Chapter 8

Sales kit

Everything you say and send, written out for this product. You know how to sell; this is the SaaS-shaped version. Use it verbatim until you have done it ten times, then make it yours.

Two numbers to open with

Only one in four organisations reaches 75% or more of its people with internal communication, and 63% of frontline workers say leadership messages do not reach themS35. Non-English-speaking operatives average 34% of a UK construction site and can be 75%S15. Use one, not both, in the first minute.

The 20-minute discovery call

Goal: find out whether they have the problem, who owns it, and what "proof" would look like to them. You are not demoing yet.

1

Open (2 min)

"Thanks for the time. I build a tool that gets notices to site teams in their own language and proves who read them. Before I show you anything I'd like to understand how that works for you today. Is that OK?"

2

Today (8 min)

"When something changes on site, a new rule, a hazard, a recall, how does it reach everyone?" · "How many languages are on a typical site?" · "How do you evidence a toolbox talk today?" · "When did that evidence last get asked for, and by whom?" · "What happens on WhatsApp when someone leaves?"

Listen for: paper sign-offs, WhatsApp groups run by supervisors, an audit or incident that exposed the gap.

3

Cost of the gap (5 min)

"In an HSE prosecution you don't have to be proved to have failed. You have to prove you did enough. What's your evidence?" (That is section 40 of the 1974 Act; the burden is reversedS24.) Then: "If a notice didn't reach someone and there was an incident, what would that cost you?" Let them put a number or a story on it. Write it down; it goes in the proposal.

4

Decision (3 min)

"If this worked on one site for 90 days, who would need to say yes to rolling it out, and what would they need to see?" · "What's the supplier onboarding process like?"

5

Close (2 min)

"I'd like to show you a notice landing on a phone in the three languages you mentioned, with the confirmation record. 30 minutes, with [the site manager] in the room if possible. Tuesday or Thursday?"

The 30-minute demo

Set up before the call: a tenant in their brand colours, two test workers with Polish and Romanian as languages, one scheduled must-read, one hazard report with a photo. Have a real phone in your hand.

  1. Join card (3 min). Show the QR. Scan it on your phone. Enter a number, get the code, you're in. "That's the onboarding. One break, the whole site."
  2. Publish a must-read (5 min). Type a real notice from their world. Publish. Show it arrive on the phone in Polish. Play the video with captions if they mentioned video.
  3. Confirm and chase (7 min). Tap confirm on the phone. Show the reach page: who has, who hasn't, the chase list. Print the record. "This is the toolbox-talk sign-off, without the clipboard."
  4. Report from site (5 min). Photo, sentence, location, send. Show it arrive translated.
  5. Leaver (2 min). Set a leaving date on a user; show them locked out.
  6. Their questions (8 min). Stop demoing. Ask "what would you post first?"
Never demo features they did not mention in discovery. Every extra feature is a reason to think it is complicated.

Objections, and what to say

They sayYou say
"WhatsApp is free.""Keep WhatsApp for the banter. Move anything you'd have to defend onto a system that produces a record. The bill for the free option arrives when someone asks for the record, a leaver is still in the group, or the notice went out in English to a crew that reads Romanian."
"Our people won't install another app.""There's nothing to install from an app store. They scan a card and put in their number. The ones who won't do that weren't reading the WhatsApp group either, and now you'll know who they are."
"We've got Teams.""For people with a laptop and a work email. How many of the subcontractors on site have either?"
"What about GDPR?""We hold a name, a phone number and a language. UK data centre. A data processing agreement is in the pack. Leavers are removed on their leaving date, which is more than the WhatsApp group does."
"Is the translation any good?""Good enough that the crew read it; not something to rely on for a contract clause. Keep the sentence short and it is excellent. Let me show you one now."
"We'd need group approval.""For the company, yes. For one site for 90 days, most divisions sign that off locally. Who would that be?"
"Send me some information.""Happy to. What would you want it to answer, so I send the right two pages rather than a brochure?" (Then send the one-pager and book the next call before you hang up.)
"We're too busy right now.""Understood. When is the next site start or mobilisation? I'd rather be live for that than mid-project. Shall I put a date in for the week before?"

