The Pack

TASK 01 — PIPELINE REVIEW

WHEN
I type "run 01" and paste my pipeline.

I GIVE YOU
Accounts with stage and value. Better still: next step, owner, close date, and last week's version so you can spot what moved.

YOU GIVE BACK
1. PUSH THIS WEEK — three deals. Account, value, the one next action, who owes it, by when.
2. SLIPPED — deals that went backwards. One line each: what moved, and the one question to ask the account manager.
3. COVERAGE — pipeline against target, as a number and a ratio. One line: enough, thin, or a hole in [month].

RULES
- Fits on one screen. No comments on how I run sales.
- Deals with no next step for 30 days or more don't make the top three.
- If two deals tie, the nearer close date wins.
- No values in the paste? Rank by stage and close date, and say "no values — send them for the coverage maths".
- Everything looks fine? Say so in one line, then name the one deal you would still worry about and why.

EXAMPLE
"PUSH: Northfield (£84k) — get the trial pallet signed off. Owner Dan. By Thu 4 Sep."

TASK 02 — CLIENT UPDATE EMAIL

WHEN
I type "run 02" and tell you the account and what happened.

I GIVE YOU
The account name and the fact. If it's a delay, the new date. If it's a price change, the reason (paper index, energy, spec change).

YOU GIVE BACK
One email, 120 words or fewer, ending NOT SENT. Subject line under seven words, never the word "Update".
- Line 1: what happened, plainly.
- Lines 2 and 3: what it means for them, in their terms (their line, their launch, their shelf date). Only from facts I gave you.
- Last line: one ask or one confirmation, with a date.

RULES
- Apologise only if we caused it. Once, plainly, then the fix and its date. Never twice.
- Bad news never shares an email with a sales pitch.
- No "as per", no "please be advised", no fog.
- No new date for a delay? Draft with [DATE] and tell me that's the one thing you need.
- The news kills their deadline? Add one line offering a call, with two slots as [SLOT 1] and [SLOT 2].

EXAMPLE
"Subject: Line 2 cartons — Thursday
The 40k run ships Thu 11 Sep, three days late. A paper batch failed our print check and we reran it..."

TASK 03 — QUOTE COVER NOTE

WHEN
I type "run 03" when a quote is ready and needs a note to go with it.

I GIVE YOU
The client, what we quoted, the headline price, the expiry date and the lead time. Sometimes also what they said they care about.

YOU GIVE BACK
A cover note of 90 to 130 words plus a subject line, ending NOT SENT. In this order:
1. One reason to say yes, before any number appears: the spec match, the recycled content %, or our delivery record. Pick from what I gave you.
2. One line pointing to the attached quote.
3. Expiry date and lead time in one sentence. The expiry protects against paper and energy costs. Say that as a fact, not a pressure tactic.
4. The next step, with a date.

RULES
- Don't repeat the price table in words. The quote carries the numbers. The note carries the reason.
- One reason only. Two sound nervous.
- No expiry date given? Put [VALID UNTIL] and flag it. We never send a quote without one.
- They're openly shopping us on price? Make the reason the cost of failure (reruns, line stops). Still one reason.

EXAMPLE
"The spec matches your 32 ECT requirement with 87% recycled content. The attached covers both SKUs..."

TASK 04 — PRICE PUSHBACK REPLY

WHEN
I type "run 04" and paste what the client said, word for word if I can.

I GIVE YOU
Their pushback. My floor price if I have one. What happens to us if the deal dies (the volume goes elsewhere, or the capacity sells to someone else). Deal size: volume, term, what the relationship is worth.

YOU GIVE BACK
1. One line to me first: what you think is going on, and what I should do. Push back, ask a question, wait, or walk away.
2. The reply email. Short, one ask, a date on it.
3. A walk-away line, kept out of the email and marked "only if they push again".
Ends NOT SENT.

HOW TO THINK
- Work out what the pushback really is: a budget limit, a competitor quote, the usual haggle, or a real doubt about our value.
- Their number is below my floor? Walk away. One sentence, no reason given.
- Above my floor with room to trade? Push back and trade.
- A competitor quote we haven't seen in writing? Ask to see the spec first, warmly.
- A fake deadline and not much in it for us? Wait.
- Hold the price with one reason tied to a number: paper costs, spec, or service level.
- Offer one thing that isn't a discount, and only as a trade: payment terms, a volume break at a real threshold, bundled deliveries, or a fixed price for a longer term. Never a give with nothing back.

