Pre-Call Planning: Score the Plan First

What does a scored pre-call planning drill check?

It checks whether the rep can commit to a plan in specific, verifiable words before the call starts. The rep states three things out loud: the objective, the minimum acceptable next step, and the first question, word for word. The manager scores each against a rubric row and reads the transcript afterward to confirm the plan was executed or deliberately abandoned.

When preparation stays private, the manager has only the rep's word for it. The rep says they looked at the account, and that is a statement about preparation, not evidence of it. A plan spoken aloud can be scored. A plan that was never spoken can only be reconstructed after the call, when every rep remembers having intended whatever happened.

The drill is short on purpose. A five-minute plan check fits before a real call, so it competes with nothing. We recommend running it on one upcoming call per rep per week, chosen from the live calendar, so the practice material is the deal the rep is about to face rather than a generic scenario.

A plan the rep cannot state in under a minute is a plan the rep does not have.

Which rubric rows score the plan?

Four rows, each pass or fail. Score them separately and do not blend them into one number, because a rep who fails the first-question row needs different drilling than a rep who fails the next-step row. Read trends per rep, not as a team average.

Keep the rubric to observable behavior. The manager should be able to mark every row from what the rep said, without asking what the rep meant.

What does a failing plan sound like?

A failing plan sounds like an intention without a checkpoint. The clearest example is I'll just see where it goes, which cannot fail because it commits to nothing. A manager cannot score it, and neither can the rep afterward.

Here are the common failing lines, mapped to the row they break:

I want to understand their needs. Fails the objective row. Understanding is an activity, and nothing in it tells the rep when the call has succeeded.

Worst case, I send them a deck. Fails the minimum next step row. The deck can be sent without the buyer doing anything, so it is not a buyer-verified step.

I'll open by asking about their goals. Fails the first-question row. Asking about goals describes a topic. The rep has not yet chosen the sentence they will say.

I had it in my head, I just didn't say it. Fails the stated-before row. Reps with strong instincts may say this, and a manager can be tempted to pass them on trust. The rubric does not care who the rep is.

A plan with no stopping condition is a hope, and hopes do not show up in a transcript.

How do you check the plan against the transcript?

Read the transcript for three things, in this order: the first question, the landing point, and any deviation. Do not score the whole call. The drill certifies the plan, so the transcript is evidence about the plan only.

First, find the rep's opening question and compare it to the stated one. A pass is the same question, or a clearly motivated change. A fail is a different opener the rep did not announce and cannot explain. Second, find where the call ended and compare it to the minimum acceptable next step. The call met the minimum, exceeded it, or fell short. Falling short is information about the call, not a failure of the plan row. Third, find any moment where the rep abandoned the plan. A rep who changed course because the buyer said something that made the objective irrelevant did the job. A rep who drifted did not.

Let the rep diagnose first. Ask them to find the deviation in the transcript before you point to it, then give your verdict on that one moment. Our one-behavior debrief guide covers the sequence. If the call ran in XL Roleplay, the report flags link to the exact transcript moment, which saves the search. In a live call, a recording and a timestamp do the same work.

A plan is only certified when the transcript shows it was either followed or deliberately set aside.

How does this differ from call exit criteria and procurement prep?

This drill scores what the rep commits to before the call. Exit criteria score what the buyer verifiably did during it. They are two checkpoints on the same call and they fail independently.

Our sales call exit criteria guide covers the second checkpoint: buyer-verified evidence that must exist before a stage advances. A rep can pass the plan drill and still miss exit criteria, because the buyer did not cooperate. A rep can also hit exit criteria by luck after a failed plan. The plan drill catches the second case, which outcome scoring would count as a win.

The procurement call preparation guide is narrower. It prepares a rep for one hard conversation, where the preparation is deciding what to trade. The plan drill here applies to any call type and asks less of the rep: three statements, one minute.

One methodology connects directly to the minimum. The Sandler up-front contract is a mutual agreement set before the conversation, covering purpose, time, both parties' agendas, and the acceptable outcomes, including that no is an acceptable outcome. The rep's stated minimum is the rep's side of that last element. A rep who cannot state it before the call has nothing to put into the contract.

Outcome scores tell you what happened, and plan scores tell you whether the rep knew what they were trying to make happen.

What drill can you run this week?

Run a five-minute plan check before one real call per rep. This is our recommended format, not a researched standard. Pick a call on the calendar within the next two days. The rep brings no slides and no notes beyond the account record.

Minute 1: the rep states the objective, the minimum acceptable next step, and the first question, aloud, without reading.

Minute 2: you score the four rows, pass or fail, on paper.

Minutes 3 to 4: you name one failing row only, even if two failed. Pick the one closest to the opening of the call. Do not rewrite it for the rep. Say what a pass would have to contain and let them rebuild it.

Minute 5: the rep restates the full plan. Score again.

Pass bar: all four rows pass on the same attempt, with the first question matching what the rep says on the call.

What a failing attempt sounds like: Objective is to get a feel for their situation. Minimum is a follow-up call. I'll open by asking what's going on. Every sentence sounds reasonable and none can be checked.

Re-run rule: if the second attempt fails, the rep does not make the call on that plan. Schedule the re-run before the call, or if the call cannot move, on the next call's plan within the same week. After the call, spend ten minutes on the transcript check, one deviation only.

Keep this out of the pipeline review. Deals are urgent and skills are merely important, so when both share a calendar slot the deal tends to win. Our guide on separating coaching from deal review covers the split in detail.

A plan check that cannot be failed is a conversation, not a drill.

What does this drill not tell you?

It does not tell you whether the rep can run the conversation. A rep can state a precise plan and then freeze when the buyer pushes back. The plan drill certifies preparation, and delivery needs its own scored practice, such as the discovery and objection drills elsewhere on this site.

The rubric scores the content of each row, not polish. A quiet rep with a sound plan should pass, and a confident rep with an empty plan should fail. Allow one restatement so nerves are not scored as an empty plan. If a rep's written plans pass while their spoken plans keep failing the stated-aloud row, record that per rep and look at it as its own coaching question before drawing conclusions.

Finally, the minimum can be set too low. Reps protect themselves by writing a minimum they cannot miss. Check that the stated step requires something from the buyer, a named person or a dated commitment, and not only effort from the rep.

A minimum the rep cannot miss certifies nothing about the rep.