Your first conversation

The short version

A first conversation has one goal: the owner agrees to open your link. You do not need to explain everything. Colby calls every owner who leaves a number on your link and walks them through the rest.

Open with who you are

Start with the relationship. Say how you know them, or who sent you, then say plainly what you do: you are an independent partner who brings companies to Colby. Give one specific reason you called them: "your crew does kitchen prep all day" lands better than a general pitch.

Explain what Colby pays for

1. Colby pays companies whose crews do accepted tasks for video of that work.
2. A crew member wears a phone on a head strap, tipped down at the hands. It films the hands, the tools and the work in front of them. It does not scan the room.
3. AI and robot teams use the video to learn how hands-on work is done. Colby does not name them.
4. Colby sends the phones, set up and ready to record, with head straps and battery packs, at no charge.
5. Colby reviews every video and pays the company for every accepted hour. The rate is in the company's own contract.

If the owner asks how much, name only the rate on your link, if it has one. Colby confirms it in the Order Form. Otherwise, say Colby goes over the rate on the call. See What you can promise.

Explain what the crew does

• The crew does the work it already does, at a normal pace. Nobody times them.
• A few minutes before each shift to charge, clean the lens and snug the strap, and an upload on Wi-Fi after.
• Other people, screens and papers stay out of the picture. If someone walks in, the recorder pauses.
• Each person agrees before they record, and anyone can say no.

You do not have to settle every worry on the first call. Say the company asks each place for an OK with a one-page letter, and each crew member says yes first. More in Questions owners ask.

Check that the work fits

Open accepted tasks on your phone and look at it together. It lists 346 tasks in 32 industries, each with a picture of the camera's view.

• The company is in the U.S. The program runs in the U.S. only.
• The crew does at least one task on the list, by hand, with both hands in view.
• The crew works real shifts. New companies plan for 200 to 1,000 recorded hours in their first month.
• The owner has places to record where they can ask for an OK.
• The owner will ask each crew member, and take no for an answer.

Make the ask

1. Copy your link from Share in your portal and send it while you are still talking, or right after.
2. The owner opens it and sees that you invited them, and your link's rate if it has one.
3. The owner leaves a name, phone number and city, and can pick the kind of work the crew does.
4. Colby calls them from (480) 542-7526. Ask them to save that number, and to call or text it back if they miss the call.
5. There is nothing to sign that day. Leaving a number only asks Colby to call.

If the owner would rather not fill in a form, choose Send to Colby on them in People. The company is credited to you and stays on your list with Colby's progress. See Following up.

A sample conversation

Adjust it to the setting

In person

Bring a printed crew sheet and building letter; owners like something to hold. Show the accepted tasks pictures on your phone, since one picture of hands at work explains the camera fast. Text your link before you leave.

By phone

Ask if it is a good time, and if not, set one and keep it. Owners are often on a job, so hold it to five minutes. Text the link while you are still on the call and ask them to check it came through.

By text

Start with a short text that asks for a few minutes, and send the link after they answer. Text people one at a time, people who know you or gave you their number. Never send the same text to a list.

In Spanish-speaking settings

• Talk in the language the owner speaks best.
• The crew sheet comes in English and Spanish. The Spanish page still talks about cleaning work, so for other trades, say the same rules apply.
• The kit guide comes in English and Spanish. Tap Español at the top.
• Spanish versions of Colby's other pages are coming. Until then, offer to go over the owner guides together.
• Ask the owner to write "prefers Spanish" under "Anything we should know?" on your link's form, so Colby sees it before calling.

Right after the talk

• Add the owner in People, or tell the assistant what happened.
• Set a status, a next step and a follow-up date.
• Send one owner guide that answers their biggest question.

Questions

Read next

• Questions owners askStraight answers to what owners ask most, and the page to send for more. When the honest answer is "Colby confirms that on the call", say that.
• Following upMost owners do not say yes on the first talk. Send your link the same day, follow up a few days later on the channel you already used, log every touch in People, and stop after three tries with no answer.
• What you can promisePromise only what Colby's contract and review will back up. Here is what you can say, what you must not, and why each rule protects your business.
• Which companies fitA company fits when its crews do hands-on work from the accepted tasks list, on steady shifts, at places that allow recording, and its owner can say yes. Check these before you spend time on a pitch.