There are several components to being a good sales coach. Often, sales coaches do not understand the difference between holding people accountable to the sales activities (e.g. the numbers like prospecting dials) versus technique mastery (or how the activities are being executed). Here, you will focus on the technique of consistent sales coaching, not on holding people accountable to their numbers.
Every sales leader’s calendar should have regularly scheduled slots for coaching salespeople. You should hold coaching sessions every week, say on Tuesday from 10 am to noon. Although you may not know who you will be coaching or what sales skill you will be working on, you will put on your coach’s hat every Tuesday for those two hours. Your salespeople will know that you are available and that they are invited to this session each week. This practice sends a message to your salespeople – “I am here to help you succeed during this time. I am not just here to collect data and remind you when you are failing to execute.” It says that you are committed to consistent sales coaching and their success is a priority to you.
Why Consistent Sales Coaching Matters More Than Ever
Whether held virtually or in-person, you must have coaching on your schedule weekly. Effective coaching focuses on skills and behaviors—the techniques. Sales coaching should include the following:
-
Asking questions
-
Drilling down to get real answers
-
Getting commitment
-
Helping salespeople overcome their own objections
-
Correcting sales performance issues
This time is not for teaching product knowledge or structuring a deal. It is for delving into the art and science of the sale rather than the mechanics of the product/service design of the offering. You can measure your coaching success by the improvement you see in the sales behavior ratios of your people. For example, if more first calls turn into opportunities or if closing ratios improve, they are getting better. You will also know your people are improving when they perform consistently better in the field. Driving improvement through consistent sales coaching takes commitment, from you and your salespeople.
Get Commitment from Your Salespeople
Gaining commitment is key to the ongoing development and improvement of a sales team. Salespeople commit to what is important to them. What motivates each salesperson is their own set of personal objectives, goals and ambitions. Your job is to help each individual uncover these personal goals and help them understand that, if committed, they will reach these goals.
Next, you must help each discover where they stand relative to these goals. When there is a gap—such as when the personal income forecasted from their current sales pipeline and closing ratio will not be sufficient to buy their dream house—you must help them discover the pain of not achieving this goal. Help each understand, through a series of “drill down” questions, what their future looks like based upon current production. This process is an important part of getting a salesperson to commit to personally desired outcomes.
Once you have gone through this initial discovery and drill down process, you will arrive at the salesperson’s ultimate desired outcome. In the case of a salesperson who is underperforming or failing to execute effort or skills, you must get them to agree that failure to achieve the desired outcome is not an acceptable option.
You must ask, “Is that a problem? Are you sure that’s a problem? And is it compelling enough for you to make changes? What will you do differently?” Only after the salesperson verbally acknowledges that they want and need to change can you move to the next step. Only then can you get the salesperson to agree to some form of disciplined structure around changing their sales activity.
Once you have a salesperson’s commitment to fix a problem, you must get them to agree to do everything possible to succeed. At this point, you can implement a consistent sales coaching process that can help them move toward their goals. Do not ask for a salesperson’s commitment and then not do your part. If you are to be an effective sales coach, helping your people to achieve their goals, you must make your own commitment to do whatever is necessary. A lack of consistent sales coaching on your part will translate into a lack of commitment in salespeople.
