The skill coaching meeting has the biggest impact on improving each rep's performance. When I started implementing these weekly, team performance shot through the roof.
In today's issue, I'm going to teach you how to hold a skill coaching meeting.
The skill coaching meeting gives you a clear view of where each rep is struggling. This allows you to take direct action to help them improve.
Often, people will combine the weekly one-on-one with the weekly coaching meeting. When this happens, one topic always gets sacrificed for the other.
When you implement weekly coaching meetings, you'll get:
Here's how to do it:
Start by defining what you'll be doing in each activity. This lets the reps know what to expect in each session and how to prepare.
My preferred method was to rotate through the following activities each month:
This isn't set in stone and should adapt to your situation. For example, if you're coaching a field team, doing a ride-along may make more sense than live call coaching.
Before kicking off the process, explain to the reps what a good session looks like for each activity.
Preparation is key to maximizing your time during the meeting. Before every session, you want to have the reports, recorded calls, or call lists set up in advance. Both parties need to have their items done before the meeting.
As the coach:
As the rep:
Make sure this is all documented in the co-created agenda and completed 24 hours in advance.
Start the meeting by reviewing last week's areas for improvement and action items. Where are they at with them? Are they still areas for improvement? If yes, focus your time here. If not, proceed to the scheduled activity.
There are two keys to a good coaching meeting. 1) Reinforce the positive by catching them doing it right. 2) Pinpoint 1-2 areas for improvement.
These sessions often focus on what the rep is doing wrong. Make sure to point out where they are getting it right as well. This builds confidence and ensures they keep doing it the right way.
When it comes to areas of improvement, focus on 1-2 items. Sales coaching can be overwhelming; if you throw too many things at the rep, they miss out on the essentials.
Lastly, you don't have to stick to the activity throughout the session. Let's say you start by listening to a call and pinpoint an area for improvement. This is a great opportunity to break into role-play to practice the feedback you've given them.
“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.” - Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Before you wrap up the meeting, document the notes and assign action items. These action times put the coaching in place over the next week. Tie them to the 1-2 areas of improvement you focused on or the next steps from the pipeline review.
I always liked having the rep send me a call where they implemented what we worked on. It's a great way to celebrate together and reinforce the positive.
By using this strategy, you'll maximize your time together, coach what moves the needle, and get exponential growth out of each rep.
