10 Steps to Selling Anything Via Text or DM in 2025

AI and automation is going to cause you to fail

I’ve sold millions of dollars of products via chat, text, etc, over the years.

I’ve made loads of mistakes(still do), but in the last week, I’ve been working really hard on developing a new process that simply builds relationships and finds opportunities in a manner that is natural, organic, and human.

This is an increasingly critical skill that all REALTORS, Solopreneurs, and Coaches should have.

Why?

Our world is becoming increasingly mobile, very tech-heavy, AI-infiltrated, and human-lacking, AND if you want to scale your business and work from anywhere, knowing how to do this is your ticket to freedom.

I realize that this post is very much behind the veil, that some of you will “realize me” when I am talking to you.😂

But that’s okay, because from this point on, there is no “manipulation” going on here, no bots (sorry Jeffbot Talbot, you have been sent to pasture), just me talking with you, building a relationship, and seeing if there is value in us going on a journey together.

Life is better with company.

So here are the 10 phases that you want to walk a person through when “selling” them anything in chat or real life, actually.

There are other ways of doing it... But quite frankly, some of your methods reek of the kind of trickery that in the past has not helped me sleep at night.

You go to work through every phase below, like levels in a video game, before you can move on to the next one.

Level One - Tone - Create A SENSE OF SAFETY

Filmmakers spend an inordinate amount of time deciding how the audience will first meet the main character. What are they doing? How are they acting? What’s the feeling that you get when you first see them and hear them?

Why?

Because typically, if the audience doesn’t “like” the main character, they are not going to want to watch them for the next 100 minutes, or 14 episodes.

How you show up in the chat process is incredibly important.

Are you friendly? Warm? Open-handed? Generous? Without an agenda? Honest? Or are you automated and bot-like?

The whole goal here is the create a sense of safety. If you are not safe, then the whole process will fall like a deck of cards

LEVEL TWO - OPENING - GET THE TALKING

If someone won’t talk to you, then you are giving a speech and you are not having a conversation.

Your first goal (do not proceed if this doesn’t happen) is to get the other person to talk to you, to open up, to be candid and friendly.

This is why trying to prove yourself too early, or sell out of the gate, never works... You’ve not listened yet, you have no idea what is going on in the other person’s life. Your entire process going forward has been built on a network of assumptions.

Do whatever it takes to get the other person talking and open. Then proceed.

LEVEL THREE - GIVE SOMETHING - EARN THEIR TRUST

Have you ever wanted to go on a long journey with someone that you don’t trust?

Trust is built when someone sees that you care deeply and that you know what you are talking about.

Care in trust is shown with open hands, solid boundaries, and clear speech.

You can do this in chat by offering something, anything, a piece of advice, a genuine compliment, an item of value, something that says, No matter what happens... I know what I am talking about, and I am here for you.

Trust is vital; you cannot move to the next level without it.

LEVEL FOUR - QUALIFY - FIND THE GAP

If I wanted to invite a friend to go to Australia with me, it would not be wise to just ask them to buy a ticket. I would need to find out if they wanted to go to Australia, if they could go to Australia, if they liked Australians (😂), and if there was a gap in their life that going to Australia could fill.

To rush in hard would be foolish. Same with the sales journey.

Is there a gap in their life and their business that you can genuinely fill?
There is so much manipulation that can happen here; this is especially so if your hands are not open, if you are being transactional or predatory. You are just looking for people that you can genuinely help. Remove all sales language and just ask... genuinely.

Then you may proceed to the next level.

LEVEL FIVE - THE BRIDE - PAINT SUCCESS

I am learning that this is the most valuable thing that I can offer anyone with my life.

The ability to look at a human being and say, There is an amazing life and business out there waiting for you.

I think it’s related to one of my gifts. I am a very optimistic person; I can find a small candle of light in an ocean of darkness. I can see the future where other people sometimes cannot.

Many entrepreneurial people have this skill; it’s another gift you can offer the human beings you are talking with.

My goal here is to make sure that the people I am talking with can get a glimpse of what is on the other side of the gap, that they can see (maybe for the first time) what it would be like to have a business that is pumping and a life that is truly singing.

If all I do is get them to see this, then I’ve made a difference.

Sale or no sale, do I leave every conversation with the person feeling like the impossible is now possible?

You may proceed to the next level.

LEVEL SIX - THE OFFER - SHOW THEM THE PATHWAY

Clarity is kindness. It is my job to show people not just the future but the pathway to get there.

This is what it will look like.

On the way, we might encounter X, but this is how we will overcome it (pre-frame objections).

It’s important here that people get a strong sense that you have the map to get them what they want. You also don’t want to overwhelm them with information and make the journey they are about to take too burdensome.

People need different amounts of information.

I’m more of a “this sounds cool, let’s give it a crack kind of person,” others need more information, more certainty. Give each person the amount of information they need.

LEVEL SEVEN - THE FOLLOW-UP - REMAIN IN THEIR ORBIT

Life has a way of encroaching on dreams.

Dreams and adventures are always disruptive to the status quo, and people will quite naturally fall backward into the thing that is constantly dissatisfying to them.

The goal of follow-up is to actually create a sense of accountability, to partner with people, to say... “hey buddy, I don’t care if you do this with me or not... but getting to X is important to you, you told me, I’m not letting you settle.”

It’s persisting with the relationship and not the sales process. I give myself 5 Stars for this.

Follow-up is a constant and should be an expected part of your process in chat.

LEVEL EIGHT - OBJECTIONS - CALM THEIR FEARS

Ever got anxious before a big trip?

Wondering if this is the right decision for you?

Objections are simply a person getting nervous, letting fear take control, they’re saying yes to fear and no to the adventure they so desperately need.

If you are going whitewater rafting for the first time, you want a guide who says, It’s normal to be scared, that’s why we wear life-jackets. If you are doubly afraid, sit here in this seat closer to me. I’m with you. I’ve done this a thousand times. You will be so glad you did it by the end of the trip (repaint the picture)

LEVEL NINE - THE CLOSE - CELEBRATE THEIR SUCCESS

When people choose to be brave, we have to celebrate with them. Not our commission checks or any of that shit, but the sheer fact that this is a human being who has said yes to going on an adventure, to living a little more, to pursuing what they want.

You've got to be super happy for them because they matter.

Because bravery deserves to be celebrated.

Because adventures and taking risks... this is where growth, life, and transformation are found.

You are now ready to move on to the final level. If this is helpful or interesting, do me a favor and type “Helpful” below

LEVEL TEN - ENERGY - MATCH THEIR VIBE

Speaking of white water, I once went on a 5-day kayaking trip with a married couple. I was so excited. Until the first hundred yards on the river.

They were grumpy, fighting, and their kayak flipped up on the first rapid. The wife blamed the husband, and the husband blamed the wife. It was going to be a long 5 days on the river.

The start of the journey is important if people are going to keep walking on the path you have painted for them and see success.

There can be no room for early regrets.

Match their vibe. Be the guide they need, and you will have a remarkable adventure.

In Summary

It’s possible to get to a place online where your brand is so authentic, so powerful, so human, and so genuine that you live from a place of flow.

Where you simply grow by having conversations.

I am not there yet, BUT I am building it piece by piece.

You can too. I will show you how.

If you want to know how this can work for you, then let’s just talk, DM me, comment “SPHERE” below, etc, and I will reach out.

I’ve got no intention of inviting you on a journey that you don’t wish to take.

If we’ve worked together before, this is a different journey, a richer one... I would like to walk with you again :-)

Let’s do this together.

Much love
G.x