A rep prepares for a deal review in 20 minutes by writing down what the buyer last said in their own words, marking which stages of the deal have buyer evidence behind them, naming the one thing the deal is missing, and drafting the opening line of the next buyer conversation.
What the prep is for
Most prep goes on the wrong job, updating the CRM and rehearsing a status report that the review then picks apart. The review is there to plan the next conversation with the buyer, so the prep that pays gets the rep halfway to that plan before the call starts. Our guide to deal coaching sets out the whole practice; this page is the rep's side of it.
- The buyer's last words, as quotes
- Each stage marked with its evidence, or left empty
- The one gap
- A draft opening line for the next buyer conversation
- One ask of the manager
Two habits make the 20 minutes honest. Write the buyer's words as quotes, with a name and a date, and keep your own read of the deal in a separate line. And when a stage has no quote, email or calendar entry behind it, leave it empty. An empty box tells the manager where to spend the time.
Then write one ask of your manager, specific enough to say yes or no to.
How the 20 minutes go
The 20 minutes go in four blocks: reread the buyer's words, walk the stages, name one gap, then draft the opening line for the review call.
| Minutes | What the rep does | What they have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | Reread the last buyer email and call notes. Write what the buyer said, in quotes, with names and dates | Three or four lines in the buyer's words |
| 5 to 10 | Walk the stages: problem in their words, a number on it, their criteria, the signer on a call, the approval steps, a dated buyer step. Mark each with its source or leave it empty | The first empty stage, which is the deal's real stage |
| 10 to 15 | Write the one gap as a sentence about the buyer, then the conversation that would fill it: with whom, and why they would take it | One gap, one named person |
| 15 to 20 | Draft the opening line of that conversation, the pushback you expect, and one ask of your manager | A plan to test on the review call |
If the deal runs a methodology, use its words for the stages: MEDDPICC metrics and economic buyer, Gap Selling current state and its cost, or the ValueSelling Framework® business issue and the person with the power to buy.
Copy this into the deal record and fill it in before the call:
DEAL REVIEW PREP
Deal: __________ CRM stage: ______ Review date: ______
BUYER'S WORDS (quotes, name, date)
1. "______________________" (who, when)
2. "______________________" (who, when)
My read, kept separate: ____________________
STAGES (source, or leave empty)
Problem in their words: ______
A number on it: ______
Their criteria: ______
Signer on a call: ______
Approval steps: ______
Dated buyer step: ______
First empty stage = real stage: ______
THE GAP (one sentence about the buyer): ____________________
Conversation that fills it: with ______, because ______
Opening line: "______________________"
Pushback I expect: ______
My ask of my manager: ______
An example (illustrative)
The rep, deal and numbers are fictional. Priya's deal with a mid-sized insurer shows Proposal in the CRM. In the first five minutes she writes the claims director's line from last week: "If renewals keep slipping, we lose about $90k a quarter." The stages walk cleanly to the third: criteria. She has no quote from anyone on what the insurer needs to see. She writes the gap as "Nobody at the insurer has told us what a pass looks like."
The conversation goes to the claims director, because she owns the problem and wants it fixed before her own review. The opening line reads: "Before we go further on pricing, can you tell me what your team would need to see to say this works?" Priya's ask of her manager is a reference call with a similar insurer, ready in case the director names one as a criterion. The review then spends its time on whether that opening line holds up.
Where this goes further
The manager's side of the same call is how to coach a rep on a live deal, and the full agenda is how to run a deal review.
A rep need not wait for the weekly 1:1 to test the plan. The rep can bring the deal to Caty on a call the night before, talk it through, and Caty asks for the evidence, finds the gap and has the rep say the opening line out loud. Typing works when talking does not. To see a dry run on one deal, talk to us.
FAQ
What should a rep bring to a deal review?
A rep should bring the buyer's last words as quotes, the deal's stages marked with their evidence, the one gap, a draft opening line for the next call and one specific ask of the manager. A CRM screen and a status update are not enough, because the review exists to plan what happens next.
How long should deal review prep take?
About 20 minutes per deal for a rep who knows the deal. Past that, the rep is usually researching and putting off the decision. If the evidence pass turns up a stage the rep cannot answer, stop and bring that gap to the review.
What if the rep doesn't know the answer to a deal review question?
Say so, and write it down as the gap. "I don't know who signs" is more useful in a review than a confident guess, because it points straight at the next buyer conversation. The review then plans how to find out.