This one is for the enablement folks. Truth: I’m an enablement leader in my heart and soul.
I was just talking to an enablement leader friend who was really frustrated that they spent so many months building a robust training program – rolled it out beautifully – and had to hand their baby over to the sales manager to keep those skills alive. Which did not work…
I’ve been both an enablement leader and sales manager and can tell you that sales management is the busiest job in the world. We spend the bulk of our day fighting fires and there’s never been a learning emergency.
So if you’re an enablement or training leader and you’d like some tips to get sales managers to coach more often and keep rep skills alive, keep reading.
I’ve got 20 tips to help you increase the sales coaching focus at work. Below are my top 3 (get the rest at the bottom of this article).
#1 – Don’t expect them to do more work. As I said previously, sales management is the busiest job in the world. If you want them to coach, you’ve got to fit coaching into their jam-packed schedule. What meetings do sales managers have often? Rep performance 1:1s, pipeline meetings, team meetings, and sales huddles. You’ve got to find ways for your managers to keep rep skills alive during their existing meetings.
At Factor 8, we’ve built manager toolkits that have activities a sales manager can run during a sales huddle to keep skills alive after training.
#2 – Make it easy. If they need to build a deck, it’s not going to happen. If they need to create a process, it’s not going to happen. If they need to go on a scavenger hunt to find different information for the coaching session, it’s not going to happen. You’ve got to make it fast and easy for managers.
At Factor 8, we’ve created coaching guides for various rep skills that managers can easily use for skill reinforcement. They combine a cheat sheet of what “good” looks like, which questions to ask during coaching, and a ready-to-use worksheet that coaches both the will and the skill with an easy grading form.
#3 – Most managers don’t know what “coaching” means. Sure, they understand the definition, but they don’t know what it means to actually coach a rep and they definitely don’t know what “good” coaching looks like. That means you get a lot of things like this…
“Hey rep, let’s work on this deal.” You’ve been coached. ✔
“Hey team, what’s the forecast?” You’ve been coached. ✔
“Let me get on this call and help you close it.” You’ve been coached. ✔
Folks, this isn’t coaching. As enablement leaders, we know that.
So, in training hundreds of sales managers over the last few years, I’ve learned that it’s a tough skill, it’s not natural for sales managers, and they’re too nervous to do it (though they’ll never admit that last one out loud).
Just put yourself in their shoes. Imagine going to a top player and saying “Let me listen to your call and give you feedback on how to do it better.” Sounds terribly nerve-wracking, right?
That’s why we’ve got to address it and build confidence in their sales coaching, call coaching, and rep skill coaching skills.
If you haven’t taught your managers how to coach to build up their own confidence, it’s probably no surprise that you think they can be doing more coaching.
If you’d like to talk about more specific strategies or a particular issue you’re dealing with in making that connection with sales leadership so they really get behind enablement, I’m here to talk. Email me at LB@factor8.com.
Managers/Leaders: What does it take to run a successful sales rep 1:1 meeting?
Ten bucks says you and your rep have different definitions of “success” here.
As a Rep, we want:
Some solid “atta-boys” – show me the love!
To feel “seen” by management – time and access is a big deal
To gain some insight into the team – department and company
An understanding of where we stand on the team
Development on how to do even better
Insight into career options and how to get there
A clear understanding of our next goals and how to reach them
To leave feeling important and pumped up to perform
As a Manager, we want:
To be sure our Rep knows where they stand against goal
To be sure our Rep knows how they’ll make their number this month
Clear up any behavioral or skill issues
Be sure they’re cool
Mostly, we need to be done with this meeting and get on with the next one right? Maybe during this time we could also look at the pipeline, the call coaching scores, review company announcements, and check off all vacation requests? Like really, can we just check them completely off the “to-do” list for at LEAST a month?
If I’m reading your mind right now, it’s because these are the questions I get when teaching managers the ropes. Things like…
“Why do I need a separate deal strategy, pipeline, and 1:1?”
“Do these need to be monthly or is quarterly OK?”
“I can do all this in less than 30 minutes, is that OK?”
And the fundamental difference here is that we have 8-15 of these to do a month and our reps have one. We need the team to perform and cause fewer issues, and they need to feel connected to their boss, their team, their career growth, and their company. And you guessed it, their 1:1 time is where it happens.
A recent Forbes article taught us that today’s hiring generations care most about 3 things:
Career development
Skill development
Access to leadership (that’s you, baby!)
