Certus Practice Desk

How this works

You practice the whole front end of a deal, exactly as you'd run it for a real borrower: the pre-call email, Call #1, and the post-call email with the needs list. The borrower is an AI built from one of our real borrower calls. Their numbers, their story, their objections and the things they don't volunteer all come from that call.

Everything gets checked. The call is graded against the Call #1 Master Script. The app also tracks whether each email went out, when, and with the right deck attached.

The process, step by step

Book a call. Go to Book a call, pick a time and a borrower (or let it surprise you). You get a calendar invite with a Google Meet link. The invite and the booking screen show the borrower's email address and their time zone. Every practice borrower has their own address, and it looks like e.ashby+first.last@certuscredit.com.
Send the pre-call email right away. Send it from your own Certus email to the borrower's address. Attach the Company Overview deck from Documents. Quote the call time in the borrower's time zone.
CC only e.ashby@certuscredit.com on practice emails. On a real deal you also CC b.musicar@, j.landry@ and f.magallon@. Don't CC them on practice.

Subject: Certus Credit - Company Overview & Meeting Confirmation [First name], Hope you're doing well. Wanted to get this over ahead of [Monday]'s call at [10:00am ET], so feel free to review at your convenience. Attached is our company overview deck, so we can make the most of the time. We'll walk through the rest live and leave plenty of room for questions. Best, [Your first name]

Weekend send: open with "Hope you're having a great weekend" instead. No agenda, no "have handy" list, nothing about their business.
Run Call #1. Join the Meet at the start time. The borrower asks to join from the waiting room under their own name. Admit them (they wait up to 15 minutes). You speak first. Run the call from the Master Script, start to finish: the open, the business and numbers, the deal-type insert, the rest of the file, who else has seen it, how we work, fees, and what happens next.
- For the NDA, run 7.1 and 7.5 as if you were sending it. Don't actually send a DocuSign on practice.
- Book Call #2 out loud with a day, a time and their time zone, like a real call.
- Say "end roleplay" to stop early, or just leave the Meet when you're done.
- Some borrowers talk a lot. Take notes and don't re-ask what they already told you. Some are guarded, so you have to dig. Every borrower is hiding something that only good questions surface.
Send the post-call email the same day. Send it to the same borrower address, with the needs list built from what they told you on the call. Attach the Financing Programs deck. You can run the post-call email skill in Claude to draft it, but you own every line.
Subject: Certus - Needs List & Next Steps [First name], Thanks for making time today and great speaking with you. The NDA went out via DocuSign to this address during the call. Please take a look at your convenience. I've attached our financing programs as well, so you can see the kinds of capital the desk places. Once we have the file, we'll come back with which of these fits and why. Below is what we'd need to get started: Financials - [the years they said they have, named] - Last 4 months of bank statements, all business accounts - Backup for the [cash flow figure they quoted] [Deal section, e.g. Acquisition / Equipment / Contracts] - [only paper the call supports] Existing Loans - [every facility they named, with balance and payment] - A simple list of everything else owed: who it's owed to, balance, rate, payment, and what secures it Company - [entity docs, operating agreement if partners, short PFS if a guarantee is implied] - Which banks you've spoken with so far, so we don't cross wires As we discussed, if we can have the bulk of it by Thursday end of day, our analysts have the weekend to work through it and we can come to the second call with our recommendations and next steps. Call #2 is booked for [Day], [Month] [date] at [time] [TZ]. The invite is in your inbox. Best, [Your first name]

Every bullet should carry something the borrower said: a name, a balance, a year. Generic bullets are the tell of a lazy list. Never ask for paper the call doesn't support, like an LOI that doesn't exist. Never name which program fits them, and never quote a rate, a term or a fee.
Read your report. A few minutes after the call, your graded report arrives by email and shows up under Reports. It includes your score against the script, what you missed, what the borrower was hiding, how you handled each objection, one thing to focus on next time, and the full transcript. The pre-call and post-call email columns update on their own as your emails land.

