Everything you need to work the phones. Read it tonight, dial tomorrow. Keep it open on your phone between calls — the objections and the gate are the two parts you will actually come back to.
You are not selling. You are calling a business that is already trying to market itself — that is why it is on your list — and telling them what we do, that we charge for it, and asking whether it fits.
We are an established business describing a service, and finding out where we can help.
Cesar's words, keep them close: "Our goal is to help these businesses make money. We charge for it. We just want to see where we can help."
You are allowed to say we charge money. It is what a real business does. The people who hide the price are the ones who sound like a scam. What you may never quote is the ads price — that is Cesar's side, and there is a line for it below.
Not a sale. Any one of these three:
Do not keep selling past a yes. The moment they agree, stop. Get the four facts and get off the phone. More talking after a yes only creates room for doubt.
You will sell this far better once you can picture it. CesarScales gets local service businesses more jobs. That is the sentence. Everything below is how.
We film the work. We run the ads. The leads land on their phone.
Three plain nouns, and every one of them is something we have already built and shipped for a paying client. We do not describe anything we cannot do.
| Piece | What it means |
|---|---|
| The footage | We come out and film their actual crew on an actual job. Real trucks, real work, their people. Not stock, not AI. Arizona only — we cannot promise a shoot out of state |
| The ads | We build and run the ads off that footage, and we manage them daily — what to raise, what to kill |
| The page | Where the ad sends them. Built to do one thing: turn a click into a phone number |
| The routing | The moment someone fills out that form, a text hits the owner's phone. On a live client account we clocked it at 36 seconds from form to text |
Why the routing matters more than it sounds. Most of these owners have lost jobs they never knew existed — a lead sat in an inbox nobody checks until Thursday. Speed to the phone is often the entire difference between a lead and a job, and it is the piece almost nobody else bothers to build.
You are not selling an idea. Everything above is running right now for paying clients — an epoxy garage-coating company, an exterior cleaning company, a landscaping company, a barber. Live ads, live sites, live lead routing.
Do not name a client on a call without asking Cesar first. Their business is not ours to hand around. This is here so you know it's real — say "the businesses we work with," not a name.
This is the shape of the whole thing, and it is why the first call is short.
| The job of that call | |
|---|---|
| Touch one your call | Spark interest, nothing more. They learn we get businesses like theirs more jobs, that we charge for it, and that it might not be a fit. You are finding out where they are — not explaining the business |
| Touch two with Cesar | The real conversation. Here is exactly what we do, here is the offer, here is where we're going as a team — and it gets built out from there |
Do not try to do touch two on touch one. Dumping the whole business on a stranger who is mid-job is how you lose them. Enough interest to earn the second conversation is a complete win.
But know all of it anyway. The reason to understand the business cold is not so you can recite it — it is so that when he asks something sideways, you answer like someone who works here instead of someone reading a card.
Nothing below is a line to recite. A prospect hears a script in the first four seconds — the rhythm is wrong, the breathing is wrong, and the moment they hear it you stop being a person from Phoenix and start being a call centre. Know the beats. Say them however they come out of your mouth. Stumbling sounds human; polished sounds fake.
The test: could you say it to a friend's dad at a barbecue? If not, put it in your own words before you dial.
"Hey, this is the service that we provide. Might be a great fit, might not be. Just wanted to give you guys a call — your number came across my list, saw the work that you guys have, just wanted to touch base. And if it's not a fit, then it's not — we kick rocks and we keep calling."
Low pressure, honest, and it hands them an easy out — which is exactly why they stay on the line. Nobody defends themselves against someone who already said "if it's not a fit, no problem."
Your name, CesarScales, and one true specific thing you saw about their business. It is on every row of your lead list — 812 Facebook posts, 152 Nextdoor recommendations, a 3.5 rating on 14 reviews. That is what proves you are a person who looked them up and not a robot with a phone book.
"I came across your Facebook page — you've got 812 posts on there. You're clearly doing this yourself."
Never "how are you doing today?" That is the tell, and every one of them has heard it four times this week. And never claim an observation you did not actually make.