Ready for a perspective bomb? Imagine you have kids (if you do, imagine you have easier kids 😉). Yeah, you could probably keep them alive with 60 total minutes/day of feeding, maybe some basic hygiene and transport, but keeping them alive is very different than ensuring their happiness and development as human beings. We’re all trying to spend MORE than a few hours/day with our families right?
I know, your reps are not your children.
Or, are they?
Learn more about what GREAT managers cover in their monthly rep 1:1 meetings, plus how monthly performance meetings fit into the greater picture of management meetings (and how we’ll ultimately save you time) at our upcoming Sales Management 101 and Sales Management 201 Boot Camps!
Ready to improve your sales rep 1:1 meetings?
Join one of our upcoming Virtual Sales Management Boot Camps! We offer 3 different classes for new, aspiring, and seasoned Sales Managers. Our Boot Camps cover the most important aspects of a sales management position, like running a successful 1:1, time management and productivity, having difficult conversations, call coaching, and more!
Fact: Sales management is the busiest job in the world. Okay, maybe that’s not a real fact, but if you’re a sales manager, you probably feel like it is. Chances are, you’ve got a pretty tremendous and stressful workload. According to the American Institute of Stress, 39% of stress reported amongst employees in the US is caused by an overwhelming amount of work.
So, what happens when you can’t get it all done? For starters: you go home later, you feel less satisfied with your accomplishments, and you add an extra level of anxiety to your plate. Let’s get some of that time back in your day.
Here are our top 8 sales management productivity tips:
1. Make Proactivity the Goal
Start by leaving your reactive self in the past. How? First, we need to identify your priorities. I get it, you received 100 emails just in the time you are reading this blog. But you were not hired to write emails. So, let’s take a closer look at what you were hired to do and what your priority should be. Next, set your daily goal to hit that priority. Setting (and hitting) that goal will make you feel a lot more productive and will make it easier for you to stay on track. Finally, we need to learn how to recognize whether the new things that come our way each day are proactive versus reactive. This will help you say “no” at the right times and help you prioritize the things that you really NEED to get accomplished.
Hint: Reading emails = Reactive. Helping reps with questions that pop up = Reactive. Calling a strategy meeting to help a rep hit their goal = Proactive! Creating a new KPI report = Proactive!
2. Rethink Meetings
Your meeting cadence is the process that organizes your team’s regular interactions. When scheduled properly, the cadence will prevent you from handling a series of reactive “fires” every day. Create the cadence that works best for you and your team. We’ve taken a bit of time to dive into the 8 essential sales manager meetings. Check out this deep dive and learn which meetings are short, which are long, which are 1:1, and which should be done in a group. Read more here: 8 Essential Manager Meetings. While you’re working on your meeting cadence you can also perfect your 1:1 meetings.
3. Live in the Matrix
Have you used the Eisenhower Matrix before? If not, it all starts by asking yourself 2 critical questions. Is it urgent? Is it important? From there we break things down into 4 groups.
Is this a Fire Drill?
An item to Schedule?
An item to Delegate?
Or an item to Trash?
Let’s dive in a little deeper to see how these questions help us categorize each task. First are the urgent items. Urgent means time-sensitive and goal-related. Maybe the customer is on the phone and needs an answer to close the deal, or maybe the contract department is reviewing your deal in 1 hour and you need to tie up a few loose ends first.
Next are the important items. Important means it is critical to the mission but it is not time-sensitive. These important things can be scheduled out. This might be mapping out a strategy for a certain campaign, or reviewing the team\’s numbers to ensure they will hit goal.
Now, let’s see how the two questions help us categorize our tasks
Important + Urgent = Fire Drill – do it ASAP
Important + Not Urgent = Schedule – put some time on your calendar to complete the task
Not Important + Urgent = Delegate – find the right member of your team to handle this task
Not Important + Not Urgent = Trash – remove it from your plate
4. Start Saying “No.” A LOT
Spoiler alert: You’re about to find out that 3 out of 4 requests aren’t urgent OR important. Oftentimes, they’re actually something your rep can figure out on their own. So, we need to get REALLY good at pushing pop-up requests to meetings, delegating to others, and taking them off your plate!
Here’s how we’ll do it:
Identify the proactive tasks
Categorize tasks according to urgency and importance
Properly respond to requests. It looks something like this…
“Hey, (Rep) this sounds AWESOME! But I’m late on a deadline right now, could you bring the story and the call recording to our call coaching session next week?”
OR
“Whoa, (Rep), I need to stop you a moment. This sounds important and I want to give it the time it deserves. Please put it on the agenda for our 1:1 next week?”
If you’re on Slack, it could sound like this…
Manager: What’s up?
Rep: Got a minute?
