LeBron James, Serena Williams, Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey: These are individuals that many would consider to be extremely successful. What’s their common denominator? They had – and continue to have – coaches, mentors and colleagues that gave them the help they needed to get to where they are today.
Proper leadership and support is vital to the success of your team. Like any athlete or business professional, access to strong, dedicated leaders is at the core of success for these employees and thus your organization.
We need to help our sales managers become expert leaders by arming them with the knowledge and resources to do so confidently and successfully. To do that, effective coaching strategies should be adopted, which include the following attributes:
- Spots and fosters talent and potential in people
- Holds staff accountable to high performance and productivity
- Holds managers accountable for consistent, quality 1-1 coaching
- Instills confidence in employees
- Improves communication skills and strengthens relationships
Watch the Webinar: The Secret to Effective Sales Coaching: Focus on People, Not Products.
A sales coaching strategy is integral to the success of your employees and your organization. These strategies are dependent upon the selection of capable coaches with clearly defined roles. One study[1] identified the five major roles of a sales coach as follows:
- Define goals and strategies that will maximize results
- Help sales staff develop or change habits in order to reach their goals
- Provide guidance and ask questions along the way to ensure sales person stays on track
- Foster and encourage professional growth
There are three main obstacles we consistently hear sales organizations say get in the way of effectively coaching their staff:
1. Time
Time is seen as a two-way constraint: it’s a challenge for managers to find the time to coach, and it is an impediment on sales staff actual work time. However, a 2018 research study by Sales Management Association[2] shows organizations that spend an average of 9 hours per week coaching are 7% more effective in achieving sales objectives. Coaching is an up-front time investment that can have quick payoff, and will likely save you time down the road from having to support unproductive employees.
2. Skills and Confidence
If the proper coaching and training is not offered at an organization, then most likely employees will not have the proper skills or confidence to sell products. Providing training and coaching within your organization can increase employee self-confidence by as much as 81%, and work performance by as much as 70%.[3] Coaches can instill experience and knowledge that can staff can emulate. Once this happens, employees start to master areas and then they begin to gain confidence.
3. Accountability and Motivation
According to a study by Gallup[4], 67% of employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged from their work. Feeling you have a purpose within your organization is vital to being engaged. Proper, regular coaching can instill in your employees a sense of belonging and potential, which in turn will likely result in increased confidence, self-accountability and productivity throughout your sales force.
Coaching helps overcome these three obstacles to selling, and can be used to turn around organizations rapidly. Developing strong coaches to guide and maximize the potential of your sales people is central to the ability of your organization to create a consistently consumer-centric sales culture. A focus on refining the skills of your sales team will allow your organization to reach its goals.
Watch the on-demand webinar: The Secret to Effective Sales Coaching: Focus on People, Not Products.
Read our blog “Land More Sales with a Consumer-Centric Service Culture” to dig deeper into building a more service oriented sales culture.
Contact us to learn how we can help you can take your organization’s sales culture to the next level without sacrificing integrity.
[1] “Schultz, Mike. “5 Keys to Successful Sales Coaching.” Sales Performance Improvement, RAIN Group, 1 Oct. 2013, www.rainsalestraining.com/blog/5-keys-to-successful-sales-coaching.
[2] Research Briefing: Sales Coaching Practices” Sales Management Association, 2018. https://www.integritysolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Whats-Holding-You-Back-From-Coaching-Your-People_TSWmag_July2018.pdf
[3] “EBook: Who Will Your Superstars Be in a Year? Your Coaching Game Plan.” Integrity Solutions, 25 May 2018, www.integritysolutions.com/insights/ebooks/ebook-will-superstars-year-coaching-game-plan-2.
[4] Gallup, Inc. “Workplace Disruption: From Annual Reviews to Coaching.” Gallup.com, 15 Feb. 2017, news.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/203876/workplace-disruption-annual-reviews-coaching