Helping founders and salespeople raise capital and close $100K+ deals. $1B+ in B2C sales, including a $80M record deal. Award-winning startup mentor & salesman.
Joined June 2023
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"Where did you get my number from?"
Five words that make unconfident reps want the floor to swallow them.
But I've closed over a billion quid from cold calls, and that question never cost me a single meeting.
It’s because you hear the question, I hear what's behind it.
He isn't really asking for the details.
He doesn't care whether it came from LinkedIn, a database or your nan's address book.
What he's actually saying is: "You're a pest."
Answer the question he asked and you've agreed with him.
So for God's sake, don't say "I found it on LinkedIn." And definitely don't say "I got it off a list."
Now you sound like a stalker with a spreadsheet.
Say this instead:
"Well, most of our clients come from referrals, as you'd imagine. Happy clients lead to other happy clients. But occasionally our marketing team does turn up a few numbers from publicly available sources. We're quite exclusive about who we work with, though. We only take on people who are A, B and C."
Then list your criteria. Make them high.
Now, before the trolls start: "Ah, so you lie to them then, Geo?"
Which part's a lie?
Doesn't most of your business come from referrals?
Didn't the number come from somewhere public?
Don't you have standards for who you work with?
If you don't, fair enough. Some people will go home with anyone. Not me.
My team calls investment bankers and hedge fund managers every day.
They make over 20 appointments a day between them.
Their line is: "We only work with high net worth individuals who've taken financial advice before, have the basics in place, and care about the return on their money."
Watch what that does to the prospect.
A second ago he was thinking about what a nuisance you are.
Now he's thinking, "Hang on, do I qualify?"
He's the little kid at the fairground stood against the height sign, praying he's grown that last inch so they'll let him on the ride.
He's justifying himself to you, not the other way round.
Then you tie it off:
"But try not to focus on how I've reached you. Focus on what I can do for you. So give me 240 seconds and I might just change your life."
And straight into why you called.
You'll always get one smart arse.
"So which was I then? Referral or cold call?"
Cold as ice, mate.
"I haven't got that in front of me, but we can find out when we meet."
Now he wants the meeting just to find out. Which, funnily enough, is why you rang him in the first place.
Last thing. Some of them will be sharp and snappy.
Stay calm. If what you're offering is genuinely valuable, nobody cares how you found them.
If I rang you to say a supermodel needed someone to rub suntan lotion on her back, you wouldn't be asking where I got your number.
You'd just be glad I thought of you.
"My rep never asks 'do you want to do it, yes or no?' He says it feels too direct."
Well fire him then.
Being direct is his whole fucking job.
Imagine your doctor finds stage four cancer and won't mention chemo because it "feels too direct."
Cheers doc, I'll see you at my funeral.
There's one move that flips a sales call so fast the prospect starts trying to qualify themselves to you instead of the other way around.
I call it professional indifference.
I learned it the hard way after losing a $250,000 commission check while eating lunch at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge.
Not because the client said no.
Because he felt how much I wanted him to say yes.
The biggest mistake even great salespeople make is caring too much about whether the client does the deal.
Now if you're commission-only, I get it.
You need to care.
It's the difference between eating and not eating.
I've eaten beans on toast without the toast because I couldn't afford the bread.
So I'm not asking you not to care.
I'm asking you to stop looking like you care.
Here's exactly how you flip the room in 3 moves.
1. Show familiarity instead of asking for it.
Don't ask for their email. Tell them what it is.
"It's [email protected], right?"
Don't ask who the CFO is. Tell them.
"I assume Daniel still signs off on numbers over £500K?"
Don't ask for the org chart. Reveal you already understand it.
Every time you show familiarity, you're signalling that you deal with people like them every day.
You're not impressed.
You're not nervous.
You're not climbing.
You're operating at their level.
2. Say the hard part out loud.
Most reps hide their commission. Treat it like a dirty secret.
I do the opposite.
"If you do this deal, you save £1M. If you don't, I lose out on £5K. It's not going to change my life. But it might change yours."
The moment I say that, the entire frame flips.
Suddenly I'm not the rep trying to extract money from him.
I'm the operator giving him a chance he might miss.
3. Tell them they might not qualify.
This is the move 95% of reps are too scared to try.
"If you decide to move forward today, we still need to go through underwriting, AML checks, capacity verification. It's going to take time. And I can't guarantee you'll qualify."
Watch what happens.
The same prospect who was on the fence five minutes ago will start fighting to prove he deserves to be in.
That's push-pull.
Show them something.
Take it away.
The deal isn't yours to convince him to take.
It's his to qualify for.
When you operate like this, the power in the room shifts in real time.
The prospect stops evaluating you.
He starts auditioning for you.
That's professional indifference.
And it closes deals nothing else can.
