Build the first sales system
Create a repeatable path from qualified prospect to paid customer.
An Introduction to the SBA
From U.S. Small Business Administration. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
Connect the SBA support network to a concrete selling task: customer research, a mentor review of the offer, or preparation for a lender—not vague networking.What this lesson is really solving.
Early sales should be small enough to run manually and structured enough to learn from. Define a prospect list, message, call-to-action, follow-up schedule, and stage definitions. Measure conversations and commitments, not social impressions.
Understand the idea before touching the steps.
Sales is diagnosis plus a clear decision path, not pressure.
Follow these steps in order.
Take the action in each step; then use the deliverable below to prove the lesson is finished.
- 1
Choose one primary acquisition channel where your buyers already pay attention.
- 2
Write a short outreach or content sequence that names the problem, offers useful proof, and asks for one next step.
- 3
Use a discovery call structure: context, problem, impact, desired outcome, fit, offer, decision.
- 4
Track leads by stage and follow up with a specific reason, date, and action.
See the standard in context.
Priya builds a list of 30 local cafés, sends ten personalized messages per week, asks for a 15-minute scheduling interview, and follows up twice. Her stages are researched, contacted, replied, discovery, offer, won, lost. Every loss gets a coded reason.
Inspect before you move on.
- Each prospect matches the customer definition.
- The outreach references observable relevance rather than fake personalization.
- Every open opportunity has one owner and next date.
Your deliverable
A 30-prospect pipeline, sales script, follow-up sequence, and weekly activity target.
Watch for this
Trying five channels at once and learning too little from each.
Prove it—don’t just recognize it.
You can show the conversion rate and bottleneck at each step from contact to cash.
Quick knowledge check
Answer from the lesson—not from confidence alone. Score at least 2 of 3 to unlock completion.
This curriculum-aligned check is scored automatically and stored with your account when signed in. It is an objective learning signal, but it has not yet been independently validated as a standardized assessment.
Tools, templates, and references
Pass the knowledge check above first.
Completion unlocks after a score of 2 out of 3. Then confirm that you produced the lesson deliverable.
Go to the knowledge check