This is the beat that builds the bond, and it comes before any offer. Ask like you would ask a friend about their work, and mean it.
"Do you even want more jobs right now? Is that something you guys are taking on?"
"Are you looking to get more work, or are you pretty steady?"
"Where are you guys at as a business right now?"
Pick one, in your own words, then be quiet and actually listen. Count to five if you have to. Their answer decides the whole call, and half of them tell you the truth precisely because you asked instead of pitching.
Follow the thread they give you. Slow? Ask how slow. Steady? Ask whether steady is where they want to stay. Slammed? Ask what they'd do with two more crews. You are having a conversation about his business, not waiting for a script cue.
Get a number somewhere in there, naturally. "How many jobs a week is normal?" · "What's a job usually worth?" · "How many did you run last month?" No number means the call did not count, however friendly it was.
Only after they have told you where they are. Plain nouns, and say that we charge.
"So here's why I was calling. We film the actual work, run the ads, and make sure the leads come straight to your phone. It's a paid service — might be a great fit for you, might not be. Just wanted to touch base and see."
If what they told you in beat 2 points somewhere specific, aim at it. Slow winter? Talk about filling it. Steady but wants bigger jobs? Talk about which jobs the ads bring.
Say so warmly and end it. A fast no is a win. We kick rocks and we keep calling. Chasing a maybe is exactly how our last two booked calls turned into no-shows.
Several of these are family shops — Salazar Concrete, Granado's Electrical, Alex & Bros, Roberto Paez Tapia. If they answer in Spanish, run the call in Spanish. The system is the Sistema de Agenda Llena. Cesar's best live conversation to date was entirely in Spanish, on equal footing.
Everything above is how you get here. This is the rule the whole business rests on, and it is not negotiable.
Not one. Not "close enough." Both.
"Yeah, send me something" is a polite no wearing a friendly face. It has already cost us two deals. You are not graded on how nice the call felt.
The $30 website is not how you open any more. It is what you offer once they have leaned in, and it is framed as us protecting them — not us discounting ourselves. Leading with price makes us a discount vendor from the first sentence, and a discount vendor is easy to say no to and impossible to raise prices on later.
Bridge into it when they are interested but the bigger thing feels like a lot:
"Can I be straight with you before we go further? What's your website situation right now?"
Then, whatever they say:
"Here's why I ask. I don't want you getting quoted three grand by somebody for a website — that happens to guys in your trade constantly. We just build them, thirty dollars a month, no setup fee. That's not a trick to get in the door. It's the honest place to start so you can see how we actually work before you spend anything real with us."
Asking a stranger for a card on call one is a hard close you will lose, and it is not even what we want.
"If I built you one and sent it over — would you look at it?"
"Yeah, show me" is the win. Log it and move on.
| 1 | Business name, exactly as they want it displayed |
| 2 | What they actually do, in their words, and the area they cover |
| 3 | Best phone and email for the site |
| 4 | Permission to pull photos from their Facebook or Google listing |
More touches is the plan. Make each one worth receiving.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Same day | Text: "[Name] — [you] from CesarScales, good talking to you. Here's the kind of thing we do: [link]. No rush." |
| Day 3 | Something useful and specific to them — a note on their Google listing, a photo of theirs that would make a good ad. Not a check-in |
| Day 10 | "Still thinking about that website? Happy to just build it and show you." |
| Day 30 | Back in the rotation. Slow trades turn over |
Never a bare "just following up." Every touch carries something they did not have before.
Three beats, every single time: agree (never fight it — agreeing disarms it and proves you listened), reframe (change what it means, not whether it's true), ask — end on a question, always.
The failure mode is beat three. On the Moon Valley call Cesar nailed the first two, then filled the silence with "but if you're already working with somebody, I understand" — and handed back the objection he had just beaten. A statement invites "okay, thanks." A question requires an answer. Silence after a question is doing work. Silence after a statement is you losing the call.
A buying signal, not a rejection. They have a budget, they believe in the category, and they have a vendor who can underperform.
"Good — honestly that's better than most people I call, who aren't doing anything."
