A sales call prep checklist is a one-page list a rep works through before a call: what the deal already has, what to research, the call's job, three lines to say word for word, a spoken rehearsal and the after-call update. Ours is below, ready to copy, with a filled-in example.
The checklist
Copy this block into the deal record or a note before every discovery call. It takes about fifteen minutes.
- Mark each row C, I or U
- Research only the open rows
- Write the call's job in one sentence
- Three lines, word for word
- Say it out loud
- Admin: agenda, links, consent
- Within an hour after: re-mark every row
DISCOVERY CALL PREP: [account] / [buyer] / [date]
A. WHAT THE DEAL HAS (mark each: C = buyer-confirmed, I = inferred, U = unknown)
[ ] 1. The problem, and where it shows up ............ C / I / U
[ ] 2. What it costs, and if nothing changes ......... C / I / U
[ ] 3. What they want instead ......................... C / I / U
[ ] 4. Who owns it, who approves the spend ........... C / I / U
[ ] 5. How they will decide, what else they weigh .... C / I / U
[ ] 6. What happens after a yes ....................... C / I / U
[ ] 7. What they will do before the next call ......... C / I / U
B. RESEARCH (only for rows marked I or U)
[ ] One to three facts per open row, each written next to the row it fills
[ ] Who signed the last similar purchase (org chart, LinkedIn, champion)
[ ] Who else will be on the call, and one line on what each cares about
C. THE CALL'S JOB
[ ] The two or three weakest rows, in one sentence:
"This call is to find out ______ and ______."
D. THREE LINES, WORD FOR WORD
[ ] Opening question (open, about their situation, tied to a fact from B)
[ ] Hardest question (usually cost or approval) + follow-up for a polite answer
[ ] Close (an action the buyer owns, with a date, plus the next meeting)
E. SAY IT OUT LOUD
[ ] Said the three lines to a manager or peer who answered as the buyer
[ ] Rewrote anything that came out long or hedged
F. ADMIN
[ ] Agenda sent the day before, with one question for each attendee
[ ] Links, recording consent and materials checked
G. AFTER THE CALL (within one hour)
[ ] Each row re-marked C / I / U, with the buyer's words for every C
[ ] Next action and date in the deal record
[ ] What the next call has to get
This checklist goes with our discovery call guide, which explains the seven rows, and with how to prepare for a sales call, which walks each step with examples of good and weak lines.
How to use it
- Fill section A honestly, first. Mark a row C only if the buyer said it. A large company "probably has budget" is an I. Most first calls start with one or two Is and the rest Us.
- Research only for open rows. Section B is short on purpose. If row 4 is open, find who signed the last similar purchase. Facts that do not sit next to a row are reading, and they can wait.
- Write the call's job as one sentence. If you cannot, you are not ready. A manager should be able to read section C and know what a good call looks like.
- Write the three lines in full. The opening, the hardest question and the close are the moments reps improvise. In our research scoring discovery calls against a 20-skill scorecard, framing and gaining commitment were among the skills whose scores moved most once scorers had expert reasons for each level (field guide). Those are the opening and the close.
- Say them out loud. To a manager or a peer who answers as the buyer would, including a polite non-answer. If the hard question sounds apologetic out loud, rewrite it.
- Do the admin last. Agenda, links, consent. Two minutes.
- Fill section G within an hour of the call. It becomes section A of the next prep, so the second call starts at step three.
Filled-in example (illustrative)
This deal is invented to show the checklist in use. Jo sells an expense management product. Her first call is with Raj, finance controller at a 600-person engineering consultancy.
DISCOVERY CALL PREP: Stellbrook Engineering / Raj Mehta / Tue 10:00
A. WHAT THE DEAL HAS
1. Problem ............ I (inbound form: "month-end close takes too long")
2. Cost ............... U
3. Wanted outcome ..... U
4. Owner / approver ... I (Raj owns; CFO approves? unknown)
5. Decision ........... U
6. After a yes ........ U
7. Next action ........ C (this call)
B. RESEARCH
Row 1: 3 job ads for AP clerks in the last 60 days
Row 4: CFO joined 5 months ago; Raj reports to her
Attendees: Raj only
C. THE CALL'S JOB
"This call is to find out what the slow close costs Raj's team and whether the CFO signs."
D. THREE LINES
Opening: "You've posted three AP roles since August. What's happening at month end that's driving that?"
Hardest: "If close stays at this length through next year, what does that cost you?"
Follow-up for "it's painful": "Painful how? Overtime, late reporting, people leaving?"
Close: "Could you send me last quarter's close timeline by Friday, and could we get 30 minutes with you and the CFO the week after?"
E. SAID OUT LOUD: yes, to manager. Hard question was too long; cut "through next year".
G. AFTER THE CALL
1. C: "We close on day 9, the board wants day 5."
2. C: "Two of my team quit in March, both said month end."
4. C: CFO approves anything new in finance tooling.
7. C: Raj sends timeline Fri; CFO call booked Thu 14th.
Next call has to get: rows 3 and 5.
Three rows moved to confirmed, with quotes. The next prep starts with rows 3 and 5 and a CFO on the call, so Jo will re-run sections B to E for a two-person call, using the buying committee procedure.
