Podcast Summary: Pitch Me

Episode: Why Your Elevator Pitch is Failing You
Host: Kayvon Kay
Guest: Grant Fullerbach (Go First Consulting)
Date: September 10, 2025

Main Theme

This episode of "Pitch Me" dives deep into the world of sales for home builders and remodelers, focusing on the crucial importance—and common pitfalls—of pitching, systems-building, client targeting, and truly understanding your buyer’s pain. Host Kayvon Kay puts Grant Fullerbach’s sales and elevator pitch style under the microscope, delivering real-time feedback, actionable sales insights, and hard-hitting strategy tweaks designed to transform ineffective pitches into deal-closing conversations. If you want to move from technical selling ("what I do") to magnetic messaging ("the real pain I solve"), this episode is a masterclass.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding Go First Consulting's Offer (00:58–05:10)

• Grant’s business: Go First Consulting helps home builders and remodelers systematize their operations, integrating practical AI tools into existing systems—CRMs, sales ops, and more.
• Grant highlights the industry gap: Many builders are focused on building, not business systems; they lack efficient lead conversion strategies, talent management systems, and often have underutilized CRMs.
  • “There's this tremendous gap between builders who are doing amazing work and actually running a solid P&L or forecast or training their sales team on how to use their CRM.” (02:04, Grant)
• AI integration: Grant custom-builds AI solutions that work alongside clients’ existing technology.
  • Introduces the concept of "vibe coding"—creating AI tools based on conversational prompts with AI models, not traditional coding.

2. Client Acquisition Strategy (06:00–08:40)

• Niche targeting: Grant generates leads via lead magnets inside the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and related online communities and newsletters.
  • “Every two weeks I just drop a new lead magnet, which is basically just a new tool.” (06:09, Grant)
• Outbound efforts: Uses value-driven content, consistent nurturing, drip campaigns, and newsletter list-building to generate high-quality discovery calls.

3. The Three-Step Sales Process (08:50–15:08)

• Step 1: Diagnostic
  • Free, in-depth, AI-assisted business questionnaire to uncover gaps in tech stack, sales, talent, and operations.
  • Booked via discovery call; form is deemed as a powerful qualifier.
• Step 2: Assessment & MAP (Mutual Action Program)
  • Review diagnostic results.
  • Upsell a $5,500 six-week, semi-done-for-you program where Grant meets weekly and provides AI-driven operational assets.
• Step 3: Builder Academy
  • Ongoing consulting, project management, and systems support in a monthly retainer model (average $7,500/month), walking clients through multi-level business upgrades.
    • “I have a really strong idea of where their gaps are… from there we put together a scope of what the next six months look like.” (15:08, Grant)

4. Defining and Narrowing the Ideal Client Profile (ICP) (10:38–12:31)

• Specificity wins: Grant’s ICP is home builders doing at least $1.5 million ARR and who’ve already invested in CRMs like JobTread or BuilderTrend.
  • “If you don’t have these three things, I can’t help you. I don’t want to help you.” (11:47, Kayvon)
• Kayvon commends Grant for the clarity, but pushes for an even deeper understanding: what core pain keeps these clients up at night?

5. The Elevator Pitch Debacle & Real-Time Coaching (17:18–22:59)

• Grant’s attempt: "I help builders build better systems for their business."
  • Kayvon critiques: It’s too vague—doesn’t speak to urgent pain, desired outcome, or spark curiosity.
• Role-play and reframing:
  • Kayvon demonstrates a “Did you know…” problem-solution opener, focusing on results and relatable industry pain instead of features.
    • “Your only job is to get the second question after ‘What do you do?’ — which is ‘How do you do that?’” (22:41, Kayvon)

6. What Really Keeps Builders Up at Night? (26:09–29:54)

• Probing the 2AM pain point: After several attempts, Grant and Kayvon agree: it’s financial insecurity, not technical limitations.
  • “Their 2am problem… is they don’t know if they can pay the bills the next day.” (27:41, Kayvon)
  • “If you tell them you solve broken systems, it means nothing. But if you say, ‘I make sure you never feel that pain again,’ now you have their attention.” (29:44, Kayvon)
• Turn pain into offer: Sell the dream of cash flow clarity and business control; deliver the needed AI/biz ops after.

7. The Three Levels of Sales Pain and Why Most Sellers Fail (33:34–36:56)

• Kayvon’s framework:
  • Surface-level pain (e.g., can’t pay people).
  • Business/financial pain (e.g., can’t afford lifestyle, staff, or contracts).
  • Deep personal pain (e.g., failing family, broken promises, shame).
• Most sellers only address surface issues; real connection is made at level three.
  • “Most people won’t go to level three, because they’re too scared to go there themselves… But that’s how you make sales.” (36:56, Kayvon)
• Personal anecdote: Kayvon shares how building his own cashflow sheet gave him clarity, confidence, and transformed business decisions.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On knowing your client:

  • “If you know your ICP, you know how to speak to them at every level.” (11:46, Kayvon)

• On building the elevator pitch:

  • “Do you know how 90% of home builders go out of business because they can’t pay the bills for the next day? What I do is make sure they never feel that pain again.” (28:29, Kayvon)

• On surface vs. deep pain:

  • “Most people, salespeople, business owners, won’t go to level three. You want to know why? Because they’re too scared to go there themselves.” (36:56, Kayvon)

• On clarity and confidence:

  • “The clarity allows me to have the energy to put in the right decision making, to make more strategic decisions instead of foggy ones.” (33:34, Kayvon)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:58–05:10 — Grant explains Go First Consulting’s offer and AI angle
• 06:00–08:40 — Lead gen strategy: lead magnets, building a newsletter, leveraging niches
• 08:50–15:08 — Three-step sales process: diagnostic to retainers
• 10:38–12:31 — Breaking down the Ideal Client Profile
• 17:18–22:59 — Elevator pitch live critique and fix
• 26:09–29:54 — Deep dive: uncovering and using the real pain in your pitch
• 33:34–36:56 — Three levels of sales pain, emotional selling, and Kayvon’s business story

Takeaways

• Problem-centric pitching trumps features: Lead with the pain and the result your client truly craves, not the tool you build.
• The best elevator pitches spark curiosity: Aim to get prospects asking “how do you do that?” instead of listing credentials or methods.
• Go deeper than surface pain: Address not just the functional but also the deep personal consequences of the problem your service fixes.
• **Sales isn’t about getting the facts right, but about connecting to the core pain your client feels—and solving it.

This episode delivers tangible tactics and a mindset shift for anyone struggling with vague pitches or ineffective sales conversations—highly recommended for sales pros and founders alike.