What actually happens in the first few minutes of a sales call can make—or break—the entire conversation.

In this episode, Brooke Greening breaks down real-world examples of how people actually set expectations on sales calls—from completely skipping it, to awkward and scripted approaches, all the way to a simple, effective framework that builds trust fast.

You’ll hear what sounds good in your head but lands poorly in real life, why vague conversations kill momentum, and how a clear, confident setup lowers resistance and keeps prospects engaged from the start.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about how to open a sales call (or avoided talking about pricing altogether), this episode will give you the clarity—and language—you need.

⸻

What You’ll Learn

• Why not setting expectations is the fastest way to lose trust
• The hidden problem with saying “tell me about your business”
• Common “bad” and “cringey” sales call openings (and why they fail)
• How over-scripted intros actually push prospects away
• The real reason prospects feel confused—and how that kills conversions
• A simple, natural way to set expectations that builds trust instantly
• How to confidently introduce pricing without making it awkward
• Why clarity lowers resistance and increases engagement

⸻

Resources Mentioned

• Previous episode in this mini-series: 👉 https://buildingmomentum.info/how-to-start-a-sales-call/
• Sales Assessment (referenced in the episode): 👉 https://buildingmomentum.info/assessment

⸻

Join the Conversation / Subscribe

Want more bite-sized sales coaching you can actually use between sips of coffee or matcha?

👉 https://buildingmomentum.info/matcha

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who’s ready to make more sales—without the awkwardness.

⸻

Connect with Brooke

Want to learn more from Brooke or continue the conversation?

👉 https://linkedin.com/in/brooke-greening

What to Say on a Sales Call: Good, Bad, and Cringey Examples (Set Expectations Right)

What to Say on a Sales Call: Good, Bad & Cringey Examples (Set Expectations Right)

Brooke Greening: So we're gonna talk about the bad first, and before we even get to the bad, this is what I have seen over and over and over again. People don't even have bad ways of setting expectations, they just don't do it at all.

Hey, we're just gonna see what happens today. We're just gonna have a conversation and just see where it goes. That is a really. Really bad way to set expectations in a sales call.

We talk about how like you walk into a sales conversation and they've got a wall up. 'cause we've already talked about like the trust and hesitation and all of that.

So it's up to here. Our desire for setting the expectation is to start to take the wall down. If you don't, you're just gonna make the wall even higher. And that's exactly the opposite of what we're trying to do.

Scott Greening: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Sippin' Matcha and Helping You Make More Sales, where in about the time of your matcha or coffee break, you'll get some great sales input from our resident sales coach Brooke Greening, who I am married to and share a house with. And this week in our household is Spring Break.

Woohoo. Which means… The kids are in the house all week,

Brooke Greening: which makes it impossible to get things done.

Scott Greening: That's right. Right. So we're bribing them now so we can record uhhuh our episodes and that. But no, it'll be fun. We're looking forward to it. It's Easter, which is a big important holiday for us in celebrating our faith and that.

The kids being home does provide its own unique challenges, but we're we're excited about that and we're continuing our series on setting expectations. So in the first episode, we talked a little bit about setting expectations is basically like letting people know what's gonna happen in the conversation so that they can one, relax.

And then they can more easily engage in the conversation. And then we talked about all sorts of reasons why it's really important to do that. Not the least of which is because it sets you up for success by paving the way for some of the hard parts of the conversation, like talking about price and investment and those types of things.

But it also sets your customer up for success because they feel like they, they know what's coming. Yeah. So today, as we promised. Uh, we're gonna, we're gonna be talking about sort of some examples of the good, the bad, the cringey of mm-hmm. Of setting expectations. So, Brooke how are you doing? How are you feeling about our episode today?

Brooke Greening: Oh, I'm excited. This is gonna be fantastic. So we're gonna talk about the bad first, and before we even get to the bad, this is what I have seen over and over and over again. People don't even have bad ways of setting expectations, they just don't do it at all. So I'm going to give you an example first of how you've just completely skipped over this.

And so it just, if you start your sales conversations and you say, Hey, how about you tell me about your business? You have completely skipped over setting expectations. At this point, and that is not good. And I can give you those reasons why.

Scott Greening: Yeah. And I think we're gonna probably come back to that phrase when we get to establish rapport.