"I'm not trying to replace anybody. Most of what we do sits next to what somebody's already running, and half the time I end up telling people their current setup is fine."
"Can I ask what they're actually running for you?"
That last question does the work. If they can't answer it, you found the gap without attacking anyone. If they can, you learned the competitive picture for free. Never disparage the incumbent — they were often referred by someone the prospect trusts.
Sometimes true, sometimes reflex. Don't argue — go sideways to capacity.
"That's good to hear, and that's actually why I called — I'm not trying to fix something broken."
"The businesses we work with usually aren't struggling. They just have more capacity than they have demand, and nobody's filling it on purpose."
"How full does the schedule actually run in a normal week? Any days open?"
"Busy" and "full" are different words. Almost nobody is genuinely at capacity, and the gap between those two words is the whole pitch. If they claim they're maxed out: "Then the question isn't more customers, it's better ones. Are the jobs coming in the size you actually want?"
A polite no wearing a friendly face. Never accept it flat.
"I can do that."
"Honestly the email won't mean much on its own — what I'd send is built around your business, not a brochure. It'll look like nothing without the context."
"Can I just ask you two quick things first so what I send is actually useful?"
If they insist, send it — but attach a time: "I'll send it over today. Can I check in Thursday to see if it's worth a conversation?" Never send info with no next step attached.
The most winnable one you'll get. They have budget and they got burned — you just have to be different from the last guy.
"I hear that constantly, and usually they're right — it didn't work."
"Almost every time we look into it, the ads weren't the problem. Nothing was tracking, so the platform had no idea who actually became a customer. It optimizes for the cheapest person it can find, and you get cheap leads."
"When you ran them, did anybody set up tracking on your side, or did the leads just show up in an inbox?"
They almost never know. That question makes you the first person who ever explained why it failed — and it's true, not a line.
The most dangerous one, because it feels polite and it isn't a no. Never accept a vague future date. Pin it to their own calendar.
"That's fair, and I'd rather come back when it's actually useful."
"The only thing I'd flag — if you're aiming at your busy season, the build has to happen before it, not during it. By the time you know whether something's working, the window's usually half gone."
"When does your busy season actually start?"
Then use their answer as the deadline. It's arithmetic, not pressure. Always leave with a specific date and permission: "I'll check back around [date]. Fair?"
You may say the website is $30/month once they're interested. You may never quote an ads price or a management fee.
"Fair question."
"The ads side I honestly don't set — that's Cesar, and he won't quote before he knows what a customer's worth to you or whether we can even help. He turns down plenty of these."
"What's a new customer actually worth to you over a year?"
"He turns down plenty of these" is the strongest sentence you have. We don't work with everybody, and saying so out loud makes them want in. Then go straight back to a question about them.
Proven 1-for-1 on the Moon Valley call. Ask for information, not access. They guard the owner's time from salespeople; nobody told them to guard the name.
"I actually had a good opportunity for them —" (then move off it immediately, something friendly and local)
"Do you think I could get their name, and when's a good time to call back?"
Get all three: name, number, hours. Then the dial was a success regardless.
Not a rejection and not a buying signal. It means good fit eventually. Log it, move on, don't grind.
The guy with nothing is easier than the guy with three vendors. Lorenzo was busy, hard-headed from minute one, already had three lead vendors, and went nowhere across two calls. Amador had no website, 111 reviews, and said "si quiere levantarme más jale, yo me lo llevo" inside two minutes. No website, small review count, owner answers — that is what your list is ranked for.
Not knowing is a tool, not a weakness. You are never on the second call, and that is a feature — it means you can be completely honest when someone asks something you can't answer: "I genuinely don't handle that part — that's exactly what the call with Cesar is for."
Nobody tells new salespeople the real numbers, and then they quit on day three thinking they're bad at it. Here are ours, from our own logs.
| Out of 100 dials | How many |
|---|---|
| Someone picks up | ~20 |
| It becomes a real conversation | ~8 |
| You get a win | 1–2 |
Read that table again, because it changes how the day feels. Eighty out of a hundred won't even answer. That's not rejection — that's a guy on a job site who can't hear his phone. Of the twenty who do, most are mid-job and don't want to talk. Also not about you.
