First Call Prep

When To Use

They said yes to a call, and you are afraid of turning it into a pitch. This is one page for the first conversation only. It answers: why are they giving me this time, what do I want to understand, and what would a good next step be?

When Not To Use

Not for a second meeting, a deal review or a proposal: this guide stops at the first conversation. For an unannounced phone call, use Cold Call Outline. With no research at all, run Company Fact List first; twenty minutes is enough.

Inputs

• The thread in which they agreed to talk, or its key lines.
• Your Company Research Brief with its hypotheses, and your Person Research Brief.
• Your Ideal Client Profile, for the red flags. Optional: Claude Docs, if you want the page as a document you can edit. If you have none of this, I start from why they agreed and what you help with, and mark the page as a first draft with fewer questions.

Approach

Hypotheses turned into open questions, and an agenda agreed at the start: generic practice. The other person agreed to a conversation, not a presentation, so most of the page is about what you ask and what you listen for. Saying at the start how you suggest using the time, and asking whether that suits, is what lets you ask real questions without it feeling like an interview. The failure it prevents: twenty-five minutes of you explaining your services, five minutes of polite thanks, and no next step.

Workflow

1. Ask at most three questions: how long the call is, what exactly they agreed to, and what you would count as a good outcome.
2. Write why they agreed, in their words from the thread. If they did not say, write "not stated" and make it your first question.
3. Turn each hypothesis in your brief into one open question. Three at most, each naming the fact it came from. A question that starts with "do you" or "have you" is rewritten so it cannot be answered in one word.
4. Write the listen-for list from your red flags and triggers: what you would hear if this is your kind of situation, and what you would hear if it is not. These are things to notice, not a test of the person.
5. Write the will-not-pitch list: what you will not explain unless asked. If they ask what you do, two sentences, then back to them.
6. Write the agenda to propose in the first minute: a time check, what you suggest covering, and "does that suit?".
7. Name the one next step you would ask for if it goes well, and what you will do if it is clearly not a fit: say so kindly and end on time.

Output Format

# First Call Prep
Call with: [name, role, organisation] | Date and length: [date, minutes] | Why they agreed: [their words, or "not stated"]
## Agenda to propose in the first minute
[Time check] · [what you suggest covering] · "Does that suit?"
## Three open questions
| Question | From hypothesis | Rests on (fact number) |
|---|---|---|
| [open question] | [hypothesis] | [F#] |
## Listen for
| If this is your kind of situation | If it is not |
|---|---|
| [what you would hear] | [what you would hear] |
## Will not pitch
- [what you will not explain unless asked]
## If they ask what you do
[Two sentences, in your words.]
## The step to ask for
[One step, if it goes well] · [what you do if it is not a fit]
## Decision
[Your name] decides by [date of call] which question to open with and which next step to ask for.

Done When

• The page fits on one side and can be read in a few minutes.
• There are at most three questions, all open, each tied to a hypothesis.
• The agenda includes a time check and asks whether it suits.
• The will-not-pitch list exists and one next step is named.

Quality Bar

• Hypotheses stay questions; none is read out as a finding.
• The listen-for list is about the situation, never a rating of the person.
• Nothing from the research is used to show off what you know about them.
• First conversation only: no qualification grid, no account plan, no forecast.
• Claude prepares the page from sourced facts; you run the conversation as yourself.

Next

Run reach-call-recap (Call Recap) straight after the call, while your notes are fresh.

About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).