'cause that's another thing, and you'll have some more advice here, but let's just start with like, why is that a bad way to, to set the expectations or not even to set the expectations on a sales call.

Brooke Greening: Yes. So if you start and you say, Hey, tell me about your business, then I know you actually don't set the expectations.

So I'm not saying that to be judgy or to be mean. I'm just saying that is a clear indication that that's not happening. This is why this is not a good question, and this is why it's not something you want to lead with in the beginning. Whether you mean to or not, when you say, Hey, tell me about your business, you are literally screaming, I don't know about your business.

I don't care about your business. I didn't do any type of research before this conversation happened to do that. I know there are different circumstances. I know there are times that we don't have any time to prepare. They're calling us. I get that, but I am telling you when we are talking about our whole service framework.

When we have the ability to be able to do a little bit of homework and understand and to prepare for our call, we do not want to ask this question because it literally tells them I know nothing and you're giving it over to them. You've now given them control. 'cause now they have to lead the conversation because they have to come up with the questions.

And that is not something that you want, you're not ready to give the control over yet. And now they can just start asking you just whatever question they want. They can be like, well, yeah, this is my business and I was wondering da, da da da. You have just handed them everything and that's not the best way to serve them.

So that's how you know you don't even do it.

Scott Greening: Yeah. And that's that the phrase there that's not the best way to serve them. Again, like this is not like. We're afraid to give away control because then like they're out of our like sneaky little grasp. Right. And we're gonna pull some trick on them.

No, no, no. There's the service sales framework, which we're working through. This is step one. Mm-hmm. Like this really is the best way to serve them. And just like having an open-ended like conversation.

Brooke Greening: Mm-hmm.

Scott Greening: Is not the best way. You are the guide, you are the expert. Yes. Like let's do that.

Brooke Greening: If when you give it over to them, now they have to run the whole thing.

And that's not what they probably had signed up for and that's not going to be very comfortable for them. And we go back to the point that they came to you. 'cause we're talking to service business leaders. We're talking to people who are offering services and products to be able to help people in their business normally.

And so when that is happening. You are the one that is the guide. You are the expert. We don't take that to Lord it over them. That's not what I'm saying, but I am saying they don't even know necessarily the questions they need to ask to make the right decisions. That is our job to be able to help guide that conversation, and we're gonna talk about this over and over again.

You can guide the conversation, but you're not gonna be talking the whole entire time. In this moment, we are not handing it over. We are going to own that.

Scott Greening: Great. So the worst example, if I could put it that way and uh, hopefully we're gently stepping on people's toes, I'm

Brooke Greening: probably

Scott Greening: not, is that if you start with something like, tell me about your business, that basically means you're not setting the expectations at all.

Brooke Greening: No. No, you're not.

Scott Greening: So then let's keep stepping on some toes and talk about some other bad ways. Instead of just skipping it. What are some bad ways that people can set the expectations?

Brooke Greening: So when we start talking to people and helping them to know, Hey, we need to set the expectation, then they kind of swing all the way to the other side and it almost becomes like this script and it can go on and on and on, and we're like, no, no, no, no, no.

This is a very short, maybe 15, 20-second thing that we're going to say. So if it's going on and on, that is not a good example of setting the expectations if it feels scripted and not authentic, like, well, thank you for meeting with me today. Today I'm going to share with you what I do and the investment, and then see about us moving forward.

That is too scripted. That's not a good thing. You can completely tell also if people's faces are like, uh, or they look at you like this, like any of those facial expressions is telling you that that's not. Going in the right direction. Or if you start seeing them, if you're on Zoom and you start seeing their eyes going, or they're trying to open up different windows, all of those are telling you that it's not a good, you're not setting the expectations in the right way.

And then the other thing is you just, you don't have any structure. So another bad example, and I've heard it happen very many times, they're just like, Hey, we're just gonna see what happens today. We're just gonna have a conversation and just see where it goes. That is a really. Really bad way to set expectations in a sales call.

Scott Greening: Yeah. And so I, I'll say uh, I've probably done all of those things and that, and I know that I've done at least a couple of them. Like when I've had to take a call and maybe it wasn't exactly when I thought it was gonna be or that, so I end up taking a call in the car and you're sitting in the passenger seat.

