Sales Validation

The sales ladder: referrals, then calls, then email. Then the five sales rules, out loud and on the wall — the national leaderboard ranks sales, so these decide what counts.

$50 of ads sent strangers to the page; about 30% clicked Order Now and it made about $500 in two weeks. We have no ad budget, so we reach strangers the free way: referrals first, then calls.

“Why are your family on the list as referrals, not customers?”

A Girl Scout with a cookie target bigger than her family — the same case in every city. Nobody's own business yet.

Who are ten people she knows, and who might each of them know? Then run the referral script once. Write every answer on the whiteboard; the guide steers but does not give the answer.

The reveal: family and friends first, then door-to-door with an adult and cookie booths outside shops. Each step reaches people she did not know. The part we don't copy: order forms passed round a parent's office. Here, parents can give a name, but you make every ask. Name where the room was right and where it missed.

Nothing is printed. Read each line out loud with a quick example while it is on the screen; students fill in the same prompts in CofounderJr when laptops open.

• No selling to your parents, guardians or anyone who lives in your home.
• Parents can't sell for you: no posting to their networks, no passing it round at work, no pitching their colleagues. A parent can give you a name; you make every ask yourself.
• Only payments through your CofounderJr Stripe link count. No cash, no buying your own product, and a refunded sale comes off the board.
• Every sale has a buyer in your ask log. Guides can take any sale off the board.
• Never go anywhere alone. Calls happen with a mentor beside you.
• Hi __, I'm starting a business this weekend: __ (the offer sentence).
• I'm not asking you to buy. Who do you know who might want this?
• Could you send me their name and number, or introduce us?
• Goal: ten friends and family on the list, twenty referrals out of them. Build the list first; call nobody yet.

Ten friends and family in CofounderJr, the referral script sent to all ten, and every name logged. Twenty is the goal; call nobody yet.

Save the work. When time is up, pick and move on to the share; the sprint is short on purpose.

One student per table shares how many names they have, and the best one.

“I like… I wish… What if…” Name one specific change, with a reason.

Repeat what you heard. Make one small change or write it down as your next step.

Ask: “What can you do now, and what helped you learn it?” Give each partner a turn.

• Short: one sentence.
• Specific: name the helpful action.
• Skill-based: say what skill it showed.

“Shout-out to Sam for being the customer who actually said no, so I could practise. That showed Teamwork and Leadership.”

Two scripts, referral and ordinary. Say who sent you, the offer, the price, the question — then stop talking.

“What do you say straight after the price?”

A guide calls a colleague playing a referral, on speaker, selling Girl Scout Cookies from the script.

Did it name the referral, say the price and ask the question? Show the log entry on the screen.

At 12, Steve Jobs called Bill Hewlett from the phone book to ask for parts, and got the parts and a summer job at HP. The worst answer is no.

Nothing is printed. Read each line out loud with a quick example while it is on the screen; students fill in the same prompts in CofounderJr when laptops open.

• Referral call: Hi __, __ said you might be interested. I'm __, and I sell __ to __ for $__. Would you like one?
• Ordinary cold call: Hi __, I'm __, a student founder. I help __ with __ for $__. Is that something you'd pay for?
• Either way, end on a clear question with the price in it, then stop talking.
• Log it: yes, not yet with a follow-up time, or no, in their words.

The call blitz: down the referral list one call after another, a mentor beside every student for their first. Log every answer.

Save the work. When time is up, pick and move on to the share; the sprint is short on purpose.

One student per table reads the answer they did not expect.

“I like… I wish… What if…” Name one specific change, with a reason.

Repeat what you heard. Make one small change or write it down as your next step.

Ask: “What can you do now, and what helped you learn it?” Give each partner a turn.

• Short: one sentence.
• Specific: name the helpful action.
• Skill-based: say what skill it showed.

“Shout-out to Sam for being the customer who actually said no, so I could practise. That showed Teamwork and Leadership.”

Email is for whoever the phone could not reach. Short, with the price and one question — then back on the phone.

“Would you open this email?”

The room proposes three; vote for the one they would open.

Who you are, the offer with the price, the page and one question.

Cut every word that is not doing work.

Nothing is printed. Read each line out loud with a quick example while it is on the screen; students fill in the same prompts in CofounderJr when laptops open.

• Subject: __ for __ (what, for whom).
• One line on who you are, one line with the offer sentence and the price.
• The page link, and one question: would you like one?
• Calls come first. Emails rarely get answered over a weekend.

Email everybody on the list the phone could not reach, then back to calling and follow-ups.

Save the work. When time is up, pick and move on to the share; the sprint is short on purpose.

One student per table shares their numbers: asked, yes, not yet, no.

“I like… I wish… What if…” Name one specific change, with a reason.

Repeat what you heard. Make one small change or write it down as your next step.

Ask: “What can you do now, and what helped you learn it?” Give each partner a turn.

• Short: one sentence.
• Specific: name the helpful action.
• Skill-based: say what skill it showed.

“Shout-out to Sam for being the customer who actually said no, so I could practise. That showed Teamwork and Leadership.”

The second message closes most sales: follow-ups first. After five no's, change one thing and ask five more.

The follow-up blitz, then fresh calls; after the spotlight, go back to the three people closest to yes.

Stop the work. Three students get 60 seconds each to show what they have, then 30 seconds of one specific suggestion each.

Use the feedback, then go again. Each period ends with three new speakers and five minutes of feedback.

One student per table shares their numbers: asked, yes, not yet, no, paid.

“I like… I wish… What if…” Name one specific change, with a reason.

Repeat what you heard. Make one small change or write it down as your next step.

Ask: “What can you do now, and what helped you learn it?” Give each partner a turn.

• Short: one sentence.
• Specific: name the helpful action.
• Skill-based: say what skill it showed.

“Shout-out to Sam for being the customer who actually said no, so I could practise. That showed Teamwork and Leadership.”