How to Prepare for a Sales Call in 15 Minutes (Checklist)
A 15-minute sales call prep checklist, covering research, goals, likely objections and your materials, so you walk into every call with a plan instead of a blank page.
Short answer: in 15 minutes you can research the company and the person, set one goal for the call, write three questions you must ask, list the two objections you're most likely to hear with your answers, and open the documents you'll need. That's enough to run the call instead of reacting to it.
The 15-minute checklist
Minutes 0–5: research
- The company: what they do, roughly how big they are, and any recent news (funding, hiring, a launch).
- The person: their role, how long they've been there, and anything they've posted recently.
- History: previous calls, emails or notes from anyone on your team.
- Why they booked: the form they filled in, the ad they clicked or the referral.
Minutes 5–8: set the goal
- One goal for this call. Not "close the deal": something like "agree a pilot scope" or "get the budget owner on the next call".
- The next step you'll propose if it goes well.
Minutes 8–12: questions and objections
- Three questions you must ask. (Discovery call questions, grouped by stage.)
- The two objections you're most likely to hear, with a short answer to each.
- One proof point that fits this buyer: a similar customer or a clear result.
Minutes 12–15: materials
- Open what you'll need: pricing, the relevant case study, the demo environment.
- Test your audio and screen share.
- Close everything else. Notifications and email out of sight.
What to do right after the call
Prep is half the job. In the five minutes after you hang up:
- Write down the buyer's exact words about their problem.
- Send the follow-up with the agreed next step while it's fresh.
- Note any question you couldn't answer and add the answer to your prep notes. (What to say when you don't know the answer.)
Make your prep do the work during the call
Most prep lives in a notes doc you never look at once the call starts. With Sajest, the documents you open in minutes 12–15 become the assistant's context. Switch on your pricing, the case study and your objection answers, and when the buyer asks something, press Enter for a short answer drawn from them. After the call, the transcript and notes are saved automatically, which covers most of the "right after the call" list.
Sajest runs on Mac and Windows, doesn't add a bot to the meeting, and your first 60-minute session is free.