And, um, if you ever we should film it sometime for America's Funniest Home Videos because Brooks reactions to bad sales calls. Are comical. Um, and, and that, but

Brooke Greening: I have a visceral reaction when people are not doing it the right way. And I wanna be careful because I don't want people to be like, well, I don't wanna work with her.

That's not it. Like I try to be very compassionate and helpful, but. If I can't, like protect my face,

Scott Greening: right? So she'll be like mouthing me words and I'm trying to look at 'em like in the rear view mirror. Like, how do I say this? My like

Brooke Greening: write now post-it note

Scott Greening: trying to write, write notes on the, yeah, post-it note or on a, on the phone and showing it to me.

And I'm like, oh, hey, I am like. Trying to hold on during sales calls, just in the best of circumstances. Driving down the road and having you pass notes may not be especially helpful, but, alright, well

Brooke Greening: I don't do that all the time.

Scott Greening: No,

Brooke Greening: no, you, not all the time. Just when it's like a big sale and I'm like, whatcha doing?

Scott Greening: Yeah. Yep. Anyway, it is super helpful and I have learned a lot. It's been great. And she does it and we, we have a laugh afterwards. It's not mean, but it is oh boy, here we go. So, alright, so we've talked about the skipping it, we've talked about the bad what does it look when someone's maybe starting to get it, but maybe not quite there all the way yet?

Brooke Greening: Yeah, so one thing that you could say is, I wanna talk about your business and see if it's a good fit. That is not. That's not great, but it's not horrible. So the good pieces of that is that you're helping them to understand this is gonna be a conversation. You're helping them to understand this is going to be unique to you.

I don't just have a pitch that I'm gonna be giving you. And you're helping them to also understand, hey, we're both trying to figure out if this is going to be a good fit. My goal is not just to get you to buy whether you need it or not. So you are starting to build that trust to see, hey, let's just see if this is a good fit.

Those are the good things about that, but the bad things is that it's, well, one, it's partial. Two, there's really no structure, so they still don't really have any idea what's gonna happen. In the conversation, there's no mention at all about the investment that you're gonna be talking about.

And that is a huge piece of setting the expectations. And we're gonna talk about that in regards to why that's important, all of that. But it, you have to be able to bring that into play. And then the other thing is, it's just very vague, so they're still going to be confused and they're still. What they're doing, and this is, I want you guys to understand this.

When you're having a sales conversation with someone and it's not clear what's happening, they don't know what to expect from this conversation. They don't know if investments are gonna be talked about. They don't know what's going to happen. They are literally trying to figure things out as you're talking.

That's how they're checking out. They're literally trying to figure out, do I have to get on another call? Is this gonna be a bait and switch? Do we have to do a proposal? You don't want them having all of those thoughts rattling in their head. You are trying to help them to know this is what we're gonna talk about, so that they can relax and engage in the conversation.

When you don't do that or when it's vague, they're still thinking about what is coming next, and that's how you lose them.

Scott Greening: Yeah, I think the confusion, always generates hesitation. And in a sales call, if people are hesitating, that's, if there's legitimate questions and you need to have another call, okay that's fine.

That's one thing. But if they're just like. I don't even know what's coming up next. It just mm-hmm. It puts them on edge and they're like I really don't know about this. I don't feel comfortable. I don't know where we're going. Yeah. And instead of feeling like they trust you more, they actually probably feel like they trust you less.

Brooke Greening: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, when you dive in and we don't set the expectation at all, that trust factor goes down and it's already pretty low to start with. So that's not what we want. We talk about how like you walk into a sales conversation and they've got a wall up. 'cause we've already talked about like the trust and hesitation and all of that.

So it's up to here. Our desire for setting the expectation is to start to take the wall down. If you don't, you're just gonna make the wall even higher. And that's exactly the opposite of what we're trying to do.

Scott Greening: Tends to become a problem. All right, so now we've got we had the non-existent set up.

We had the bad set up, we

Brooke Greening: mm-hmm.

Scott Greening: Had a little bit of the cringey moments that I've caused you in the, in the past. And then we, you gave us the almost there version.

Brooke Greening: Yeah.

Scott Greening: So what's a great way to set up. Yeah, set the expectations.

Brooke Greening: So, and we're gonna talk about that next week in regards to how to structure that.

