Level 14 min
Curious
Raj picks up between meetings and gives you thirty seconds without being asked. He mentions the detention fees after your first good question.
- One brush-off
- Answers your first question
Sales roleplay scenarioAI cold call practice: getting past the first 30 seconds
Raj has never heard of your company and has a meeting in two minutes. Practice the cold call with him, an AI VP of operations at a food distributor: earn the first thirty seconds, find a cost he cares about and turn “send me an email” into a meeting on his calendar.
RajAI VP of operations
Mood · AI character
I have a meeting in two minutes. What is this about?
I’ll be quick. You posted two dock coordinator jobs for the new Columbus site, and that’s why I’m calling you. Thirty seconds, then you decide?
Thirty seconds. Go.
Scored live
- Earns the first thirty seconds
- Leads with his world
- Follows up on his words
- Handles the brush-off
- Books a dated next step
AI coachA reason only he has, and a time limit. Now talk about his docks, not your product.
The situation
A VP who has never heard of you. Two minutes before his meeting.
Context
You are an account development rep at a company that sells dock appointment scheduling software. Raj is VP of operations at a regional food distributor, and nobody at his company has heard of yours. Last week they posted two jobs for inbound dock coordinators at a new distribution center in Columbus, opening in the spring. You found his direct line. At 8:58 on a Tuesday, he picks up.
What you know
- His company runs five distribution centers and opens a sixth in Columbus in the spring.
- Both job posts list “scheduling inbound carrier appointments” as a main duty.
- Distributors that book docks by phone and email often pay carriers detention when trucks wait too long.
- This is the first contact. There is no email thread and no referral.
Your goal
- Say who you are and why you are calling him before he has to ask twice.
- Get him talking about how trucks are booked at his sites.
- End with a short meeting on a specific day, not a promise to send an email.
The AI character
Meet Raj. He picked up, and he’s already leaving.
- His role
- Runs warehousing and inbound transport. The site managers report to him, and the carriers’ detention invoices end up on his desk.
- His company
- Supplies grocery stores and restaurants from five distribution centers across the Midwest, with a sixth opening in Columbus in the spring.
- What he cares about
- Trucks unloaded on time
- A new site that opens without surprises
- Not losing an hour to a vendor pitch
- What he won’t say first
- Carriers billed detention at three of his five sites last quarter, and his CFO asked why.
- The Columbus site is set to go live with the same shared spreadsheet the others use.
- Last year he gave a vendor “just fifteen minutes” and then got two weeks of follow-up emails.
- How he reacts
- “Is now a good time?”“Not really.” Then silence, waiting for you to give up.
- A product pitch in the first sentence“Send me an email.”
- A reason tied to the new siteHe gives you another thirty seconds.
- A question about how his docks runHe answers in detail, then asks what you do.
- A request for an hour-long demoHe sends you to his site managers.
- Starting mood
Rushed and impatient. One eye on the clock, ready to end the call at the first generic line.
What is scored
Five criteria. Scored line by line from the call.
A cold call is over in a few minutes, so single sentences decide it. After Raj hangs up, each criterion below gets a score, and next to it sits the sentence that earned it: your opener, your follow-up on “mostly,” your reply to “send me an email,” each with a timestamped comment. Your own call framework or talk track can replace them.
- 01
Earns the first thirty seconds
What good looks likeGives a reason to call Raj in particular, and a time limit, before Raj has to ask twice.
Common missOpens with “How are you today?” or “Did I catch you at a bad time?”
- 02
Leads with his world
What good looks likeStarts from something true about Raj’s company, like the new site, and a problem companies like his run into.
Common missStarts with the product: “We’re a scheduling platform trusted by…”
- 03
Follows up on his words
What good looks likeAsks how booking works today and digs into his own word, “mostly,” until a real cost is on the table.
Common missTakes the first answer and moves straight to features.
- 04
Handles the brush-off
What good looks likeAccepts “send me an email” without arguing and offers a smaller, more useful step in its place.
Common missAgrees to email and hangs up, or repeats the pitch faster.
- 05
Books a dated next step
What good looks likeEnds with a short meeting on a specific day and a reason it is worth Raj’s time.
Common missCloses with “Can I send you some information?”
How the conversation can go
From “What is this about?” to Friday at eight, in under two minutes.
Raj · AI VP of operations
I have a meeting in two minutes. What is this about?
You
I’ll be quick. I’m calling because you posted two inbound dock coordinator jobs for the new Columbus site. Give me thirty seconds on why that caught my eye, and you tell me if it’s worth another call.
AI coach · Earns the first thirty secondsA reason only he has and a time limit, in two sentences. He knows why you called him and not someone else.
Raj · AI VP of operations
Thirty seconds. Go.
You
When distributors open a new site, the dock schedule usually goes live in the same spreadsheet and inbox as the other sites. How do carriers book unloading slots with you today?
AI coach · Leads with his worldYou described what happens at sites like his new one, not what your software does, and handed him a question.
Raj · AI VP of operations
Phone and email. Each site keeps a spreadsheet. It works, mostly.
You
Mostly, meaning on the bad days trucks wait at the gate?
Raj · AI VP of operations
Meaning we paid detention at three sites last quarter, and my CFO already asked me about it.
AI coach · Follows up on his wordsOne follow-up on his own word, and the real cost came out: detention fees and a CFO who is watching.
Raj · AI VP of operations
Look, I have to go. Just send me an email.
You
Happy to. Or, so it isn’t one more email in your inbox: twenty minutes on Friday, and I’ll show you how two distributors set up carrier booking before a new site opened. If it doesn’t fit Columbus, you tell me then.
AI coach · Handles the brush-offYou agreed, then swapped the email for something smaller than a demo and more useful to him.
Raj · AI VP of operations
Friday at eight, before my site call. Twenty minutes.
AI coach · Books a dated next stepA dated, timed meeting with the person who pays the detention bill. You never described a single feature.
Cold call · 5 criteria83/ 100
Strong opener and a sharp follow-up on “mostly.” The meeting request came only after Raj asked for an email: offer it while he is still talking about detention. Run it again with his assistant answering first.
Difficulty
Three versions of Raj. From curious to screened by his assistant.
Level 26 min
Rushed
The default version. He has two minutes, tries to end the call with “send me an email” and names the detention cost only after a follow-up on his own words.
- “Send me an email”
- Hidden cost
Level 310 min
Gatekeeper first
Raj’s executive assistant answers and asks what the call is regarding. Get past her, then reach Raj, who says they already looked at a scheduling tool last year.
- Two AI characters
- Gatekeeper
- “We tried that already”
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Browse all sales, service and leadership scenariosFAQ
About this scenario.
How do you get past the first 30 seconds of a cold call?
Say who you are and why you are calling this person, in one or two sentences, and say how long you need. Then talk about something true in their business instead of your product, and ask a question they can answer from experience. Interest comes from their answer, not from your pitch.
What do you say when a prospect asks you to “send me an email”?
Agree to send it, then ask permission for one question tied to what they just told you, so the email is useful, or offer a short meeting on a specific day. Arguing loses the call, and sending the email and hanging up usually loses the prospect.
Can we practice this cold call without AI?
Yes, with two colleagues and a timer. Seat them back to back so it sounds like a phone call, give one of them Raj’s card with the meeting in two minutes and the detention invoices, and have Raj hang up if the rep hasn’t said why they called within thirty seconds. A third colleague writes down the exact line where Raj agreed to keep talking, or ended the call.
How is AI cold call practice scored?
From the words on the call. Every score points back to the rep’s own sentences: the opener for the first thirty seconds, the reply to “send me an email” for the brush-off. Nothing in the score comes from how the rep sounds, so voice, confidence and emotions play no part. Raj has a mood because he is a character, and it changes with what the rep says.
Can we change the prospect, the product or the reason for the call?
Yes. Swap Raj’s company for your ideal customer, dock scheduling for your own product and the job posts for the triggers your reps actually use, such as a new site or a leadership change. Describe them in the scenario builder, and score the calls against your own cold call framework.
Every cold call is decided in thirty seconds. Rehearse yours first.
Book a short demo and call Raj live on it, or bring the prospect your reps find hardest to get on the phone.