✨ Start Here: Build Your Sales Playbook in 2 Weeks

Go from winging it to winning it—build your sales playbook from your actual calls in 2 weeks

You’re the first sales hire (or founder doing sales). Every call feels different. Some go great, some crash and burn. You don’t know why. There’s no playbook, no coaching, just you and your gut.

This guide shows you how to record every call, learn what works, and build a data-driven sales playbook in your first 2 weeks—no manager required.

The Sales Learning Problem

Before your first call:

• No idea what objections to expect
• Guessing at what pitch resonates
• Can’t remember what worked yesterday

After 20 calls:

• Still winging it
• Can’t remember which demo flow closed deals
• Making same mistakes repeatedly
• No one to coach you

The brutal truth: Most sales reps never review their calls. They repeat losing patterns without realizing it.

What You’ll Achieve

In your first 2 weeks (10-15 sales calls):

• ✅ Every call recorded and reviewable forever
• ✅ Objections cataloged with proven responses
• ✅ What works documented (not what you think works)
• ✅ Self-coaching system that replaces a sales manager
• ✅ Personal playbook built from your actual calls
• ✅ Close rate improving week over week

Time investment: 30 mins setup + 10 mins review per call. Ramp time: 90 days → 45 days.

Prerequisites

BuildBetter account (buildbetter.ai)

Sales calls starting (or scheduled)

Using Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or phone (with recording)

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Week 1: Record Everything, Learn Fast

Day 1: Set Up Recording (15 minutes)

1. Connect Calendar & Meeting Platform

   1. Go to Settings → Integrations
   2. Connect Google Calendar or Outlook
   3. Connect your meeting platform (Zoom, Teams, or Meet)

   [screenshot: Integrations page with calendar and Zoom connected]

2. Create Recording Rules

   Auto-record all prospect calls:

   1. Settings → Organization → Bot Recording Rules
   2. Create rule:
      • Filter: Event title contains “demo” OR “call” OR “discovery”
      • Or: Has external attendees (non-company emails)
   3. Save rule

   [screenshot: Bot recording rule configured for sales calls]

   BuildBetter bot will join as a participant. Most prospects expect it—just say “I’m recording so I can focus on our conversation instead of taking notes.”

3. Verify Upcoming Calls

   Go to Home → Check Upcoming Calls section

   [screenshot: Home page showing upcoming sales calls]

   Your demo calls should appear here. You’re ready to roll.

Day 1-3: First 3 Sales Calls

Just do your calls normally. BuildBetter records automatically.

[screenshot: Call recording interface showing live call being transcribed]

After each call:

1. Let BuildBetter process (10-15 mins)
2. Quick notification when it’s ready
3. Move on to next call

Don’t review yet. Let 3 calls accumulate first.

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Day 4: Your First Review Session (30 minutes)

Now you have 3 calls. Time to learn what’s actually happening.

1. Review Your Objections

   1. Go to Signals in left navigation
   2. Filter by:
      • Signal Type: Objection
      • Date: Last 7 days

   [screenshot: Signals page filtered to show objections from recent sales calls]

   What you’ll see:

   • “Too expensive” (2 mentions)
   • “No budget until Q2” (1 mention)
   • “Need to talk to my team” (3 mentions)

   Key insight: If the same objection appears 2+ times, you WILL hear it again. Prepare a response.

2. Watch Yourself Handle Objections

   1. Click on an objection signal
   2. Click the timestamp link to jump to that moment in the call
   3. Watch how you responded

   [screenshot: Call playback at objection timestamp with transcript highlighted]

   Ask yourself:

   • Did I stumble?
   • Did I have a good answer?
   • Did the prospect seem satisfied?
   • What would I say differently?

   This is the fastest way to improve. You WILL cringe at yourself. That’s good—it means you’re learning.

3. Create Your Objection Library

   Start documenting responses:

   1. Click Chat in left navigation
   2. Ask: “Show me all objections from my sales calls and suggest responses for each”

   [screenshot: Chat response showing objections with suggested responses]

   3. Click Generate → Generate Document
   4. Save as “My Objection Handling Guide”

   [screenshot: Generated document titled “Objection Handling Guide”]

   Review this before every call.

4. Find What's Working

   Ask Chat:

   “Which parts of my demos got the most positive reactions? Show me the exact moments and what I said.”

   [screenshot: Chat highlighting positive sentiment moments with timestamps]

   Watch these clips:

   • What made them excited?
   • What features resonated?
   • What language did YOU use?

   Key insight: The parts where prospects get excited are your value props. Lead with those.

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Day 5-7: Calls 4-6 (Iterate & Improve)

Apply what you learned.

Before each call:

1. Review your Objection Handling Guide (2 mins)
2. Remind yourself what worked in previous calls

During the call:

• Use your proven language for value props
• When objections come up, use your prepared responses

After each call:

1. Quick reflection: What went well? What didn’t?
2. Star any new objections in Signals
3. Move on

[screenshot: Signals view with starred important items]

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End of Week 1: First Analysis (20 minutes)

You have 6-7 calls recorded. Time for deeper analysis.

