Sales Call Prep

Sales Call Prep

When to use

Use this in the 15-30 minutes before a sales call when you need to walk in sharp: who is in the room, where the deal stands, what you must learn, and what a win looks like.

Not for: cold-outreach messaging (use sales-draft-outreach); writing the recap afterward (use sales-call-summary); building leave-behind assets for the meeting (use sales-create-asset).

Method

1. Set the objective. Name the single outcome that makes this call a success (advance to POC, secure the economic buyer, unblock legal). Everything else serves it.
2. Reload deal context. Summarize stage, amount, timeline, last interaction, and open commitments from both sides.
3. Research attendees. For each name: role, likely priorities, probable stance (champion, skeptic, decision maker), and a rapport hook. Decision point: if a decision maker you've never met is attending, shift the objective toward earning their sponsorship.
4. Anticipate. List their likely questions and objections with your best answers and proof points.
5. Build the agenda. Time-boxed: opener, their priorities first, your discovery, value tie-back, then explicit next steps.
6. Prepare discovery questions. 3-5 open questions that surface pain, budget, authority, and timeline without interrogating.
7. Define the ask. Decide the specific commitment you will request before the call ends. Decision point: no clear next-stage ask → the call has no purpose; reset the objective.

Example

Objective: "Get the CFO to sponsor a 30-day paid pilot." Deal: Stage 3, $120K ARR, close target Q3, last touch was a champion demo. Attendees: champion (VP Eng, wants faster deploys) + CFO (new to the deal, cares about payback period). Agenda: 2-min opener, 10-min CFO priorities, 8-min ROI tie-back to payback, 5-min pilot scope, ask = signed pilot SOW by Friday.

Pitfalls

• Feature-led agendas. Leading with your product instead of their priorities loses the room in minute one.
• No named ask. "See how it goes" ends in no next step and a stalled deal.
• Ignoring the skeptic. The quiet blocker sinks deals post-call; plan for their objection now.
• Over-scripting. A rigid script kills discovery; the agenda is a frame, not a monologue.

Output format

Objective: <one sentence>
Deal snapshot: stage | value | timeline | last touch
Attendees:
  - <name> — <role> — angle: <stance + rapport hook>
Agenda (time-boxed):
  1. <item> (<min>)
Discovery questions:
  - <open question>
Likely objections & responses:
  - "<they say>" → "<you say + proof>"
The ask: <specific commitment to close on>