Manager: I have 30 seconds right now, or 15 minutes at 2pm. Hit me back then if you still need help?
Here we are putting the action item back on them. You’re not saying you will call them at 2pm, you’re saying call me if you can’t figure out a solution to your problem.
OR
Rep: Got a minute?
Manager: Sorry, in a meeting. Can you reach out to Bob, please?
Here we are delegating to someone else to help the rep.
5. Get COACHN℠
I probably spent 3 hours preparing for my first team meeting. From the scheduling, to figuring out what to say, to deciding what I needed, to realizing I forgot really important things, it was draining, to say the least. What I realized is that if I streamlined the process and prepared for each meeting the same way, I could save myself HOURS of previously wasted time (I only say wasted because those hours were not helping my team reach goal).
Through that painful process, we developed the COACHN Model™. This acronym is about to make your meeting preparation SO MUCH EASIER!
COACHN℠ stands for:
C: Clarify Expectations – This sets the tone for the meeting. “Last time you decided to work on your intros and I know we have a few calls scored. Let’s see how you’re improving.”
O: Observed Behavior – You start first, lay out facts, and list your observations before you…
A: Ask Questions – Great leaders talk in questions. Have them prepared before your meeting.
C: Commit to Actions – Your number of action items should be 0-1, their action items can be anywhere from 1-4
H: How Can I Help – This helps the rep learn to trust you. Growth is good, but we cannot grow unless we can admit that we need help!
N: Next Steps – We are agreeing at the end. “You own this, I own that, we’re going to meet again ______. Will you (rep) please send the invite!”
6. Have One Source of Truth Within the Organization
Use a standard coaching form. Define what “good” is across the company. If people move or shift, you don’t need to retrain or redefine these elements. If you need a place to start, you can grab our Call Coaching Activities here to help you prioritize and plan your coaching sessions.
7. Stop Proving, Start Delegating
It’s time to put your reps in charge. I get it, you want to help them. But you need to stop giving the fish away. Stop solving all of the problems and owning all of the actions. It’s time to teach those reps to fish instead!
Here are 6 easy things you can delegate TODAY:
Grading their own call recordings and creating a list of skills to improve
Sales huddles – Not all of them, but maybe 1 per week
Notes from all meetings (actions, decisions, and deliverables)
Their PIP actions and check-ins
Scheduling follow-up meetings
Team meeting training
This one will require a bit more guidance, but instead of running every training session, let\’s open up a few for peer training. You will need to double-check their work beforehand (no one wants a 2-hour “look at me” session). But if you have a top rep that is CRUSHING prospecting or brush-offs, let them show the rest of the team how they do it.
8. You Cannot Control How Much Other People Care
This was a tough one for me to really wrap my head around in the beginning. But the truth is that there is a reason that you were promoted to manager. There is a reason that other people will remain as a rep. You cannot control how much other people care. When you care more about their job than they do, it will cause numerous problems.
Let me tell you a little story. Back at the beginning of my sales career, I had a rep, let’s call him “George.” Well, George just could not seem to get himself to work on time. I got one excuse after another. There was a part of me that felt guilty that I didn’t have car trouble and that I could afford a new alarm clock, etc. One Thursday during lunch I left work to go across the street to buy George a new alarm clock (I know, I know). That was when it hit me. What the hell was I doing? If George didn’t care enough to figure out how to get an alarm clock on his phone or borrow a buddy’s clock, or heck, go to Goodwill and buy a used one, then why did I care so much? That was my “ah-ha” moment. I was caring more than George and no amount of new alarm clocks was going to force him to care more.
You need to stay within your span of control. You can control your schedule, your reactions to things, and your time. You don’t control your team, you can’t control a pricing increase, you don’t control what the customer’s going to say, you just don’t. You can influence your team’s skill level, activity, and focus, but you can’t control it. There are a lot of things under your concern, but that you can’t control. There is very little you can actually control. So, stop spinning your wheels and stressing out about it. You can provide coaching and help when appropriate, but “George” is either going to make it or he’s not.
BONUS!
Kill all of your notifications! All of those Instagram posts and text messages can wait until your lunch break. These notifications will only distract you and make completing your tasks take much longer.
Time block goal actions on your calendar. Block out checking your email, your phone messages, etc.
Keep tasks in the same place. Your meetings and your time-blocked tasks are on your calendar. But I’m betting you also have a bunch of other things to do. Compile all of those to-dos into one list. Whether it’s an app or a paper list, keep everything in the same place so nothing slips through the cracks.