Every single no is paid work. Forty-five of them buys a client. So a no is not a failure — it is one of the forty-nine, and you are being paid to find out which one is the fiftieth. The fastest way to your first check is not a better line. It is getting through the no's faster.
The only number that matters in week one is dials. Not conversations, not wins. Getting comfortable is a volume problem.
You earn a percentage of what a client you sourced actually pays us. That is the whole structure. No draw, no per-meeting bonus, no payment for activity — a share of collected revenue, paid to you once the money is in.
Nothing is paid out before revenue comes in — and then you are paid on all of it.
This is deliberate. A per-meeting bonus pays for motion, and motion is not the product. Tying your pay to collected revenue means you and Cesar are looking at exactly the same number, and it is the number that keeps the business alive.
Cesar sets your percentage with you directly, and you will both know it in plain terms before you dial. It is not printed here because it is not fixed — it is a starting point that moves as you take on more of the work.
| What raises it | Why |
|---|---|
| Clients that stay | Retention is worth more than the first sale. A rep who sources clients that stick is worth a bigger share than one who sources churn |
| Taking part in the close | Right now you open and Cesar closes. As you get good, you move into the closing call — and your share moves with it |
| Volume you can hold | Consistent dials over months, not one strong week |
The ceiling is real and it is meant to be climbed. The split where you only open is the starting arrangement, not the job. The plan is for you to be in the closing call — that is where the money is, and that is the direction this goes if you stay on the phone long enough to get good.
One thing that does not change: you are not graded on bookings. A booked call that no-shows is worth nothing to either of us, which is exactly why the gate exists. Qualify hard and you get paid; book politely and you don't.
Your whole workspace: the list, the numbers, tap-to-call, and your running tally. It remembers where you left off on this device, and both reps can see who already dialed a lead today so nobody gets called twice. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app.
Open the Dial Deck →Practice against a realistic, difficult owner. Run five calls out loud before you dial a real human. Saying it silently does nothing for your mouth.
You are my cold-call roleplay partner and coach. We run live practice calls. Stay in character during a call. Drop character only when I type END CALL, SAVE, or COACH. === WHO I AM === I'm a rep for CesarScales, a small marketing company in Phoenix. I cold call small local business owners — plumbing, electrical, HVAC, pools, concrete, painting — who are already trying to market themselves by hand. I am NOT hiding what we do. I am an established business describing a service we charge for, and finding out whether it fits. My frame, in Cesar's words: "Our goal is to help these businesses make money. We charge for it. We just want to see where we can help." My opener sounds like this, in my own words, never read: "Hey, this is the service that we provide. Might be a great fit, might not be. Just wanted to give you guys a call — your number came across my list, saw the work that you guys have, just wanted to touch base. And if it's not a fit, then it's not." === WHAT YOU DO === Play ONE business owner per call. Invent him fresh each time: name, trade, city, crew size, how long he's been running, what kind of week he's having. He did not ask for this call. He is busy, mid-task, mildly annoyed. Not mean — just working. Rules for you, and these matter more than being nice to me: - NEVER volunteer his problem. Make me dig for it with questions. - If I pitch BEFORE asking him where his business is at, get polite, get bored, end the call fast. I need to feel that. Asking about him comes first, always. - If I talk about us for more than two sentences before asking about him, cut me off or get distracted. That's commission breath and it's my worst habit. - If I sound like I'm reading, tell me by reacting like a person who just realized he's on a telemarketing call. - If I ask a genuinely good open question about his business, answer honestly and in character. Reward real curiosity. Punish scripts. - Roughly 1 call in 4 should be a gatekeeper, a wrong number, or a hard no in ten seconds. That's the real ratio and I need the reps on it. - Sometimes answer in Spanish and stay in Spanish. Several of these are family shops. - Stay in character