A sales ride-along is a manager joining a rep on real buyer meetings, in person or on video, to watch how the rep sells and debrief each meeting afterwards.
Brief, observe, debrief, in person
The rep schedules a normal day of meetings, and the manager comes along. The shape that works is simple. Agree the purpose in advance so the rep is never surprised, stay in the background during each meeting, and after each one ask the rep how it went before giving your own view. That is brief, observe and debrief, the loop of a sales coaching framework, done live.
- 01BriefAgree the purpose; never surprise the rep
- 02ObserveStay in the background
- 03DebriefAsk the rep how it went first
- 01BriefAgree the purpose; never surprise the rep
- 02ObserveStay in the background
- 03DebriefAsk the rep how it went first
Its strength is the debrief on a real call: research on training transfer finds that what happens back at work predicts whether a skill gets used (Saks and Belcourt 2006). Its limit is capacity, because a manager can ride with one rep on one day. On video calls the manager can join more often, though the reach problem stays.
A Wednesday in the field
Illustrative. A field rep has three meetings on Wednesday. Over breakfast the manager asks what each one has to produce. At the second, a facilities buyer says the current contract renews in March, and the rep moves on to pricing. In the car, the manager asks first.
- Manager: What do you know after the second meeting that you didn't going in?
- Rep: That they renew in March. So the timing works.
- Manager: And what don't you know yet?
- Rep: Who decides on the renewal. I never asked.
The rep found the gap, which is why the manager asked before saying anything. They agree to call the buyer on Friday to ask that question and to propose a meeting with the decision maker.
Related terms
FAQ
How often should a sales manager do ride-alongs? A manager should ride along as often as their coaching skill and calendar allow, aimed at deals that matter. Volume is not enough on its own: in a study of 1,246 reps, frequent coaching from less skilled managers was linked to worse results (Dahling et al. 2016, summarized in our Game Winning Kickoffs field study).
What is a joint sales call? A joint sales call is a buyer meeting that the rep and someone else, often the manager, attend together. A ride-along usually covers several joint calls in a day, with a debrief after each.
Can a ride-along be virtual? A ride-along can be virtual: the manager joins a rep's video meetings and debriefs straight after. Between ride-alongs, a rep can talk the deal through on a call with Caty, our AI sales expert for live deals, before and after each buyer meeting (for leaders).