Set a time for similar actions and tasks. If you have 3 tasks on your to-do list that require emails, complete those tasks during your time block to check emails. If you need to go pick something up, do it at the same time you need to go to the post office. By grouping similar tasks together, your mind will be able to focus more efficiently and complete those tasks faster.
I know this was A LOT of information and your inbox has probably increased by 200 emails now, but if you take the time to start implementing at least some of these sales management productivity hacks that we talked about here, it will make a difference: in both your success and your happiness! You will feel and be more productive. It will just take a little practice!
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In all my years of sales leadership, there has never been a sales coaching emergency. You? Ever gotten a call after hours along the lines of:
“Panic! They don’t know how to…!! Help!?”
Exactly. And this is actually why, despite all our good intentions, there are precious few true coaching cultures in sales organizations. Even though we know the benefits – coaching skills that exceed expectations result in 94.8% of reps meeting quota and a top demand from the Millennials and Gen Zs you’re trying to hire (source: like every study published in the past five years).
Since there ARE sales emergencies, customer emergencies, product emergencies, and political emergencies every single day (and the non-emergent intentions), it’s no surprise that meetings get pushed to the bottom.
If you’re a sales leader, the most important place you can start is by assessing your current culture of development and sales coaching importance. Here are a few questions to get you started:
How often are my managers scheduled to call coach? How often do they really?
What is coaching more important than? ($1M deal?) What is it not? (reporting request?)
How eager are reps and managers for coaching sessions?
Are we hiding or celebrating fails?
Are reps getting built up or brought down?
The goal here is to determine if you have enough coaching, the right kind of coaching, and the kind of culture that supports it.
Starting with question 1, you may be surprised to learn that nearly 50% of reps disagree that they’re getting as much coaching as their managers state. Some of this is due to canceled or pushed coaching when fires happen (and let’s be honest, they happen daily in sales). I think the root of the problem here is how we define coaching. Most managers believe they’re coaching during a 1:1 meeting, a “how’s it going” chat, or a pipeline/deal conversation. Sorry…
“That’s NOT coaching!”
Our definition of best-in-class coaching is:
Sales meeting is present (ride-along, recorded call, live video meeting)
Manager asks questions about the reps’ skill
Rep receives custom feedback on their execution
Rep leaves feeling more confident than when they walked in
Sadly, this means that if you’re playing a call at a team meeting (great job by the way), this is sales training, not sales coaching. At most, you can provide custom feedback on a rep’s skills for about 3 people and 3 short call recordings in an hour. Yes, it also means that giving someone a laundry list of what to improve also doesn’t count as coaching. That’s just bullying. Inspect some sessions. You’ll be surprised – and you’ll be showing coaching’s importance with your presence.
Sales Executive Council also tells us that call coaching (aka skill coaching) is sales managers’ #1 worst skill. I’ve been hiring and training sales managers for 20 years and I wholeheartedly agree. And the hardest skill to shift is the laundry list of improvement items. It’s so easy for us to hear the challenges, and so hard for us to resist giving just one more idea for improvement. 90% of sessions during role plays come off negative at first, and it takes us at LEAST three training and practice sessions to start to even this out.
Like most leaders who came up through sales, I’m 100% guilty of the coaching bully myself. In fact, as we train sales managers how to coach at Factor 8, I modeled the curriculum after all my own personal atrocities. “Be like me…I do all the talking…Debbie Downer…” You get the picture. If you relate to this, you’ve probably also taken over a call or two you were meant to be silently observing.
That’s why I only coach recordings now. I just can’t be trusted during a live call. It’s also led to my #1 tip for antsy sales coaches:
“Coach the rep, not the deal.”
When we approach coaching with the intent of building confidence and skill vs. saving the deal, everything changes. Imagine the deal already lost. Resist the temptation to even ask about the outcome. Focus instead on engaging this seller, and helping them love their job, love their company, love their manager, and love sales.
It changes everything.
A note on culture. Spend a minute Googling the concept of a “growth mindset.” It’s our ultimate goal for sales coaching cultures. It’s a magical land where everyone cares more about improvement than winning. Did you just laugh out loud, my sales leader friend? Before you dismiss it, realize it’s the calling card of nearly every great athlete, and imagine if all your “A” players just kept getting better. How do you get here? A few ideas:
Weed out your problem leaders. Yeah, the person you pictured is exactly who I’m talking about. They probably have veteran reps and accounts and are a fixture in your org – like a barnacle on the underside of the boat, they aren’t uplifters. Just note: culture is formed not by your intent! It’s defined by the worst behavior you’re willing to tolerate. His name was Brian at my first sales management job, and his attitude led the whole division to a culture of hazing and sink or swim. NOT the coaching culture the new workforce is craving!
