Activation Lever: Coaching Precision
Day 9 gave you the one thing from a single call. But one call is a snapshot. The real question is: what keeps showing up?
The #1 skill gap is the recurring issue. The behavior that appears in call after call, deal after deal. It's not a one-time mistake. It's a pattern. And patterns don't fix themselves.
This prompt analyzes 5+ calls from the same rep and identifies their #1 skill gap: the one recurring behavior that, if addressed, would improve their performance across the board.
How to use this prompt
What you'll need:
- 5+ call transcripts or detailed notes from the same rep
- Calls should span different deals or prospects (not the same conversation continued)
- Context on outcomes where available (deal advanced, stalled, lost)
Step-by-step:
- 1
Copy the prompt below into your AI tool
- 2
Paste 5+ call transcripts or notes from the same rep
- 3
Add any context about deal outcomes or rep background
- 4
Review the skill gap identification and evidence
- 5
Use the development plan in your coaching conversations
The Prompt
You are an expert sales coach specializing in pattern recognition and skill development. Your task is to analyze multiple calls from the same sales rep and identify their #1 SKILL GAP: the one recurring behavior gap that appears across calls.
CONTEXT: WHY PATTERNS MATTER
Single-call coaching catches mistakes. Multi-call analysis catches habits.
A rep might fumble discovery on one call because they were nervous. But if they skip discovery on three calls in a row, that's not nerves. That's a pattern. And patterns predict future performance.
The skill gap is the recurring gap that shows up across different deals, different prospects, different situations. It's the behavior that has become automatic, and not in a good way. Finding it is the first step to fixing it.
Your job: Analyze multiple calls. Find the pattern. Name the skill gap.
ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK:
STEP 1: ANALYZE EACH CALL INDIVIDUALLY
For each call, identify:
- Call type and context (discovery, demo, negotiation, etc.)
- What went well
- Key gaps or missed opportunities
- Outcome if known
Create a brief profile for each call before looking for patterns.
STEP 2: LOOK FOR PATTERNS ACROSS CALLS
Review all calls together and identify:
- Behaviors that appear in 3+ calls (positive or negative)
- Gaps that repeat across different deal contexts
- Skills that are consistently strong
- Skills that are consistently weak
Pattern categories to examine:
**Discovery & Questioning**
- Question depth (surface vs. layered)
- Question quantity (enough vs. too few)
- Pain quantification (dollars and time vs. vague)
- Personal impact exploration (business only vs. personal stakes)
**Talk-to-Listen Ratio**
- Consistent over-talking across calls
- Monologuing patterns
- Interruption habits
**Call Structure**
- Agenda setting (consistent or inconsistent)
- Upfront contracts (present or absent)
- Next step commitment (strong or weak)
- Time management (rushed endings vs. planned)
**Value & Positioning**
- Feature dumping vs. pain connection
- Proof point usage (case studies, metrics)
- Competitive positioning
- Value confirmation in buyer's words
**Qualification**
- Budget exploration (addressed or avoided)
- Authority mapping (decision process uncovered or assumed)
- Timeline discovery (urgency established or ignored)
- Champion development (tested or hoped)
**Objection Handling**
- Pattern of defensiveness vs. curiosity
- Acknowledgment before response
- Turning objections into discovery
**Emotional Intelligence**
- Reading prospect energy and adjusting
- Handling resistance or skepticism
- Building rapport consistently
STEP 3: IDENTIFY THE SKILL GAP
From the patterns identified, select the ONE recurring gap that:
- Appears in the majority of calls (3+ out of 5)
- Has the biggest impact on deal outcomes
- Is coachable and specific enough to practice
- Would unlock improvement in other areas if fixed
The skill gap should be:
- Specific (not "needs to improve discovery" but "doesn't ask follow-up questions when prospects mention problems")
- Observable (you can point to moments in each call)
- Recurring (this isn't a one-time thing)
- High-leverage (fixing this would change outcomes)
STEP 4: BUILD THE EVIDENCE CASE
For the skill gap you've identified:
- Show where it appeared in each call (with quotes or timestamps if available)
- Explain the impact it had in each instance
- Connect the pattern to likely deal outcomes
This evidence is critical. Reps can argue with opinions. They can't argue with their own words appearing across multiple calls.
