Sit in on a rep's meeting and collect material for coaching without taking over.
When you sit in on a rep's client meeting to coach them, you say nothing from start to finish, write down what happens, and go through it with the rep afterwards. In this sense, observing means joining a meeting purely to watch, so that you come away with real material for coaching while the rep runs the meeting from start to finish. It is a different kind of joint visit from the one in lesson 1.2, When to join a rep's deal and when to stay out, where you came along to help win the deal.
Say you are next to your rep in a client's meeting room in Ubi (an invented example). Ten minutes in, the buyer wants to know if your product connects to their accounting system, and your rep's reply is only half right. You know the complete answer, and you feel the urge to lean forward and give it. Observing works only if you stay quiet for the whole meeting, so you hold back here, even though speaking up would put the correct facts in front of everyone, because for the rest of the hour your rep would then be acting as your assistant.
Sort out the arrangements the day before, in the same way you agreed roles in lesson 1.2. Let the rep know you are coming along to observe, that the whole meeting is theirs to lead, and that you will only speak if they ask you to or if something goes badly wrong.
Work out together what "badly wrong" covers. Wei Ming is a manager and Hui Min is on his team. They settled on anything that could harm the client or the company: a wrong statement on price or contract terms that the buyer might act on, a promise the company had no way of keeping, or any breach of a rule. A feature question answered only half right was left off the list, because Hui Min could put it right in her follow-up email, and fixing it herself would teach her more than having Wei Ming rescue her in the room.
Decide how the rep will introduce you, and agree a signal they can use to call you in. One plain sentence is enough for the introduction, giving your name and role and saying you are there to see how the team works with clients. Hui Min planned to say, "This is Wei Ming, my manager. He's joining today to see how we work with clients." For the signal, they agreed she would turn to him and ask, "Anything to add?" A quiet observer rarely bothers a buyer, and many take it as a sign that the company cares about the relationship.
Notes like "went well, good rapport, a bit rushed at the end" are close to useless when you come to coach, since the rep has nothing in them to work on. Write down the actual words and when they were said. Look out for:
the exact question the rep put to the buyer, and how the buyer answered buyer body language at particular moments, such as leaning forward or folding their arms the rep's words straight after the buyer raised a problem the phrase the rep used when asking for a next step
Note a rough time next to each entry so you can go back to that moment in the debrief. Rule a second column for coaching ideas, which keeps what you saw separate from what you think it means. A notebook or sheet of paper is better than a laptop, because typing can look like you are doing other work and it pulls the rep's attention.
Wei Ming went along to Hui Min's meeting with a cafe group. His notes recorded that at minute 22 the buyer said they had tried software before and it was a mess. Hui Min answered that their product was much easier to use, and after that the buyer said nothing. In the coaching column Wei Ming wrote: missed chance to ask what went wrong last time.
Most meetings give you several things you could coach on. Pick just one afterwards, following the method in lesson 6.1, Coach one behaviour at a time.
Have the debrief quickly, ideally the same day and certainly by the next. For a few hours you and the rep both recall the meeting clearly. Once a few days have gone by, the details fade and each of you tends to remember the version that suits you best. It can be brief and casual, in the car, over coffee close to the client's office, or on a phone call later in the day, and there is no need to book a room. Wei Ming and Hui Min spent fifteen minutes at a coffee shop downstairs from the client's office.
Start by asking the rep what went well and what they would do differently. Hold back your own opinion until they have answered. If you give it first, the rep will simply go along with it, and you lose the chance to find out how they judge their own work. Hui Min said the opening had gone well and the buyer had seemed interested, and she did not mention minute 22. She would have handled the end differently, because she was not sure the next step had been firmly agreed.
Once you have heard the rep out, raise your single point from your notes by asking questions. Wei Ming asked Hui Min what she had said after the buyer's comment at minute 22, and she recalled telling him their product was easier. He asked how the buyer had reacted, and she said he had gone quiet. He then asked what else she might have asked at that point, and she suggested finding out what had gone wrong the last time. They made that her coaching point, and went on to talk about how the buyer's answer could have helped her secure the next step she had been unsure about.
Hui Min was open to the point because the conversation had begun with her own view. There was no disagreement about what had happened, because Wei Ming's notes held the exact words spoken at minute 22.
Close the debrief by agreeing on what the rep will try at their next meeting, and put it in writing the way you would after a call review.
Keeping silent can sometimes mean a deal goes less well than it would have with you leading. You accept this as part of building a team that can sell without you in the room. Lesson 1.1 said the same about closing deals on your reps' behalf: this month's number rises and next quarter's falls.
If you notice you are stepping in at nearly every meeting you observe, the line you set for "badly wrong" has most likely drifted too wide, and you should sit down with the rep and agree it again.
In the activity below you will write an observation notes template for your own joint meetings. Design it so there is space for exact quotes with rough times, the moments that mattered, and one coaching point chosen after the meeting.
Write an observation notes template for joint meetings, with space for quotes, moments and one coaching point.
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