The AI-powered sales system you need to grow your small business

Copy this tech stack, this process and this prompt

It’s tough out there for small businesses.

Margins are tight. Customers are cautious. Hiring a sales team? Not happening.

But there is some good news. Even if you’re solo, you can still run a smart, effective sales process from start to finish.

For the first time ever, a thoughtful, intelligent and hardworking individual can do the work of ten - if they’re equipped with the right tools.

I’ve designed this AI-powered sales process to enable small business owners to take control of their sales - with no SDRs, no BDRs, no marketing-to-sales handoff chaos. Just one person, an elegant tech stack, a process that works and a huge amount of trial and error.

The leads are out there… you just need to know how to find them

Successful sales isn’t about one task. It’s a whole sequence. And without a system, it falls apart - even if you’re brilliant at what you do.

That’s where AI tools come in. To give you leverage. To automate the repetitive bits. To help you focus on the human parts that really matter.

The AI-powered sales process, step-by-step

This is the stack I (mostly) use right now to manage the full sales cycle on my own - and it’s working.

Tool for lead building and outreach: Apollo AI

Apollo has a database of over 275 million contacts enabling you to find the contact details of most B2B prospects. It’s brilliant for building lists of your ideal target customers and sending out prospecting emails or LinkedIn messages at scale using their sequences.

Don’t get too carried away with lead volume though. I recommend focusing on building short, clean, well-segmented lists. A good list of 100 is more valuable than a bloated one of 1,000.

Tool for designing a sequence: ChatGPT or Claude (use this prompt)

Now that you have your prospect list, it’s time to design your outbound sequence for contacting your prospects. Luckily, there is a prompt for that and I have shared it below:

Prompt for designing outbound sequences - copy into ChatGPT or Claude

You are about to help create a multi-touch outbound message sequence intended to engage cold prospects and generate qualified leads. The user will be deploying this sequence using an outbound sales tool such as Apollo, and the messages will be delivered across multiple formats (e.g., email, LinkedIn, cold calls). This sequence will be sent from the founder of the company, and should reflect a credible, personal voice, not a generic sales message. The goal is to drive interest, spark conversations, and book meetings.

You are an industry-leading expert in outbound sales strategy, B2B messaging, cold outreach copywriting, and behavioural psychology. With over two decades of experience, you’ve created hundreds of outbound sequences that consistently outperform benchmarks in open rates, response rates, and booked calls. You understand how to tailor language, structure, and timing to different markets, buyer personas, and channels, while balancing personalisation with automation at scale.

Ask the user the following questions to gather the context required to write a high-performing outbound sequence. Then, using that information, generate the appropriate number of customised outbound messages that align with the user’s objectives. Please ask the questions ONE AT A TIME and await the user’s response, then clarify anything that needs to be clarified, before moving on to the next question - never just send the user a list of questions, rather have a conversation with them.

1. What is your company called?

2. What is your product, service, or offer? Briefly describe what you're selling and what it does.

3. Who is your ideal target audience? Include job titles, industries, company sizes, etc.

4. What is the primary pain point or challenge your offer solves for that audience?

5. What is the key value proposition or transformation your product delivers?

6. Are there any blog posts, videos, ebooks, podcasts or marketing content, or events that you want to be included in the sequence? If so, please provide details.

7. Do you have existing tone-of-voice guidelines or preferences? If not, how would you like the tone to feel? (e.g., casual, professional, bold, etc.).

8. What types of outreach messages would you like included in your sequence? (e.g., email, LinkedIn messages, call scripts — or a mix)

9. How many touchpoints would you like in the sequence?

10. Do you have a preferred structure for the sequence? (Number of touches, timing between steps, preferred channels, etc.)

11. What is the ultimate goal? For example, is it to start a 2-way conversation with the prospect; get them to agree to a call or book a demo, or ask them to sign up for a trial?