Share your failures and encourage your managers to do the same. A coaching culture is one where we’re not afraid to fail. We willingly share bad calls. We welcome feedback and input. Sorry, but humans aren’t built to be vulnerable and they will need a lot of role modeling here until your people feel safe to do so.
Reward improvement. If you want a growth mindset culture, you can’t just reward the winners. Find ways every month to celebrate improvement. Could be a metrics jump, a KPI improvement, skill gains, CSAT ratings…you get it.
A final word of advice: over-correct. My first Sales Director job came on the heels of me launching a training department. There was no other sales leader as dedicated to developing people as I was. It still took me 6 months in the new gig to start talking about and prioritizing training. So I get how hard it is and how busy everyone is and how many emergencies keep coaching at the bottom of the to-do list. So, if it’s your goal, you’ll need to triple down to shift the pendulum. Dedicate six months to overdoing it. Talk about it in every team meeting and all-hands. Drop into coaching sessions and coach the coaches. Reward top coaches and rep improvements. Add it to contests. Ask your manager for skill trends in every meeting. Spend money on sales manager training. Be sure it is OVER represented in your calendar, your budget, and your voice for long enough that your team knows it isn’t a flavor of the month.
Got a tip? Drop me a line and let me know what’s worked for you! lb@factor8.com.
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Last week, I got an email from an old friend and colleague. Together we launched the inside sales team in EMEA for SAP, and we’ve stayed in touch and had a few beers when I’m overseas – you know the drill.
He emailed and asked, “How will I know when I have a true coaching culture?”
Love this question. Wish more leaders would ask it! Well, I instantly started forming a little “Cosmo quiz” in my head. Take it for me and let me know how you scored – even better, see if you can add a question!
I see managers prioritizing coaching sessions over other tasks and meetings
I see reps asking for more coaching
Managers can recite skills trends, like what newbies struggle with most
Training opportunities are offered abundantly at all levels
I see new strategies being implemented smoothly and quickly (e.g. we all need to do XYZ on calls)
We have libraries of different kinds of recorded calls available
Reps feel comfortable having a third person in the room/call observing coaching
Everyone shares the same understanding of what “good” looks like on calls
Leaders regularly talk about coaching, rep development, and manager skills
Managers coach after the call, not during
Scoring (you know I’m making this up, right?)
Yes = add 2 points
Sometimes = add 1 point
Heck no = subtract 2 points
20 Points: Seriously impressive. If you don’t already have conversational intelligence tools like Chorus, Gong, or ExecVision, your team is worth the investment! You may even be ready to integrate sales skill and coaching scores into balanced scorecards, rep and manager reward & compensation. Chances are, you have more than 55% of your floor hitting quota. Advertise your coaching culture in job postings and keep nurturing it with your leaders and managers.
12-19 Points: You, my friend, are middle of the pack. Chances are you come up average in floor quota attainment (about 55%), have some managers who are great at it, and plenty of reps who resist it. You may have great intent but be lacking in execution. There’s never really a coaching emergency, is there? Watch the webinar recording and pay special attention to strategy and process tips or get your managers enrolled in Call Coaching Boot Camp to help get everyone performing.
5-11 Points: In a sea of struggle, I’m sorry to say you’re rock bottom. I’m willing to bet there are more issues than coaching with the culture and you’re struggling with high turnover and “whack a mole” management. When we struggle to make the number, a focus on development never tops the priority list. Keep the resume updated, because it will be harder and harder to keep and attract talent.
So what IS a coaching culture? It’s hard to define, isn’t it?
Culture is how an organization feels when you visit it or are a part of it. It’s the company’s personality, right? I think culture is made up of pace (Factor 8 = super fast), formality (super informal), focus (results), attitude (an underdog with confidence) and language choice (you can probably guess, we’re not afraid of the F word at Factor 8).
Most leaders think culture is shaped by company values. To those leaders, I share the quote by Grunter and Whitaker:
“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”
Think of your top rep, your worst manager, the lazy guy in the next department. They show what is acceptable – it’s the bottom of the grading curve that shows where the curve really is. This is impactful.
Yes, the top of the curve matters too! But I can cite too many examples of top performers bending rules or operating in ethical gray areas. Can you? Is that tolerated where you are? Encouraged? Maybe even accidentally celebrated?
The thing about a coaching culture is that it implies all the feel-good areas of human performance, not necessarily hard numbers. To me, a coaching culture implies:
A focus on skill development (is training provided?)
Improvement over perfection (is failure celebrated?)
