Typically when you ask a sales person to debrief a sales meeting/conversation they tell you a story, starting at the beginning of the conversation, going into detail about the meat of it and finally wrapping up with what happened at the end. That can take up a lot of everyone’s time, so how about starting at the end?
Teach your people to start by telling you what happened at the end of the meeting/conversation. What was the outcome and what happens next - getting them to be really specific. Based on that you can then ask really targeted questions if more explanation is required.
A good summary from a salesperson might sound like:
‘At the end of the meeting we agreed to arrange another 90 mins meeting which is taking place next Thursday at 9.30am at their offices. The purpose of that meeting is to discuss what our solution would look like and get a no/yes decision from them as to whether to progress to a next step. On their end we will have all the key decision-makers present (CTO, FD, project manager) and I will be attending, taking Simon along to deal with more detailed technical questions.’
As the manager you can then ask probing questions to make sure this is a well-qualified opportunity and to uncover what support this person needs ahead of the meeting.
Most salespeople won’t get there on their own, but with feedback from you they will learn what’s the most productive way to debrief you and themselves, saving everyone time.
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