12. Is there anything else I should know before generating the sequence? (This could include brand positioning, competitors, red lines, etc.)

Once all answers are provided, create an outbound sequence (of the appropriate length) that:

• Reflects the founder’s voice

• Mixes message types (if requested)

• Builds logical momentum across touches

• Balances clarity with curiosity

• Avoids clichés or hype language

• Focuses on the prospect’s world — not just the product

Examples of the types of content that would be included in the sequence:

1. Start with relevance - why is the founder reaching out to them specifically?

2. Introduce the problem / pain.

3. Show your credibiility:

   • Educational content

   • Testimonials

   • Case studies

   • Thought leadership

   • Media coverage

4. Asking a low-friction question

5. Breaking the pattern with some humour or an anecdote

6. Close the loop with a final email or message - respectful

Return the sequence in clean markdown format, organized as a numbered list (1–10), with each message clearly labeled by channel (Email, LinkedIn, or Call Script), along with a suggested day in the sequence.

Each message should include:

• A subject line (for emails)

• Body copy

• A natural CTA (call to action)
  Keep messages short, skimmable, and tactful — with increasing directness and urgency as the sequence progresses.

The user executing this prompt is a business operator or founder building outbound lead generation campaigns. Assume high business literacy and efficiency; be concise, strategic, and pragmatic in your outputs. Avoid fluff or generic sales speak.

Tool for tracking leads when they come in: Folk CRM

Folk is clean, lightweight, and built for small businesses - which is exactly why I love it. Once a lead comes in (meaning a prospect raises their hand and wants to talk - I don’t consider someone a lead until they have shown some interest) it goes straight into Folk which gives me a single view of my leads and conversations without overwhelming me with features I’ll never use.

And adding a lead is easy using Folk’s LinkedIn browser extension: there is no messing about uploading details - Folk pulls them all in from LinkedIn and can often (but not always) enrich the data with contact details as well:

Folk lets you design the pipelines you want and drag leads along them as they move through your sales funnel. Here’s one I built for demonstration purposes (it is SO EASY):

I have created my own pipeline and I move prospects along daily.

CRM should help you. If your CRM feels like a chore to update, you won’t stick with it. You should be IN your CRM every day, moving leads along as they progress and watching those KPIs climb (follow my YouTube channel for small businesses - weekly content on growing your business, increasing its value and preparing for exit).

Qualifying calls: no tools to recommend - still humans required

I keep this simple: when I get on a call, I focus on identifying budget, authority, need and timing. The classic BANT framework still works.

What I don’t do is record calls. I believe it's a breach of privacy unless explicitly agreed - and frankly, I prefer being present in the conversation.

Some people use Otter or Gong to transcribe and analyse calls, and if that’s your thing, fine. Just make sure you’re doing it ethically and legally. And if you’re speaking to me it’s a firm no.

Pitching: Gamma

Gamma Gamma is my go-to for pitch decks. It’s quick, beautiful, and easy to adapt to each client. I don’t waste time fiddling with design - I focus on the story. Gamma can’t replace a professional designer but it is a beautiful replacement for a homemade powerpoint.

Contracts: DocuSign or Ironclad

Both are great for handling e-signatures, tracking, and version control. I lean toward DocuSign for simplicity. Don’t delay sending contracts. A fast close signals confidence and professionalism.

What I’ve learned from doing it all myself

• You don’t need more people. You need a better system.

• AI doesn’t replace sales — it just clears the clutter so you can do it better.

• Yes, learning this stuff takes time. But every hour you invest now saves you dozens later. This becomes second nature quicker than you think.

If you’ve been telling yourself:

“I’m not a natural salesperson.”
“I’ll fix my sales process when I can afford help.”
“I just need to get through this quarter…”

Let me offer a different lens: Sales isn’t a job title. It’s a system. And with the right tools, you can do this - on your own, without burning out.

One system. One person. A bit of momentum.

That’s all it takes to turn this quarter into a different story.