A yes without a date is a maybe

What counts as a yes

Yes is the last move in The Salecopy Method. Its one line is the title of this post. The mistake it prevents is counting a friendly call as progress.

A real next step has three parts: a named person, a specific action, a day. And the buyer owns it. A task on your side, such as "send the revised proposal", is work you should do, but it is not the buyer's commitment.

Compare the two kinds.

• Maybe: "This looks good. Let me talk to the team and get back to you."
• Yes: "I will take it to our finance director on Tuesday and call you Wednesday morning with her answer."
• Maybe: "We should be able to sign soon."
• Yes: "Our lawyer will return the contract with comments by the 14th."
• Maybe: "Send me the proposal and I will take a look."
• Yes: "I will read it by Friday. Let us book 30 minutes on Monday to go through my questions."

How to ask for it

Leave five minutes at the end of every call for this. If the call runs to the last minute, the next step becomes "we will be in touch".

Ask the direct question. When the buyer has agreed to go ahead, it is: "Good. Who signs, and what day should I expect it?" Earlier in the negotiation it is: "What has to happen next on your side, who does it, and by when?"

Then read it back in one sentence and ask if you have it right. Put the meeting in both calendars while you are still on the call, if there is one.

Send the follow-up the same day, with the agreed next step and date at the top, above everything else. An AI assistant can write that follow-up from the call notes. The rep reads it, corrects it, approves it and sends it. The AI does not send it.

When the buyer will not commit to a date

A buyer who avoids a date is telling you something. It is usually one of four things, and each points back to an earlier move in the method.

• They cannot decide alone. Someone you have not met has to agree. That is the List move.
• They have a concern they have not raised, or one you answered without proof. That is Evidence.
• Nothing on their side makes this urgent. That is Signal.
• They have decided against it and are being polite.

What to say next

Ask once, plainly: "What would need to be true for you to put a date on that?" The answer usually names the real obstacle.

If the step you asked for is too big, offer a smaller one. Not a signature, but a 20-minute call with the budget holder. Not a decision, but a date by which they will tell you yes or no. A small dated step is worth more than a large vague one.

If there is still no date, say what you will do: "That is fine. I will take this out of our plan for this month. When something changes on your side, here is how to pick it back up." Say it without pressure. It is not a tactic. It is an accurate description of where the deal is.

Do not offer a discount to get a date. If the buyer wants something in exchange for committing to a day, that is a trade, and it comes from your give and get list.

When the date passes

A date that passes is information too. Check on the day, not a week later. Ask what happened and agree a new date, with a reason for why the new one will hold.

Set a simple rule for your team and write it down. One reasonable version: a next step can be reset once. If the second date also passes, the deal goes back a stage until the buyer commits to something new. Keep a count of missed dates on the deal so the pattern is visible.

This is easier when the next step is one line in a longer written plan that both sides have seen. That is the Paper move: see put the deal on paper.

How it changes the forecast

Your forecast is your estimate of which deals will close and when. In many companies it is built from stage and gut feel: this deal is in negotiation, the rep feels good, so it counts.

The method adds one hard rule. A deal in negotiation with no dated next step drops out of the forecast. Not out of the pipeline (your full list of open deals). It is still there and still being worked. It is just not counted as money you expect this period.

Expect the forecast to get smaller when you first apply this. That is not bad news about your pipeline. It is the same pipeline with the maybes taken out. The rule does not make deals close. It stops you planning hiring, stock or cash around deals that have no date behind them.

It also makes the weekly review shorter. Filter for deals in negotiation where the next step date is empty or in the past. That list is the agenda. For a way to run it, read deal review in 15 minutes from the CRM.

Set it up this week

Add the fields below to the deal record in your CRM (customer relationship management system, where your deals are kept). Make the first three required for any deal in negotiation. Then go through the open deals with each rep and fill them in honestly. Where there is no buyer-owned step with a date, leave it empty and let the deal drop out of the forecast until there is one.

What to add to your CRM

A prompt to try

You are checking whether a sales call ended with a real commitment. A real commitment has three parts: a named person at the buyer, a specific action, and a day. Stay in this role for the whole conversation.

Here are my notes or the transcript from the call:
[paste notes or transcript]

Do the following, using only what is in the notes:
1. Quote any next step that was agreed. For each, state the person, the action and the date. If one of the three is not there, write MISSING for that part. Do not fill it in.
2. Say whether each next step is owned by the buyer or by me.
3. If there is no buyer-owned next step with a date, say so plainly, and suggest two smaller steps I could ask the buyer to commit to.
4. Draft a short follow-up for me to review, with the agreed next step and date in the first line. If there is no agreed step, draft one that asks for it.

The draft is for me to edit, approve and send myself. Do not send anything and do not contact anyone.