A sales rep scorecard comes in two kinds, and this page gives you a template for each. The call scorecard rates one rep's skills on one discovery call. The rep scorecard, further down, tracks one rep's results and activity over a period. The rep scorecard shows that a rep is behind, and the call scorecard shows which skill explains it.
The template
This scorecard follows the shape of the one used in our call scoring research (20 skills, five whole levels, scored through yes/no level questions); the skill list and descriptors here are written for general discovery calls. It is one part of the AI call scoring guide.
- 1Level 1Absent
- 2Level 2Asks about cost, accepts a vague answer
- 3Level 3Sits between the two columns
- 4Level 4Buyer states a number, time or consequence
- 5Level 5Expert
Score each skill from 1 (absent) to 5 (expert) in whole levels. Climb the ladder: is the call at least level 2? Level 3? Level 4? Level 5? Stop at the first no. Level 3 sits between the two columns below; level 5 is level 4 plus the buyer volunteering more than was asked.
| # | Skill | Level 2 looks like | Level 4 looks like | N/A when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agenda and purpose | States an agenda, does not check it | Proposes an agenda, asks what the buyer wants, adjusts | Never |
| 2 | Framing | Explains why the rep wanted the call | Frames the call around the buyer's situation in their words | Never |
| 3 | Credibility | Generic company intro | One relevant insight about the buyer's world, briefly | Existing relationship, call two or later |
| 4 | Current-state discovery | Asks what tools they use | Gets the buyer to walk through how the work gets done today | Already covered on a prior call |
| 5 | Problem discovery | Accepts the first stated problem | Reaches the cause behind the stated problem | Never |
| 6 | Follow-up questioning | Next question unrelated to the answer | Builds each question on the buyer's last answer | Never |
| 7 | Listening and acknowledgement | Moves on without acknowledging | Paraphrases accurately and checks it | Never |
| 8 | Impact quantification | Asks about cost, accepts a vague answer | Buyer states a number, time or consequence | Buyer refuses after a clear ask |
| 9 | Urgency and timing | Asks "when do you want this?" | Learns what event makes now matter and what happens if it slips | Never |
| 10 | Personal stakes | No attempt | Learns what the problem means for the buyer personally | Buyer is not the owner |
| 11 | Stakeholder mapping | Asks "who else is involved?" | Names who decides, who influences, who could block | Single-owner purchase stated |
| 12 | Decision process | No attempt | Learns the steps, approvals and dates to a decision | Too early: problem not confirmed |
| 13 | Decision criteria | Asks what matters to them | Learns how options will be judged and by whom | Too early: problem not confirmed |
| 14 | Budget and commercial context | Asks "do you have budget?" | Learns how money gets found and who releases it | Too early: problem not confirmed |
| 15 | Linking capability to the problem | Feature tour | Each capability mentioned is tied to something the buyer said | No product discussed |
| 16 | Differentiation | Claims to be better | Names a difference that matters for this buyer's stated problem | No alternatives in play |
| 17 | Handling objections | Argues or concedes | Finds what sits behind the objection, then answers that | No objection raised |
| 18 | Emotional control | Flustered or defensive under push-back | Stays composed and uses the push-back to learn more | No push-back |
| 19 | Negotiation | Discounts at first mention of price | Trades terms and anchors value to the buyer's own impact figure | Price not raised |
| 20 | Gaining commitment | "I'll send some info over" | Buyer agrees to an action, owner and date | Never |
Copy this block into a doc or sheet for each call:
Deal: ____________ Rep: ________ Call date: ______ Call type: first discovery / follow-up
What this call needed to get for the deal (one line): ______________________________
Skill | Level (1-5 or N/A) | Quote from the call (checked) | Note
1 Agenda and purpose | | |
... (repeat for 2 to 20)
Lowest skill that this deal depends on now: ________
One thing to try on the next call with this buyer: ________
How to use it
- Write the call's job first. One line on what the call needed to get for this deal.
- Read or listen to the whole call before scoring. In our scoring research, judging single turns out of context dropped ranking agreement with expert assessors to between 0.57 and 0.63, against 0.89 for our final whole-call method (field guide).
- Mark N/A where the moment never came. Leave them out of averages.
- Climb the ladder, whole levels only. In one production engine from our call-scoring research, 37% of scores were fractional on a whole-level scale; rounding alone added 16 points of exact agreement with assessors.
- Quote and check. Each score gets the words from the call that justify it, verified against the transcript. With cheap automated extraction, a fifth of quotes were not in the call.
- Replace the descriptors with your managers' words over time. In our research, trained assessors' reasons for real scores lifted fit with human scores from 0.62 to 0.72; textbook descriptions added nothing. The procedure is How to build a call scoring rubric.
- Pick one skill for the next call. The lowest score that the deal depends on right now.
The full walk-through of scoring one call is How to score a discovery call. For a twelve-skill version that covers any call type, see the sales call scorecard.
Filled-in example
This example is illustrative; the deal and quotes are invented.