An openness to give and receive feedback (does this happen at all levels?)
A prioritization of people and their career development (are career paths defined?)
Implementing a conversational intelligence tool does not a culture create. In fact, I’ve seen it make cultures worse. Leaders used technology meant to aid development for compliance over coaching and “caught” reps who didn’t say required phrases. Ouch.
Right now, this is more important than ever. The generations we’re hiring have three top priorities:
Opportunities for development
Opportunities for advancement
Access to leadership
Coaching helps check all three of these boxes, and if your team’s boxes aren’t being checked there are plenty of revenue jobs available right now. Attract and keep great talent with a coaching culture.
Want more tips on creating a coaching culture?
Fill out the form below to watch the recording from
our recent session on“Creating a Coaching Culture”
Call coaching has been ranked as sales managers’ #1 worst skill, according to the Sales Executive Council. Surprised? Me neither. Harsh, but fair.
According to data from Objective Management Group, only 7% of sales managers are capable of coaching their team. This is especially disappointing when you keep in mind that coaching salespeople at least 3 hours a month yields an average of 7% over the goal.
I struggle with inside sales call coaching myself. Why? Because it’s just so much easier to take over the call myself. Are you with me?
Here are some quick tips to help former sellers who are struggling to transition to a coaching role.
Your Inside Sales Call Coaching Isn’t Working. Here’s Why:
Sales management is THE busiest job in the world.
The line at the desk, backlog of emails, and cacophony of instant messages are real. Our best-laid plans go by the wayside as we attack the latest fire, and we take a reluctant loss in the coaching arena.
That means missed sessions, rushed sessions, and I-never-bothered-to-schedule-it sessions. So before we even attempt to execute good coaching, we’re upside down because reps come into our sessions feeling neglected.
The majority of call coaching that is happening is informal.
Think about your company’s own processes for a minute.
Do you have a call coaching guide?
Do you have a call coaching framework that’s mapped to the customer’s journey?
Do you have set call coaching appointments, and keep those promises?
Do you have a trend analysis where you can see how people are improving their skills?
Do you have clear, firm expectations about reps showing up and showing improvement?
According to the trends we’ve seen in the call coaching sphere, most likely the answer is “no.” Don’t sweat it. I’ve literally NEVER seen a team that answers “Yes” to all of the above. And yet it’s this level of rigor that is required to get the big, silver-bullet-level lift of sales results.
A best-in-class inside sales call coaching program can lead to a 10-60 percent increase in quota attainment (CSO Insights). Quite a swing in the results there. I unpack these stats a little bit more in an article for Selling Power.
All of the items above are components of a more formal coaching process that uses best practices. Accomplishing this in the real world will require support from a high-level sales leader:
A strategy team
Input from multiple support departments, like Customer Success, Quality, Training, and Marketing
Process documentation
External training resources
Follow-up – lots of it!
We just never learned how to call coach.
Truth: Great sellers are crappy coaches. Unless you study coaching techniques, take some skills training, adopt a meeting methodology, and get regular feedback, you’re probably making at least one of the insanely common (but sadly soul-crushing) coaching boo-boos we see daily.
And because we’re not experts, most of us wind up DEAL coaching, not REP coaching. The result is that reps leave call coaching sessions feeling like crap or confused. Instead, they should walk out feeling like a freaking superhero. (You and I know that confidence sells.)
So now that we’ve convinced you that call coaching is a losing battle, please step back from that ledge. We should still try.
This is as simple as starting the meeting by saying, “We’re going to start a formal call coaching program where we’ll listen to some calls and talk about it.” Or, kick-off meetings by recapping what you went over last time, and outlining what you want to get out of the session today.
2. Observe Behavior
This is the step where you actually give your opinion to the rep.
One simple formula to avoiding hurt feelings is saying, “I heard you did this on the call, and it seems like the outcome was this.” Keep it factual and nonpersonal.
3. Ask Questions
Ask at least five questions during the call coaching section.
The goal here is self-discovery for reps. The more they have time to answer questions the more the light bulb will go off and they’ll start learning things on their own. This doesn’t happen as readily when managers are simply telling reps what to do.
4. Commit
Wrap up the call with takeaways for your reps to work on before your next coaching session. Reference one of the questions they answered before, saying, “I really loved your suggestion; why don’t we work on that for next time?”
5. How Can I Help?
Offer your help! This can seem awkward at times, but there are some great ways to do it.
Try it by using one of these lines:
“Why don’t we role-play right now?”
“Do you want to give it a try?”
“Would you like me to review some more calls?”
