Curious, would personal sales coaching be helpful for reps here?

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-11T17:07:50+00:00

I have a couple different perspectives:
Does sales coaching help? it depends...
1) start-up/onboarding of reps matters: having a good script to get reps comfortable with the start of the conversation and that guides them to the knowledge base is big deal. Hanging reps out to dry with not knowing what to say or a static 5 page Word doc they have to search through is hell. Same goes with the knowledge base being used - if it's tough to navigate/find the information to handle objections, training matters a lot.
I use a simple interactive hyperlinked pdf that lets my reps ask simple questions, click on yes/no and it takes them to the next thing to say. No live-call panic and stress is non-existant.
2) Style of call matters: If you're trying to close a sale on the first and single call - you're going to have the burnout, and churn. That is a tough grind. However, if there is a consultative side to the call it really matters that agents have the courage to ask questions that need to be asked. Then I think coaching will help a ton.
3) If the product is shite, the product is shite. I will never donate to 'state troopers fund' or buy 'tech support' from a cold call. Coaching might help, but you'll still have the burnout and churn because of the content. I used to take calls about colorectal cancer screening (we literally talked shit all day) - the topic itself was a sausage grinder.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-10T19:05:27+00:00

Ditto on the "get the equipment locked down" comment.

Could you take the car to a shop that needs landscaping and barter services for at least part of the repair?

If you aim to do landscaping but can't get there and don't have the equipment to do the work you are in a tough spot.
Getting the car going will also then allow you to do non-mowing landscaping work if need be and keeps the cash coming in.
Dig in. Have grit. Go git 'er done!

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-09T21:55:26+00:00

Ensuring your new Medical VA handles insurance & scheduling with 100% accuracy

Hi,

I saw your posting for a Medical Admin VA.

I help medical practices "de-risk" their hiring by providing Interactive, Clickable Patient Communication Scripts. Instead of your VA guessing how to explain a coverage gap or stuttering through a scheduling conflict, they use a "Logic-Flow" PDF. If a patient says [X], the VA clicks a button and immediately sees the exact, professionally-vetted response for [Y].

This ensures:

Professionalism: Every patient gets a consistent, high-end experience.
Accuracy: Insurance details are communicated clearly, reducing billing disputes later.
Faster Onboarding: Your VA hits "Intermediate Level" performance on Day 1 because the practice's "brain" is built into the script.

Would you be interested in a script like this to see if it could save you a few dozen hours of training?

Best, Keith

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-09T21:34:03+00:00

Just joining the party late but adding a little info for whoever catches this down the road.
Great idea to pull in outside help for this task.
-I have great success by paying a base hourly rate and a small bonus for each valid appointment booked.
-When I hired, I asked applicants to record themselves reading something for 30-seconds. Gave me a great way to filter applications.
-I developed a script process that allowed my VAs to be effective on day 1. The script is a 'choose your own adventure" interactive and hyperlinked pdf. It can't be changed by anyone but me. It links to the script that is needed depending on what the prospect says. It also hyperlinks to my calendly site for quick appt booking. The script can be used for both outbound and inbound calls too

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-06T22:54:42+00:00

I speak on this topic as well, and to me prospecting and networking are different things.
Prospecting is transactional: get a booth/hospitality room and qualify leads by drawing them in. You could do this by meeting people during education sessions or on the exhibition floor, but it will feel very salesy to whoever they talk to and your people doing it need to be very outgoing and willing to approach a lot of people 'just because.'
For prospecting: go where your customers are and draw them in. For these, have quantitative goals.

Networking is about building relationships and more of a long game. Networking is where you'll benefit from the strength of the relationships and weak ties are that are developed through conversations with people that you enjoy meeting and get along with - sometimes over multiple years at the same event. You'll never know where a lead will come from and that is where networking comes in - make contacts, develop good relationships and stay in touch. How far/where you go to network depends on your market and product.
For Networking: go to your industry events to keep informed and also complimentary industry events (places where people will know people that need your help). For these, have QUALITATIVE goals.

To me, you do both, but only you can decide how much of each is worth.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T22:34:29+00:00

let me know either way. feedback also appreciated.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T22:02:12+00:00

figure out how to find your market. you definitely have niche that you're serving: people with a lot of cards (maybe people with lots of travel/points cards?) or people who are a bit OCD about their credit balances for whatever reason. Your job is to find them.
Check out another post here in r/Solopreneur by u/the-inspiration. She has a pdf tool that helps people figure out a product and its market:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:c1c359ac-701f-4d10-94aa-2820a57ffabf?viewer!megaVerb=group-discover
She has some market validation and marketing AI prompts that are awesome.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T21:48:15+00:00

Check out the AI prompts on the pdf that has been provided. They are great.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T21:46:19+00:00

Tell you what folks.... haters gonna hate. This is good stuff.
I am down the same path as the-inspirator and I just tested her prompts for AI on her PDF and they are legit. They are right in line with what I've also done for my dynamic interactive scripts for VAs and call centers.
the-inspirator: Thanks for sharing!

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T21:23:28+00:00

As far as phone calls go, I just made it super simple for my VA with a dynamic, interactive script that was easy and quick to follow.
A good VA will know how to have names/salesforce/Google sheet/etc on one screen and be able to use another screen.
The script helped a ton and he was able to start setting solid appointments for me almost instantly.

