The basics
How to sell
By Pitchgrit · Updated November 10, 2026
Selling starts with a person who has a problem you can help with, not a script you recite. Learn what they do today, ask what it costs them when it slips, and connect your offer to that cost. Then ask for one next step they can refuse. Practice doesn't guarantee a result on the real call.
What to do
- Pick one buyer and one problem. Name the person and the job they are trying to get done. A pitch to “companies like yours” is not a sales conversation yet.
- Learn what they do today. Use their public site, a job post, or what they tell you. Do not invent their numbers.
- Open with why this person. One sentence: who you are, why you called them, and one question. Then stop.
- Ask before you present. Find the problem, what it costs when it slips, and who else feels it. Huthwaite’s SPIN names for those questions are on the discovery page.
- Connect the offer to what they said. Use their words. If they did not describe a problem, you do not have a pitch yet.
- Ask for a next step they can refuse. A day or window, a length, and who else should be there. Then wait.
- If they say no, stop. Ask who owns the next look, or end the conversation. Do not restate the pitch.
What a first conversation sounds like
Avery Chen, Priya Shah, Sam Okonkwo, Brightlane Freight, Northline, and Harbor Desk are fictional. These lines are for practice. They are not a recording and not a result.
A first call. Avery sells software that shows a freight desk which loads are late. Priya runs that desk at Brightlane. They already pay a vendor called Northline.
Avery
Priya, Avery Chen at Harbor Desk. You watch late loads at Brightlane. Are you the person who would look at a different way to see them, or is that someone else?
Priya
It’s me. We already have Northline.
Avery
Good to know. When a load is late today, who hears about it first, your team or the customer?
Priya
The customer. Then we scramble.
Avery
That’s the part I’d want to look at. Would 20 minutes on Thursday at 10, with you, be a no, or worth putting on the calendar?
Notice what Avery did not do. No discount, no tour of features, no claim that Brightlane will switch. The close is a meeting Priya can refuse. The full version of that ask is on Practice a close the buyer can refuse.
What to leave out
- A company history. They did not ask for one.
- A list of features that does not touch the problem they named.
- A promise about savings, a close rate, or what their boss will do.
- “Just checking in” with no question and no next step.
Common questions
How do you sell to a business?
Talk to a person who owns a problem, learn what they do today, and ask what it costs when that breaks. Then connect your offer to that cost and ask for one next step they can accept or refuse. If they have no problem you can help with, say so and stop.
What is the first thing to say?
Who you are, why you called this person, and one question about the work they already do. Then wait. The cold-call page has the lines word for word.
Sources
- Huthwaite International, The SPIN Methodology Describes Neil Rackham's SPIN model as four question types: situation, problem, implication, and need-payoff. The same page calls a later stage obtaining commitment, and describes it as securing a next step. We use those names for the method. We do not repeat the research claims on that page.
Keep going
Practice the lines
Practice one of these lines in the free preview. Say the ask, and let the buyer answer.
The free preview needs no account and runs up to 20 minutes. A browser can start 3 previews a day. The buyer's spoken replies use the same voice time as yours. On a busy day, voice time can run out sooner. Typing continues until the 20-minute clock ends.
Practice doesn't guarantee a result on the real call.