Good sales managers spend a significant portion of their time on the coaching and development of their salespeople.\u00a0 This is your opportunity to become a difference maker in your salespeople\u2019s career.\u00a0 Something you need to understand is this:\u00a0 Your entire value to your company is based on the difference between your sales force\u2019s performance unmanaged and their performance under your tutelage.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you earn your money \u2013 by getting your people to perform better than they could on their own.<\/p>\n
Of course, coaching salespeople could entail an entire book \u2013 and will when I write that book \u2013 but this article is designed to give you the basics.\u00a0 You aren\u2019t trying to get your salespeople to sell like you; you are trying to produce profitable behavior change.\u00a0 This means that, anytime you can improve their abilities, it\u2019s a win \u2013 even if they\u2019re selling differently than you.\u00a0 I emphasize this because too many sales managers want salespeople to sell in their own image.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t work, and in fact, it\u2019ll shut salespeople down.\u00a0 So, with that, here is an eleven-point plan for effective coaching:<\/p>\n
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Good sales managers spend a significant portion of their time on the coaching and development of their salespeople.\u00a0 This is your opportunity to become a difference maker in your salespeople\u2019s career.\u00a0 Something you need to understand is this:\u00a0 Your entire value to your company is based on the difference between your sales force\u2019s performance unmanaged and their performance under your tutelage.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you earn your money \u2013 by getting your people to perform better than they could on their own. Of course, coaching salespeople could entail an entire book \u2013 and will when I write that book \u2013 but this article is designed to give you the basics.\u00a0 You aren\u2019t trying to get your salespeople to sell like you; you are trying to produce profitable behavior change.\u00a0 This means that, anytime you can improve their abilities, it\u2019s a win \u2013 even if they\u2019re selling differently than you.\u00a0 I emphasize this because too many sales managers want salespeople to sell in their own image.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t work, and in fact, it\u2019ll shut salespeople down.\u00a0 So, with that, here is an eleven-point plan for effective coaching: Observe them in the real world.\u00a0 Yes, you can coach through role-playing or training.\u00a0 However, to be the most effective, you should coach based on an actual sales call.\u00a0 Get out of your office and ride along, preferably on multiple calls.\u00a0 On multiple calls, you can observe patterns of behavior. Define the call objective correctly.\u00a0 Your salesperson should have an objective for the call \u2013 deepening a relationship, advancing a sales process, initiating or closing a sale, etc.\u00a0 You should define their objective prior to the call.\u00a0 Then you should define your objective, which is to observe the call and the salesperson in the real world.\u00a0 Make it clear that you won\u2019t be helping, and that you\u2019ll speak as little as possible.\u00a0 You\u2019re there to help them on future calls, not this call.\u00a0 NOTE:\u00a0 there may be joint calls where you are there expressly to help win the business (for instance, a very important account).\u00a0 That\u2019s okay, but define that with the salesperson beforehand.\u00a0 And you should have a good mix of coaching calls with \u201cassisting\u201d calls. Have the right attitude in the calls.\u00a0 The reason most sales managers fail in coaching is that they have the wrong approach during observation.\u00a0 They\u2019re focused on winning the business and selling, not on improving the skills of their salespeople. On coaching calls, you must not involve yourself and change the direction of the sales call!\u00a0 You are an observer, not a participant.\u00a0 Your entire focus should be on analyzing your salesperson\u2019s in-call behavior. That means \u2013 and this is one of the most painful parts of sales management \u2013 that you must let them fail, if they are failing. Observe the right things.\u00a0 Your focus should be on the customer.\u00a0 Watch for moments where the salesperson moves the customer closer to the call objective \u2013 and where they fail in doing so.\u00a0 Take good notes \u2013 not on the customer\u2019s needs and situation, as you would if you were selling \u2013 but on the salesperson\u2019s questions and presentations, and how that affects the customer.\u00a0 Is the customer participating and moving things forward, or is the customer pushing a rope uphill?\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t curbside coach.\u00a0 Here\u2019s another aspect of effective coaching that can be really hard.\u00a0 As soon as the call is over, your salesperson will be saying, \u201cSo, how did I do?\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll have a head full of information that you want to give them.\u00a0 Don\u2019t.\u00a0 At least not now.\u00a0 There are two reasons for this.\u00a0 First of all, you want to observe patterns; repeated patterns are the best place to coach.\u00a0 Secondly, you need to take the time to organize your thoughts and prioritize your help and advice.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do either of those things if you\u2019re curbside coaching on the spot. Prepare and prioritize.\u00a0 Take time after the joint calls to create a coaching feedback.\u00a0 List the major things that the salesperson did right, and then list the major areas where the salesperson needs improvement.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to prioritize \u2013 you shouldn\u2019t attempt to change more than three behaviors at a time.\u00a0 If there are more than three behaviors that need coaching, prioritize.\u00a0 Which three will generate the best ROI?\u00a0 Focus narrowly \u2013 you can always revisit the other behaviors. Set the right environment.\u00a0 When coaching your people, you want a neutral environment.\u00a0 The conference room (with both of you on the same side of the table), lunch, even coffee at Starbucks \u2013 all of these are good.\u00a0 At your desk with you on one side and the salesperson on the other \u2013 not so good.\u00a0 (The only exception is when you\u2019re coaching to prevent failure).\u00a0 The office environment creates a power dynamic that prompts a salesperson to set up their defenses.\u00a0 The message you want to send is that you are on the same side. Avoid \u201cDo it like me.\u201d\u00a0 Your salesperson isn\u2019t you, nor do they have to be in order to succeed.\u00a0 But if you try to get them to sell just like you, you\u2019ll put up their defenses and they\u2019ll be reluctant to adopt new behaviors.\u00a0 Instead of, \u201cI would have done this,\u201d your philosophy should be, \u201cThis will produce a better result.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to allow your salesperson to adapt techniques to their own selling style. Sell, don\u2019t dictate.\u00a0 This is where your selling skills come to the fore.\u00a0 Ultimately an improvement in the salesperson\u2019s selling skills will benefit them through higher productivity.\u00a0 The temptation is to dictate what they \u2018must\u2019 do; however, it\u2019s better to sell them on what they \u2018should\u2019 do.\u00a0 Present the benefits of adopting the new behavior, and then close and gain commitment. Role Play.\u00a0 After selling the new behavior or technique, you should immediately role-play the new behavior.\u00a0 Go back to the situation in question during the call.\u00a0 You be the customer, and have the salesperson role-play the scenario, implementing the new technique.\u00a0 Repeat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1649,1879],"tags":[151,2141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13294,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13293\/revisions\/13294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}