The best chatgpt sales prompts are organised by call stage rather than collected in one long list. Pre-call preparation, discovery questions, objection responses, and the follow-up summary each need a different set of inputs, and a prompt that mixes them produces generic questions you can ask without listening.
Use the prompts below in order. Each one is paste-ready, each placeholder is explained, and the worked example shows what a filled prompt looks like for a small-business owner, which is the reader these prompts are written for.
A pre-call prompt that earns your first minute
You are helping me prepare a sales call with [prospect name or company], a [business type] that I sell [your offer] to. What I know: [notes from their website, public profile, or prior contact]. What I want to achieve on this call: [specific outcome, such as a booked demonstration]. My discovery hypothesis is [the problem you suspect and why]. Give me: (1) five open discovery questions that let them describe their situation in their own words, ordered from easiest to hardest to answer, (2) the single question most likely to reveal whether the problem is real, (3) two things I should not assume, and (4) the one outcome I should be willing to walk away with if the fit is wrong. Do not invent details about their business. If I have given you too little information, ask me for what is missing before answering.
Fill in these details
- Prospect and type: A person or company, plus what kind of business it is. The type drives the vocabulary.
- What I know: Only facts you can point to. Public profile, pricing page, or a note from an earlier email.
- Call outcome: The one thing that would make this call worth your time.
- Discovery hypothesis: Your guess at their problem. The prompt treats it as a guess, so it will try to test it.
If your real objective is a booked demo, say the date range you need. A model told about a timeframe will shape its questions differently from one told "get a sale".
Discovery question prompts that get past the polite answer
The first answer to "how are things going?" is never useful. These two prompts force the conversation toward specifics, one for the opening minutes and one for the middle of the call.
Write ten discovery questions for [prospect type] buying [your offer]. Group them by what each question is trying to find out: current situation, impact of the problem, how they handle it today, and what a good outcome looks like. Every question must be open, must be answerable in more than one word, and must avoid sounding like an interrogation. Do not ask yes-or-no questions. Do not ask about budget before you have established a problem they want solved. Beside each question, note the answer that would tell me the deal is real, and the answer that would tell me to stop.
I have heard [what the prospect just said]. Write three follow-up questions that go one level deeper without repeating anything I already asked. For each one, give the specific detail I am trying to surface. Prefer questions about frequency, cost, and consequences over questions about preferences, since people describe preferences vaguely and consequences accurately.
Paste the second prompt mid-call with a short quote of what they actually said. It turns a static question bank into a response to the conversation in front of you.
Objection prompts for the four objections you will hear most
Objections fall into predictable groups: price, timing, trust, and authority. Treating them as one category produces a reply that argues instead of diagnosing.
The prospect said: [paste their objection word for word]. My offer is [offer], priced at [price]. The result I sell is [outcome]. Do not argue with them and do not offer a discount. Write three responses. For each: (1) the question I should ask first to understand the objection behind it, (2) a short reply of two sentences that addresses the real concern, and (3) a signal that tells me this objection is a genuine barrier rather than politeness. If the objection is really about something other than price, say which of these it resembles: timing, trust, authority, or missing urgency.
What to put in the slot marked for the objection
- Their words: Never a summary. Summaries remove the part you need to diagnose.
- Your offer and price: Including the price keeps the reply inside your actual commercial limits.
- The result: What they get, in a phrase they would recognise.
- The signal: What a real barrier sounds like, so you do not mistake politeness for refusal.
When the objection is trust, the useful question is almost always about a comparable customer. When it is authority, the question is about process. When it is timing, it is about what has to happen by when.
Next-step prompts that produce the follow-up you actually send
The call ends, the notes are a mess, and the summary you write at 5pm is worse than the call deserved. Generate it immediately with one prompt.
Turn these call notes into a follow-up email for [prospect name] at [company]. Notes: [paste raw notes]. Write: (1) a three-line summary of their situation in their language, (2) the specific problem we agreed is worth solving, (3) what I promised to send and by when, using only items from the notes, (4) a single clear next step with two date options, and (5) one open question that keeps the conversation moving. Keep it under [word limit] words. Do not invent case studies, results, or discounts that are not in the notes. If the notes do not show a next step was agreed, write a closing paragraph that proposes one instead.
Do not let the model set the next step when the prospect set it. The summary should record what was agreed, and only propose a step when the notes are silent.
Worked example: a call with a retail owner
A supplier calls a hardware shop owner who already buys from a competitor. The owner says the existing supplier is fine but slow on emergency orders.
| Prompt input | What the rep supplies |
|---|---|
| Prospect type | Independent hardware shop, two branches |
| Known notes | Public delivery page lists a two-day turnaround |
| Outcome of the call | Agreed to try one emergency order before deciding |
| Objection pasted | "Your price is higher and my current supplier is fine" |
| Real price | Listed per item, roughly ten percent above the incumbent |
Running the objection prompt returns three questions, and the first is the useful one: what happened the last time an emergency order did not arrive on time. The owner describes a closed door and a lost customer, and the conversation moves from price to reliability.
Running the follow-up prompt on those notes produces an email that names the emergency order, restates the price difference accurately, and proposes two dates. The rep deletes the third paragraph, which repeats the problem, and sends it before leaving the car park.
How to use prompts without losing the conversation
1. Prepare before the call, not during it
The pre-call prompt runs while you are still driving or making coffee. Anything that requires typing while the prospect is talking pulls your attention away from the call itself.
2. Keep the prospect's data out of it unless you have checked
Customer names, contact details, and pricing are personal or commercial data. Most hosted tools process what you paste according to the provider's own policy, and those policies change. Check the current terms and your own obligations before pasting anything identifying.
3. Write the objection reply from the real cause, not the stated one
Price is rarely the whole objection. Ask the diagnostic question first, then choose the reply, rather than preparing three rebuttals in advance.
4. Generate the follow-up within fifteen minutes
The quality of the summary depends entirely on how fresh the notes are. Set a calendar reminder rather than trusting yourself to remember.
Common sales prompt mistakes
- Asking for 25 prompts at once: You get 25 versions of the same question. Ask for a small set tied to one stage.
- Pasting a summary of the objection: Diagnosis needs their words, not your paraphrase of them.
- Letting the model invent results: Any customer story or savings figure it produces is fiction. Supply the evidence.
- Building a discount into the reply: The prompt should resolve the cause, not pre-emptively lower your price.
- Skipping the next step prompt: Notes written by hand after the call lose the exact wording that closed the conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Will using AI on a sales call make me sound like a robot?
It will if you read a generated sentence aloud. Use the prompts for questions to ask, replies to think about, and the follow-up you send, then say it in your own words.
How many discovery questions should I prepare for a thirty-minute call?
Enough to cover current situation, impact, current workaround, and desired outcome. Five strong questions usually beat a long list, because you can only ask a few before the prospect stops answering honestly.
Is it acceptable to paste a prospect's name into a chatgpt sales prompt?
That depends on the provider's current terms and your own obligations to the business. Check both before you do, and strip identifying details when the prompt will work without them.
Run one prompt per call stage
Pick a call you have this week, run the pre-call prompt on it, and keep the notes to paste into the follow-up prompt afterwards. For more prompts aimed at inbound calls and phone enquiries, browse the phone lead generation prompt set.