How to Check the Preparation Levels of Your Sales Reps

Sales leaders ask me one question a lot: "How do I check the preparation levels of my reps?"

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There are 2 ways to do this. Both happen in your 1:1's.

Method 1: Look Back at a Past Meeting

Pick a meeting that already happened and get curious about what preparation looked like for that meeting.

Ask simple questions:

• "What were you looking to achieve in that meeting?"
• "What was the current situation before you went in?"
• "What was the decision you were trying to catalyze in that meeting?"

Then move on to go a little deeper on the deal:

• "What's missing from the deal?"
• "Were there any stakeholders missing?"
• "Was it following process?"
• "What qualification info did we not have?"

Let's face it. We want to get everything, but there's generally something missing in the first couple of meetings. You should get decent answers.

Method 2: Pick an Important Meeting Coming Up

This is the kicker. Pick an important meeting that's coming up this week or in the next few days, and go down a similar line of questioning:

• "What are you looking to achieve in that meeting?"
• "What's the current situation at the moment?"
• "What's the decision you're trying to catalyze in that meeting itself?"
• "What's missing from that deal?"
• "What qualification info do we not have?"
• "What aspects of your training do you think you need to apply here?"
• "What aspects of the playbook are you going to use?"

These are the key things to be thinking about.

Why This Works

It sets the expectation with the rep that you expect them to be prepared. You expect them to operate like an elite professional — not just a charismatic person with a job.

Use this in your 1:1's. It'll give you a great barometer of what the preparation levels are like across your team.

And surprise, surprise — I guarantee you will find that your better reps will give you the best answers. The ones who are middle of the pack will give you okay answers.

Do that for a few weeks in a row, and you are going to see the preparation levels jump up across your team.

Click here to find out more about organising a 90-minute sales preparation master class for your team.