This Is The Play

Quick announcement episode.

Steven shares a brief update on This Is The Play, why the release schedule paused, and what the show will look like when it returns. The long-term direction is more interviews with sales reps and leaders, so listeners can hear the real needle-movers from multiple perspectives (not just through Steven’s lens).

He also introduces a new solo podcast launching soon: Calm Under Quota. It’s built for sales leaders and reps who want to make better decisions under pressure. The lens is Stoicism, plus Steven’s experiences in sales leadership, endurance sport, and disciplined training. The tone is intended to be reflective, practical, and not preachy.

Subscribe so you don’t miss the new drop and the return of interviews.

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwerley/ or get in touch at https://closable.ai/

Great sales calls begin before the meeting.

Steven Werley walks through a fast pre-call workflow that uses AI to assemble a one-page brief so you enter discovery prepared, objection-ready, and set up to secure a clear next step.

Key takeaways

• Gather the essentials fast: invite, email thread, CRM facts, quick AI research.
• Build a one-page brief with persona, pains, outcomes, objections, five discovery questions, binary next step, and proof points.
• Use Steven’s plain-English prompt to generate a printable brief in minutes.
• Label assumptions and avoid invented facts so the brief stays reliable on the call.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro and show format

01:20 Why strong calls start before the call

01:39 Five-step play overview

01:46 Gather inputs, invite and thread and CRM facts and quick AI research

02:13 One-page brief sections, persona and pains and outcomes and likely objections

02:32 Follow the brief on the call and mark assumptions to verify

02:57 AI sidecar overview

03:27 Build the printable one pager in ChatGPT

03:31 The exact prompt to generate the brief

04:30 Guardrails, one page and plain English and assumption labels

05:07 Confirm time zones for the two realistic slots

05:20 Action in five minutes and close

The Single Source Sprint: Elevate Your Sales Game

In this episode of 'This is the Play,' Steven Werley introduces 'The Single Source Sprint,' a strategy designed to place sales managers in the top 5% of their field. The key to this method is establishing a reliable CRM as the single source of truth, scrubbing away cluttered and inaccurate data. Werley outlines a daily 10-minute and weekly 20-minute routine to ensure CRM cleanliness, emphasizing the importance of seven core fields: owner, stage, amount, close date, last touch, next action, and confidence level. Additionally, leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT can assist in maintaining pipeline hygiene, ultimately boosting decision-making and forecasting accuracy.

00:00 Introduction to the Single Source Sprint

00:55 The Importance of a Single Source of Truth

01:34 Implementing the Daily Hygiene Loop

03:21 Choosing and Enforcing Your CRM

05:19 Daily and Weekly Review Processes

08:15 Leveraging AI for CRM Hygiene

13:05 14-Day Plan for CRM Optimization

13:39 Final Action Steps and Outro

The Play: Single-Source Sprint

1. Choose your SSOT: the CRM. Freeze side sheets read-only.

2. Enforce 7 canonical fields: Owner, Stage, Amount, Close date, Last touch, Next action, Confidence.

3. Make “Next action + date” required — otherwise not a valid opp.

4. Build 3 core views: Missing Next Action • Stale by SLA (Hot 24h, Warm 72h, Cold 7d) • Closing This Week.

5. Run a daily 10–15 min Status-Sweep: fix missing next steps, touch stale opps, close junk.

6. Hold a weekly 20-min exceptions review: discuss outliers; every decision = next action.

7. Keep a dashboard with only 3 metrics: Time-to-first-touch • Stage-to-stage days • Win rate by source.

Export a simple opps table and let GPT run a hygiene audit, returning a fix list and close/recycle candidates.

• Don’t add new fields mid-sprint; stick to the 7 canonical.

• Keep dashboards at 3 metrics.

• Archive side sheets read-only — no split sources.

• Back up before bulk edits.

Start (≤5 min): Export today’s open opp view, paste into GPT with the audit prompt, and copy the FIX LIST into your task queue.
Finish: Run a 15-minute Status-Sweep today and schedule it daily.