Outreach that gets replies

Rules: one idea per message, a specific observation about them, one ask, no pitch (pitching in the email cuts replies by up to 57%). Plain text. No attachments on the first touch. Six to eight touches over four weeks across email, a call and LinkedIn, then park for a quarter.

What the data saysS35So
Cold email replies average 3.7%; operations buyers 3.4%, rising to 5.4% for a well-written email and 8.4% for a director of operationsWrite to the Ops or HSEQ director, briefly.
Campaigns under 200 prospects reply at 15–20%; 500–1,000 at 8%Your hand-built 100 is the right size. Do not buy a list.
An average rep sends 344 cold emails per booked meetingExpect 100 accounts, worked properly, to produce roughly 12 meetings in the base case. Plan on that, not on hope.
UK cold calling connects to a meeting about 8% of the time, the best rate in the worldRing them. A call on day 3 after the first email is the single best touch.
Multi-threading (two contacts at the account) nearly doubles reply rates; buying groups are 6–10 peopleEmail the HSEQ lead and the divisional director in the same week.
Referrals convert at 11%, four times a cold leadAsk every pilot customer for two introductions at signature.

Legal: email only companies (Ltd, PLC, LLP); sole traders and ordinary partnerships need consent. Put your company name, number, registered office and an opt-out line in every email, and a link to your privacy notice (UK GDPR Article 14). PECR fines are now up to £8.7m or 2% of turnoverS32.

Warm intro request (to your contact)

Subject: 25 minutes with your HSEQ lead? [Name], quick one. I've built TeamTalk: notices to site teams in their own language, with a record of who read them. Toolbox-talk evidence without the clipboard. Could you introduce me to whoever owns that on one of your sites? I'll take 25 minutes, show it on a phone, and tell them honestly if it isn't useful. Simon

Cold, housebuilder (to Head of HSEQ / regional construction director)

Subject: toolbox-talk records in every language on site [Name], I noticed [company] has [N] live sites in [region]. On a typical one, how many languages are on site, and how do you evidence briefings today? TeamTalk gets a notice to every worker in their own language and records who confirmed it. Phone number login, no app store, no email. Live with [reference] in the South East. Worth 25 minutes to see it land on a phone?

Cold, contract caterer (to Operations Director / Head of Food Safety)

Subject: when a recall goes out, who has read it? [Name], a question rather than a pitch: when a supplier recall or an allergen change goes out to your kitchens, how do you know every kitchen has read it? TeamTalk sends it to every team member in their language and shows you who has confirmed. Used by [reference]. 25 minutes to see it?

Follow-ups

Day 4: "Bumping this in case it got buried. One question: how do you evidence briefings today?" Day 10: "Sharing a 90-second video of a notice landing in Polish and being confirmed: [link]. Useful to see?" Day 3 (call): "It's [name], I emailed on Monday about briefing records in every language on site. Have you got two minutes, or is there a better time?" Day 21: "Last one from me. If the timing is wrong, when should I try again? I'll leave you alone until then."

The one-pager (send after every first call)

One A4 PDF. Title: Every notice, every language, with a record. Three screenshots (join card, translated post, reach report). Five bullets from Chapter 1. Pricing from Chapter 3 (the Site price and the pilot). Your phone number. That is all.

Proposal (send after the demo, same day)

  1. What you told me (three lines, their words, from discovery).
  2. What we'll do (pilot scope: sites, users, languages, start date, success metric).
  3. What it costs (the £2,500 pilot and the year-one price it credits against, on the same page).
  4. What happens next (supplier onboarding, DPA, go-live date, review at day 60).
  5. Signature line.

Two pages, PDF, plus an order form (Chapter 11). Ask for the signature on the call, not by email.