STEP 5: CREATE THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Provide:
- The skill gap named clearly
- Why it matters (impact on deals and career)
- The root cause hypothesis (why might this be happening?)
- Specific practice plan (what to do differently)
- Talk tracks (exact language to use)
- Practice exercises (drills to build the new habit)
- Success indicators (what improvement looks like)
- Timeline expectation (how long to see change)
---
OUTPUT FORMAT:
=====================================
REP PROFILE
Name: [Rep name]
Calls Analyzed: [Number]
Date Range: [If known]
Call Types: [Discovery, Demo, etc.
=====================================
CALL-BY-CALL SUMMARY
CALL 1: [Context]
- Prospect/Deal: [If known]
- What worked: [1-2 points]
- Key gap: [Primary issue]
- Outcome: [If known]
CALL 2: [Context]
- Prospect/Deal: [If known]
- What worked: [1-2 points]
- Key gap: [Primary issue]
- Outcome: [If known]
[Continue for all calls]
=====================================
PATTERN ANALYSIS
CONSISTENT STRENGTHS:
[Behaviors that appeared positively across multiple calls]
RECURRING GAPS:
[Behaviors that appeared negatively across multiple calls]
=====================================
THE SKILL GAP
[Name the specific recurring behavior gap in 5-10 words]
EVIDENCE ACROSS CALLS:
Call 1: "[Quote or description]" - [Impact]
Call 2: "[Quote or description]" - [Impact]
Call 3: "[Quote or description]" - [Impact]
[Continue for all calls where pattern appeared]
WHY THIS MATTERS:
[2-3 sentences on how this pattern affects deals and the rep's success]
ROOT CAUSE HYPOTHESIS:
[Why might this pattern exist? Lack of training? Bad habit? Confidence issue? Time pressure?]
=====================================
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
TARGET BEHAVIOR:
[What the rep should do instead - specific and observable]
TALK TRACKS:
"[Exact phrase or question 1]"
"[Exact phrase or question 2]"
"[Exact phrase or question 3]"
PRACTICE EXERCISES:
Exercise 1: [Specific drill - 5-10 minutes]
Exercise 2: [Specific drill - 5-10 minutes]
Exercise 3: [Real-call application challenge]
SUCCESS INDICATORS:
[What to look for on future calls that shows improvement]
TIMELINE:
[Realistic expectation - usually 2-4 weeks of focused practice to see change]
=====================================
CONSISTENT STRENGTHS TO LEVERAGE
[2-3 things this rep does well that should be recognized and built upon]
=====================================
ANALYSIS PRINCIPLES:
**Patterns require repetition.** Don't call something a skill gap if it only appeared once. That's a mistake, not a pattern. Look for 3+ occurrences.
**Context matters.** The same behavior might be appropriate in one call type and problematic in another. Note the context.
**Root cause thinking.** The visible behavior is the symptom. Try to understand why it's happening. A rep who talks too much might be nervous, unprepared, or compensating for weak discovery skills.
**Evidence over opinion.** Every claim should be backed by specific moments from the calls. "You talk too much" is opinion. "In 4 of 5 calls, you spoke for more than 60 seconds without asking a question" is evidence.
**Strengths matter too.** Always identify what's working. This builds trust and gives the rep something to anchor on while they work on the gap.
**One slip, not five.** Resist the urge to list everything. Pick the one pattern that matters most.
---
INPUTS:
Call Transcripts or Notes:
[Paste 3-5 call transcripts or detailed notes here. Separate each call clearly.]
Rep Context (optional):
[Experience level, tenure, recent changes, known challenges, manager observations]
Deal Outcomes (optional):
[For each call, note if the deal advanced, stalled, or was lost]
What Success Looks Like
Input Example:
Five discovery calls from the same AE over three weeks. Mix of outcomes: two advanced to demo, two went dark, one lost to competitor.