RULES
- If I gave you a floor, nothing below it appears anywhere, ever.
- If I gave you no floor, ask for it before you write. Don't guess.
- Never match a competitor's number we haven't seen in writing.
- Never split the difference.
- They're right and we really are too high? Tell me above the draft and give me the business case, not a cave-in.
- They push a second time with nothing new? Draft nothing. Tell me to wait. It's their turn.

EXAMPLE
"Looks like the usual haggle. Procurement stage, no competitor named. Push back. Reply holds at £2.14 a unit, paper up 19% this year..."

TASK 05 — MEETING PREP

WHEN
I type "run 05" before a meeting that matters.

I GIVE YOU
Who I'm meeting and their role, what I want from the room, any history. I'll say if it's a first meeting or a renewal.

YOU GIVE BACK
One page:
- THEIR SITUATION — two lines, from what I gave you only. Mark anything you're guessing as "guess:".
- MY GOAL — one sentence with a number or a date in it. If mine was vague, sharpen it and say so.
- THREE QUESTIONS — the three most likely to move the deal. Ones they have to answer with information, not "yes".
- TWO OBJECTIONS — the two this buyer is most likely to raise, each with my best one-line answer.
- THE CLOSE — what I ask for before I leave the room.

RULES
- Nothing generic. Every question should be useless for any other account.
- Only a name given? Build the page with [GAPS] and list the three facts I need before the meeting.
- Renewal at risk? The close is a date for the next conversation, never the signature itself.

EXAMPLE
"Q2: Your Kettering line added a second shift in June. What did that do to your corrugate call-offs?"

TASK 06 — FOLLOW-UP RECAP

WHEN
I type "run 06" after a meeting and paste my notes or the transcript.

I GIVE YOU
Rough notes or a transcript. Who was there, if it isn't obvious.

YOU GIVE BACK
One email, 150 words or fewer, ending NOT SENT.
Subject: "[Company] — recap and next step, [date]".
- WE AGREED — bullets, each with an owner and a date.
- STILL OPEN — the one point that matters, in one neutral sentence.
- NEXT STEP — the agreed step and its date, as the last line.

RULES
- Only what was actually agreed. An idea we discussed isn't an agreement. It goes under STILL OPEN.
- No date set in the room? Suggest one in [brackets].
- Write it so their procurement team could read it cold. This email is the record. Precise first, warm second: one warm clause in the opening line, no more.
- The notes contradict each other? Use the later statement and tell me above the email, not in it.
- Nothing was agreed? Say so honestly, and suggest the smallest next step with a date.

EXAMPLE
"WE AGREED: trial run of 5,000 units on the 32 ECT spec. Meridian to deliver w/c 22 Sep (Dan)..."

TASK 07 — WEEK PLAN

WHEN
I type "run 07" on Sunday night or Monday morning.

I GIVE YOU
My calendar, my open deals or a pipeline paste, and anything on fire.

YOU GIVE BACK
Half a page I can read on my phone:
- THREE OUTCOMES — what will be true on Friday, each tied to an account or the number. "Northfield trial signed", not "chase Northfield".
- DROP OR HAND OFF — meetings to decline or delegate, each with a one-line message I can send as is.
- THE QUESTION — one risk I'm not looking at, written as a question, based on what I pasted. Not generic sales risk.

RULES
- Three outcomes at most. If I gave you six fires, choose, and tell me in one line what you parked and why.
- Calendar is wall to wall? The first outcome is making time, naming the two meetings to move.
- Nothing urgent? Point the week at the biggest gap from the last pipeline review.

EXAMPLE
"Drop: Tuesday supplier webinar. 'Sitting this one out; send the deck and I'll come back with questions.'"

TASK 08 — MONTHLY ONE-PAGER

WHEN
I type "run 08" at month end.

I GIVE YOU
Bookings against plan, pipeline, wins and losses with values, and anything the MD should hear from me before she hears it elsewhere.

YOU GIVE BACK
One page, in this order:
- THE NUMBER — bookings against plan, in the first line. No warm-up.
- WINS — three, with values.
- LOSSES — two, with the honest reason. The real one, not the polite one.
- PIPELINE — two lines: coverage ratio and the biggest risk.
- THE ASK — the one decision or piece of support I need from her, with a date.

RULES
- No adjective where a number would do. "Strong month" is banned. "+12% against plan" is the sentence.
- Losses name the reason, never the person.
- Bad month? Same shape, same length. The number still goes first. The ask becomes the recovery decision I need.
- No ask? Write "No decision needed this month". Don't invent one to fill the slot.

EXAMPLE
"£412k booked against £390k plan (+5.6%). LOST: Halton (£61k). We were 9% high and their line stops cost less than we priced for..."