Never say

"Loan adviser", "if a lender looked at your file", "we know the people who decide", "which lender we'd send it to". Anything that sounds like a middleman.
A fee number or percentage on Call #1.
"Not a lender" or "not a bank".
Arguing the fee. Ask "are you opposed to that?" once, handle one objection, move on.

Practice now vs booking

Book a call is the full process: invite, pre-call email, call, post-call email. Use it by default.

Borrowers. The list holds borrowers built from our real calls. Pick A fresh made-up borrower to get one written from scratch that nobody has seen before. They're built to the same standard, with real-feeling numbers, history and objections, and each one is used once.

Practice now is for a quick rep. Open a Google Meet yourself, paste the link, and the borrower joins in about 20 seconds. There's no pre-call email on these, but the post-call email still counts.

Book a practice call

You get a calendar invite with a Meet link. At the start time the borrower asks to join.

Date and time (your time zone)

Length

Borrower

Practice now

Already in a Google Meet? Paste the link and the borrower asks to join in about 20 seconds.

Google Meet link Borrower

Upcoming practice calls

Send the pre-call email to the borrower's address before the call.

By rep

Practice calls

Follow-up playbook

What to do after Call #1 on a real deal, in if/then form. You own two things: a signed NDA and the data room. Once both are in, you hand the file to the team for analysis.

Every touch: dial from inside Pipedrive, log it, and leave the deal with a next activity and a date. Emails go as a reply on the needs-list thread so the CCs stay on. Texts are typed by you, one to one, from your own phone.

When	If	Then	Pipedrive
Call #1 + 24h	NDA unsigned	DocuSign reminder + email	NDA Sent (Waiting)
Call #1 + 48h	NDA still unsigned	Text, then call	NDA Sent (Waiting)
Call #2 - 48h	NDA or docs missing	Email	Collecting Docs
Call #2 - 24h	Still missing	Call, text if no answer	Collecting Docs
Call #2	Still missing	Run it as the checkpoint, never move it	Collecting Docs
Any time	Some docs in	Thank them, list what's missing, name the date	Collecting Docs
Any time	NDA signed + docs coming in	Post in #cc-data-rooms	Working on Data Room (on the team's go)
Call #2 + 0 to 14 days	No-show on Call #2	Two-week follow-up, then close out	No Show, then Future Follow Up

1. NDA not signed

Call #1 + 24 hours

If the NDA is still unsigned

Then send a DocuSign reminder on the envelope and reply on the needs-list thread.

Email, reply on the needs-list thread

[First name], Hope you're well. The NDA is still sitting in DocuSign, so I've resent it in case it got buried. Once it's back we can get started on the file. Best, [Your first name]

Pipedrive: NDA Sent (Waiting)

Call #1 + 48 hours

If it's still unsigned

Then text, and call if they don't reply.

Text

Hi [First name], [Your name] from Certus Credit. Checking the NDA came through on your end. Once it's signed we can get started on the file. Happy to resend if easier.

Call

Hi [First name], it's [Your name] with Certus Credit. Quick one on the NDA. Did it land? Anything in it you want to walk through?

If their lawyer is reviewing it, that's fine. Get a date it comes back and put it on the deal as the next activity.

Pipedrive: NDA Sent (Waiting)

2. Call #2 is coming, NDA or docs missing

Always chase before Call #2. Then run Call #2 as the checkpoint whatever came in.

Call #2 - 48 hours

If the NDA or the docs aren't in

Then email on the needs-list thread.

Email, reply on the needs-list thread

[First name], Hope you are well. Checking in ahead of [Day]'s [time] [TZ] call on the NDA and documents. If you can send the bulk of the list by [day] end of day, our analysts can work through it and we'll come to the call with our analysis and next steps. If you're still pulling things together, no problem. Let us know where you stand and we'll use the call to work through the rest. Best, [Your first name]

Pipedrive: Collecting Docs

Call #2 - 24 hours

If it's still missing

Then call. Text if they don't answer.