until I type END CALL. Do not coach me mid-call. === THE GATE — the two things I must get === 1. THE ADMISSION — he says a problem OUT LOUD, in his own words. Not me saying it for him. "Winters are slow." "It's all word of mouth." "I'm chasing estimates that never call back." 2. THE NUMBER — he attaches a number to it. Jobs a week, dollars a month, empty days, trucks parked, what a job is worth. A call where he was friendly and agreeable but never admitted a problem and never gave a number is a FAILED call. Score it that way even if it felt great. A polite yes is a no. That is the single most important scoring rule you have. === THE $30 WEBSITE === I may only bring up the website AFTER he's shown interest, and I frame it as protection: "I don't want you getting quoted three grand by somebody — we just build them, thirty dollars a month, no setup fee." Then I close on permission, not payment: "If I built you one and sent it over, would you look at it?" If I lead with the price, mark it down. That makes us a discount vendor in sentence one. === WHAT I MAY NEVER SAY === - Any ads price or management fee. Correct answer: "That's Cesar's side — I'll have him call you." - Any promise of a result — lead counts, revenue figures. Ever. - A filming shoot outside Arizona. If I break one of these, end the scorecard with it as my only note. === END CALL — score me exactly like this === SCORECARD - Opener, did I sound like a person and not a script: __/10 - Did I ask about HIM before offering anything: PASS / FAIL - Commission breath moments (times I talked about us unprompted): __ - THE ADMISSION: GOT IT / MISSED — quote his exact words - THE NUMBER: GOT IT / MISSED — quote it - QUALIFIED: YES / NO (YES only if BOTH above are GOT IT) - If the website came up: too early / well-timed / never came up - Best moment in the call, quoted back to me - The one thing to do differently on the very next call — one sentence, specific Be blunt. Do not soften the score. A generous score costs me real money on a real call. === DIFFICULTY === Level 1: talkative owner, admits things easily. Level 2: busy, short answers, needs two follow-ups. Level 3: skeptical, burned by an agency before, tests me. Level 4: "we're doing fine, we're all word of mouth" — hardest and most common. Level 5: hostile, ten seconds to hang up. Start at my saved level. Move me up one after 3 qualified calls in a row. Down one after 5 straight misses. === COMMANDS === START — begin a new call, in character, he speaks first with "Hello?" END CALL — drop character, give the scorecard COACH — drop character mid-session, answer a question, then wait for START SAVE — print the STATE block === STATE BLOCK — my portable memory === On SAVE print exactly this, filled in, and nothing else: CESARSCALES ROLEPLAY STATE Calls run: __ | Qualified: __ | Qualification rate: __% Current level: __ Recurring weakness: ____________ Last coaching note: ____________ I paste this back at the start of my next session. Load it silently, confirm my level and my weakness in one line, and wait for START. If no STATE block follows this prompt, start me at Level 1, zero calls, and wait for START.
Keep this open in a second window during a block. Type what the prospect just said in three or four words and you get one line back — the next move, not a lecture. It answers in fifteen words maximum while a call is live, because a co-pilot that answers in paragraphs makes you read instead of listen, and the prospect can hear the difference.
You are my live cold-call co-pilot. I am on the phone with real business owners while I use you.
=== THE HARD RULE ===
While a call is live, every reply is FIFTEEN WORDS OR LESS. One move. No preamble, no
explanation, no encouragement. If I need more I'll type WHY.
I am listening to a human being. Long answers make me worse at this, not better.
=== WHO I AM ===
I'm a rep for CesarScales in Phoenix. I call small local businesses — plumbing, electrical,
HVAC, pools, concrete, painting — that are already marketing themselves by hand.
I am not hiding anything. I'm an established business describing a service we charge for,
finding out whether it fits. "Might be a great fit, might not be."
What we do, in plain nouns: we film the actual work, run the ads, and make sure the leads come
straight to their phone. It's a paid service.
=== THE CALL MAP — always tell me which beat I'm in ===
1. WHY THEM — one true specific thing about THEIR business. "812 posts on your Facebook."
Never a compliment, never "how are you doing today."
2. THE QUESTION — "Do you even want more jobs right now?" Then SILENCE. This comes BEFORE
any offer. If I pitch before this, stop me.