Questions to have ready for each row
Section D asks for three lines word for word. It helps to have one or two questions ready for whichever rows are still open, so you can follow the buyer when the call goes somewhere unplanned. These are starting points; rewrite them around the facts you found in section B.
| Row | A question that opens it |
|---|---|
| 1. The problem | "Where does this show up day to day, and who notices first?" |
| 2. What it costs | "If this stays as it is for another year, what does that cost you?" |
| 3. What they want instead | "What would good look like, in a number you already track?" |
| 4. Owner and approver | "Who besides you would need to agree before anything changed here?" |
| 5. How they decide | "When you last bought something like this, how did the decision get made?" |
| 6. After a yes | "What happens on your side between a yes and anyone using it?" |
| 7. Their next action | "What would you need to see before the next conversation is worth your time?" |
The follow-up matters as much as the question. Write one for the polite non-answer to whichever row is the call's job, the way Jo did in the example.
Preparing for the pushback you can predict
Most first calls bring one predictable objection, and it is usually about timing or need: "we're not looking at this until next year" or "we handle this fine in spreadsheets." Section B often tells you which one is coming. Three AP job ads and a five-month-old CFO, as in Jo's example, point to a team under pressure, so a "not now" answer is less likely than "we're already fixing it another way."
Write the likely objection under section D as a fourth line, with one question in reply. Keep the reply a question about their situation, since a first call is too early to argue the case. For Jo, that line might be: "If you're already hiring to fix it, what would make you look at a different fix as well?" Say it out loud in section E with the other three.
Before the call, also check the deal record for anything the buyer has said already: an earlier email, an inbound form, a note from a colleague who met them at an event. Quoting their own words back in the opening is better than any fact from research.
Prepping a call with more than one buyer
With several people on the call, the same checklist runs per person for the rows they own. Mark section A for each attendee: the finance lead may have confirmed cost while the operations lead has confirmed the problem and nothing else. Section C then names what the call needs from each person, and section D gets one opening question per attendee, tied to what they care about.
Decide before the call who in your team asks what, if you are bringing a colleague. Two sellers asking overlapping questions while a buyer waits costs goodwill on a first meeting. The buying committee procedure linked above covers the rest.
Prepping the second and third calls
The second prep is shorter because section G of the first call becomes section A of the next. Research is only for rows still marked I or U. The call's job moves down the list: problem and cost on the first call, outcome and approver on the second, how they decide and what happens after a yes on the third.
Two things change as the deal moves on. The hardest question gets harder, because it is usually about money, the approver or a competitor. And the close asks for more: a meeting with the person who signs, data the buyer has to fetch, a date on their calendar. Rehearse both out loud, since those are the lines reps soften on the call.
What a manager checks in two minutes
A manager reviewing a rep's prep before an important call needs to read three things.
- Section A. Are the Cs real? Ask for the buyer's words behind one of them. If there are none, it is an I.
- Section C. Does the call's job target the weakest rows, or the comfortable ones?
- The hardest question. Ask the rep to say it. If it comes out with three qualifiers in front of it, work on that line and leave the rest.
That is the whole review. The rest of the prep is the rep's.
Three ways teams misuse it
Filling it in as a form. A manager makes the checklist mandatory, reps tick every box, and section A says C on every row because a C looks better in a review. The checklist only works if an I is acceptable. Managers should praise an honest U.
Skipping section E. Sections A to D can be done alone, so they get done. Section E needs a second person, so it gets dropped, and the three lines come out on the call for the first time. A rep with no one to rehearse with can still record themselves and listen back. It is a thinner rehearsal, and still worth the five minutes.
Never filling section G. Without the after-call update, every prep starts from scratch and the deal record holds the rep's memory of the call in place of the buyer's words. Section G is two minutes and saves fifteen on the next prep.
For a rep, the checklist is a habit. For a manager with eight reps, section E is the problem: hearing every rep's hard question before every call is not possible.
With Replicate Labs the rep calls Caty, our AI sales expert for live deals, and runs sections C to E by voice. Caty checks the call's job against what the deal is missing and remembers section G for next time. For section E she builds a roleplay from the deal and debriefs it. Typing works if the rep cannot talk. See preparing for sales conversations, and talk to us about scoring the call afterward. The questions for each row are in discovery call questions, and likely pushback is covered in objection handling.
Print the checklist for your next first call, fill sections A to D alone, and talk to us about running section E out loud with one of our experts the day before.
FAQ
What should be on a sales call prep checklist?
A sales call prep checklist should cover what the deal already has, what you still need to learn, the call's job, and the lines you will say. In full, that means what the deal already has (problem, cost, wanted outcome, owner, approver, decision, after a yes, next action), research only for the gaps, the call's job in one sentence, your opening question, hardest question and close written out, one spoken rehearsal, admin, and an after-call update. Ours fits on one page.
How long should discovery call prep take?
About fifteen minutes for a first or second call with one buyer: five to mark what the deal has and research the gaps, five to write the three lines, five to say them out loud. A call with several stakeholders justifies thirty. If prep is taking an hour, most of it is research that no open question needs.
What should you research before a discovery call?
Research only what fills a gap in the deal. If you do not know who approves, find who signed the last similar purchase. If you do not know what the problem costs, look for team size, hiring and stated goals. Write each fact next to the gap it fills, and stop when each gap has one to three facts.
How do you prep when you know almost nothing about the buyer?
Mark every row U, spend your research time on rows 1 and 4, and make the call's job finding the problem and who owns it. The opening question can rest on one fact about the company. A first call with mostly Us is normal; the prep shows which ones to close first.
Should you send an agenda before a discovery call?
Yes, send an agenda before a discovery call. Send a short agenda the day before that says why you are meeting, how long, what you want to understand, and what happens at the end, with one question for each attendee. A specific question in writing gives the buyer the chance to arrive with an answer.