Pre-Call Prep

Never walk into a call cold again. This skill researches the prospect, builds context, and generates questions so your brain has time to think BEFORE the call — not during it.

The Problem This Solves

You can't improvise smart questions in real-time while also trying to understand a new industry, person, and company from scratch. This skill front-loads that thinking.

Inputs Needed

Provide whatever you have:

• Name
• Company/organization
• Email domain
• LinkedIn URL
• Industry/vertical
• Any booking form answers or context on how they found you

Minimum viable: Name + anything else (company, email domain, LinkedIn, etc.)

Workflow

Step 1: Research the Person

Use web search to find:

• LinkedIn profile → role, tenure, background
• Company website → what they do, size, industry
• Recent news → funding, growth, challenges
• Their content → posts, articles, interviews (reveals how they think)

Output a brief:

## Who You're Talking To

**Name:** [Name]
**Role:** [Title] at [Company]
**Company:** [What they do in 1 sentence]
**Size:** [Employees/revenue if findable]
**Industry:** [Vertical]
**Background:** [Relevant career history]
**How they found you:** [Source]

## Context Clues
- [Anything notable from research]
- [Recent news, posts, or signals]
- [Why they might be reaching out now]

Step 2: Research Their Industry (If Unfamiliar)

If you don't know the industry, provide a 2-minute crash course:

• What does this industry actually do?
• What are the top 3 pain points for companies like this?
• What does AI automation typically solve in this space?
• What jargon should you know?
• Who are the key players/competitors?

Keep it short. Just enough to not sound ignorant.

Step 3: Hypothesize Their Problem

Based on research, guess why they're reaching out:

• What pain are they likely experiencing?
• What have companies like this tried before?
• What's the typical budget range for solutions?
• What's the likely decision-making process?

Frame as hypotheses to validate, not assumptions to act on.

Step 4: Generate 5 Questions

Provide 5 specific questions tailored to THIS prospect, not generic.

## Your 5 Questions

1. [Opening question to get them talking about their problem]

2. [Pain quantification question specific to their industry]

3. [Question about what they've tried / why now]

4. [Budget/timeline/decision process question]

5. [Consequence question — what happens if they don't solve this]

Make them copy-paste ready. Print or pull up on a second screen before the call.

Step 5: Call Reminders

Always end with:

## Call Reminders

**Talk ratio target:** <35% you
**Your pivot phrase:** "Let me pause — I want to make sure I understand your situation. Tell me more about [X]."
**Goal:** Quantify their pain in dollars or hours. No number = no proper pricing later.
**End with:** Specific next step with a date, not "let's stay in touch."

Output Format

# Pre-Call Prep: [Name] @ [Company]

**Call Date:** [If known]
**How They Found You:** [Source]

---

## Who You're Talking To

**Name:** 
**Role:** 
**Company:** 
**Industry:** 
**Background:** 

## Context Clues
- [Notable items from research]

---

## Industry Crash Course (if needed)

[2-3 paragraphs max on the industry, pain points, jargon]

---

## Hypotheses to Validate

1. They're probably struggling with [X]
2. They've likely tried [Y] before
3. Budget is probably in the [$X-$Y] range
4. Decision maker is probably [role]

---

## Your 5 Questions

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

---

## Call Reminders

**Talk ratio target:** <35% you
**Your pivot phrase:** "Let me pause — I want to make sure I understand your situation. Tell me more about [X]."
**Goal:** Quantify their pain in dollars or hours.
**End with:** Specific next step with a date.

When There's Almost No Info

If all you have is a name and gmail:

1. Search LinkedIn for the name
2. Search name + any context (city, industry keywords, how they found you)
3. If found, proceed normally
4. If not found, output a pre-qualification email template to send before the call

## ⚠️ Low-Info Prospect

I couldn't find enough to prep properly.

**Recommendation:** Send this before the call:

---

Subject: Quick context before our call

Hey [Name],

Looking forward to chatting on [date]. So I can make our time valuable, could you share:

1. What's your company/organization and what do you do?
2. What problem are you hoping to solve?
3. What's your timeline?

Just a few sentences is fine.

Talk soon,
[Your name]

---

**If they don't respond:** Treat as low-priority. Casual 15-min call max, not full discovery.