The One Where Tia Shows You How 1 DM Shift Books 57% More Sales Calls

(So you stop chasing leads and start landing clients... all from your DMs)

The red wine spilled across the restaurant's pristine white tablecloth, creating a deep red pool that threatened to drip onto Alex’s silk dress.

Across from her, the marketing director of a Fortune 500 company she'd been courting for a speaking gig blinked in surprise, his hand frozen mid-gesture.

"I'm so sorry," Alex apologized, quickly dabbing at the mess with her napkin. "It's just... what you said completely blindsided me."

Five minutes earlier, the marketing director had casually asked to see her Instagram account after Alex’s rant about how social selling is dead.

As he scrolled through her DMs, he pointed to her standard response to 2-step lead magnet downloads: "Thanks for downloading my blueprint! What did you think?"

"This is costing you money," he said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, her stomach tightening.

"Most people download lead magnets and don't open them right away… sometimes never. When you ask what they thought, you're creating a conversational dead end."

That's when Alex knocked over her wine.

As the waiter rushed over with a fresh tablecloth, napkins, and club soda, Alex thought about the hundreds of stalled conversations from the past quarter. Her mind flashed to the disappointing pattern… hundreds of lead magnet downloads, yet her calendar remained half-empty most months.

"You might be losing thousands in potential revenue," the director continued once the chaos subsided. "You're making the classic mistake of focusing on your material instead of their situation."

During her drive home that night, rain tapping against her windshield, Alex did the math. The stats didn't lie… at least $30,000 in lost client revenue over just three months.

All because she'd been asking the wrong first question.

The Psychology of First Contact

What Alex discovered that night changed how she understood conversations with potential clients.

Most coaches make a critical error by centering first conversations around their own content rather than the prospect's situation. This creates several problems:

1. The Consumption Gap: Most lead magnet downloads aren't opened within the first 48 hours… exactly when follow-up usually happens

2. The Honesty Dilemma: When asked about content they haven't read, prospects feel awkward admitting they haven't read it or pretending they have

3. The Self-Interest Signal: Questions about your lead magnet suggest you care more about your work than their problems

4. The Momentum Killer: Even positive responses like "It was great!" don't lead anywhere productive

The director had shown Alex a much better way forward.

The Situation-Based Question Framework

The next morning, Alex sat at her kitchen counter, listening to the rain outside, and created a new approach.

The solution was simple: Ask a question about their situation, not her lead magnet.

Instead of: "Thanks for downloading my client attraction guide! What did you think?”

She now wrote: "Thanks for downloading the client attraction guide! Are you currently working with clients already, or focusing on getting your first few clients right now?"

This situation-based approach creates several advantages:

• They can respond whether they've consumed the lead magnet or not

• Shows you care about their situation more than your content

• Their answer naturally leads to deeper conversation

• You immediately learn what they need

Two weeks later, while hiking, Alex listened to a sales psychology podcast where one of the hosts said: "When you're talking to leads, your questions should be centered around gathering information that helps you serve them better, not validating your own knowledge or frameworks."

By the time she reached the waterfall, Alex had mentally mapped out her new strategy.

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The Situation-Response-Solution Protocol

For Alex, implementing this approach during a three-week test showed impressive results:

• Response rates increased from 31% to 68%

• Meaningful conversations (4+ exchanges) jumped from 12% to 43%

• Sales call bookings doubled

• New client acquisition increased 57%

She developed a systematic approach:

1. Identify the core problem your lead magnet addresses

2. Create 3 different situation questions related to that problem

3. Test each question with at least 10 new leads

4. Analyze response patterns and refine your approach

5. Create conversation paths based on their answers

Sample Situational Questions by Lead Magnet Type:

• Content Creation Guide: "Are you creating content right now, or still planning your strategy?"

• Client Attraction Framework: "What client acquisition method has worked best for you so far?"

• Pricing Strategy Worksheet: "Are you looking to adjust your current pricing or create pricing for a new offer?"

The true magic happened in Alex's follow-up responses. By tailoring her second message to address the specific concern uncovered by the first question, she created conversations that naturally led toward her coaching program.

A few months later, while cooking dinner for friends, Alex received a text from the marketing director who'd revealed her DM mistake. She'd just been confirmed as the keynote speaker for their annual conference.

"Saw your conversion numbers improved dramatically," his text read. "Amazing what asking the right question can do."

Alex smiled as she stirred the pasta sauce. That one conversation over spilled wine had been worth far more than $30,000. It had transformed her entire business.

By focusing on your prospects' situations rather than your lead magnet, you create space for genuine connection that can transform casual downloads into booked calls and paying clients.

Today’s Mega-Prompt: "DM Initial Engagement & Tracking Setup Prompt"

You’re giving away valuable lead magnets… but are you starting real conversations with the people who grab them? Probably not. Today, that changes.

This mega-prompt helps paid members build a simple, high-converting system to turn new leads into warm conversations using strategic initial questions… and to track what actually works. You’ll know what to say, when to say it, and how to refine it based on real data.

Paid members get exclusive access to a mega-prompt that delivers:

✔ Three custom initial questions per lead magnet to increase DM replies
✔ A simple tracking system you can set up in 10 minutes or less
✔ A conversion-tested method for refining your engagement strategy based on what gets responses