Interview Drills — Mock Cold Call / Outreach

Live role-plays of the SDR work-sample: the interviewer plays a busy prospect who picks up the phone (or reads your message) and you have to earn the conversation. Each drill has a Framework (the structure a strong answer follows), a Model answer (a concise example of the actual words), and a Rubric (what the interviewer listens for). Practice out loud — these are judged on delivery, not just logic. The app can role-play these as live cold calls (see mock-interview.md).

The universal cold-call structure: Open with a relevant reason for the call → ask permission / earn 30 seconds → hook on a problem your ICP usually has → let them react and listen → handle the brush-off without getting defensive → make one specific, low-friction ask for the meeting. Lead with their problem, never your product. This same arc works on the phone, in a voicemail, and in a first email.

D1

difficulty: easy
concept: prospecting-and-outreach The prospect picks up: "Hello?" You have one sentence to not get hung up on. Open the cold call.
Framework: State your name and company briefly → be honest that it's a cold call (disarms them) → give a relevant reason you called them specifically (a trigger or a problem their role usually has) → ask for a small slice of time ("Can I have 30 seconds and you can tell me to get lost?"). Don't pitch the product in the opener.
Model answer: "Hi Dana, it's Alex from Acme — I know I'm calling out of the blue. I'll be quick: I saw your team's hiring three new reps, and the SDRs we work with at that stage usually struggle to ramp them fast. Can I take 30 seconds to explain why I called, then you can tell me if it's worth continuing?"
Rubric: Strong answers are honest about the cold call, give a specific reason tied to the prospect (not "I help companies like yours"), and explicitly ask for a small amount of time rather than barreling into a pitch. Weak answers open with the product, sound scripted/robotic, give a generic reason, or never ask permission so the prospect feels trapped and hangs up.

D2

difficulty: easy
concept: prospecting-and-outreach You've earned 30 seconds. Now deliver the hook — the reason a busy stranger should keep listening.
Framework: Name a problem your ICP commonly has, in their language → make it concrete/quantified if you can → connect it to a likely outcome (time, money, risk) → pause and ask if that's relevant to them (turn it into a dialogue, don't monologue). The hook is about their pain, not your features.
Model answer: "Most RevOps leaders I talk to tell me their reps lose a few hours a week stitching data between the CRM and spreadsheets — and worse, forecasts end up wrong because of it. We help teams cut most of that manual work. Before I assume anything — is messy CRM data something your team actually deals with, or am I off base?"
Rubric: Strong answers lead with a problem the prospect recognizes, quantify or make it vivid, and end by handing the conversation back ("is that relevant to you?") rather than continuing to talk. Weak answers describe the product's features, talk too long without pausing, or assume the pain instead of confirming it — losing the prospect's attention.

D3

difficulty: medium
concept: prospecting-and-outreach The brush-off: "I'm not interested." Handle it and keep the conversation alive — without being pushy.
Framework: Don't get defensive or argue → acknowledge it genuinely → recognize it's a reflex (they don't know you yet) → ask one honest, curious question that reframes around their problem → if they still decline, exit gracefully and leave a door open. Welcome the objection as engagement, not a wall.
Model answer: "Totally fair — you don't know me yet, so 'not interested' makes sense. Quick honest question before I let you go: is it that fixing CRM data just isn't a priority right now, or that you've already got it handled? If it's handled, I'll happily disappear." [If they engage] "Got it — so if I could show in 15 minutes how a team your size cut that work in half, would that be worth a look?"
Rubric: Strong answers stay calm and warm, don't argue, and convert the brush-off into a single diagnostic question that surfaces whether real need exists — then make a graceful, low-pressure ask. Weak answers get defensive, ignore the "no" and keep pitching, sound desperate, or fold instantly without one honest attempt to understand the objection.

D4

difficulty: medium
concept: prospecting-and-outreach The stall: "Just send me an email." Many reps treat this as a win — it usually isn't. Respond.
Framework: Agree to send something (don't fight it) → but use it to qualify and pin down a next step → ask one targeted question so the email is actually relevant → propose a concrete time to reconnect so it doesn't vanish into the inbox. Turn a polite blow-off into a real next action.
Model answer: "Happy to — and so I don't send you a generic deck you'll ignore, what's the one thing that'd actually make this worth your time: the ramp-time problem, or the forecast-accuracy one? ... Great, I'll send a short note on that today. Can we grab 15 minutes Thursday at 10 so I'm not just another unread email?"
Rubric: Strong answers accept the email request but extract a qualifying detail and lock a specific follow-up time/commitment. Weak answers say "sure, I'll send it" with no question and no next step (a dead end), or stubbornly refuse to send anything, which kills the rapport.

D5

difficulty: medium
concept: prospecting-and-outreach The price reflex on a cold call: "How much does it cost?" — asked before you've shown any value. Respond.
Framework: Don't blurt a number (no value established yet) → give an honest range or "it depends on X" so you're not evasive → redirect to the meeting where you can scope it properly → tie the cost back to the value/ROI of solving their problem → make the ask for the next step. Reframe price as a function of value.
Model answer: "Fair question — it ranges depending on team size, and honestly I'd be guessing without knowing yours. What I can tell you is teams usually save more hours than it costs within the first quarter. The right way to give you a real number is a quick 15-minute call where I learn your setup — would Thursday or Friday work better?"
Rubric: Strong answers avoid an unanchored number, stay transparent (a range or "it depends"), reframe price against value, and pivot to booking the meeting. Weak answers either dodge the question entirely (feels shady) or fire off a price with no value context — which makes the product sound expensive and ends the call.

D6

difficulty: hard
concept: prospecting-and-outreach Full live role-play: the interviewer plays a skeptical VP who answers, sounds annoyed, gives you a brush-off, then a stall. Run the whole call and book the meeting.
Framework: Permission-based opener with a relevant reason → problem hook, then listen → handle the first brush-off calmly with a diagnostic question → handle the second stall by qualifying and pinning a time → confidently ask for a specific 15-minute slot → confirm and lock the next step. Stay composed, conversational, and concise throughout; let them talk.
Model answer: "Hi, it's Alex from Acme — I know this is a cold call, 20 seconds and you can hang up on me. I noticed you just moved your team onto a new CRM; reps usually bleed hours on data cleanup in that transition. Is that landing for you?" → [VP: 'We're fine.'] → "Fair — you may well have it handled. Honest question: is data cleanup already solved, or just not the fire you're fighting this quarter?" → [VP: 'Send me something.'] → "Will do — so it's relevant, is ramp time or forecast accuracy the bigger headache right now? ... Perfect. Rather than risk the inbox, can we do 15 minutes Thursday at 2? I'll come with one example from a team your size." → "Great, I'll send a calendar invite to confirm — talk Thursday."
Rubric: Strong answers sustain composure across multiple rejections, never argue or get rattled, listen and adapt instead of running a script, qualify along the way, and end with a specific, confirmed meeting (day, time, what they'll bring). Weak answers crumble at the first "no," talk over the prospect, pitch features, accept a vague "send an email" with no time, or never actually ask for the meeting — the single most common reason entry-level reps fail this work-sample.