This lets reps know that you care and are dedicated to their success.
6. Next Steps?
Assign tasks for your reps to practice before the next meeting.
Be sure to set them up for success by telling them exactly what you’d like to see. Here’s an example: “Send me three calls during which you think you put this into practice really well, and we’ll review next time.”
Stick With It!
Following The COACHN℠ Model reminds me to do all the important parts. Most important among those is asking questions and getting commitments.
Please note: Nowhere in this model did we say, “Here’s how I used to do it” or “Use this script!” Call coaching is tough. I hope these tips were fun and easy to implement. We’ll keep talking about this and how we can improve our techniques. Smart sales managers don’t give up on-call coaching.
Make a goal to get better at this each year. Buy some books or check out some on-site or online training like The Sales Bar to help you get there.
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Call coaching is literally THE hardest new skill for sales managers. Yes, it’s a new skill even if you’re not a new manager. Why? Because as a seller – hell, as a HUMAN – our job is to take action to get results. We are “me” focused and “results” focused. Coaching flips this on its head as we’re told to be “rep” focused and skill improvement vs. deal focused. Let’s be clear, you guys…
THAT.
ISN’T.
NATURAL.
And the better you were as a seller, the harder it is as a manager. Great sellers are competitive, a little selfish and needy (c’mon, own that), and ruthlessly devoted to the “W.”
In fact, the very best skill coaching (aka call coaching aka just coaching) is NOT focused on the deal. It’s about the rep’s development first and foremost. Focusing on the deal over the rep is where we get in trouble and make common coaching mistakes like, “The Laundry List” and “Be Like Me.” Why? Because we’re impatient to get the win, to save the deal, to bank the commission. Let me summarize in caps, as that makes me feel like I’m really driving the point:
GOOD CALL COACHING IS NOT DEAL COACHING.
If you can enter into the meeting 100% not caring if they win or lose the revenue and only if they feel better about themselves and are excited to improve, then you get it.
You’re also some sort of superhero because that’s basically impossible.
OF COURSE, you care about the “W”. You’re in sales!!
Over my years in sales leadership and training leadership, I’ve developed a lot of hacks to fix this situation. For example, I only use call recordings of past deals. This prevents my natural sales animal from emerging and ripping the headset off a sweet, well-meaning newbie and taking over the deal (and thereby completely deflating if not scaring my employee).
I also have a GREAT way to take notes during the call to help me vent my frustrations, but still appear supportive and encouraging to an underperformer (admit it, that’s hard).
There’s also a rule of thumb to NEVER break on what to coach, plus:
How many things to coach at once
How often to coach each rep
How to track it so improvement happens
How to make time to do more coaching
It’s a complex challenge we face in doing more and better coaching on the job. And going virtual didn’t help. Alas, it’s a worthy pursuit. Frankly, I feel a bit like the Captain Ahab of sales call coaching. I’ve evolved, improved, and added to my training solution pretty much every year for the past ten years. I keep searching for new and improved silver bullets to make the transition easier and faster. And we’re getting there, folks. We’ve created a comprehensive and effective program that changes behaviors and results (contact us if you\’re interested in our sales call coaching training).
I would be remiss if I didn\’t mention the call coaching framework we created here at Factor 8: The COACHN℠ Model. It ensures reps and managers have the most efficient and effective coaching sessions possible. Check out the image below (and save it to your desktop!).
Interested in inside sales call coaching training?
Contact us today to learn about our customizable virtual and inside sales training programs available for sales managers.
Coaching is a tough skill for most sales managers. But if you’re used to being in office and are now managing a virtual sales team, you have some added hurdles. These tips are for you.
Listen to LB share her manager coaching tips in this helpful video below.
#1 – Clearly Define Coaching.
In sales we use the term coaching too often. We mean it for leaders who use a question-based or learning-based approach. The helpers and askers vs. the domineering tellers. Coaching as a style is different from dedicated rep, skill, or call coaching. When we clearly define when we’re doing sales coaching vs.our regular role of answering questions, running a huddle, or doing a 1:1, it’s easier to identify when to activate coaching skills.
#2 – Dedicate Time for Coaching.
When we were in the office, we could “drive-by coach” when we heard sales reps on the phone doing the good, the bad, and the ugly on calls. Now we need a dedicated hour with each rep one to four times per month. How often, exactly? Coach new reps and “B” reps at least twice a month. Prioritize your “A” and “C” reps next, with the “D” reps coming in last. Beware, focusing on the squeaky wheel!
#3 – Leverage Recordings.