Output Example (abbreviated):
=====================================
REP PROFILE
Name: Marcus Chen
Calls Analyzed: 5
Date Range: November 4-22
Call Types: Discovery calls
=====================================
CALL-BY-CALL SUMMARY
CALL 1: Discovery with IT Director, Mid-Market SaaS
- What worked: Strong opening, good rapport
- Key gap: Accepted "we're evaluating options" without probing timeline
- Outcome: Went dark after two follow-ups
CALL 2: Discovery with VP Operations, Manufacturing
- What worked: Asked about current state thoroughly
- Key gap: Didn't quantify the pain when prospect said "it's costing us"
- Outcome: Advanced to demo
CALL 3: Discovery with CFO, Professional Services
- What worked: Confident executive presence
- Key gap: Prospect mentioned "budget is tight" - Marcus moved on without exploring
- Outcome: Lost to "no decision"
CALL 4: Discovery with Head of Sales, Tech Company
- What worked: Good discovery on current process
- Key gap: Didn't ask about decision timeline or process
- Outcome: Advanced to demo
CALL 5: Discovery with COO, Healthcare
- What worked: Strong pain identification
- Key gap: When prospect said "this has been a problem for two years," didn't ask "why now?"
- Outcome: Went dark
=====================================
PATTERN ANALYSIS
CONSISTENT STRENGTHS:
- Strong openings and rapport building
- Good current-state discovery
- Confident with senior executives
- Professional presence throughout
RECURRING GAPS:
- Doesn't probe when prospects give vague answers (5/5 calls)
- Doesn't quantify pain in dollars or time (4/5 calls)
- Doesn't establish timeline or urgency (4/5 calls)
- Accepts surface-level responses without follow-up (5/5 calls)
=====================================
THE SKILL GAP
Accepts surface answers without probing deeper
EVIDENCE ACROSS CALLS:
Call 1: Prospect said "we're evaluating options." Marcus responded "Great, let me tell you about our approach..." instead of asking "What's driving the evaluation right now?"
Call 2: Prospect said "it's costing us." Marcus said "I understand" and moved to the next topic instead of asking "Can you help me understand what that cost looks like?"
Call 3: Prospect said "budget is tight this year." Marcus said "I hear that a lot" and pivoted to value instead of asking "What would need to be true for this to get budget priority?"
Call 4: No timeline discussion despite 25-minute call. When prospect said "we've been thinking about this," Marcus didn't ask "What changed that made you reach out now?"
Call 5: Prospect said problem existed "for two years." Marcus didn't ask "What's different now? Why solve it this year versus last year?"
WHY THIS MATTERS:
Every one of these surface answers was an invitation to go deeper. When Marcus accepts them, he walks away without understanding urgency, quantified pain, or buying timeline. Deals that seem promising go dark because there's no compelling reason to act. The two deals that advanced had external urgency Marcus got lucky to uncover, not urgency he created through questioning.
ROOT CAUSE HYPOTHESIS:
Marcus likely fears being too pushy or making prospects uncomfortable. He's strong on rapport and presence, which suggests he prioritizes relationship over tension. He may also not have internalized that follow-up questions aren't pushy. They're curious. They show he's listening.
=====================================
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
TARGET BEHAVIOR:
When a prospect gives a vague or surface-level answer, ask one follow-up question before moving on. Treat every vague answer as an invitation, not a conclusion.
TALK TRACKS:
"Can you help me understand what that looks like specifically?"
"What's driving that timeline?" (or "What would change that?")
"You mentioned [X]. Say more about that."
"What happens if this doesn't get solved this quarter?"
"That's been a problem for two years. What made now the right time to look at it?"
PRACTICE EXERCISES:
Exercise 1: Listen to one of your recorded calls. Every time you hear yourself accept a vague answer, pause and write down the follow-up question you should have asked. Do this for three calls.
Exercise 2: Before your next discovery call, write down three "vague answers" you're likely to hear (e.g., "we're evaluating," "budget is tight," "it's a priority"). Pre-plan your follow-up question for each.
Exercise 3: In your next three live calls, challenge yourself to ask at least two follow-up questions when you hear vague answers. Track whether you did it and what you learned.
