Sales Process Workshop
Facilitator cue sheet — 2 hours, 7 phases. Session data stays on this device unless you export.
Facilitator toolkit
Before you run the phases
Global framing, reminders, and quick-reference prompts. Collapse sections you don't need during the session.
Workshop framing
Purpose
- make the current sales process visible
- understand what is actually happening at each stage
- identify friction, weak spots, and conversion leaks
- agree what needs to change first
- create the basis for a more repeatable, scalable sales process
Workshop outcomes
By the end of the session, you should have:
- a mapped view of the current sales process
- a score out of 10 for each major stage
- a clear sense of where the process is too reactive, unclear, or inconsistent
- 3 to 5 priority improvements
- enough insight to build a refined version of the sales process afterwards
Duration & workshop flow
2 hours total.
- Setup and context — 10 mins
- First principles video — 15 mins
- Buyer journey — 15 mins
- Current pipeline mapping — 35 mins
- Stage scoring — 10 mins
- Redesign discussion — 25 mins
- Priorities and next steps — 10 mins
Facilitation style
The tone for this workshop should be:
You are not trying to sound overly formal. You are trying to:
- get honesty out of the room
- keep things moving
- translate messy answers into clean process insights
- help the client feel understood while still challenging weak thinking
Before the session
Prep checklist
Tools needed
What success looks like for the facilitator
- the client is honest
- the real process becomes visible
- the biggest problems become obvious
- you leave with enough to build something better afterwards
Facilitator reminders
Keep asking
- What is this stage for?
- What outcome should it create?
- How do we know it’s working?
Watch out for
- people describing the ideal instead of the real
- instinct being mistaken for process
- vague answers
- long edge-case stories
- defending familiar habits
Use these lines often
- “Cool, let me stop you there for a sec.”
- “That’s useful context. Let’s pin it to the stage.”
- “So what I’m hearing is…”
- “Yeah, but what’s underneath that?”
- “Bring me back to what actually happens today.”
- “Let’s park that for now.”
- “That sounds more like a proposal issue than a lead-in issue.”
Look for the core tension
- “Too much of this lives in people’s heads.”
- “The process is too reactive.”
- “Your sales process hasn’t grown with the value of what you’re selling.”
- “You’re making the buyer do too much work to understand the value.”
Always link process back to commercial impact
Weak process means: wasted time, weaker proposals, lower conversion, slower approvals, lost momentum, delayed revenue.
Quick-reference prompts
Compact cheat sheet — refer to these at any point.
Setup
- Who owns sales?
- How documented is it?
- How much lives in heads?
- Could someone else run it tomorrow?
Video
- What outcome were they solving for?
- What did they cut?
- What did they redesign?
- What do we do just because it feels normal?
Buyer journey
- Why do prospects start looking?
- What do they think the problem is?
- What is the deeper issue?
- Why do they stall?
Pipeline
- What happens here?
- Who owns it?
- What moves it forward?
- What causes friction?
Scoring
- What’s the number?
- Why not lower?
- Why not higher?
Redesign
- What is this stage for?
- What is missing?
- What is unnecessary?
- What should change first?
Close
- Core diagnosis?
- Quick win?
- Bigger structural fix?
- Who owns next step?
- When do we review?
Final note for whoever is running the session
You do not need to sound perfect. What matters:
- keep the room honest
- keep the conversation moving
- summarise clearly
- challenge weak process kindly but directly
- leave with a small number of clear, high-value next steps
If you do that, the workshop will be useful.
Setup and context
Goal: Set the tone, explain the purpose, and get the room aligned.
Thanks for making the time. Today is really about making your sales process visible. We want to understand what actually happens at each stage, where things are working, where they are clunky, and where the process might be quietly costing you deals.
We do not need perfect answers. We just need honesty about what really happens today.
The goal is not to judge anyone. The goal is to get enough clarity that we can improve the process properly.
Ask
What you’re listening for
- no documentation
- one person carrying most of the process
- reliance on instinct
- no clear handover or repeatability
Cool. So we’re working from a low enough base that even a few improvements could make a big difference.
First principles video
Goal: Reset how the room thinks about process design before you start mapping their current process.
Definition
First principles thinking means breaking a problem down to its most basic truth, then rebuilding the solution around the outcome you actually want, instead of copying what others do or sticking with habit.
In this video
The McDonald’s founders are applying first principles thinking to serving food faster, more efficiently, and more consistently — by stopping to accept the “normal” restaurant model as the default.
Before we get into your process, I want to quickly reset how we think about process design. Watch this through the lens of outcome-first thinking. What are they trying to achieve? What do they cut? What do they redesign? What do they stop accepting as normal?
