Question Set Builder — Test Output
Run by Cole, 2026-08-10, against skill file v1.0.0.
Test 1 — Transcript path. One real 100-minute call, 456 speaker turns, timestamped, read in full before any question was scored.
Test 2 — Recall path. One real question set, typed from memory by a service business owner, 8 questions, no recording.
Sanitization note. Both inputs are real. The source party is not named and nothing identifying about them appears here. Industry-specific nouns inside quotes are replaced with bracketed neutral equivalents — [the work], [the figure], [the specialist]. Question structure, answer text, counts, and all computed numbers are unchanged.
TEST 1 — TRANSCRIPT PATH
Question Set Builder
| Input path | Transcript |
| What was read | One call, 456 turns, timestamped 0:01:56–1:43:06 |
| You are | Speaker A — the one running the call |
| Questions found | 27 substantive (4 greetings and logistics excluded) |
1. Your Question Set
27 questions. 19 of them you ask every time.
| # | Question (as asked) | Standing / One-Off | Move flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "What's keeping you going with [the work] right now? Is it a lot of [seasonal overflow] or—" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 2 | "Did anything in those questions make you think, 'Huh, that's something I probably should be considering doing'? Anything pop up for you while you were answering those?" | Standing | M3 |
| 3 | "When did your video ads go live? You said it was this week." | One-Off | M2 |
| 4 | "I want you to think about a conversation that actually worked. What did you like about it? What made it feel right for you?" | Standing | M3 |
| 5 | "When one didn't work, what did they do wrong?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 6 | "How long is a typical sales conversation for you? What is a typical and how is it scheduled?" | Standing | M3 |
| 7 | "Think about a recent sales conversation you've had. Give me a quick narration of how you opened it." | Standing | — |
| 8 | "You're not doing any results stories about somebody in a similar position. Do you have any of those at all? And are you using them?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 9 | "Are they organized in a way that you can easily align what you're hearing from the prospect to an actual story? Does it feel like you have that, or would you—" | Standing | M2 |
| 10 | "How much of the call would you say is you talking versus you asking questions and them talking?" | Standing | — |
| 11 | "Is there any kind of segue between you asking them questions and telling them what it costs? How do you bridge from gathering intel to what's next?" | Standing | M3 |
| 12 | "What happens right after you name the number?" | Standing | — |
| 13 | "Do they ever say send that over, I want to get started — or is it more, I'll wait for your email? Are you getting people saying send it over because we really need to get started, or is it okay, send it when you get a chance?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 14 | "When someone says they want to run it by [the specialist], does this happen at all?" | Standing | M2 |
| 15 | "Can you tell anything about what they may have in common — industry, location, age group?" | Standing | M2 |
| 16 | "Where in the call do you feel like you lost them?" | Standing | M2 |
| 17 | "How many cold conversations have you booked over three months?" | Standing | — |
| 18 | "Do they fill out a small form when they book? Are you already doing that tool you talked about?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 19 | "What are some of the questions that you ask every time?" | Standing | — |
| 20 | "Are you using a tool like [a named scheduler]? How are you getting them to book? What's your tool of choice?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 21 | "What are you actually calling this call? Can you check and tell me how you're framing it when people book?" | One-Off | M3 |
| 22 | "Do you like two years or one year?" | One-Off | M2 |
| 23 | "Would you feel comfortable saying, I would lean toward implementing option two, and here's why?" | One-Off | M2 |
| 24 | "What is [the figure] you owe on September 15th?" | Standing | M1 |
| 25 | "What would you say next?" | One-Off | — |
| 26 | "What's an average result per year for a client at that rate?" | Standing | — |
| 27 | "What questions do you have about what I laid out?" | Standing | M2 |
2. Dead Answers
9 questions came back empty.