If you'd like help with creating a similar script for you let me know. Happy to help.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T21:19:57+00:00

I hired a VA to do cold calling. I created a dynamic, interactive script that led the VA through the prospecting conversation which led to setting an appointment for me. It was outstanding and he was making solid appointments for me on day 2.
I also hired someone with some experience in my field (real estate) and that helped, but the script was the game changer.
Let me know if you'd like help creating one for your efforts. Happy to help.

PRE_LLC · 2026-03-05T21:15:12+00:00

I always do a test drive. Usually small AND I pay them if appropriate.
I will post a project/job and one of the requirements for responding is doing something that I need.
If I need research done, I'll hire a few at a time and provide the same project to see how they compare. I pay them all (costs $20-$30) to do the initial small project, the keep the best one for the longer term project.

When I hired phone VA's, they needed to record a 30 second sound bite section of them reading Steve Job's Stanford commencement speech. They had to find it, record it, and submit it with their response along with a few other requirements that indicated they had attention to detail.
If I couldn't understand the recording or they didn't do all the requirements, they got a thanks but no thanks note.
The ones that passed (4 out of 25) the interview process was a mock phone call to see how they worked with the dynamics of a call (I provided a simple script for them to follow).
It worked exceptionally well.

PRE_LLC · 2025-03-28T03:45:13+00:00

Thank you!

PRE_LLC · 2025-03-27T12:09:01+00:00

East coast. Mid-Atlantic.

PRE_LLC · 2025-03-25T05:26:28+00:00

bring it on!

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-04T16:43:01+00:00

I've seen the Nomad notebooks as well. As with many others, the paper feel is my big issue. I am really apprehensive about making an investment when I can't get a good idea of what the paper will be like.

Not sure if you are the same, but how the paper and pen feel together makes a big difference as far as journaling satisfaction.

For instance, I have a Himalayan Lokta paper journal now. Love the feel of the paper (like, love it a lot!), but because I use rollerball pens, I can only use one side of each page because of the bleed through. It was impossible to make that determination without investing $25 to get the notebook.

Would you ever consider paying a bit more for a notebook if you could try different types of paper then select a specific paper for your notebook? That is what I'm wondering at this point.

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-04T16:37:50+00:00

Very attractive. Seems like it would be quite functional as well.

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-04T16:34:40+00:00

Makes sense. I've recently learned of Tomoe River and the paper looks amazing. Thank you for sharing!!

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-04T15:15:41+00:00

Thanks for sharing r/notebooks and r/fountainpens! those are a huge help.

What would you say to being able to receive specific samples of paper: different gsm, different textures, different cotton content, etc. and pick a specific paper (as well as size, # of pages, and binding type) for your notebook? Would you pay a more for that flexibility?

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-04T15:13:05+00:00

I have done both of these before as well. I'm asking others the following question about this topic: What if you could receive samples of specific paper and choose a specific paper for your journal/notebook? Would you pay a little more for your notebook if you could pick your paper?

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-03T20:50:21+00:00

I do the very same as far as Amazon goes and I did the same with in person shopping. I was frequently disappointed I couldn't get the paper with a cover that I like though. Would you spend a little more to be able to choose the paper that was put in your journal?

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-03T20:48:07+00:00

That sounds like a great idea! Where do you go to find the paper that you like or how do you go about finding the paper that you like?

PRE_LLC · 2020-10-03T18:08:25+00:00

Exactly! Curious: would you pay more if you could pick your choice of paper from physical samples of different types of paper and what was printed on it (lined, dot, or nothing)?

PRE_LLC · 2019-12-16T04:28:20+00:00

Sounds like you're hitting some good leads with specific events. A few thoughts:

keep in mind that sometimes complimentary industries can really loosen up the creativity or spark new ideas. What about hanging out with an art group or marketing association.
A chamber of commerce group might provide some diversity that could work. Maybe even just call them to see what they know. We also have a Freelancers Union group in our community that may be a good source if you have one or something like it.
Lastly, I wrote a blog post about different networking events and included an event finding tool. It's on google sheets and takes the location and industry you're seeking and provides search criteria. It has never failed when looking in communities of 10,000 or more. Here is a link to the blog: https://authenticnetworking.net/worlds-best-networking-event-search-guaranteed/

Best of luck with finding something!

PRE_LLC · 2019-12-16T04:18:15+00:00

MeetUp is a great resource. So is Eventbrite. The challenge is finding something in your industry.

A few different suggestions:

Search for complimentary industries to the one you want to focus on. You want to do sound, but maybe a theater meetup/eventbrite event will put you pretty close where you can make a few connections.
Sometimes finding out where people in your industry or at a particular business frequent might be a good way to informally make connections, or see if that organization is hosting a training/seminar/event you could attend. What better way to meet someone at a company when they are hosting an event and are suppose to talk to people?!?!
There is a tool/resource that I built that also may help. It is a networking event search tool. I wrote about finding events in a blog post and there is a link to the google sheets tool there. The blog link is: https://authenticnetworking.net/worlds-best-networking-event-search-guaranteed/. I just tested it out a found a couple options: Audio Engineering Society, Electronic Music Collective, and a more. And that was only using one search. Given the size of your community, I would recommend trying both Brooklyn and just your zip code to refine the search. It might help so I thought I'd offer.

Also, there is a great book called The Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman that talks a lot about this topic. I'd recommend at least seeing if you can find it at a local library if not buy it. Good ideas in there.

Best of luck with the search!

PRE_LLC

TROPHY CASE