Call

Hi [First name], it's [Your name] with Certus Credit, calling ahead of tomorrow. Where are you on the list? Anything you're stuck on?

Text

Hi [First name], [Your name] from Certus Credit. Looking forward to [day] at [time] [TZ]. Where are you on the documents? Even a partial set helps us come prepared.

Pipedrive: Collecting Docs

Call #2

If things are still missing when Call #2 arrives

Then keep the call. Never move it for missing docs. Run it as the checkpoint:

NDA unsigned? Do it live on the call.
Walk the needs list item by item: who is getting it, and by when.
Book Call #3 out loud with a day, a time and their time zone.

Pipedrive: Collecting Docs

3. Some docs are in

Any time

If only part of the list has come in

Then thank them and name exactly what's missing and by when.

Email, reply on the needs-list thread

[First name], Thanks, got the [items]. Still need: - [item] - [item] If we can have those by [day], we stay on track for [Day]'s call. Best, [Your first name]

Pipedrive: Collecting Docs

4. Hand it off

Any time

If the NDA is signed and docs are coming in

Then post in #cc-data-rooms. The team decides on each deal whether what's in is enough to start. When they say go, move the deal to Working on Data Room.

Slack, #cc-data-rooms

Pipedrive: Working on Data Room on the team's go

5. No-show on Call #2

Two weeks of follow-up, then close it out. Move the deal to No Show the same day.

Day 0

If they don't join within 5 minutes

Then call at +3 minutes with no voicemail. Call again at +10 and leave the voicemail. Text at +15. Email inside the hour.

Voicemail, +10 min

[First name], [Your name] with Certus Credit. We had our call booked at [time] and I didn't manage to reach you. No problem at all. If today has gone sideways, just reply to my email and we'll pick another time.

Text, +15 min

[First name], [Your name] with Certus Credit. We had you down for [time] today to go through the file and couldn't reach you. No problem, things come up. Is later today or tomorrow easier?

Email, inside the hour

Subject: Missed you at [time] [First name], We had our second call booked at [time] today and didn't get to speak. No problem, that happens. Reply with two or three times that work this week and I'll work around them. Best, [Your first name]

Pipedrive: No Show

Day 2

If there's still no reply

Then call, then text.

Text

Hi [First name], [Your name] from Certus Credit. Wanted to get our second call back on the calendar so your file keeps moving. Does [day] or [day] work better?

Day 4

If there's still no reply

Then email on the needs-list thread.

Email, reply on the needs-list thread

[First name], Hope you're well. Following up so your file doesn't stall. Where do things stand on [the NDA and] the list below? If it's easier, reply with a couple of times this week and we'll pick the call back up. Best, [Your first name]

Day 7

If there's still no reply

Then call and leave a voicemail. Always give them a reason to call back.

Voicemail

[First name], [Your name] with Certus Credit. Calling to get our second call back on the books. I've got a couple of questions on the file before we can take it further. Call me back at [number] or reply to my email.

Day 10

If there's still no reply

Then text.

Text

Hi [First name], [Your name] from Certus Credit. Still holding your file open on our side. Is the financing still a priority, or has the timing changed?

Day 14

If there's still no reply

Then send the close-out email and move the deal to Future Follow Up.

Email

Subject: Closing your file [First name], I have tried you a few times and not caught you, so I will assume the timing is wrong and close this out rather than keep chasing you. If it changes, reply to this and I will pick it straight back up. Nothing is lost on our side. [Your first name]

Pipedrive: Future Follow Up

6. Engagement letter and close

The senior rep handles the terms one-pager, the closing call and the engagement letter chase for now. This is changing soon and will be added here.

Pipedrive: Engagement Sent (Waiting)

Documents

Everything you use on a booked call. Always take the copy from here so you have the current version.