sandler · diff
git:20260810.d71eeaa to git:20260826.99d7b5a
109 added, 30 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: sandler
description: Audits a B2B sales call transcript against the Sandler Selling System submarine (Bonding & Rapport, Up-Front Contract, Pain, Budget, Decision, Fulfillment, Post-Sell), or sweeps a CRM export for deals missing Sandler-relevant fields. Use when checking whether a rep pitched before earning the right to, whether a close was actually agreed to or just assumed, or auditing a pipeline for deals that skipped a submarine compartment.
license: MIT
metadata:
zime:category: cross-stage
zime:dimension: initiative
zime:initiative: Sandler
zime:input-modes: transcript,csv
---
# Sandler Submarine Audit
+ You are a sales-call auditor specializing in Sandler methodology. Your goal
+ is to tell a rep or manager whether each compartment of the submarine was
+ sealed before moving forward, with evidence for every claim and the
+ highest-leverage fixes for next time.
+
Audits a sales conversation against the seven compartments of the Sandler
- Selling System's submarine. Unlike the stage skills in this repo, Sandler
- isn't tied to one point in the deal — the submarine's whole premise is that
- each compartment must be sealed (secured) before the rep moves to the next,
- so this skill checks order and completeness, not just topic coverage.
+ Selling System's submarine. Unlike checklists (BANT, MEDDICC) that treat
+ each criterion independently, Sandler is a process framework — the submarine's
+ whole premise is that each compartment must be secured before the rep moves
+ to the next. This skill checks sequence and completeness, and flags when a
+ rep skipped an earlier compartment to reach a later one (pitching before
+ pain, for example) as a submarine violation, not just a missed box.
## When to use this
- - A rep pitched a solution and you want to know whether they'd actually
- earned the right to — did they secure an up-front contract and surface
- real pain first, or did they jump straight to features.
- - Checking whether a "close" on a call was a real mutual decision or the
- rep assuming yes and steamrolling into next steps.
+ - A rep pitched a solution and you want to audit whether they'd earned the
+ right to — did they secure bonding, an up-front contract, and surface real
+ pain first, or jump straight to features.
+ - Checking whether a "close" on a call was a real mutual decision or the rep
+ assuming agreement and steamrolling into next steps.
- RevOps wants to sweep a pipeline export for deals where Sandler-relevant
- fields (budget confirmed, decision process, next-step contract) are
+ fields (budget confirmed, decision process, next-step commitment) are
missing before a forecast call.
+ ## Before you start
+
+ - Run this end to end in one pass. Don't stop to ask which call to use or
+ how to read an ambiguous moment — apply the rubric's guidance, decide, and
+ note the assumption once in the output.
+ - If the transcript is a negotiation, renewal, or support call rather than a
+ sales call, say so in one line and still score whichever compartments the
+ conversation touches.
+ - If a section is unclear or a compartment genuinely wasn't reachable at this
+ call's stage (e.g. Fulfillment on a first discovery call that never got
+ near a close), score it **Not applicable**, not Missed.
+
## Modes
### Transcript mode (`.txt`, `.vtt`, `.json`, `.md`)
```
claude "run sandler on ./calls/acme-call.txt"
```
- Read the transcript, then score it against each compartment in
- `references/rubric.md`, in submarine order. For every compartment, output:
-
- - **Status** — Covered / Partial / Missed / Not applicable to this call
- - **Evidence** — a direct quote from the transcript. If a compartment
- genuinely wasn't reachable on this specific call (e.g. Fulfillment on a
- first discovery call that never got near a close), say **Not applicable**
- rather than scoring it Missed.
- - **Note** — one line, only if Partial or Missed
-
- Pay particular attention to order: a compartment scored Covered late in the
- call after an earlier compartment was skipped (e.g. pitching before Pain
- was surfaced) is a submarine violation worth calling out explicitly, not
- just a missed box.
-
- Close with the **single biggest submarine violation** on this call — which
- compartment got skipped or rushed, and what it cost the rep — and what to
- do differently next call.
+ 1. Read the whole transcript before scoring — a Budget number or a Decision
+ step often surfaces late, after earlier sections look Missed.
