Design the call flow

A script makes people sound like robots. A run sheet only says what must happen by when. I would put it on one page and keep it open during every call.

For a thirty minute call, this is the split I would start with:

• Minutes 0 to 2: open and agree the agenda.
• Minutes 2 to 8: their situation and context.
• Minutes 8 to 20: the problem, its cause and its cost.
• Minutes 20 to 25: fit, decision process and timing.
• Minutes 25 to 30: summary and booked next step.

Twelve of the thirty minutes sit in the problem stage on purpose. That is where the buyer does the talking and you do the learning.

Open the contact in your CRM, for example HubSpot, and read the form answers, the pages they visited and any earlier emails. Write down one hypothesis about their problem and the two questions that would test it.

Do not research for thirty minutes. Five minutes is enough to avoid asking something they already told you in the form.

The opening has one job: agree what the next half hour is for. How to word that is covered in Earn the agenda before you ask the first question, so I will not repeat it here. The run sheet only needs a reminder line: time, topics, outcome, permission.

Most calls go wrong at the joins between stages. Write one bridge line per join and keep it in the run sheet:

• Context to problem: "Thanks, that helps. What is getting in the way of that right now?"
• Problem to fit: "Let me check I have this right. Is that the main thing you want fixed?"
• Fit to next step: "Based on what you told me, here is what I would suggest."

A bridge line does two things. It tells the buyer where you are going, and it gives you a second to decide whether to stay in the current stage. If the problem is still vague, do not bridge. Ask one more layered question first, using the method from Find the pain, then sit in it.

Buyers wander. They ask about pricing at minute six, or start explaining their hiring plans. Do not cut them off and do not follow them.

Say: "Good point. I will park that and come back to it before we finish." Then write it on the run sheet under "Parking lot". At minute 25, check the list. Most items answer themselves. The rest become the first topic of the next call.

I would check the time twice. At minute 12, you should be in the problem stage. If you are still on context, move on. At minute 22, you should be starting fit questions. If you are not, shorten the problem stage and say so: "I want to leave time for next steps, so let me ask two quick questions on timing."

Never let the call overrun just because it is going well. A booked second call beats an exhausted first one.

The last five minutes are a summary and a calendar. Summarise their problem in their words, state the next step, and book it before you hang up. The detail sits in End every call with a scheduled next step. Your run sheet only needs the checkbox: "Next meeting in both calendars."

Right after the call, write three lines in the CRM: the problem in their words, the decision process, and the next step with its date. If you wait until the end of the day, you will log what you remember, not what they said.

If you use Fireflies or Fathom to record calls, still write the three lines yourself. The transcript is for review. The three lines are for the next person who opens the deal.

• Making the run sheet longer than one page, so nobody uses it.
• Spending fifteen minutes on context because the buyer is friendly.
• Skipping the bridge lines, so questions feel like an interrogation.
• Letting each rep invent their own order, so you cannot compare calls.
• Ending with "I will send you some information" instead of a date.

Check five recent calls against the run sheet. In at least four of them, the problem stage should start before minute ten and the next step should be booked before the call ends. Your reps should describe a lost deal using the same stages. Calls should also finish within a few minutes of the planned time, and the log should hold the same three facts every time.