AI Sidecar

Export a simple opps table and let GPT run a hygiene audit, returning a fix list and close/recycle candidates.

Guardrails

• Don’t add new fields mid-sprint; stick to the 7 canonical.
• Keep dashboards at 3 metrics.
• Archive side sheets read-only — no split sources.
• Back up before bulk edits.
• 
  

Action in 5

Start (≤5 min): Export today’s open opp view, paste into GPT with the audit prompt, and copy the FIX LIST into your task queue.
Finish: Run a 15-minute Status-Sweep today and schedule it daily.

Speeding Up Sales Handoffs with the Two-Tap Update

This episode discusses the 'Two-Tap Update' strategy for sales teams, focusing on creating brief and consistent call notes to improve handoffs between sales development representatives (SDRs) and closers. The method involves using two templates: 'Outcome' and 'Next Action,' which can be completed in under two minutes. The episode explains how this approach leads to more efficient sales processes, fewer questions during handoffs, and nearly eliminates no-touch opportunities. Additionally, the script introduces an AI tool using ChatGPT to extract these snippets from call transcripts.

00:00 Introduction to the Two-Tap Update

00:36 The Problem with Current Note-Taking

01:43 Implementing the Two-Tap Update

02:34 Detailed Breakdown of Snippet Templates

03:23 Ensuring Consistency and Efficiency

05:13 Leveraging AI for Note-Taking

06:20 Action Steps and Conclusion

The Play: Two-Tap Update

1. Save two snippet templates:
   • Outcome: “Call outcome: [result]. Objection: [x]. Next step proposed: [y].”
   • Next action: “Next action: [task] on [date/time]; owner [name].”
2. After every call, paste both; tweak a few words; set the next-action date before closing the record.
3. Friday 10-min audit: 100% of opps show a valid next action.

AI Sidecar (copy-ready prompt)

From this call transcript [paste], extract:1) Outcome snippet in one sentence (result, key objection, proposed next step).2) Next action snippet: a concrete task, realistic date/time, and clear owner.3) If the next step is missing in the transcript, propose one based on the conversation. Return only those two snippets, plain text, ready to paste into CRM. Keep each ≤25 words.

Guardrails

• Cap updates at ≤2 minutes per call.
• Do not close an opportunity without a next action + date.
• Keep snippets short; no paragraph “novels.”

Action in 5

Start (≤5 min): Paste your most recent transcript into GPT; copy the two snippets into today’s opportunities.
Finish: Use Two-Tap on 100% of calls this week and run a Friday audit.

Links

• 1-page checklist: Coming Soon
• Closable.ai

The Five Line Nudge: A Quick Email Strategy

In this micro episode, the five-line nudge is introduced as a quick email technique to rejuvenate stalled deals. The method involves sending a concise, five-line email within 75-100 words that includes context, a value refresher, a friction reducer, a binary next step, and a sign-off. The episode also discusses the AI Sidecar, which uses AI tools to draft these emails from call transcripts. Recommendations include waiting 24-48 hours before following up and personalizing AI-generated drafts. A swipe tool for ready-to-send messages is also available for purchase.

00:00 Introduction to the Five Line Nudge

00:23 Overview of the Episode Structure

00:55 Crafting the Five Line Email

01:33 Detailed Breakdown of Each Line

03:11 Guidelines for Sending the Email

03:42 Using AI to Enhance Your Email

05:26 Optional Follow-Up Tools

06:07 Action Steps and Conclusion

The Play: The 5-Line Nudge

1. Subject: “Quick next step?”
2. Context: “We paused on [project/outcome].”
3. Value refresher: “Goal was [result] without [pain].”
4. Friction reducer: “Can do a 10-min check-in or share a mini pilot.”
5. Binary next step: “Tue 2:30 or Wed 10:00 work?”
6. Sign-off: “—Steven”

AI Sidecar (copy-ready prompt)

Here’s the call transcript/notes and key deal context [paste].Draft a plain-text 5-line follow-up that sounds human, <100 words:- Subject: "Quick next step?"- Line 1: 1-line context in their words- Line 2: value refresher (outcome > features)- Line 3: friction reducer (10-min check-in or mini pilot)- Line 4: binary next step with two realistic time slots- Line 5: "—Steven"Return Version A and Version B. Also include a 1-line SMS variant. Avoid hype, keep it conversational.