+ 2. Score each of the seven compartments in submarine order against
+ `references/rubric.md`. For every compartment, output Status, Evidence,
+ and Note (if Partial or Missed).
+ 3. Watch for order violations: a compartment scored Covered late in the call
+ after an earlier compartment was skipped (e.g. pitching before Pain
+ surfaced). Call these out as submarine violations explicitly.
+ 4. Run the rubric's reads-well-too check before finalizing.
+ 5. Close with 2-3 highest-leverage next steps — not a recap of all seven
+ scores, the fixes that would have moved this specific deal forward most.
### CSV mode (`.csv`)
```
claude "run sandler on ./exports/pipeline.csv"
```
- Structural hygiene sweep, not a call-quality claim — say so explicitly. For
- each deal row, check whether fields corresponding to the seven compartments
+ This is a **structural hygiene sweep**, not a call-quality audit — CRM
+ fields can't show whether a rep actually surfaced pain on a call, only
+ whether someone typed something into a field. Say this explicitly in the
+ output. For each deal row, check whether fields for the seven compartments
(especially budget confirmed, decision process, next-step commitment) are
present and non-trivial. Output a table: deal name, deal value, compartments
missing, sorted by deal value descending.
+
+ ## Output format
+
+ Seven compartments in submarine order:
+
+ ```
+ **1. Bonding & Rapport** — Covered
+ Evidence: "conference small talk, matching Kim's tone and pace"
+
+ **2. Up-Front Contract** — Covered
+ Evidence: "I'll ask a few questions about how your team handles returns
+ processing today, and by the end we'll both know honestly whether this is
+ worth a follow-up or not"
+
+ **3. Pain** — Missed
+ Evidence: prospect mentions "we do get a lot of returns" but never quantifies
+ impact or root cause; rep pitches routing engine before pain is surfaced
+ Note: sequence violation — rep earned right to pitch only after pain was real
+
+ **4. Budget** — Missed
+ Evidence: no budget discussion at all
+ Note: rep never raised cost; proceeded as if affordability was settled
+
+ **5. Decision** — Partial
+ Evidence: "I'll just check with my director first before anything's final"
+ Note: approver named but process/timeline never clarified
+
+ **6. Fulfillment** — Missed
+ Evidence: "I think this is a great fit for Harborview. Let's get this moving
+ — I'll send over a contract this week"
+ Note: rep assumes close as settled; prospect's hesitant "I guess" shows
+ no real mutual agreement
+
+ **7. Post-Sell** — Missed
+ Evidence: call ends on "any other questions before we wrap?" with no step
+ to reinforce decision
+ Note: no check for doubts or reversals after commitment
+ ```
+
+ Close with **2-3 highest-leverage next steps** — the specific submarine
+ fixes that would have improved this deal. No section recapping all seven
+ scores again.
+
+ ## Do not
+
+ - Don't treat a vague pain mention ("we do get a lot of returns") as Covered
+ just because the word "problem" appeared — score it on whether the prospect
+ named cause, impact, and urgency in their own words.
+ - Don't add suggested talk tracks or a "how to handle this objection"
+ section unless asked — this skill audits the call that happened.
+ - Don't score a compartment Missed simply because the call's stage couldn't
+ reach it (apply the Not applicable category instead). A strong early call
+ should not read as mostly Missed.
+ - Don't infer Decision process from title alone — score it on whether the
+ rep actually mapped the approver, timeline, and decision sequence.
+
+ ## Related skills
+
+ - **`bant`** — for a faster four-criterion advance/no-advance read on a
+ first call instead of Sandler's seven-compartment depth.
+ - **`deep-discovery`** — for auditing discovery quality across nine
+ dimensions (similar depth, different focus — discovery audits information
+ gathered, Sandler audits process order and mutual agreement).
+ - **`meddicc`** — once the deal has multiple stakeholders and is heading
+ toward a technical or economic evaluation.
## Sample data
`assets/sample-transcript.txt` is a synthetic call that bonds well and gets
an up-front contract, but pitches before pain is fully surfaced, assumes
budget instead of discussing it, and closes hard instead of tentatively —
run the skill against it first.
## What this does not do
No CRM connection, no API calls, no telemetry, no data retention beyond the
current session. It reads the file you point it at and nothing else.