make that transition? Language I like to use, and usually it happens in those situations where, as I said before, you're you're standing in line at Starbucks or at the grocery store, wherever, and you've been able to build a little bit of a conversation, and maybe they asked you what you do, you responded with your wonderful elevator re uh reply, your elevator approach, and then um, yeah, it's it they said, gee, you know, this is something I want to think about, or however the conversation might go, and they're ready to talk more, but it's not the right time or place, or it's not where you want to have that discovery conversation. You can always say, gee, John, you know, I I really would love to continue this conversation, but this is probably not the best place here at the at the cocktail party. But why don't we get together next week? If if you have some time, I'd love to buy you a cup of coffee where we can sit and chat about whatever it is they want and need and and get into a little more detail. Is Tuesday good for you or is Thursday better? And you do that call to action. You do that call to action. And wherever you are, it's yeah, this might not be the best time or place, or you know, right now I I apologize, but I've got another meeting I've got to go to. But I would like to really would like to have this time conversation with you and and talk more detail. What's a good time for you next week? Do you have some time on Monday or would Friday be better? And you can continue the conversation. But that call to action is what makes things happen. That call to action is what has to occur in order for this to be the first step in the actual sales process. Next time we're going to talk about qualifying the prospect, making sure that the people you're talking with are actually folks that could, might, want to, that you might want to do business with. And that's that's uh really the the whole point of that one is gee, let's not spend time with folks that are just based on some basic criteria are never going to buy. You know, you don't need to spin your wheels with folks that are not ideal prospects, that are not at least qualified prospects. More on that next week. Have a great week, have a great weekend. I'll talk to you again next time. Well, that does it for this episode of the Commission Code Podcast. This is the place where we want to help you find the Commission Code to success in your business. Remember, go to MorrisSims.com for more information. And in the meantime, hey, have a great week. Get out there and meet somebody new, and we'll see you again next time, right here on the Commission Code. Best wishes, I'm Morris Sims.