1. Compare Won vs Lost (if you have any outcomes yet)

   1. Tag calls as “Won”, “Lost”, or “In Progress”
   2. Go to Chat
   3. Ask: “Compare my won deals to lost deals. What did I do differently?”

   [screenshot: Chat analyzing differences between won and lost calls]

   Even if you only have 1-2 outcomes, patterns may emerge.

2. Track Talk-to-Listen Ratio

   Look at call transcripts:

   [screenshot: Call transcript showing speaker time breakdown]

   Healthy ratio: You talk 30-40%, prospect talks 60-70%

   If you’re talking 70%+, you’re presenting, not selling.

3. Identify Your Crutch Words

   Ask Chat:

   “What words or phrases do I overuse in sales calls?”

   [screenshot: Chat showing analysis of overused words like “um”, “basically”, “so”]

   Common culprits:

   • “Um” (everyone)
   • “Basically” (filler)
   • “To be honest” (implies you’re usually not?)
   • “Does that make sense?” (passive, weak)

   Awareness is 80% of fixing this.

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Week 2: Build Your Playbook

Day 8-10: Calls 7-12 (Systematize What Works)

You’re getting better. Now make it repeatable.

1. Create Your Opening Framework

   Review your best call openings:

   1. Go to Calls & Recordings
   2. Pick your call that went best
   3. Read the first 5 minutes of transcript
   4. Ask Chat: “Turn my opening from [Call Name] into a reusable template”

   [screenshot: Chat generating opening template from successful call]

   Example output:

   Opening Template:
   1. Thank them for their time (15 sec)
   2. Confirm agenda (30 sec)
   3. Ask about their current process (2 min)
   4. Identify pain point (1 min)
   5. Transition to demo
   

   Use this opening every time.

2. Create Your Demo Flow

   Find your best demo:

   1. Filter calls where Sentiment was positive
   2. Review demo sections
   3. Extract the sequence

   [screenshot: Transcript with demo flow highlighted]

   Document:

   • Which feature did you show first?
   • Which got the biggest reaction?
   • What did you skip (that didn’t matter)?
   • How long did you spend on each section?

   Shorter demos with more conversation usually win. If you’re demoing for 30+ mins straight, you’ve lost them.

3. Build Your Closing Technique

   Review how you ask for next steps:

   Ask Chat: “How do I typically ask for next steps? Which approaches work best?”

   [screenshot: Chat analyzing closing approaches with success rates]

   Weak closes:

   • “So… what do you think?”
   • “Should we schedule a follow-up?”

   Strong closes:

   • “Based on what you’ve shared, it sounds like [solution] would solve [their problem]. The typical next step is [specific action]. Does [specific time] work?”

   Be specific, be direct.

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Day 11-12: Document Your Playbook (1 hour)

1. Generate Your Sales Playbook

   Ask Chat:

   “Based on all my sales calls, create a comprehensive sales playbook including: opening, discovery questions, demo flow, objection handling, and closing techniques. Include specific examples from my best calls.”

   [screenshot: Chat generating comprehensive playbook]

   Click Generate → Generate Document → “Sales Playbook”

   [screenshot: Complete sales playbook document with sections]

2. Create Quick Reference Cards

   For each common objection, create a response:

   Objection: “Too expensive” Response: “[ROI example from customer], which means we pay for ourselves in [timeframe]. Our average customer saves [specific amount] per [period].”

   Objection: “Need to think about it” Response: “Of course! What specific questions do you need answered to make a decision? Let’s tackle those now.”

   [screenshot: Objection response cards]

   Print this or keep it on your second screen during calls.

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Day 13-14: Calls 13-15 (Execute Your Playbook)

Use your playbook religiously on these calls.

Follow your framework:

• Use your proven opening
• Ask your best discovery questions
• Demo in your optimized sequence
• Handle objections with prepared responses
• Close with confidence

After each call: Review the recording and score yourself:

• ✅ Used framework opening
• ✅ Asked discovery questions
• ✅ Handled objections well
• ✅ Strong close

[screenshot: Personal scorecard for call review]

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End of Week 2: Measure Improvement

Your Stats Dashboard

1. Create Your Sales Performance Dashboard

   1. Go to Clustering
   2. Click Customize Dashboard
   3. Add cards:

   Card 1: Objections Over Time (Line Chart)

   • Shows if objection frequency is declining
   • Means you’re preemptively addressing concerns

   Card 2: Average Sentiment by Week (Metric Card)

   • Track if prospects are getting more excited
   • Week 1 vs Week 2 comparison

   Card 3: Talk Ratio (Bar Chart)

   • Your talk time vs prospect talk time
   • Goal: Trending toward 30/70

   Card 4: Top Objections (Bar Chart)

   • What you’re still hearing most
   • Focus your learning here

   [screenshot: Sales performance dashboard with 4 metrics]

2. Week-over-Week Comparison

   Ask Chat:

   “Compare my sales calls from Week 1 (first 7 calls) to Week 2 (last 7 calls). What improved? What still needs work?”

