The best salespeople don't wing discovery — they show up with context. This guide turns pre-call prep into a 5-minute habit, not a scramble. Built from patterns in your best-performing meetings: what the reps who close most consistently do before they pick up the phone.
Example — NordFlow
Pre-Call Checklist
5 items · takes under 5 minutes
1
Check their LinkedIn activity in the last 30 days
Look for posts, comments, or shares that reveal priorities, frustrations, or wins. One genuine reference to something they said beats any opening line.
2
Look for any hiring posts
Open roles signal growth, pain, or both. A company hiring ops staff is often a company whose current ops are breaking. A company hiring a head of sales is about to care about pipeline.
3
Check their tech stack on their website
Footer integrations, job descriptions, and product pages usually reveal what tools they use. Knowing their stack before you call means you can speak to fit, not just benefit.
4
Note their company size vs your pricing tiers
If they're 12 people, don't pitch the enterprise tier. Know which plan fits before the call so you're not guessing mid-conversation.
5
Pick one genuine observation to open with
Not a compliment. An actual observation — something you noticed about their business, their market, or something they said publicly. One real thing beats five researched talking points.
What frame to bring
NordFlow calls work when the rep shows up curious, not eager to sell. The question isn't "can I close this?" — it's "is this person dealing with the problem we solve?" If yes, the next step closes itself. If no, find out fast and end the call early. The fastest path to revenue is not wasting time on the wrong people.
Your version
In your version, this checklist is built from your best-performing meetings — what the calls that converted had in common, and what the ones that didn't were missing. All editable as you learn what actually moves the needle.
Want this built for your company? Start here →