Review a sales call

Paste a transcript with names and numbers removed to get evidence-based feedback and a coaching note, or score the call yourself.

Checking assistant availability. You can also use the checklist below.

Review the 18 criteria yourself

Review the full relevant conversation, then choose a status for each criterion. Choose Not observable when the material cannot settle it; check the CRM for item 18.

Review progress0 of 18 reviewed

0 met · 0 not met · 0 not observable

No judgments recorded yet. Unreviewed criteria are not failures.

Open

1. Answered quickly, with the company name and the rep's own name.

2. Took the customer's first name early and used it at least twice.

3. Took a callback number before discussing price, availability or payments.

4. Confirmed in one sentence what the customer called about, instead of opening a pitch.

Discovery

5. Asked what they use now and what switching would involve.

6. Asked how soon they want to make the change.

7. Asked at least one question about use or fit: who uses it, what it has to do, what the last one lacked.

8. Asked whether anyone else is part of the decision.

9. Let the customer finish, with no talking over and no answering a question that was not asked.

The ask

10. Asked for the appointment inside the first few minutes, not only at the end.

11. Offered a choice of two specific times rather than an open invitation.

12. Gave a reason to meet that belongs to this customer: a comparison, a specific option, figures written down.

13. Asked a second time after the first objection was handled.

Control

14. Handled price without quoting a final number blind, and moved toward the meeting.

15. Kept hold time short and came back to the line when promised.

16. Made no promise that cannot be kept, and wrote down every promise made.

Close and record

17. Read the appointment back: day, date, time, who they will speak with, and where or how to join. With no appointment, set an explicit next contact instead.

18. Entered the customer, what they want, what they use now and the next step in the CRM before taking the next call.

Options and help

Scoring rules and review method

The rules

Score pass or fail, never one to ten. Either the rep took a phone number or they did not.
Score the whole call once. Do not grade segments separately and average them.
Make every item observable. Built rapport is not scoreable; used the customer's name at least twice is.
Write one sentence of evidence with a timestamp for every failed item.

The four-minute method

Play the first ninety seconds without pausing and mark items 1 through 4.
Skim the middle, marking discovery and the ask as you hear them. If the ask remains unmarked after skimming, review the full conversation before recording it as absent. Mark it not observable when the available material cannot settle the question.
Play the last sixty seconds in full and mark the close.
Open the CRM record for item 18. It is the only item you cannot hear.

How to roll it out

Print the eighteen items on one page and hand a copy to every person who works a phone.
Score three of your own calls against it first, so you find the vague items before your team does.
Score two calls per rep using the four-minute method, with a timestamp for each failure.
Book thirty minutes with every other manager who scores, grade the same three recordings, and rewrite any item you disagreed on.

Questions

How do you score a sales call?

Pass or fail on eighteen observable items in five groups: the open, discovery, the ask, control, and the close and record. Score the whole call once, write one sentence of evidence with a timestamp for every failed item, and use the four-minute method so a busy manager can score two calls per rep a week.

Why pass or fail instead of a one-to-ten scale?

Because a scale invites arguments about a seven versus an eight, and a rep can dispute a number but not a recording. Either the rep took a callback number before price came up or they did not. Binary items settle with evidence and coach in one sentence.

Can the assistant score a call from a transcript?

Yes. Paste a transcript, your notes or a summary and it marks each item pass, fail or not observable, quotes the evidence for every failure, and writes the coaching note. Item 18 is only observable from the CRM, so it stays not observable unless you say what was entered.