Get the exact 5-step framework I use on every cold call:
- The 5 Silent Mistakes that make your sales calls fail with serious buyers
- Nudge Theory Explained: 7 emotional drivers (use these to increase the odds of the sale)
- The Status-Play Opening - why 99% of guru-preached sales openers destroy your credibility (and what to do instead)
Grab it here:
thegeomethod.com/briefing?ut…
Signs you’d never make it in sales:
- You take notes faster than you ask questions
- You start sentences with "I was wondering if..."
- You laugh nervously when they push back on price
- You explain your pricing before they've understood the value
- You say "no problem" when a client cancels at the last minute
- You explain your background before they've asked who you are
- You say "to be honest" or "honestly" when answering questions
- You answer every question on the spot instead of pausing to think
- You finish their sentences when they're talking about their problem
- You call them "Sir" or "Ma'am" after they've told you their first name
- You ask "any questions?" instead of telling them what they should be asking
- You let prospects choose the meeting time without offering 2-3 specific options
Get my exact cold call opener that I’ve used to close $2B+ in deals over the last 20+ years:
thegeomethod.com/opener?utm_…
“I'm not interested” is one of the EASIEST objections to handle on a cold call.
My cold calling team books 20+ appointments a day with business owners in London using this exact framework.
Prospect: “Not interested.”
You: “Of course you’re not… because you already have [current solution]. But what we do is different.”
Examples:
Financial services: “Of course not. You already have an advisor and you know the markets yourself. But what we do is different…”
Fitness: “Of course not. You already go to the gym and probably have a trainer already. But what we do is different…”
Sales software: “Of course not. You already have a CRM and a power dialer. But what we do is different…”
Novice closers panic when they hear objections.
High-status closers agree first.
Because objections lose power the second the prospect feels understood.
I went from broke to over $1M/year using that exact strategy.
And I still use it today.
Get the exact 5-step framework I use on every cold call:
- The 5 Silent Mistakes that make your sales calls fail with serious buyers
- Nudge Theory Explained: 7 emotional drivers (use these to increase the odds of the sale)
- The Status-Play Opening - why 99% of guru-preached sales openers destroy your credibility (and what to do instead)
Grab it here:
thegeomethod.com/briefing?ut…
I once closed a £4M deal because I refused to kiss his ass.
And he respected me more for it.
Here's what happened:
I was pitching a hedge fund manager.
Big office. Corner view. The whole thing.
He was late.
Kept me waiting 40 minutes.
No apology.
Just walked in like I should be grateful he showed up.
Most reps would've said: "No worries, I know you're busy."
I didn't.
I said: "We had 3:00 booked. If you're not serious about this, let's reschedule and I'll use the time elsewhere."
The room went dead silent.
His assistant looked like she'd just witnessed a murder.
He stared at me.
Then he laughed.
"Fair enough. Let's get started."
We sat down.
I didn't pitch.
I told him exactly where he was bleeding capital and how much it was costing him.
£400K a year in unnecessary exposure.
He knew it.
But nobody had ever said it to his face.
Most reps would've danced around it.
"Well, there might be some inefficiencies we could explore..."
Fuck that.
I said: "You're losing £400K a year. Here's how we close it."
He leaned back.
"And if I don't?"
I said: "Then you keep losing £400K a year. Your call."
Silence.
Then he said: "When can we start?"
Closed £4M that afternoon.
That’s the thing about high-ticket clients.
They don't want you to be polite.
They want you to be unimpressed.
They test you to see if you fold.
If you apologize for their lateness, you're done.
If you pitch like you need them, you're done.
If you act grateful they gave you time, you're done.
But if you hold the frame and treat them like an equal, they respect you.
And respect closes more deals than politeness ever will.
Stop kissing ass.
Start holding the line.
Get the exact 5-step framework I use on every cold call:
- The 5 Silent Mistakes that make your sales calls fail with serious buyers
- Nudge Theory Explained: 7 emotional drivers (use these to increase the odds of the sale)
- The Status-Play Opening - why 99% of guru-preached sales openers destroy your credibility (and what to do instead)
Grab it here:
thegeomethod.com/briefing?ut…
Follow-ups are for cucks.
“Bumping this up”
…Sounds like you’re politely asking to be ignored again.
What you’re really saying is:
“I’m waiting until it’s convenient for you.”
That never happens.
It’s never going to be convenient for them.
People don’t delay decisions because they forgot.
They delay because:
- It costs money
- It creates risk
- It forces change
- It makes them uncomfortable
So if your follow-up has no direction, it’s dead on arrival.
You’re just gently reminding them to treat you like a nobody.
Instead, every message has to PUSH the deal forward:
“Is there something blocking this that we haven’t addressed yet?”
“Are we doing this, or should I close this out on my side?”
“Is there a real reason this shouldn’t move forward right now?”
Now there’s only 2 outcomes:
1. You uncover the real objection
2. You get a decision
Both are progress compared to professional waiting with extra steps.
Get my exact cold call opener that I’ve used to close $2B+ in deals over the last 20+ years:
thegeomethod.com/opener?utm_…
There are only 3 real objections in sales.