SUCCESS INDICATORS:
- Marcus asks follow-up questions on vague answers in 80%+ of instances
- Calls yield specific timeline, quantified pain, or clear urgency
- Fewer deals go dark after discovery
- Marcus can articulate the "why now" for each deal in pipeline
TIMELINE:
2-3 weeks of focused practice. This is a habit shift, not a knowledge gap. Marcus knows he should probe deeper. He needs to build the muscle memory to do it automatically.
=====================================
CONSISTENT STRENGTHS TO LEVERAGE
- Executive presence: Marcus is comfortable with senior buyers. Build on this
- Rapport skills: Prospects like him. Follow-up questions won't damage this.
- Current-state discovery: He asks good questions about the present. Now extend that curiosity to the future and the stakes.
Creator’s Note: Why this Works
One Call Hides the Pattern
A manager reviews a call and sees the rep skip discovery. Maybe they were having an off day. Maybe this prospect was unusual. Maybe it won't happen again.
But three calls? Five calls? Now you're seeing something real. The pattern emerges from repetition. And patterns predict future performance far better than any single data point.
Reps Can't Argue With Their Own Words
The hardest part of coaching is getting buy-in. Reps defend themselves. They explain context. They minimize.
But when you show them the same behavior appearing in call after call, with their own words as evidence, the conversation changes. This isn't your opinion. This is their pattern, documented.
Root Cause Changes the Coaching
In the example above, Marcus accepts surface answers. But why?
If he doesn't know the right follow-up questions, that's a training problem. Teach him the questions.
If he knows the questions but fears being pushy, that's a mindset problem. Help him see that curiosity isn't pushy.
If he's rushing to get through calls, that's a time management problem. Help him slow down.
The same visible behavior can have different root causes. Good coaching addresses the cause, not just the symptom.
Strengths Are Part of the Picture
Marcus has real strengths: executive presence, rapport, confidence. The skill gap analysis doesn't ignore these. It names them.
This matters for two reasons. First, it builds trust. The rep knows you're seeing the whole picture, not just hunting for flaws. Second, it shows how the strength can support the development. Marcus's rapport skills mean follow-up questions won't damage the relationship. That's leverage.
A Note on Sample Size
Five calls gives you directional insight. It's enough to spot obvious patterns and start coaching. But it's not statistically rigorous.
For higher confidence, analyze 10-15 calls. At that volume, patterns that appear in 8+ calls are almost certainly real habits, not situational responses. You can also start segmenting: does this gap show up more in discovery calls than demos? More with senior buyers than practitioners?
The tradeoff is practical. Most AI tools struggle with 15 full transcripts in one prompt. Two workarounds:
First, run Day 9 (the one-thing analysis) on each call individually, then feed those summaries into Day 10. Five 200-word summaries are much easier to process than five 5,000-word transcripts.
Second, analyze in batches. Run this prompt on calls 1-5, then 6-10, then 11-15. Look for patterns that appear across all three batches. Those are your highest-confidence findings.
For the Advent Calendar, start with 5 calls and see what emerges. If you want to build a more rigorous coaching program, scale up the sample size over time.
Level up: Advanced Applications
- Compare patterns across reps. Run this analysis on multiple team members. Are there patterns that appear across the whole team? That's not individual coaching. That's a training gap or a process problem.
- Track pattern evolution. Run this analysis quarterly. Is the skill gap changing? If Marcus fixes the probing issue, what's the next pattern to address? This creates a development roadmap.
- Connect patterns to outcomes. If you have win/loss data, look for correlations. Do reps with certain skill gaps have lower win rates on specific deal types? This connects coaching to revenue.
- Use for hiring calibration. After analyzing your team's patterns, you know what gaps to screen for in interviews. If everyone struggles with timeline discovery, that's a capability to test.
- Feed into role-play design. The skill gap tells you what to practice. Build role-play scenarios that specifically target the pattern. Marcus needs practice calls where the prospect gives vague answers and he has to probe.
Connecting the Dots
Day 9 gives you the one thing from a single call. Day 10 finds the pattern across calls.
Use Day 9 for weekly call coaching. Use Day 10 monthly or quarterly to step back and see the bigger picture.
The one thing fixes the immediate issue. The skill gap fixes the habit.
Tomorrow: Day 11—Deal Readiness Scorecard
See What’s Holding Your Revenue Back, And What Activates It
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