The follow-up ladder for a soft no
Lesson 5 of 6 · The seller call
1 · Learn the move · Recursive + iteration
Most owners who say 'not right now' mean it about now. The follow-up that eventually works is spaced, tied to what that owner actually said, and stops the moment it is told to. Ask a model for 'a follow-up sequence' and you get a campaign: invented reasons to call ('prices are moving'), dates it made up, and channels you have no permission to use. Build it one rung at a time instead. Rung 1 cites the words that justify it. Rung 2 is written from rung 1 plus those words, and so on, so each touch has a real reason and none adds a new claim. Timing comes only from dates the owner gave or dates you choose; the model never turns 'after harvest' into a calendar day. And the channel for each rung is one the owner actually cleared.
Build one rung of a follow-up plan for this owner. The rung must cite the words from my notes that justify it, use only a channel my notes show she agreed to, add no new claim, and carry no date she did not give. Then I will paste it back and ask for the next rung built on this one.
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
On the call about parcel 11-0203-007 in Marrow County, Nadine Corliss said: 'Maybe after my brother's moved his cattle off. Call me after harvest, I guess. You can call this number, but I don't do texts.' You want to follow up without becoming the fortieth letter. Write the prompt that builds the ladder a rung at a time.
Write the prompt for this scenario as given, or swap in a real one from your own work. The score works the same either way.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
Optional. These shape the output when you run your prompt below, not your score.