Ask them to watch for
Questions after the video
Bridge into the rest of the workshop
That’s the mindset I want us to use for the rest of today. We’re not here to do a light tidy-up. We’re here to look at what each stage is actually for, what gets in the way, and what needs to change.
Buyer journey
Goal: Understand how the buyer buys before mapping how the business sells.
Before we map your internal process, I want to quickly understand what’s going on on the buyer’s side. What’s happening before they reach out, what they think they need, and how they tend to make decisions.
Ask
Follow-up prompts if needed
What you’re listening for
- surface problem vs real problem
- budget issues
- trust issues
- internal approval friction
- lack of internal capability
- uncertainty about what “good” looks like
- reactive buying behaviour
Okay, so what I’m hearing is they often come in saying they need X, but underneath that they’re really trying to solve Y.
Current pipeline mapping
Goal: Map what actually happens stage by stage in the current sales process.
Use the six-stage structure in Miro. For each stage: ask what currently happens, paraphrase it back simply, put the short version on the board, confirm it with the room, move on.
Stage 1: Lead In
A steady flow of prospects who are a good fit and have a reason to engage.What you’re listening for
- referrals
- existing clients
- tenders
- partnerships
- outbound
- poor lead quality
- missed opportunities from current network
So right now your lead-in is coming from a relatively narrow set of sources, and some of those are stronger than others.
Stage 2: Enquiry / Qualification
Every viable lead is quickly engaged and moved toward the right next step.What you’re listening for
- fast response but weak qualification
- email-heavy process
- no clear call booking step
- instinct-based filtering
- leads progressing without enough clarity
Sounds like you’re pretty responsive, but qualification is still more intuitive than systemised.
Stage 3: Discovery call
A real understanding of the buyer’s world, not just the project request.What you’re listening for
- project clarification instead of real discovery
- reactive behaviour
- missing budget clarity
- weak commercial context
- not enough understanding of the client’s world
So this is less true discovery and more project clarification at the moment.
Stage 4: Proposal Build
A proposal that is clear, compelling, and aligned to what the buyer actually needs.What you’re listening for
- quotes sent cold
- minimal rationale
- no clear differentiation
- weak explanation of value
- need for a more visual or creative approach
At the moment the proposal does the admin job, but it doesn’t do enough of the selling job.
Stage 5: Pitch call
The buyer understands the recommendation, sees the value, and is better able to say yes.What you’re listening for
- no formal pitch stage
- pitching only on bigger jobs
- pricing landing too cold
- no space to handle objections live
- no clear moment where value gets anchored
So the pitch stage either barely exists or only shows up on bigger opportunities.
Stage 6: Close
A clean commercial yes and a confident handover into delivery.What you’re listening for
- slow follow-up
- no set follow-up cadence
- manual tracking
- weak visibility internally
- friction in approval and onboarding
Sounds like the close is functional, but very manual and too dependent on memory and relationship management.
Stage scoring
Goal: Rate the current strength of each stage so the room can see where the biggest weaknesses are.
Don’t overthink it. I’m not looking for the perfect number. I just want your honest gut feel on where this stage sits right now.
Score each stage
Tick each stage once scored.
For each score, ask
What you’re listening for
- differences in perspective
- people softening bad scores
- overly generous scoring
- where the group clearly knows something is weak but has learned to live with it
Redesign discussion
Goal: Use first-principles thinking to identify what needs to change in the weakest parts of the process.
Now that we can see the process and we’ve scored it, let’s look at the weaker stages and ask what they are actually meant to do, what gets in the way, and what needs to change.
Ask
Common themes to look for
- discovery is too reactive
- proposal is too transactional
- pitch is missing or too weak
- pricing lands too cold
- follow-up is too loose
- approval friction is unmanaged
- too much depends on one person
I can see why the process evolved this way, but I don’t think it currently matches the value, complexity, or price point of what you’re selling.
Priorities and next steps
Goal: Turn the discussion into a clear set of actions and make the path forward feel obvious.
Bucket the findings
Urgent
Actively costing deals or creating friction now.
- no proper discovery
- proposal too transactional
- no clear pitch stage
- pricing landing cold
- weak follow-up structure
Plan & Build
Design properly over the next few weeks.
- define what each stage is for
- improve qualification
- split discovery and pitch
- create a stronger proposal format
- build a better follow-up structure
Later
Useful improvements, but not the first move.
- deeper reporting
- automation
- more advanced CRM workflows
- partner-programme mechanics
- expanded objection handling
End by asking
Recommended wrap-up structure
End with one core diagnosis, one quick win, and one bigger structural shift.
I’ve got enough here to build you something useful. Next step from our side is to turn this into a stronger version of the process, and then we’ll come back, pressure-test it together, and refine it.
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