1. They’re not the decision maker
2. They don’t have the budget
3. They don’t believe it will work
Everything else is just disguise.
- “I need to think about it.”
- “Send me more details.”
- “Let me get back to you.”
All polite exits. All ways of delaying a real decision without saying no directly.
The mistake most people make is trying to handle these surface objections.
Top performers don’t.
They remove the hiding places.
They bring the real objections into the open themselves:
“I usually find there are only a few reasons someone wouldn’t move forward here, mind if I run them by you?”
Now the conversation shifts.
Because instead of dodging, the buyer has to engage with reality.
This is where most people misunderstand sales.
They think it’s improvisation.
It’s not.
It’s structured prediction.
Like chess.
Not reacting move-by-move, but recognizing the finite set of moves available in the first place.
Once you understand the real objections, nothing the prospect says is random anymore.
It’s just variation on a known pattern.
And when you can see the pattern clearly…
You stop chasing the conversation.
You start guiding it.
And clarity, more than anything, is what makes decisions inevitable.
Get the exact 5-step framework I use on every cold call:
- The 5 Silent Mistakes that make your sales calls fail with serious buyers
- Nudge Theory Explained: 7 emotional drivers (use these to increase the odds of the sale)
- The Status-Play Opening - why 99% of guru-preached sales openers destroy your credibility (and what to do instead)
Grab it here:
thegeomethod.com/briefing?ut…
Signs you’re still a beginner at sales:
- You close one deal and mentally disappear for the next 3 calls
- You treat rejection like a personal attack instead of part of the game
- You ask “what time works for you?” instead of leading the calendar with certainty
- You chase likability before proving you can solve the problem
- You sell features while top closers sell transformation
- You wait for objections to appear instead of killing them before they exist
Most reps get trapped in this stage for years.
Some stay there forever.
Get my exact cold call opener that I’ve used to close $2B+ in deals over the last 20+ years:
thegeomethod.com/opener?utm_…
"I've got no idea what I'm doing" is one of the most misunderstood moments on a sales call.
First thing your rep usually thinks is "lovely, easy sale" and he's got the wrong end of the stick.
If he dives straight into pitch mode, he’d turn a buying signal into a 35-minute demo nobody asked for.
So what should he do?
Ask one simple question first: "I'm assuming this is your first time doing this?"
Then the call splits two ways.
If it is his first time, ask: "Bit of a tough one, but picture three months from now. What needs to have happened for working with us to have been the right call?"
If it isn't, ask: "What happened last time?"
Then make him fight for it: "Surely you learned from that. Why not have another crack at it yourself?"
Watch him tell your rep exactly why he can't.
But why ask awkward questions when the prospect has basically said "help me"?
Because "help me" isn't a reason to buy. A consequence is.
Think about the last time you went to the GP feeling rough.
He didn't hear "I'm not well" and start scribbling a prescription.
He asked how long it's been going on, where it hurts and what happens when you press there.
If he'd handed you pills the second you sat down, you'd walk out thinking he hadn't got a clue.
And you'd probably never take them.
Your rep is that GP. Except right now he's handing out prescriptions in the waiting room.
That's what those questions fix.
The first-timer has to describe what "better" looks like before he's sold anything.
The one who's tried before has to relive what it cost him.
Both have to say out loud why this matters, in their own words.
And the ones who can't answer were never going to buy anyway.
No consequences, no sale.
I've built sales teams past 200 people.
The best reps I ever had asked fewer questions than the worst ones. Just harder ones.
No doubt your reps will hate asking these for the first couple of weeks.
But they'll love the commission cheques after that.
Get the exact 5-step framework I use on every cold call:
- The 5 Silent Mistakes that make your sales calls fail with serious buyers
- Nudge Theory Explained: 7 emotional drivers (use these to increase the odds of the sale)
- The Status-Play Opening - why 99% of guru-preached sales openers destroy your credibility (and what to do instead)
Grab it here:
thegeomethod.com/briefing?ut…
When you’re selling to high-net-worth individuals:
You need to digest this fact:
- They’ve already seen everything.
- They recognize “discovery questions” instantly.
- They’ve been through every scripted framework.
- They can feel when you’re trying to extract pain instead of understanding it.
At that level, technique stops working.
Because they’re not reacting to what you say…
They’re reacting to what you are signaling.
So you don’t “fish” for their problems or try to pull answers out of them.
You declare clarity.
You tell them what’s actually going on.
You articulate their situation in a way that feels uncomfortably accurate.
You show them you’ve already solved this exact pattern for people built like them.
And all of a sudden, resistance collapses in its entirety.
Not because you “handled objections”…
But because there’s nothing left to argue with.
At that level, authority isn’t built through questions.
It’s built through recognition.
And you’re not discovering the answer with them.
You’re demonstrating you already know it.
That sells the best.
Get my exact cold call opener that I’ve used to close $2B+ in deals over the last 20+ years:
thegeomethod.com/opener?utm_…