One of the hardest parts of being a manager is giving feedback. It’s actually one of the main things many managers put off because they are scared of coming across as critical, creating tension or damaging the relationship.
The problem with this is that when managers give feedback that is too vague, it becomes difficult for the person receiving it to know what they need to do differently.
For example:
“You need to be more confident on calls.”
“Your emails aren’t landing.”
“You need to push harder on the close.”
You may think these might be genuine observations, but they don’t tell the person what happened, what they did, or what they could change to be able to improve.
This is where the SBI feedback model can help.
SBI stands for Situation, Behaviour and Impact. It provides a simple structure for giving feedback based on what actually happened, rather than making assumptions about someone’s personality or intentions.
In this month’s blog we’ll take a look at each part of the SBI model and how you can use it in real life sales situations.
What is the SBI model?
The SBI model was developed by the Center for Creative Leadership and is designed to make feedback more specific and objective.
Situation : When and where did it happen?
Behaviour : What did the person actually do or say?
Impact : What was the result or impact of this?
S — Situation
Start by identifying the situation that you are giving feedback about. This could be a sales call, meetings, email or a specific conversation.
Rather than saying:
“Your calls have been weak recently.”
You could say:
“On yesterday’s call with the Smith account, at around the ten-minute mark…”
This gives the person a clear point of reference.
It also avoids general statements such as “you always” or “you never”, which can quickly make feedback feel personal or like they’re being attacked.
The more specific you can be about the situation, the easier it is to have a useful conversation about what happened.
B — Behaviour
The second part is what you observed. Focus on what their actions were or what they said or did rather than making assumptions about what they’re thinking or feeling.
Rather than saying:
“You seemed nervous.”
“You weren’t confident.”
“You didn’t handle the objection well.”
You could say:
“When the client raised the pricing objection, you moved straight into offering a discount without asking any questions about what was driving their concern.”
By focusing on observable behaviour, you can have a much more constructive discussion about what happened.
I — Impact
The final part is for explaining the effect or impact that the behaviour had.
Continuing with the same example:
“The impact was that the client went quiet for the rest of the call, and we lost the opportunity to understand whether price was actually the main issue.”
Now the person can see why the behaviour mattered.
The impact could relate to the customer, the sales opportunity, the wider team, or the end result.
Putting SBI together
When you bring the three parts together, the feedback could sound like this:
“On yesterday’s call with the Smith account, at around ten minutes in, when the client raised the pricing objection, you moved straight into offering a discount without asking what was actually driving the concern. The impact was that the client went quiet, and we lost the opportunity to find out whether price was the real issue or just the first objection they raised.”
That gives the person something specific to reflect on and work on.
There’s no need to make it personal. You’re simply explaining what happened, what you observed and what the result was.
And SBI isn’t just useful when something needs to be improved. The same structure can be used when giving positive feedback and praising someone on their actions.
For example:
“On the Chen call this morning, when the client raised an objection, you paused before responding rather than jumping straight in. That gave them time to explain their concern, and they eventually shared the real reason they were hesitant to move forward.”
The same principle applies: be specific about the situation, describe the behaviour and explain the impact.
Why does SBI work?
One of the main benefits of SBI is that it gives managers a clear structure for conversations they usually find difficult.
Instead of making a judgement about someone’s ability or personality, you can focus the conversation on something that actually happened which makes the feedback easier to understand and act on.
If a manager tells someone they need to be “more confident”, they may leave the conversation wondering what that actually means.
If the manager explains that they interrupted the client three times during a particular call and that this meant the client didn’t get the opportunity to explain their concerns, the person has something much more practical to work on.
Good feedback should help someone understand what happened, why it mattered and what they can do differently next time to be able to improve.
Watch our YouTube video on the SBI model here:
If your team needs support with sales training, sales coaching, or more structured sales training programmes, you can explore our sales training courses, review our free sales training resources, or read more on how to ask great sales questions and consultative selling to strengthen your approach to discovery.
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