Stop Starting Every Sales Call From Scratch
You finally got someone to book a discovery call. They seemed interested. They showed up. And then... it went nowhere.
Maybe they weren’t as warm as you thought. Maybe they asked a ton of questions you had to talk them through from scratch. Maybe they said “let me think about it” and you never heard from them again.
Here’s what probably happened. They got on that call cold, and you spent the whole time doing work that should have happened before they ever hit your calendar link.
There’s a fix for this and it’s called a VSL, a video sales letter, and if you’re a coach, consultant, or service professional who does any kind of sales call, this is the highest-leverage thing you can add to your process right now.
What a VSL actually is
A VSL is a pre-recorded video you send to someone after they book a call but before they show up. Seven to ten minutes. Straight to camera. No fancy production required.
The goal is simple. By the time they get on the phone with you, they already know who you are, understand your approach, have had their main objections handled, and have self-selected in or out. You skip the awkward “so tell me a little about yourself” opener and get straight to the conversation that actually matters.
Done well, a VSL can move your close rate significantly without you changing a single thing about how you run the call itself.
The structure that works
This isn’t just “make a video about your offer.” There’s a specific flow that makes a VSL convert, and here’s how it breaks down.
Intro. Ten seconds. Who you are, who you help, why you’re credible. Not your whole life story. Just enough to establish that they’re in the right place.
Pain and promise. This is where you either win or lose them. Name the specific frustration they’re living in right now, the kind that makes them lean forward and think “how does she know that?” Then tell them clearly what’s possible on the other side. Be specific. Don’t hedge.
Proof. Before you explain your methodology, you earn the right to explain it. Not credentials. Not certifications. Real examples of people like them who got results. Short, specific, believable.
Roadmap. A quick signpost for where the video is going. This keeps people watching because when someone knows what’s coming, they stay. When they’re lost, they leave.
Your unique methodology. This is the meat. Walk them through your framework, your system, your way of solving the problem. Name it if you can because a named system is more memorable and more credible than a list of tips. The goal here isn’t to give everything away. It’s to make them think “ok, this person actually has a real approach and I want to know more.”
Objection handling. This is the most underused part of any sales process and obvi the most valuable. You say out loud the exact thoughts running through their head right now and you answer them before those thoughts talk them out of booking. For each objection: name what they’re thinking, acknowledge why it makes sense, tell them what’s actually true, and give proof. Repeat that for every objection you hear regularly. Three to five is usually enough.
CTA. One action. Low friction. Something small that confirms they watched the video, like texting you a specific word. This tells you who’s actually engaged before the call and gets them taking one small step toward you, which makes the next step way easier.
Testimonials. Everything after the CTA is social proof. Stack it. The person watching is looking for someone who looks like them, started where they are, and got somewhere they want to go. Give them that. Three to five specific ones beat twenty generic ones every time.
How to actually use it
Once you have your VSL recorded, here’s the workflow. Someone books a call through your calendar link and you send them the video. When the call starts, you ask if they watched it. If they say no, you say “no worries, go watch it and I’ll grab a coffee, it’ll save us both a lot of time.” Then you come back and have a completely different conversation than you would have had otherwise.
No complicated tech. No expensive funnel. Just a video that does the warm-up work so you don’t have to.
What goes wrong
Most people who try this either make it too long, too polished, or too vague. They spend twenty minutes explaining their whole life story, they script it so tightly it sounds robotic, or they talk about their offer in such general terms that nothing actually lands.
The best VSLs sound like you’re talking to one person, not performing for a camera. They’re specific enough that the right person feels seen and the wrong person self-selects out. And they’re short enough that people actually finish them.
Imperfect and done beats perfect and sitting in your drafts every single time.
The bottom line
If you’re closing at 25% on discovery calls right now, adding a VSL before the call is realistically the fastest way to push that number higher without overhauling your whole sales process. You’re not changing the call. You’re changing what happens before it, and that changes everything about the conversation you walk into.
Hope this helps,
Andrea
Andrea Palten is a marketing strategist with 25 years of experience helping service professionals build marketing systems that get them clients without the bro-marketing nonsense. She runs Impact Growth Club on Skool, a free community for coaches, consultants, and service pros who are done winging it: