sales-skills

Writes the opening 5-30 seconds of a live outbound cold call - a tailored opener for a named persona and pain point, with 2-3 testable variants, delivery notes, and a measurement plan. Covers B2B and B2C phone outreach, including do-not-call scrubbing. Use whenever the user mentions a cold call opener, cold call script, phone opener, dialer talk track, "what do I say when they pick up", or opening a call for a persona, even if they don't say "opener" explicitly. Do NOT use for rebuttals later in the call (use mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-objection-handling), grading a recorded call (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-call-review), or cadence planning (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-outbound-sequence).

Reviews a cold email draft and its sending setup for deliverability - SPF/DKIM/DMARC alignment, sender reputation and complaint risk, body mechanics (length, links, images, tracking pixels, HTML vs plain text, opt-out), and legal compliance by region. Covers B2B cold outbound and B2C bulk/lifecycle mail. Use whenever the user mentions the spam folder, blacklisting, domain warmup, inbox placement, bounce rates, DMARC, or "why are my emails not landing", even without the word deliverability. Do NOT use for subject lines (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-email-subject-line-tester) or cadence (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-outbound-sequence). Hygiene and compliance only, never spam-filter evasion.

Generates, scores, and split-tests email subject lines, producing angle-distinct variants, a numeric scorecard, and a test plan with sample size and decision metric. Covers B2B cold outbound and B2C lifecycle/promotional email, and flags spam-trigger words inside the subject line only. Use whenever the user mentions a subject line, open rates, email A/B test, preview text, or "nobody opens my emails", even if they don't say "subject line" explicitly. Do NOT use for body copy or inbox-placement audits (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-email-deliverability), personalization angles (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-outreach-personalization), or cadence design (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-outbound-sequence).

Builds an evidence-graded stakeholder map for one active deal from titles, call notes, email and meeting activity, and CRM contact roles, naming the likely champion, economic buyer, and blockers, each with a confidence level tied to observed behaviour rather than title. Covers B2B buying committees and high-consideration B2C households. Use whenever the user mentions a champion, economic buyer, power map, deal org chart, multi-threading, single-threaded risk, or "who actually decides", even without the word stakeholder. Do NOT use for qualification scoring (mbfinotti/sales-skills@meddpicc-scorecard) or scanning notes for general risk (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-red-flags).

Employer-side hiring workflow for SDR/BDR and AE roles, producing an outcome-based scorecard, a structured interview loop with question bank, a scored mock-call work sample, and a 30-60-90 ramp plan with certification gates. Recommends SDR vs AE vs full-cycle from ACV, cycle length and inbound volume, and rests on selection-validity evidence - structured interviews, independent scoring, no brainteasers. Use whenever the user mentions hiring a rep, sales interview questions, a hiring scorecard, a mock call interview, rep onboarding, or a ramp plan, even without the word hiring. Do NOT use for candidate-side prep (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-career) or comp plan design (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-comp-design).

Reviews one deal's free-text notes - call notes, opportunity fields, CRM activity log, email threads - for qualification red flags such as single-threaded deal, no champion, no compelling event, unverified budget, no agreed next step, or fading engagement, each graded on severity and confidence with the quoted note fragment behind it. Covers B2B and B2C. Use whenever the user mentions deal risk, a stalled or slipping deal, ghosting, forecast inspection, or "is this deal real", even without the words red flag. Reviews one deal, not a pipeline export. Do NOT use for structured qualification scoring (mbfinotti/sales-skills@meddpicc-scorecard) or stakeholder mapping (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-champion-mapping).

Builds the ROI and business case for one deal - value drivers, full investment, ROI, payback, three cases conservative-first, and a one-page case the champion can forward. The buyer supplies every assumption, each number labeled buyer-supplied, benchmark, or rep-assumed, and none invented. Covers B2B and high-ticket B2C. Use whenever the user mentions ROI, business case, payback period, TCO, cost of doing nothing, "justify the price", or CFO sign-off, even without the word value. Do NOT use for price rebuttals (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-objection-handling) or discount trade planning (mbfinotti/sales-skills@negotiation-concession-planner).

Scores one deal against the eight MEDDPICC elements on an evidence ladder - unknown, assumed, stated, validated - with a scorecard, a verdict band, and the single next action that closes the biggest gap. Full MEDDPICC for complex deals, a lightweight subset for small ones, covering B2B and considered high-ticket B2C. Use whenever the user mentions MEDDPICC, MEDDIC, BANT, deal qualification, "score this opportunity", "is this deal real", or deal-review prep, even without naming a framework. Do NOT use for stakeholder mapping (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-champion-mapping), note-level risk scanning (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-red-flags), or transcript grading (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-call-review).

Builds a pre-negotiation concession plan for a pricing or contract conversation - every tradeable lever priced by cost-to-us vs value-to-them, tiered, each give paired with a required reciprocal get and its approval level, plus a BATNA-based walk-away. Covers B2B (terms, scope, service, risk, price protection) and B2C (bundles, financing, trade allowance). Use whenever the user mentions a discount request, procurement, redlines, give-get trades, walk-away point, or "the buyer wants 20% off", even without the word negotiation. Do NOT use for quantifying the value (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-value-calc) or scripting price rebuttals (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-objection-handling).

Designs the account segmentation model between ICP and tier structure - which firmographic, technographic, intent and jobs-to-be-done signal layers define account fit, the weighted fit score calibrated from 12 months of closed-won deals, fit and readiness as separate axes, whitespace and expansion mapping, and how the model is encoded, routed and re-scored in the CRM. Covers B2B account segmentation and B2C value-based customer segmentation. Use whenever the user mentions account scoring, fit score, whitespace, book-of-business carve-up, or reps picking accounts on gut feel, even without the word segmentation. Do NOT use for tier cutoffs and coverage (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-account-tiering) or ICP criteria (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-icp-definition).

Designs the tier layer downstream of an existing account fit score - where the cutoffs sit, tier names, rep-to-account capacity caps, the coverage model per tier (touch cadence, channel mix, QBR frequency, executive involvement), coverage-ratio health metrics, and the recalibration cadence. Covers B2B account tiering and B2C key-account tiering through retail/distribution channels. Use whenever the user mentions tiers, strategic/key/growth/long-tail accounts, accounts-per-rep ratios, 1:1 or 1:few or 1:many ABM coverage, or "everything drifted into Tier 1", even without the word tiering. Takes the fit score as input. Do NOT use for building that score (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-account-segmentation).

Scores one sales call transcript against an anchored rubric - opener, discovery, objection handling, close - quoting the transcript for every judgement and naming one focus behaviour. Handles messy ASR transcripts, missing speaker labels, and partial calls, covering B2B deal calls and B2C/inside-sales QA, rep self-review and manager tape review. Use whenever the user mentions a call recording, transcript, Gong or Chorus review, tape review, call scoring, or "how did this call go", even without the word review. Do NOT use for writing the follow-up email (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-meeting-recap) or scoring the deal itself (mbfinotti/sales-skills@meddpicc-scorecard).

Coach one person through landing and growing a sales career - SDR/BDR entry, SDR-to-AE promotion, and beyond - across B2B SaaS and commission-heavy B2C (real estate, insurance, solar, auto). Covers sales interview prep (mock cold call, sell-me-this-pen, candidate-authored 30-60-90 plan), quantified track-record evidence, sales skill-gap roadmaps, employer diligence, and sales offer evaluation from the candidate's seat, anchored to dated benchmarks (Bridge Group, RepVue, NAR). Use for "sales career", "break into tech sales", "sdr interview prep", "sdr to ae path", "evaluate this sales offer". Does not cover the hiring side (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-hiring), job searching or auto-applying, resume file generation, or deal execution tactics.

Designs the sales compensation plan structure - pay mix (base/variable split) set by role influence, performance measures under the rule of three, accelerator and decelerator curves, SPIF overlays, draws, and role plans for SDR, AE, manager, overlay, and CSM seats. A macro annual exercise for sales leadership, RevOps, and finance, covering B2B SaaS and commission-heavy B2C. Use whenever the user mentions commission plans, OTE, accelerators, clawbacks, SPIFs, capping commissions, or "how should we pay our reps", even without the words comp design. Do NOT use for deriving the quota the plan pays against (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-quota-setting) or structuring the org (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-org-structure).

Builds a sequenced sales discovery question set - pain, root cause, impact, urgency - for a specific deal or persona, sized to the call length, with follow-up ladders, branch triggers, and a do-not-ask list. Covers B2B (SDR qualification through multi-stakeholder AE discovery) and high-ticket B2C consultations. Use whenever the user mentions discovery call prep, qualification questions, SPIN or pain-funnel questions, a first-meeting agenda, or "what should I ask this prospect", even without the word discovery. Do NOT use for rebuttals (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-objection-handling), the cold-call opening (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-call-opener), or grading a finished call (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-call-review).

Defines the company's ideal customer profile (ICP) at sales-leadership altitude - the firmographic, technographic, behavioral and intent criteria, a weighted scoring rubric with explicit disqualifiers, and the refresh cadence that targeting keys off. Works from closed-won/lost deal data, or from founder-led discovery when deal data is thin. Covers B2B account ICPs and the equivalent B2C demographic/psychographic profile. Use whenever the user mentions the ideal or target customer, buyer profile, "who should we sell to", or targeting that is too broad, even without the letters ICP. Do NOT use for TAM/SAM/SOM sizing (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-market-sizing) or account fit scoring (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-account-segmentation).

Before starting any sales project, and before answering a sales request that spans more than one sales topic or names no skill at all, run this router first. It routes the task to exactly one skill in the sales-skills collection, or says plainly that none fits, and bootstraps or resumes the project's shared sales-context.md artifact, producing a short-list plus an ordered skill chain. Fires on the state of the conversation rather than the subject matter, at a sales project start, at a periodic sales check-in or recurring sales review, on a mid-project re-route, or on any broad or ambiguous sales request such as "which sales skill do I need" or "where do I start with sales". Covers both altitudes, CRO-altitude planning (motion, ICP, market sizing, segmentation, tiering, org structure, quota, coverage, comp) and execution (outbound, cold calling, discovery, objections, MEDDPICC, recaps, call review, hiring, career). Run it even when sibling skills are already in daily use elsewhere.

Estimates TAM, SAM, and SOM for a market or sub-segment to ground sales capacity, territory, and quota planning - top-down, bottom-up on named accounts or population math, value theory, triangulation, a capacity-based SOM ceiling, and a per-layer refresh cadence. A macro planning exercise for sales leadership and RevOps, covering B2B and B2C. Use whenever the user mentions TAM, SAM, SOM, market size, addressable market, "how big is this market", or the number behind next year's quota, even without those acronyms. Sizes for planning, not pitching. Do NOT use for defining the ICP (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-icp-definition) or turning SOM into quotas (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-quota-setting).

Turns raw sales call notes into a structured recap email with agreed next steps - every action item carrying an owner, a date, and a deliverable - plus mutual close plan (mutual action plan) items when the deal warrants one. Restates the buyer's pain in their own words and never invents a commitment the notes don't contain. Covers complex B2B committee deals and transactional or B2C motions. Use whenever the user mentions a recap email, follow-up after a sales call, next steps email, post-call summary, or a mutual action plan, even without the word recap. Do NOT use for judging how the call went (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-call-review).

Chooses and designs the company-level sales motion at VP Sales / CRO altitude - product-led growth (PLG), sales-led, hybrid product-led sales, developer-led/open-source, or channel/partner-led - plus the transitions between them (exiting founder-led sales, layering sales onto self-serve, moving upmarket, adding channel), mapped to ACV, time-to-value, buyer-vs-user separation, TAM shape and procurement friction. Covers B2B SaaS and consumer self-serve motions. Use whenever the user mentions PLG vs sales-led, hiring the first salesperson, going upmarket, self-serve vs demo, or adding partners, even without the word motion. Do NOT use for org topology (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-org-structure) or quotas (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-quota-setting).

