All levels
Your Focus: Call Prep and Practice
Walk into your next call with a plan, and with your hardest answers already said out loud once.
Call prep and practice means you plan each important call before it happens and rehearse the hard parts out loud, with AI playing the buyer. To move up one level, add one thing before your next call: notes become a plan, and a plan becomes a rehearsal. This page shows what each answer looks like, how to tell which one is yours and a 30 day plan to move up one step.
In 30 seconds
- The question: "How do you prepare for and practice calls?" Four answers, scored 0 to 3.
- Your results tip: "Before your next important call, have AI play the buyer using your account brief. Practice your opener and two likely objections out loud, then ask it to score you."
- What moves you up is saying it out loud before the call, not reading more notes.
- AI is the sparring partner, not the coach of record. Its feedback is a starting point; your manager and real buyers are the final word.
- The plan: one step up in 30 days, about 15 minutes before your important calls, then retake the assessment.
The four levels of call prep and practice
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| Score | Your answer | What a week looks like | What usually keeps you here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 of 3 | "I mostly wing it and learn on live calls." | You join calls with the account name and little else. The buyer's first hard question is the first time you've heard it | Back to back calls leave no time, so prep feels optional |
| 1 of 3 | "I jot down a few notes or questions right before the call." | A few questions on a sticky note, written two minutes before | Notes cover what you'll ask, not what the buyer will say back |
| 2 of 3 | "AI helps me build a call plan with questions and likely objections." | A call plan with a goal, questions and objections for each important call | The plan stays on paper. You've read your answers, but never said them |
| 3 of 3 | "I build a call plan, then roleplay the call with AI playing the buyer and practice objections out loud until my answers feel natural." | Important calls get a plan and a short rehearsal, and your best answers go into a personal library | Nothing yet. The risk is practicing the easy version: a buyer who gives in too fast |
What changes between levels is when the call really starts. At 0, it starts when the buyer joins. At 1, two minutes before. At 2, when you write the plan. At 3, when you hear yourself answer the hardest objection and fix it before the buyer ever asks.
Where you probably are
- Check your results screen. Your bar for this area shows your score. That number is your level here.
- Know the tie rule. Call prep and practice is eighth of ten when scores tie. If it's in your three, you probably scored lower here than in most areas.
- Match your profile.
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| Your profile | Likely answer here | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Curious Starter (0 to 9) | 0 or 1 | One call plan for one important call is your first step |
| Occasional Experimenter (10 to 17) | 1 | Turn your notes into a plan with a goal and likely objections |
| Capable Practitioner (18 to 24) | 2 | Your plans are good. Say them out loud |
| AI Power Seller (25 to 30) | 3 | Build a library and make the practice buyer harder |
Your move up one level
From 0 to 1: five minutes before the call
Target answer: "I jot down a few notes or questions right before the call." Before your next important call, write three things: why they took the meeting, two questions you want answered and the next step you'll ask for. That's it.
From 1 to 2: a real call plan
Target answer: "AI helps me build a call plan with questions and likely objections." Give AI your account notes and ask for a plan: the call goal, five questions in order, the three objections this buyer is most likely to raise and the next step to ask for. Then cut it down to what you'd actually use. How to Prep for a Sales Meeting in 10 Minutes with AI has the full method.
From 2 to 3: say it out loud
Target answer: "I build a call plan, then roleplay the call with AI playing the buyer and practice objections out loud." Have AI play the buyer from your brief. Practice your opener and the two hardest objections, out loud, then ask it to score you. Ten minutes is enough. AI Sales Roleplay shows how to set it up.
Already at 3: build your library and raise the difficulty
Your advanced tip: "Save your best objection responses in a personal library and run a ten minute roleplay warmup before your call blocks." Ask the practice buyer to push back twice before it gives any ground.
Example: Kai, prospecting rep at Ramplight (fictional rep and company)
Kai answered 1: a few questions written just before each call. In week 2, before a first call with Priya Raman, VP of Sales at Calder Freight Systems (also fictional), Kai asked AI for a plan from the account brief. Kai cut it to one goal, four questions and two objections. In week 3, Kai rehearsed the hardest one, "We already have an onboarding program," with AI playing Priya. The first answer ran over a minute. After two rounds Kai had a two sentence answer that asked a question back. On the real call, it came up in the first five minutes. Your calls will differ. Rehearse the objection you dread most.
