How is prospecting like dating, according to Abhinav Gokllani?

Abhinav learned most of his sales from dating. At 25 in India, with no fancy degree and no fancy job, nobody was lining up to arrange a match for him. So he went and found his own, the way people hunt for their own leads. His rules carry straight over: "A, don't be creepy, B, don't be pushy, C, wait for their timeline." Let them know you're there and let them meet you where you're at.

Should a salesperson with an accent change how they sound on the phone?

People told Abhinav he needed to work on his accent for his calls. He looked at who runs the big tech companies and decided he only had to be "clear enough for them to understand why am I reaching out to them." On the car lot, owning where he's from turned into an icebreaker, because buyers loved telling him about their trips to India. In five years in the US, every job he's held has paid six figures.

What should you say on a cold call when you don't know what to say?

Pick up the phone, say who you are and ask "How's it going?" Abhinav says to ignore the statistics calling that a bad opener. In enterprise deals he asks who's in charge of the problem, so he reaches whoever calls the shots fast. He's got no time for "the perfect opener course." A call has a beginning, a middle and an end, like a movie. Don't say any part three times. "And shut up when the person's talking."

Why does Abhinav Gokllani work a hit list instead of a daily dial quota?

In a B2B job he skips the sequences and keeps a list of 100 or 200 people in a spreadsheet. If you're on it, you hear from him again and again at a reasonable pace, and you stay on it until he gets a clear answer. A big daily call quota falls apart when the territory is small and the list runs dry. Reps start dialing junk numbers to hit the target, and he calls those "not smart KPIs."

podcast ·Nov 11, 2026

Prospecting Equals Dating | Abhinav Gokllani

by Drewbie Wilson

A phone rings on the lot. Guy on the other end wants a $130,000 car, and he wants it TODAY. Abhinav ends up working a sixteen-hour shift and signing that deal at one in the morning.

Key Takeaways

High-net-worth buyers have usually been eyeing that car for years, waiting for the money to catch up. The job is getting out of the way and pushing the sale through.
Abhinav got hired at a luxury dealership in 30 minutes by walking in instead of applying online.
The dating rules map straight onto prospecting: don't be creepy, don't be pushy, wait for their timeline and stay top of mind.
He refused to whitewash his accent. People told him to fix it before he picked up the phone, and he decided being CLEAR was the only requirement.
One of his coaching clients built two cold call openers, one for the days she felt good and one for the days her body hurt. She sourced $10 million in pipeline that quarter and took home a $20,000 bonus check.
Arbitrary KPIs push reps into calling garbage numbers, and a pushed sale turns into refunds, chargebacks and bad reviews.

That's how this one opens, and it sets up everything else we get into. High-net-worth buyers already know what they want. They've been eyeing that car for years, waiting for the money to catch up. So the job isn't talking them into anything; it's getting out of the way and pushing the sale through.

Abhinav wrote a book called Prospecting Equals Dating, and once you hear where it came from, it makes total sense. He was 25 in India, with no fancy degree and no fancy job, which meant nobody was lining up to introduce him to their daughter. So he went and found his own. Don't be creepy. Don't be pushy. Wait for their timeline. Stay top of mind. Sound familiar?

We also got into something I don't hear enough people say out loud… he refused to whitewash his accent. People told him to fix it before he picked up the phone. He looked at who actually runs the big tech companies and decided being CLEAR was the only requirement. Five years in the US, never had a job under six figures.

My favorite part might be his coaching client, who built two different cold call openers, one for the days she felt good and one for the days her body hurt, and she had no patience for small talk. She sourced $10 million in pipeline that quarter and took home a $20,000 bonus check. Knowing yourself is a sales skill.

And then there's the hit list, which is the exact thing sitting on my second monitor right now. If you're on it, you're hearing from me until I get a real answer.

In This Episode You'll Learn

➢ Why a buyer who already knows the product needs speed and details from you, not rapport building
➢ How Abhinav got hired at a luxury dealership in 30 minutes by walking in instead of applying online
➢ The dating rules that map straight onto prospecting: don't be creepy, don't be pushy, work their timeline
➢ What to say on a cold call when you have no idea what to say, and why the "perfect opener" courses are selling you something you don't need
➢ How to build two openers for two different versions of your own energy, and what that was worth to one of his clients
➢ Why a hit list beats a dial quota, and how arbitrary KPIs push reps into calling garbage numbers
➢ The reason a pushed sale turns into refunds, chargebacks and bad reviews instead of revenue

Find Abhinav

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavgokllani/
- His book, Prospecting Equals Dating, on Amazon. If Amazon doesn't ship where you are, ask your local bookstore to order it.

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