30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales

How To Set Next Steps In Sales With The 5 Minute Drill

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Mar 10, 2025

Sales success isn't just about setting next steps; it's about knowing when to set them. A key strategy involves asking three essential questions at the end of every call to evaluate if the deal is truly worth pursuing. The first question gauges buyer interest, the second reveals urgency through their timeline, and the third, cleverly framed, secures the next steps while prioritizing the prospect's best interests. Mastering this approach can transform how you navigate sales conversations.

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ADVICE

Avoid Always Setting Next Steps

Avoid always setting next steps in sales calls.
Determine if the deal is worth pursuing before setting next steps.

ADVICE

Confirm Problem Agreement

Ask if the prospect truly wants to invest in solving the problem.
Confirm that they agree the problem is worth addressing before proceeding.

ADVICE

Understand Buying Timeline

Understand the prospect's timeline for solving the problem.
Use their timeline to create urgency and determine appropriate next steps.

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There is an extreme over-rotation in sales on setting next steps. Setting next steps is NOT always a good thing.

🛑 Bad: Never setting next steps

🟡 Okay: Setting steps on every deal

🟢 Good: Setting steps on REAL deals

Instead, first determine if the deal is worth setting next steps with at all. Then, you should recommend the appropriate next step, but only if your prospects have proven that it's worth keeping them in your pipeline.

That's where the Five Minute Drill comes in: Three questions you can ask at the end of every single call to determine if and how you set a next step.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 1: 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐮𝐲?

If you can practice ONE THING, it's this. Any time you offer a demo, a pilot, a proposal, you are giving your time away to a prospect.

And that's fine. But only if you get something in return.

If you're investing more time with them, you should expect that they won't waste it and affirm that this is actually leading somewhere.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 2: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐲?

You can't properly suggest a next step until you understand their timeline to solve the problem we just agreed upon.

If they want to solve this problem in 3 weeks, we'll use their answer to drive far more urgency than if this weren't a problem to solve for 6 months.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 3: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐲.

Guess what, the last question isn't a question.

You should always suggest and confirm next steps because you've sold your software far more times than they've bought it.

Frame your ask in terms of their best interest, not yours. Based on what you learned in the first two questions: what is the next step you need to take to solve their problem by the time they want it solved?

And don't just suggest one next step, suggest next-next steps so they explicitly buy into a sales process, not a free 60 minute demo.

Full breakdown of the 5 minute drill: https://www.30mpc.com/newsletter/how-to-set-next-steps-in-sales-with-the-5-minute-drill

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