   [screenshot: Chat comparing Week 1 vs Week 2 performance]

   Look for:

   • ↗️ Sentiment trending up
   • ↘️ Objections decreasing or same ones (means you’re addressing them better)
   • ↗️ Conversion rate improving
   • ⏱️ Sales cycle shortening

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Real Example: Jordan’s 2-Week Transformation

Week 1, Day 1 (First Call):

• Rambled for 35 minutes straight
• Prospect asked 2 questions total
• Ended with “Let me know what you think”
• Result: Ghosted

Week 1, Day 4 (After first review): Jordan watched the recording. Saw themselves talking 80% of the time. Cringed at vague closing. Made notes.

Week 1, Days 5-7 (Calls 4-6):

• Started asking more questions
• Stopped when prospect started talking
• Objection came up: “No budget”
• Jordan fumbled, didn’t have good answer

Week 1, Day 7 (Review): Reviewed objection handling. Prepared responses for top 3 objections. Created opening template from best call.

Week 2, Days 8-10 (Calls 7-9):

• Used opening template (felt more confident)
• When “no budget” objection came up, had prepared ROI response
• Prospect engaged, asked good questions
• Better closes: “Based on X, next step is Y. Does Thursday work?”

Week 2, Day 12 (Call 12):

• Everything clicked
• Used full playbook
• Prospect: “This is exactly what we need. What’s the pricing?”
• Closed first deal

Week 2, Day 14 (Final review):

• Close rate: 0% Week 1 → 33% Week 2 (2 of 6 closed)
• Avg sentiment: 5.2 Week 1 → 7.8 Week 2
• Talk ratio: 75% Week 1 → 40% Week 2
• Objection handling: Fumbled Week 1 → Confident Week 2

Jordan’s quote: “I learned more from reviewing 2 weeks of calls than 2 months of winging it. I’m basically my own sales coach now.”

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Common Sales Questions

What if prospects don't want to be recorded?

Frame it positively:

“I’m going to have BuildBetter join so I can focus on our conversation instead of frantically taking notes. That okay?”

Success rate: 95%+ say yes when you frame it this way.

If they say no: Respect it. Take notes manually. Upload notes to BuildBetter as text afterward.

Should I review EVERY call?

No. That’s overkill.

Review strategy:

• Week 1: Review first 3 calls deeply
• Week 2: Review 1-2 calls that felt off
• Ongoing: Review 1 call per week + all lost deals

Always review:

• Your first win (what did you do right?)
• Every loss (what went wrong?)
• Calls that felt weird (usually your gut is right)

How do I handle pricing objections?

Filter all pricing objections:

1. Signals → Filter: Type = “Objection” + contains “price” or “expensive”
2. Review all instances

[screenshot: Filtered pricing objections]

Ask Chat: “What’s the real concern behind pricing objections? Is it actually about price or something else?”

Usually it’s not price—it’s:

• Perceived value isn’t clear
• ROI isn’t proven
• They don’t have authority (selling to wrong person)
• You haven’t built urgency

What if I'm not closing deals yet?

Normal for first 2 weeks. Sales cycles are longer than 2 weeks.

What to track instead:

• Are prospects moving to next step? (2nd call, demo, trial)
• Is sentiment positive?
• Are objections getting addressed?
• Are prospects asking good questions?

These are leading indicators. Closes lag by weeks/months.

Can I use this for phone calls?

Yes! Options:

1. iPhone/Android: Use voice recorder, upload MP3 to BuildBetter
2. BuildBetter Desktop App: Records computer audio automatically
3. Dialers (Aircall, etc.): Many integrate with BuildBetter

[screenshot: Upload audio file from phone call]

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Your 2-Week Sales Playbook Checklist

Week 1: Discovery

Day 1: Setup & Recording

Days 2-3: First Calls

Day 4: First Review

Days 5-7: Iterate

Week 2: Systematize

Day 8: Analysis

Days 9-10: Framework Creation

Days 11-12: Playbook

Days 13-14: Execute

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What’s Next?

After Your First 2 Weeks

Scale Your Playbook

Share your learnings with new sales hires

Win/Loss Analysis

Deep dive into why deals close or fall apart

Competitive Intelligence

Track competitor mentions and build battle cards

Team Coaching

Use BuildBetter for team enablement and coaching

Make It a Habit

Before every call (2 mins):

• Review objection guide
• Remind yourself of your opening

After every call (5 mins):

• Quick reflection
• Star anything surprising in Signals

Weekly (20 mins):

• Review 1 call deeply
• Update playbook based on learnings
• Check performance dashboard

Monthly (1 hour):

• Full playbook review
• Update demo flow based on wins
• Share learnings with team

The difference between mediocre and great sales reps isn’t talent—it’s deliberate practice. Recording and reviewing makes practice deliberate.

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Resources

Watch: Sales Playbook in Action

See how top reps use BuildBetter (8 min)

Template: Discovery Questions

Proven question frameworks for sales calls

Book: Sales Coaching Session

Get personalized feedback on your calls (free)

Community: Sales Professionals

Join 1000+ sales reps using BuildBetter

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Great sales reps review their game tape. Now you can too.

Top performers in every sport review their performance. Sales is no different. The only difference? Now you have the tape.

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being 1% better every call. Over 100 calls, that’s 100% improvement. That’s the difference between quota and President’s Club.