The Train Allen tab: teaching Allen to sell for you
Three things, in order: your goal, when you take calls, and your rules. Then a practice chat where you play the prospect. Everything else is under More options.
2 min read
Train Allen is the first tab on the Communications page, and the page opens on it until your goal is set. The checklist at the top shows what is set and what is left. Click a row to open it. Everything on this tab is used for every message Allen writes for you.
1. Your goal
Who you want meetings with, what you do for them in one sentence, what Allen should call the meeting and how long it is, and how direct Allen should be (Gentle, Balanced or Direct). The one line Allen never sends without is "What do you do for them". Press Save goal. "Add more detail" holds a proof point, what they are trying to do, and what the meeting covers; all optional, all worth two minutes. The full guide is "Your outreach playbook".
2. When you take calls
The switch that lets Allen answer replies and book, the days you take calls, and the earliest and latest call. Connect your calendar first (the button is right there) or Allen can only draft answers. "More options" has the gap between meetings, the soonest a call can be, and a LinkedIn reminder on the day. See "Connecting your calendar" and "How Allen books meetings".
3. Your rules
Optional. Plain sentences, like you would tell a new hire: "Never quote a price, say we go through it on the call." "Only book owners or VPs." Each rule has a switch, so you can turn one off without deleting it. Below the list, "Questions Allen asks before offering a call" is one question per line; Allen works them in one at a time, as a person would, and if the answers show someone is not a fit it does not offer a call and hands them to you.
Try it out
Write as a prospect and watch Allen answer exactly as it would live. Nothing is sent, booked or charged. Under any answer you do not like, press Teach Allen, say what it should have done in a sentence, and that becomes a rule in your list. Then redo the answer and see the difference. Ten minutes here before you go live is the best time you will spend on Communication.
More options
Two things most people never need. "Only reach people like this": a sentence describing who Allen may contact; Allen checks each profile against it before connecting, and empty means it goes by the audience's job titles. Below it, "Never these job titles" shows the audience's skip list, which you change on the Prospects page. "A different offer for one audience": when one audience should hear a different pitch or be offered a different meeting, give it its own offer here and it replaces your goal for those people only.
A good order
Fill in Your goal, connect your calendar, then try it out for a few minutes and add a rule for whatever Allen got wrong. Most people find two or three rules cover it.
Still stuck?
A person will answer.
Allen is built by a small team and we read every message. Business-day replies usually come within a few hours.