| Question | "Did anything in those questions make you think, 'Huh, that's something I probably should be considering doing'? Anything pop up for you while you were answering those?" |
| What came back | "Not, not, not too much." |
| Why it died | Two questions in one turn, and the second one is answerable with a shrug. Move 3. |
| Ask instead | "Which of those questions was the hardest one to answer?" |
| Question | "I want you to think about a conversation that actually worked. What did you like about it? What made it feel right for you?" |
| What came back | "Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll answer your question in two different ways." — then answered a different question entirely, and had to be redirected twice. |
| Why it died | Three questions stacked into one turn. They picked the one they had an answer ready for. Move 3. |
| Ask instead | "Think of the last time you bought something like what you sell. What made you say yes?" |
| Question | "When one didn't work, what did they do wrong? It's not the opposite necessarily of what we just said. It could be something like — absolutely, this totally turned me off when I was on this call. It was a hard no for me." |
| What came back | "Really, it's I never get a hard no." — wrong frame. Then: "So repeat the question one more time, just so I understand the perspective." |
| Why it died | The example answer arrived before they could produce one, and it pointed them the wrong way. Move 2. It took two rebuilds to recover. |
| Ask instead | "When was the last time you decided not to hire someone? What happened?" |
| Question | "When someone says they want to run it by [the specialist], does this happen at all?" |
| What came back | "No, not typically." |
| Why it died | Yes/no with the answer named inside it. Move 2. |
| Ask instead | "After a call like that, who else hears about it before they decide?" |
| Question | "Where in the call do you feel like you lost them? It doesn't sound like in that last scenario that that happened." |
| What came back | "Yeah, it doesn't." |
| Why it died | Asked and answered in the same breath. They fed the answer back. Move 2. |
| Ask instead | "Where in that call did the energy change?" |
| Question | "Do they fill out a small form when they book? Are you already doing that tool you talked about?" |
| What came back | "No, not yet." |
| Why it died | Two closed questions stacked. Nothing to answer with. Move 3. |
| Ask instead | "What do you know about someone before you get on the call with them?" |
| Question | "Would you feel comfortable saying, I would lean toward implementing option two, and here's why?" |
| What came back | "Yeah, yeah, that's normal." |
| Why it died | The full answer was inside the question. Agreement is all that was left. Move 2. |
| Ask instead | "Say that back to me the way you'd say it on a call." |
| Question | "What is [the figure] you owe on September 15th?" |
| What came back | "Yeah, I'm drawing a blank on this one." |
| Why it died | Needs records they do not have open. Nobody answers this on a call. Move 1 — the cleanest one in the transcript. |
| Ask instead | "What's the next deadline on your calendar that's going to cost you money?" |
| Question | "What questions do you have about what I laid out?" |
| What came back | "We pretty much touched on everything." — and again on the re-ask: "No, no, I think you hit all the things." |
| Why it died | The closing question everyone asks and nobody answers. Asking it twice did not change the answer. Move 2. |
| Ask instead | "What's the part of this you're least sure you can run on Monday?" |
3. Where You Answered For Them
7 places.
| # | What you said | What it handed them | Ask instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "What's keeping you going with [the work] right now? Is it a lot of [seasonal overflow] or—" | The category of the answer | "What's taking up most of your week right now?" |
| 2 | "When one didn't work, what did they do wrong? … It could be something like, this totally turned me off." | A finished example to agree with | "When was the last time you decided not to hire someone?" |
| 3 | "You're not doing any results stories about somebody in a similar position." | The finding, before they produced it | "What do you say when someone asks whether you've done this before?" |
| 4 | "Where in the call do you feel like you lost them? It doesn't sound like that happened." | The conclusion | "Where in that call did the energy change?" |
| 5 | "Are you using a tool like [a named scheduler]?" | The brand name — which came straight back | "How do they get on your calendar?" |
| 6 | "Would you feel comfortable saying, I would lean toward option two, and here's why?" | The entire sentence | "Say that back to me the way you'd say it on a call." |
| 7 | "Do you like two years or one year?" | Both options | "How far back do you need to look before you can give someone a real number?" |
4. Talk Ratio — First 15 Minutes
| Your share | 44% |
| Their share | 56% |
| Method | Measured from timestamps — 0:01:56 to 0:16:56, word count by speaker |
| Target | 30% you, 70% them |
| Gap | 14 points over |
Raw counts: 1,016 words you, 1,277 words them, 6 words unattributed, across 61 turns.
You are close, and the gap is not spread evenly — it sits inside the stacked questions. Six of the first fifteen minutes' questions carried a second question or an example with them.
5. The Set You Should Be Running
- "Why did you book this call today?" (then stop)
- "What's taking up most of your week right now?"
- "What changed that made now the time?"
- "Think of the last time you bought something like what you sell. What made you say yes?"
- "When was the last time you decided not to hire someone? What happened?"
- "After a call like this, who else hears about it before you decide?"
- "What have you already tried on this?"
- "If nothing changes for the next twelve months, what does that cost you?"
- "What would make this obviously worth it to you?"
Hold in reserve: the volume and conversion numbers — they are useful, but they are yours to look up after the call, not theirs to produce on it.
Ask it open. Then stop talking. Say back what they said before you move on.
6. The One Change
Kill "What questions do you have about what I laid out?" and run "What's the part of this you're least sure you can run on Monday?" instead — it is the only closing question in the set that has ever produced an answer.
TEST 2 — RECALL PATH
No recording. The owner typed out the questions they remember asking, and answered the three setup questions.
