You run a great training session. Everyone's fired up. They know exactly what to say.
Then they get back to their desk, pick up the phone, and... freeze.
The words disappear. The confidence vanishes. They stumble through the call and lose the opportunity.
It happens everywhere:
- Sales reps fumbling cold calls
- Recruiters nervous about BD calls
- Customer service agents mishandling complaints
- Property investors terrified to call homeowners
- Insurance agents avoiding difficult conversations
Why? Because knowing what to say and actually saying it under pressure are two completely different skills.
Your people don't need more theory. They need practice. Lots of it.
But who's got time to roleplay with them every day?
Call Review — Marcus Webb (Hard Mode)
Score Summary
Category
Score /100
Evidence & Rationale
1) Opening & Authority 55%
Opened with “It’s now time to talk?” and, when challenged with “What’s this about?”, replied “Okay. So understand you might be interested in getting a new accountant. Is that correct?” — a weak frame that didn’t set an agenda or outcome; tone was calm and concise but lacked authority.
2) Discovery & Pain Mining 30%
Discovery was generic and feature-led: “Does your existing accountant give you cash flow costs?”, “Does it give you monthly management accounts with lots of graphs?” No probing on job profitability, WIP/retentions, materials volatility, labour overruns, pricing accuracy, change orders, procurement or cash conversion.
3) Empathy & Rapport 55%
Direct and honest: “I can’t give you a tip… Before looking at your data?” kept credibility and matched his brevity; however, you didn’t acknowledge “Steel prices are up 20%, and I feel like I’m working harder for less” with any concise empathy or validation.
4) Historian Pivot 10%
Not demonstrated — You didn’t contrast compliance (“tax, year-end”) with forward-looking control over pricing, margin-at-completion, WIP, retentions and cash planning.
5) Value Articulation 40%
Focused on features not outcomes: “monthly management accounts with lots of graphs,” “by having more data… helps you grow a lot faster.” No linkage to job costing accuracy, modelling materials swings, retention cash lag, labour utilisation or concrete ROI.
6) The Close 82%
Clear paid next step: “we can do a deep dive… pull all your data… hop on a Zoom”; priced it: “five hundred pound plus VAT”; handled risk: “If you don’t find at least five hundred pounds in savings… I’ll give you your money back”; defined logistics: “I’ll send you an invoice… email with instructions.”
7) Conversation Flow & Professionalism 65%
Overall clear and concise to a decision; minor fillers and stumbles (“what are the how, uh, the info”) and repetitive short questions created some wobble but you maintained professionalism and control.
8) Handling Scepticism 72%
When pressed for a “one tip,” you held frame: “I can’t give you a tip… Before looking at your data?” (passes the free‑advice test). On “£500 a month for fancy graphs,” your answer was thin (“by having more data…”), but you stayed calm and negotiated the guarantee without defensiveness.
9) Construction Knowledge Demonstration 10%
Not demonstrated — No mention of WIP, retentions, CIS, job profitability by job, labour recovery, materials variance, or variations; bring these into discovery and value statements.
Weighted Overall Score: 54%
Grade: Keep Practising
What You Did Well (Strengths)
Declined the free‑advice trap and anchored to data: “I can’t give you a tip… Before looking at your data?”
Drove to a paid diagnostic with clear pricing and a risk‑reversal: “five hundred pound plus VAT… if you don’t find at least five hundred pounds in savings… money back.”
Simple next steps and admin clean‑up: “I’ll send you an invoice… email with instructions” and captured “[email protected]”.
Where You Lost Marcus (Weaknesses)
Weak agenda/authority at the start; answering “What’s this about?” with “you might be interested in getting a new accountant” ceded frame.
Discovery was superficial and graph‑focused; no probing of job profitability, WIP/retentions, pricing accuracy, labour recovery, variations, procurement or cash cycle.
Value message was generic (“more data… graphs”) rather than construction outcomes (pricing discipline, materials variance control, retention cash lag, labour utilisation).
Lines to Practise (Marcus-Proof Scripts)
“Marcus, quick agenda: 10 minutes to see whether your numbers justify a Deep Dive. Fair?”
“I won’t guess at steel volatility — we anchor to your job data.”
“Your accountant records history. I’m interested in margin-at-completion and cash.”
“Which jobs have retentions over 120 days? That’s your cash choke point.”
“£500 Deep Dive: we analyse WIP, retentions, pricing, labour recovery, and materials variance.”
3-Step Improvement Plan
Open with a firm agenda and outcome: set 10 minutes, state you’re testing fit to improve pricing, margin and cash on fabrication jobs — not “another accountant” pitch.
Run a construction-specific discovery: job profitability by job, WIP position, retentions ageing, materials variance vs quote, labour recovery/utilisation, change orders, procurement terms and cash conversion.
Deliver the Historian pivot and hard-value narrative, then close: position the Deep Dive around pricing accuracy, materials volatility modelling, retention lag and labour efficiency; keep the £500 fee with a clear refund threshold and a tight timeline.
✅ Sales Trainers & Coaches Add AI practice to your programs. Extend your impact without adding your time.
✅ Call Centres & BPOs Onboard new agents faster. Reduce early-stage churn. Practice at scale.
✅ Recruitment Agencies Train recruiters to make confident BD and candidate calls.
✅ Sales Managers & Directors Give your team unlimited practice without pulling senior reps into roleplays.
✅ Property Training Companies Help investors practice those scary "I want to buy your house" calls.
✅ Financial Services & Insurance Practice sensitive money conversations in a safe environment.
✅ Customer Service Teams Handle complaints and difficult customers without the risk.
✅ Anyone Who Trains Phone Skills If your people need to have difficult conversations, this helps.
FAQs
Get Answers to Your Key Keith Griggs Service Queries
Real AI. The coaches respond to what you actually say. Every call is different. Try the same pitch twice and you'll get different pushback. Ask me for the number and try it yourself.
Almost any phone conversation that makes people nervous eg:
- Sales calls and cold calling
- Objection handling
- Recruitment and BD calls
- Customer service and complaints
- Property investor calls to homeowners
- Insurance or financial services conversations
- Any "scary" call your team avoids making.
Within 2 to 3 minutes after the call finishes.
Yes. We set up specific situations, objections, and call types for your industry. The AI can roleplay as whatever type of prospect or customer your team actually speaks to.
Absolutely. Trainers and coaches can offer this under their own brand. Your clients see your name, not ours.
Start with Simon. He's designed for building confidence first. Once they're comfortable, graduate them to Marcus.
Simon (Easy) is encouraging - perfect for building confidence and getting people comfortable picking up the phone.
Marcus (Medium-Hard) is tougher - he pushes back hard with real objections. For people ready to level up.
We can add many more. These are just examples.