Deal: Halvorsen Clinics, scheduling platform. Rep: Ana. Call: first discovery, 40 minutes. What this call needed to get: whether no-shows are a funded priority, and who signs.
| # | Skill | Level | Quote (checked) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Problem discovery | 4 | Buyer: "The no-shows hurt, but the real issue is we can't backfill the slot in time." |
| 8 | Impact quantification | 2 | Ana: "That must add up." Buyer: "It does." |
| 11 | Stakeholder mapping | 3 | Buyer: "Finance and the clinic leads would look at it." |
| 12 | Decision process | 1 | No question asked about how the Q1 review decides |
| 17 | Handling objections | N/A | No objection raised |
| 19 | Negotiation | N/A | Price not raised |
| 20 | Gaining commitment | 2 | Ana: "I'll send a case study and follow up next week." |
Other skills omitted.
Lowest skill the deal depends on: decision process (level 1). One thing to try on the next call: "When the Q1 review happens, who is in the room, and what will they need to see to put this on the list?" Plus one question to size the no-show cost.
Sales rep scorecards explained
A sales rep scorecard is a one-page view of one rep's results and activity over a period, usually a week, month or quarter, measured against targets. Most teams need it alongside the call scorecard above.
A rep scorecard usually splits into two kinds of measure. Leading measures are things the rep controls this week: conversations held, discovery calls run, opportunities created. Lagging measures are results: pipeline value, win rate, deal size, quota attainment. Keep each list short, because a rep who is measured on fifteen numbers works on none of them.
Copy this block for each rep:
Rep: ________ Role: SDR / AE / AM Period: ________ Manager: ________
Leading (this period) | Target | Actual | Note
Conversations held | | |
Discovery calls run | | |
Opportunities created | | |
Lagging (quarter to date) | Target | Actual | Note
Pipeline created | | |
Win rate | | |
Quota attainment | | |
Call skills (from the call scorecard, last 3 scored calls)
Lowest skill, average level: ________
Skill being coached now: ________ Since: ________
Pick the measures by role. An SDR is judged on conversations and meetings that convert into opportunities. An AE is judged on pipeline progression and wins. An account manager is judged on retention and expansion. A shared template with every role's numbers on it makes each rep's page mostly noise.
How the two scorecards work together in a 1:1
Start with the rep scorecard and use it to find the gap, then use the call scorecard to find the cause.
Take Ana from the example above. Her rep scorecard for the month shows plenty of discovery calls and opportunities created, but few of those opportunities reach a proposal. Activity is fine. Something on the calls is not producing a deal that can move.
Her last three scored calls show the same low skill: decision process, at level 1 or 2 each time. That explains the stall. Deals enter the pipeline with a problem and no route to a decision.
So the 1:1 covers one skill, decision process, on one live deal, Halvorsen Clinics. Ana and her manager plan the questions for the next call and agree what a level 3 would sound like. Next month the rep scorecard shows whether more of her opportunities reach a proposal, and the call scorecard shows whether the skill moved.
A common mistake is to reverse the order and open the 1:1 with call scores. The rep hears a list of faults with no link to their numbers. Start from the outcome they care about and work back to the skill.
Three ways teams misuse it
Coaching all 20. The coaching is one skill, chosen by what the deal needs, in a conversation before the next call. A rep handed twenty numbers changes nothing.
Merging it into the rep scorecard. Quota, pipeline and activity belong on the rep scorecard, which carries only one line from the call scores. Paste all 20 skills onto it and the outcome numbers bury the skill problem.
Never calibrating it. In our call-scoring research, trained expert assessors still disagreed on 18% of scores. Managers who never compare notes drift apart, and an unchecked AI scorer drifts on its own. Hold a calibration session monthly, and see How to calibrate AI call scores for the model version.
For every call and every rep, an AI scorer using the same structure is the practical route. Ours puts the scorecard under a coaching call on the deal, where the rep talks it through with Caty, in the team's own method, before the next buyer conversation. To see it on one of your team's calls, talk to us.
FAQ
What should be on a discovery call scorecard?
The skills that produce a deal's facts: problem and impact discovery, urgency, stakeholders, decision process and criteria, budget context, linking the product to the problem, objection handling and gaining commitment. Each skill needs written levels and an N/A rule. This template has 20 skills in five whole levels.
Is this a sales rep scorecard template?
This page has both kinds of sales rep scorecard. The main template is a call scorecard, rating a rep's skills on one call. The rep scorecard block tracks KPIs over a period, such as quota attainment, pipeline and activity, with one line pulled from the call scores.
Why five levels and not a yes/no checklist?
Five levels separate calls well enough to rank them, and a yes/no ladder ("at least level 2? 3?") makes each level easy to decide. The most consistent setup in our call-scoring research used exactly that: 80 yes/no questions per call across 20 skills, with 1.7% of scores changing on a re-run.
Can I use this scorecard with an AI scorer?
Yes, once it is calibrated. Have two managers score 12 to 20 calls, run the AI twice on the same calls, and compare ranking and re-run change. Where the AI disagrees with them, add the managers' own reasons to the descriptors.