But something that I say on a regular basis, I encourage my clients, is just, Hey, I just wanna thank you so much for being able to meet today. The goal of this whole conversation is to really understand kind of the frustrations you're facing in regards with your business, your sales conversations, and just to see if I can help.

If I can, that's great. We're gonna talk about that investment. If I can't, then I wanna be able to give you some other resources to be able to help you. Is that all right? That's how you would do it.

Scott Greening: Yes. That's all right. Yes. That's good. So,

Brooke Greening: but there's a reason to it. Yeah.

Scott Greening: Why there are

Brooke Greening: pieces in it.

Scott Greening: Why is that a step forward?

Like, why is that the really good version.

Brooke Greening: So it's a good version because we are automatically acknowledging why they're talking to us. There. Ha there is a frustration or a problem or a concern. It can be a good problem, but there is some sort of problem that's coming into play and we are acknowledging, Hey, I understand that that's going on and I wanna see if I'm able to help you with that.

That's the first thing. We're very clear. We're also doing permission based. We are saying, Hey, this is what we're gonna be doing. This and I am gonna be talking about the investment, if that makes sense. And I'm gonna give you some other resources we are giving. We're getting it permission based and we are also having it be low pressure, but it's still very much intentional and it is leading the conversation.

There is no question. And who is in control and who's leading the conversation? But it's in a gracious way,

Scott Greening: very, very gracious. Yeah, that's, that's your your secret superpower is that it's doing these things very graciously. So I just wanted to jump in and remind people that Brooke has created.

A sales assessment that helps you think through your setting expectations and all of the other six parts of her service sales framework and one or two other things as well. And we'd love for you to engage with that and to take that assessment. You can get it at Building Momentum, do info slash assessment.

It takes about five minutes or so to do that, and you can get a really good idea on where your conversations are having. And I know. Brooke as we think about this last time, you had a question for them of to help think about their setting expectations. Do you have another question for us?

As far as figuring out where they're at on this non-existent to great spectrum of setting expectations.

Brooke Greening: Yes. The question I want you to ask yourself today is, do I avoid saying there might be an offer? Do I avoid saying there's going to be an offer? If you are not letting them understand that there's gonna be any type of conversation about the investment or how you're able to help, now we have missed a huge piece of setting the expectation.

And please remember, they are on a sales call. You can call it sales call discovery Call, like they are coming to you trying to figure out is this someone that I wanna be able to invest with to help solve my problem? And so they. Expecting those things. So do you avoid saying there's going to be an offer or saying talk about the investment, or do you not?

That's gonna be a big piece of setting the expectation.

Scott Greening: Yeah, and honestly, this has probably been one of the most helpful parts of learning to set the expectations for myself because I'd always start to. Real nervous and funny when it came to talking about the money part. I wanna help people, I wanna serve them and all of that.

But what it does for me, and this might not be how everybody processes it, but for me, it like, it makes myself accountable at the very beginning. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah, I'm, I said I'm gonna talk about this. I gotta follow through on what I said. And so then it just helps that part of the conversation a lot.

Brooke Greening: Yes. And then they're expecting that, and then they know, like now you've answered a question in their head. So they're like, oh, okay. So then maybe I don't have to get on another call to even understand the realm of what that would be costing.

Scott Greening: Yep.

Brooke Greening: That's what we're trying to say. And so just so people aren't like, well, I never talk about the price on the first call.

Oh, okay, good for you. But I am telling you that you need to be able to at least give them. A ballpark. That's what I'm saying when we say we're gonna talk about the investment. They are gonna be able to get off the call having an idea of what it would look like to work with you from an investment standpoint.

Scott Greening: Yep. All right. So we're gonna, we're gonna come back and we're going to revisit setting expectations one more time in next week's episode, and we're gonna to focus on implementation and if you've been. Super, like taking notes or having AI analyze the transcripts or something like that. You've maybe picked up on a couple of things already, but we're gonna, we're gonna come back and Brooke's gonna help you begin to think through oh, this is what it could look like, maybe to start doing this in my business.

So as always, that means we'd encourage you to subscribe. We'd encourage you to turn on the notifications of when a new episode is out. If you're watching on YouTube commenting, reviewing, sharing, all of those things we would love for you to do. And until then, we hope you have a great cup of coffee or matcha and make some more sales.

Brooke Greening: Bye.