If you don’t have call recording in place, prioritize it now. It will cut the time required for coaching in more than half. Have reps find their own recordings for coaching, mark them, and bring them to the call coaching session.
Listen to an example of a great call coaching session right here.
#4 – Coach the Rep, Not the Deal.
If you reframe coaching into time to build your reps’ skills, their engagement, and your relationship with them instead of winning deals, you’ll be on the right side of call coaching and have higher quality interactions and outcomes.
#5 – Use Video.
Zoom works best for playing call recordings. Listen to the call, then do the call coaching. Using video will allow you to connect with the rep, gauge their facial expressions, and have a “face-to-face” conversation where you’re building rapport, not just skills.
#6 – Rinse and Repeat.
Schedule recurring meetings so you can keep the conversation going. We have a new BDR on the team who gets coached 2-3 times every week. We work on 1-2 skills at a time until we have it mastered and then we move on.
#7 – Use a Standard Model and/or Tool.
If you don’t have a great coaching tool like Ambition, ExecVision, Chorus, or Gong that keeps you aligned to a scorecard and standard of what “good” looks like, create your own scorecard and model. Go nuts and do it with a few managers, if you have access. For every rep skill we teach in The Sales Bar we include a mini Q&A scoring form and coaching questions. We also teach the COACHN℠ model – a standard approach to every coaching interaction that helps things become routine and easier.
You know I sell training right?! Seriously, the number one most difficult skill to train sales managers is call coaching. So get some help deciding what to coach, how to coach, and who to coach how often. Build some confidence in your ability to coach (remote or face to face) and you’ll look forward to it much more. Funny how it will get prioritized that way.
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Is call coaching getting you the results you need?
Most sales leaders will admit that coaching on call is definitely an area for improvement. And let’s be honest, do we really set up our sales managers for success in this area? Most are managing more than 12 people, running custom reports, talking to customers, and attending meetings.
However, we have a solution to all of your call coaching training troubles — enter call coaching. We call it “Coaching As A Service.” A client asked us to develop it. We did, and it worked.
Now, it’s available to you. Check out the video below for a more in-depth understanding on what it is and why you should use it.
The best coaches don’t ever tell. They ask. They ask the right questions to help a rep to self-discover big breakthroughs. And, this is the most effective way for a rep to take ownership of their activity and results.
Here is a 3-step process to know which questions to ask reps during coaching sessions:
Learn to Speak ‘Coach’
Divide a blank page of notes into two columns. In the left column, while listening to a sales rep on a call, make a laundry list of everything you wish you could tell the rep. Don’t show it to them.
This is the “list of suck,” my friends. Every time you cringe, take notes on the left.
During call downtime, pick your top three potential focus areas and use the right column to translate these into questions.
For example:
“OMG he went RIGHT through the Gatekeeper. Painful.”
Becomes:
“Hey, can you tell me your strategy with the gatekeeper?” or “Hey, what made you decide to skip over getting information from the gatekeeper?”
This gives the rep an opportunity to analyze the call themselves and then self-identify what skills may need improvement.
Tip: Ask questions that are specific and helpful. Asking, “How do you think that went?” is too broad for the rep to pinpoint areas for improvement. And asking, “Don’t you agree that you should have asked about an alternate contact and his direct dial information?” is not helpful either.
The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle of these two. While you’re practicing, try writing three questions for each target area. One is broad and high-level, one is extremely specific, and the third is your Goldilocks.
Ask The Right Questions
If you get to the end of the call with a laundry list miles long, it’s decision time. How to narrow it down? One of the best ways to know where to coach is to let the rep pinpoint what they want to work on.
Let the rep choose anything as long as it’s on your list (even if it isn’t in the top three!). If your rep decides what to work on, your chances of it actually getting focus are more than double than if YOU pick the improvement area. I know. It’s really hard to let go of this. But trust me, your rep engagement will skyrocket if you’re coaching in areas they want to improve in.
Help Reps Self-Identify Areas Of Improvement
If you have a tricky rep who isn’t able to self-identify areas of improvement, you can help them identify it using these criteria:
What would most likely advance or lose the deal
What impacted the customer’s impression of us
What had the biggest effect on the call achieving its goal
But please, promise me one thing …
Your rep’s TONE is probably not something that impacts any of the above. If the only thing left to coach a rep on is the tone of their voice, this rep clearly doesn’t need coaching!
Pat them on the back and tell them they’re an all-star! Seriously, you wouldn’t believe how many managers choose to talk about tone. It’s their secret code for “I clearly have no idea how to help you.”
Ask Questions, Get Results
Now that you know how to speak coach, what will you ask your reps today?
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