Your 30 day plan
Your results screen gives this area one tip. This page turns it into a month, so planning and rehearsing become what you do before every important call.
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| Week | Focus | What to do | Done when | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plan the important ones | Pick your three most important calls this week. Before each, write the goal, two questions and the next step you'll ask for | Three calls with a written goal and next step | 5 minutes per call |
| 2 | Build full plans | Use the call plan prompt below for each important call. Cut every plan to what you'd use | Each important call had a plan, and you used at least half of it | About 10 minutes per call |
| 3 | Rehearse out loud | Before two important calls, roleplay the opener and the two hardest objections with AI as the buyer. Ask for a score | Two rehearsals done, and one answer you rewrote | About 15 minutes per call |
| 4 | Start your library | Save your three best objection answers in one doc, with the buyer type and what worked. Run a 10 minute warmup before one call block. Retake the assessment | A library with three answers and one warmup done | About 30 minutes |
Prompts for call prep and practice
Prompt
Week 2: build a call plan
I have a {call type} with {name}, {title} at {company}, on {day}. Using my notes below, build a call plan:
1. The goal of the call in one sentence, and the next step I should ask for.
2. Five questions in the order I should ask them, each tied to something in my notes.
3. The three objections this buyer is most likely to raise, with the evidence from my notes for each.
4. Anything in my notes that is unconfirmed or out of date.
Use only my notes. If something important is missing, list it under "Find out on the call."
<notes>
{paste your account notes or brief}
</notes>Prompt
Week 3: roleplay the buyer
Play {name}, {title} at {company}, using only the brief below. I'm a {your role} at {your company}. Stay in character until I type END.
Start the call as the buyer would: busy and a little skeptical. Raise these two objections at natural moments: "{objection 1}" and "{objection 2}". Push back once on each answer before you accept it. Don't help me.
When I type END, step out of character and give me: a score from 1 to 5 for my opener and for each objection answer, the line where I lost you and a shorter version of my weakest answer.
<brief>
{paste the brief}
</brief>Say your answers out loud, then type what you said. It feels odd for one call and normal by the third.
Prompt
Week 4: turn rehearsals into a library
Here are my notes from three practice calls: each objection, what I said and the score. Build me a one page objection library. For each objection: the buyer type who raised it, my best answer in under 40 words, a question to ask back and one thing to avoid saying.
Use my words where they scored well. Don't invent proof points or customer results.Try it now
Your first 15 minutes
- Pick your next important call and open your account notes.
- In your company approved AI tool, run the week 2 call plan prompt.
- Cut the plan to one goal, four questions and two objections.
- Say your answer to the hardest objection out loud once before the call.
Your call prep checklist
0 of 7 done
Ticks are saved in this browser only.
Key idea
The first time you say your answer to a hard objection shouldn't be on the real call.
Retake the assessment
Retake it at day 30 and answer from what you did, not what you planned. One step up here adds one point to your total.
Free assessment
Frequently asked questions
Isn't roleplaying with AI awkward?
For the first call, a little. Most of the value comes from hearing yourself say the answer once. Ten minutes before an important call is enough.
Can AI really act like my buyer?
It can act like a plausible buyer based on what you give it. It doesn't know your real buyer, so treat its pushback as practice, not a prediction. Use your brief and push it to be tougher.
How do I keep the practice buyer from going easy on me?
Tell it to push back once or twice before accepting any answer, and to stay in character until you type END. If it still gives in fast, say so and run the round again.
Should I record practice sessions?
Only in tools your company has approved, and never record real calls without following your company's rules on consent. Typing what you said after each round works fine.
AI for Sales Certification
Rehearse your next hard call
10 self paced sessions, an optional weekly live class and a graded capstone, all practiced on your own accounts. Membership is $50 a month. Add the $250 certification when you're ready.
Not sure where to start? Take the 2 minute assessment