Guardrails

• Plain text only; 75–100 words; no attachments.
• Send once; wait 24–48h before any second touch.

Action in 5

Start (≤5 min): Paste one transcript snippet into GPT, pick Version A or B, give it a quick humanizing pass, and send to 3 stalled leads.
Finish: Send to 10 total and check replies/bookings in 48 hours.

Links

• 1-page checklist: Coming Soon
• Follow-Up Builder ($7): https://grow.closable.ai/get-swipebox-5300

Beating Decision Fatigue in Sales with AI

Welcome to the first episode of 'This is The Play' with Steven Werley, where we tackle AI in sales. This episode lays the groundwork for overcoming decision fatigue in sales by implementing practical systems and reducing time spent on decision-making. Steven emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistency and avoiding cherry-picking easy calls. He presents a structured approach using AI to score leads, classify them into hot, warm, and cold categories, and prioritize engagements through two daily 45-minute sprints. Additionally, an 'AI Sidecar' segment highlights the use of GPT to streamline tasks, allowing sales reps to focus on high-yield activities. The episode concludes with actionable steps for integrating these tactics into your routine.

00:00 Introduction to 'This is The Play'

00:43 Understanding Decision Fatigue in Sales

03:11 The Impact of Cherry-Picking Calls

06:01 Building Effective Sales Systems

08:05 Defining and Scoring Leads

10:56 Implementing the AI Sidecar

12:56 Best Practices for Using AI in Sales

19:21 Actionable Steps and Conclusion

What you’ll learn

• How to set Hot, Warm, Cold SLAs (24 h, 72 h, 7 days) and score intent 0–5.
• How to auto-build a 9-slot list at 06:00 and clear it with two 45-minute sprints.
• The guardrails and the few metrics that prove it’s working.

The Play (Next‑3 Moves Queue)

1. Set SLAs: Hot 24 h, Warm 72 h, Cold 7 days.
2. Score intent 0–5 using last reply, last call outcome, stage, inverse deal age.
3. At 06:00, auto-build a 9-slot list (3/3/3; highest intent first).
4. During sprints, use macro-only actions mapped to bucket + stage (email, SMS, call).
5. Run two 45-minute sprints (AM and PM). Track: Touched %, Next-Action %, Replies %, Booked Calls.

AI Sidecar (copy‑ready prompt)

You are my sales ops assistant. Using the table below (fields: name, stage, last_reply, last_call_outcome, deal_age_days), do three things:

1) Score INTENT 0–5 for each opp:

   - last_reply recency (0–2), last_call_outcome (0–1), stage (0–1), inverse deal_age (0–1).

2) Assign a BUCKET with SLA:

   - Hot=24h, Warm=72h, Cold=7d. Explain your bucket briefly.

3) Output:

   a) A prioritized 9-slot list for tomorrow 06:00: 3 Hot, 3 Warm, 3 Cold (highest intent first).

   b) Three plain-text macros (Hot/Warm/Cold) I can paste as email/SMS/call notes. Keep under 80 words each, no hype.

Return a clean table (name, stage, intent_score, bucket, why_bucket, next_action_macro_type), then the 9-slot list and the three macros.

Privacy tip: strip PII; never include payment data.

Guardrails

• Do not write from scratch during sprints; personalize 1–2 lines max.
• Max two passes per day through the queue.
• Close or recycle any opp with no next action.

Action in 5

“Start (≤5 min): Paste 10 real opps into GPT with that prompt and copy the 9-slot list into your CRM view. Finish: Run two 45-minute sprints before Friday 3pm.”

Links

• 1‑page checklist
• Follow‑Up Builder ($7)
• Learn more about Closable.ai