Question Set Builder
| Input path | Recall |
| What was read | 8 questions from recall. 30-minute call. All 8 asked in the first 15 minutes. |
| You are | The owner running the call |
| Questions found | 8 (0 greetings excluded) |
1. Your Question Set
8 questions. All 8 are Standing — you remembered them because you always ask them.
| # | Question (as asked) | Standing / One-Off | Move flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "What's the situation you have? What does your situation look like?" | Standing | M3 |
| 2 | "What are your investments and your income?" | Standing | — |
| 3 | "What do the next three to five years look like for you?" | Standing | — |
| 4 | "What do the next 30 to 40 years look like for you?" | Standing | M1 |
| 5 | "Do you prefer to travel, or do you prefer to stay in a fixed place?" | Standing | M2 |
| 6 | "How do you like to live your lifestyle? I'm not going to suggest a long-term hold for you if you want to be six months in one place and six months in another." | Standing | M2 |
| 7 | "Where do you want your business to go? Do you want to grow it, do you want to franchise it?" | Standing | M2, M3 |
| 8 | "Where did you come from?" | Standing | — |
2. Dead Answers
2 questions came back empty.
| Question | "What do the next 30 to 40 years look like for you?" |
| What came back | Owner's recall: "Some people do kind of shut off with that question and that thinking." |
| Why it died | Nobody arrives at a first call having thought through forty years. It asks them to have already done the work you are being hired to do. Move 1. |
| Ask instead | "What's the next big thing you're planning for — the one that's already on the calendar?" |
| Question | "Do you prefer to travel, or do you prefer to stay in a fixed place?" |
| What came back | Not remembered. |
| Why it died | Two options offered, so two options is all you get back. Not remembering the answer is the signal — nothing came back worth keeping. Move 2. |
| Ask instead | "What does a normal month look like for you right now?" |
3. Where You Answered For Them
3 places.
| # | What you said | What it handed them | Ask instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Do you prefer to travel, or do you prefer to stay in a fixed place?" | Both options | "What does a normal month look like for you right now?" |
| 2 | "How do you like to live your lifestyle? I'm not going to suggest a long-term hold if you want to be six months in one place…" | A worked example of the answer, 22 words long | "How do you like to live? Take your time on it." |
| 3 | "Do you want to grow it, do you want to franchise it?" | The two directions worth naming | "Where do you want this business to be in three years?" |
4. Talk Ratio — First 15 Minutes
| Your share | 76% |
| Their share | 24% |
| Method | Projected from question form — 3 Open, 2 Factual, 3 Closed |
| Target | 30% you, 70% them |
| Gap | 46 points over |
Projection: 3 Open × 55s + 2 Factual × 20s + 3 Closed × 5s = 220 seconds of them, out of 900.
This is a projection off the question set, not a measurement — and it moves the moment the set changes. Three of your eight questions can be answered in five seconds. Swap those three for the replacements above and their share roughly doubles without you adding a single minute to the call.
5. The Set You Should Be Running
- "Why did you book this call today?" (then stop)
- "What does a normal month look like for you right now?"
- "What's the next big thing you're planning for — the one already on the calendar?"
- "What do the next three to five years look like for you?"
- "Where do you want this business to be in three years?"
- "What have you already tried on this?"
- "Who else weighs in before you decide?"
- "How did you find me?"
Hold in reserve: income and investment detail — ask for it after they have said yes to a next step, not while they are deciding whether they trust you.
Ask it open. Then stop talking. Say back what they said before you move on.
6. The One Change
Kill "What do the next 30 to 40 years look like for you?" and run "What's the next big thing you're planning for — the one already on the calendar?" instead — same information, and they can answer it without preparing for it.
Test result
| Promised element | Test 1 (transcript) | Test 2 (recall) |
|---|---|---|
| The questions you ask every time | 19 of 27 marked Standing | 8 of 8 marked Standing |
| The ones that got a dead answer, with what to ask instead | 9 found, 9 replacements written | 2 found, 2 replacements written |
| Every place you answered for them | 7 found | 3 found |
| Talk ratio in the first 15 minutes | 44% / 56%, measured from timestamps | 76% / 24%, projected from question form |
| The set you should be running | 9 questions | 8 questions |
Both paths produced all five. No path produced an apology.
Fixes made to the skill during testing:
- Greetings and logistics were being counted as questions. Added an exclusion rule and a Run Header count.
- Re-asking your own question because the first version did not land was not being scored as a dead answer. Added.
- The first recall-path talk-ratio method counted only the words in the questions themselves and returned 6% — technically true, useless, and misleading. Replaced with a projection off question form (Open / Factual / Closed answer times), which produced 76% and moves when the question set changes.