3. THE THREAD — follow whatever they said. Get a number out naturally: jobs a week, what a
job is worth, how many they ran last month.
4. THE OFFER — now, and with the out in the same breath: "It's a paid service. Might be a
great fit, might not be."
5. THE WEBSITE — ONLY if they're interested, framed as protection: "I don't want you getting
quoted three grand. Thirty a month, no setup fee."
6. PERMISSION — "If I built you one and sent it over, would you look at it?" Then the four
facts: business name as displayed, what they do + service area, best phone and email,
permission to pull photos from Facebook or Google.
=== THE GATE ===
A lead only counts if BOTH: he said the problem in his own words, AND he put a number on it.
If I tell you he agreed to something but neither happened, say so in five words. A polite
yes is a no.
=== WHAT I MAY NEVER SAY ===
Any ads price or management fee ("That's Cesar's side"). Any promise of a result. A shoot
outside Arizona. If I'm about to, stop me first and explain after.
=== HOW WE TALK DURING A CALL ===
I type what he said, short: "says he has a facebook page" or "asked whats the catch" or
"silent" or "says hes too busy".
You reply with ONE line: the next thing I say, in words I can speak out loud. Exact words in
quotes. If I'm off track, your line starts with the beat name.
Example:
Me: says his nephew is building him one
You: BEAT 5 — "Oh nice, how far along is he?" Let him say it's stalled.
Never give me two options. Pick one. I don't have time to choose.
=== COMMANDS ===
CALL — new call; if I paste their info, give me my opening observation
WHY — explain the last move, now that the call is over
STUCK — I've lost the thread, one line to get back in
DEBRIEF — call ended, coach me
SAVE — print my STATE block
=== DEBRIEF — after every call, under 120 words ===
- Which beat did the call die at
- The one sentence I said that cost me the most, quoted back
- The one sentence that worked
- Did it clear the gate: admission YES/NO, number YES/NO
- If he objected: add it to my objection bank with the line that would have worked
- One thing to do differently on the very next call. One. Not a list.
Be blunt. Do not congratulate me on a call I lost. I'd rather feel it now than on call 200.
=== THE LEARNING PART ===
Track my patterns across calls. If I make the same mistake three times, say so directly and
make it my only note until it stops. If I've beaten an objection twice, tell me it's fixed and
move to the next weakness. The notes should CHANGE as I get better, not repeat.
=== STATE BLOCK ===
On SAVE print exactly this, filled in, and nothing else:
CESARSCALES CO-PILOT STATE
Calls: __ | Cleared the gate: __ | Rate: __%
Beat I die at most: __
My recurring mistake: ____________
Objection bank:
- "objection" -> line that works
- "objection" -> line that works
Next call focus: ____________
I paste this back at the start of my next session. Load it silently, confirm my focus in one
line, and wait.
If no STATE block follows, start me fresh at zero and ask for the first business name.
At the end of every block, every call — including the ugly ones. A log with no failures in it is a log nobody can coach from.
"Problem in their words" is a quote or it is empty. If you cannot quote them saying it, they did not say it, and it does not clear the gate. A blank is honest. A guess pollutes the whole list.
Screenshot every dial block. Standing rule, no exceptions.
For every call worth reviewing, capture what you opened with and how they responded in the first ten seconds, their answer to beat 2 quoted exactly, the number if one came up, where it turned — the moment they leaned in or went cold — and how it ended.
The beat-2 quotes are the gold. After twenty of them we will know which question opens people up in each trade, and that stops being an opinion and becomes a rule.
Training is capped on purpose. Every hour spent teaching is an hour not dialing, and you will learn more on call 40 than in any session.
The first hour is rough for everybody.
Most calls will not be answered. Some people will be short with you. None of it is about you — it is a stranger interrupting a workday, and it is the same for Cesar on his best day. The fastest way through it is to stop thinking and keep going.
CesarScales · internal training material · current as of September 8 2026. If something on this page contradicts an older document, this page wins. Questions go to Cesar.