Diagnoses what a sales objection really means and writes rebuttal scripts a rep can say out loud, or calls the deal dead when the objection is a real constraint. Covers price/budget, timing, competitor/incumbent, authority, status-quo, and trust objections for B2B and B2C, with price-specific guidance on value gap vs genuine budget limit and trading instead of discounting. Use whenever the user mentions a price objection, "too expensive", "not interested", "send me some info", "we already use a competitor", stalling, or an objection library, even without the word objection. Do NOT use for discount trade planning (mbfinotti/sales-skills@negotiation-concession-planner) or ROI math (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-value-calc).

Designs a sales organization's structure for its current stage - role mix (SDR, AE, AM/CS), topology (island, assembly line, pod, hybrid), SDR-to-AE ratio, hunter/farmer split, span of control, and specialization by segment. A macro org-design exercise for a VP Sales, CRO, or founder scaling past founder-led selling, covering B2B and B2C. Use whenever the user mentions restructuring the sales team, pods vs assembly line, reps per manager, splitting SDRs from AEs, or hunters vs farmers, even without the words org structure. Do NOT use for hiring into the seats (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-hiring), choosing the motion (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-motion), or setting quotas (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-quota-setting).

Plans a touch-by-touch outbound cadence - which channel on which day, touch count, spacing, channel mix, multi-threading, exit and stop rules, recycle and re-entry, and the capacity math behind it, with pre-committed metric thresholds. Use whenever the user mentions a sequence, cadence, follow-up timing, Outreach or Salesloft steps, a drip, "how many touches", inbound-lead or event follow-up, closed-lost re-engagement, or B2C lifecycle and SMS flows, even without the word cadence. Do NOT use for message copy, subject lines (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-email-subject-line-tester), call scripts (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-call-opener), or inbox placement (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-email-deliverability).

Turns prospect signals into 2-3 ranked personalization angles for outreach, each pairing a dated, sourced signal with the problem it implies, a one-line hook, the ask it justifies, and a confidence/recency label. Covers B2B and B2C signals and 1:1 vs 1:few vs 1:many effort tiers, and never invents a signal. Use whenever the user mentions personalization, a trigger event, a funding round, a new hire or job change, a product launch, review mining, or "find a reason to reach out", even without the word personalize. Do NOT use for drafting the message - subject lines (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-email-subject-line-tester), openers (mbfinotti/sales-skills@cold-call-opener), and cadence (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-outbound-sequence) live elsewhere.

Models how much pipeline a team needs relative to quota - coverage ratios derived from win rates (raw multiplier, stage-weighted, conversion-inversion), segment-level coverage targets, in-quarter timing and the point of no return, seasonality indexing, and pipeline-gap math that turns a ratio into new-pipeline-required. A macro modeling exercise for sales leadership and RevOps, covering B2B and high-velocity/B2C motions. Use whenever the user mentions pipeline coverage, 3x pipeline, a pipeline gap, forecast shortfall, or "we missed quota with 4x coverage", even without the word coverage. Do NOT use for deriving the quota itself (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-quota-setting) or inspecting one deal (mbfinotti/sales-skills@deal-red-flags).

Designs how sales quotas are derived for a team or company - top-down vs bottom-up reconciliation, ramp-adjusted capacity modeling (Ramped Rep Equivalents), over-assignment cushion, territory-weighted fair-share allocation, ramp relief policy, and validation against current attainment benchmarks. A macro planning exercise for VP Sales, CRO, and sales ops, covering B2B and B2C. Use whenever the user mentions quotas, targets, attainment, ramping new hires, annual planning, or "how much quota should an AE carry", even without the word quota. Do NOT use for pipeline coverage math (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-pipeline-coverage-modeling) or the comp plan that pays against it (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-comp-design).

Builds and maintains a personalized watch list of sales information sources - podcasts, newsletters, communities, benchmark reports, and sales people to follow - matched to the user's role, market, and time budget, shipped as a dated verified-source snapshot with per-source status and a freshness check that catches rebranded or dead sources. Covers B2B SaaS and B2C high-ticket as separate ecosystems. Use whenever the user mentions sales newsletters, sales podcasts, who to follow in sales, sales communities, staying current in sales, or refreshing a reading list, even without the word radar. Do NOT use for career or interview prep (mbfinotti/sales-skills@sales-career).