In my first sales management role, I had a rep that everyone said wouldn't make it. He was performing at the bottom of the pack, not hitting his targets, and had much to learn. He went on to be the best-performing rep I ever worked with.
Why? He was coachable, and I made the decision to make sales coaching my top priority.
In today's issue, I will teach you my Core 4 Sales Coaching Methods.
Sales coaching is both in your control and objectively impacts rep performance.
Sales coaching is important but not urgent. This makes it easy to push off, especially in early-stage companies where fires come up daily. When you neglect to coach, reps fend for themselves, and the downward spiral begins.
When you implement a coaching program, you'll get:
Here are my Core 4 Sales Coaching Methods:
Role-play is my number 1 sales coaching method. It's irreplaceable during onboarding and into the rep's first 90 days. This is where the rep and the manager act out a prospect conversation.
I set up role-plays with a specific situation and goal in mind. For example, this could be a pure cold call, and our goal is to schedule a discovery call.
As the manager, start by playing the role of the gatekeeper and prospect. Go easy in the beginning and get more challenging with each repetition.
After each repetition, ask the rep their thoughts on how they did, and give them one piece of feedback to put in place. Repeat the process until you've covered a large number of scenarios. They should be difficult enough that a live prospect will feel easy compared to the role-play.
Call-Replay improves your phone skills better than any coaching method. This is where the rep and manager sit down and listen to a recorded call together.
Before you meet with a rep for a call replay, have them select two recorded calls in advance. One where they think they did great and one where they struggled.
Start by listening to the call that went great. It will boost their confidence before going into the call the rep struggled on.
After listening to the call they struggled on, ask them for feedback on how they did. 9 times out of 10, they know exactly where they need to improve. Give them one area they did well, one area for improvement, and one extra area they did well. This is commonly known as the complement sandwich.
Proceed to role-play the area for improvement in the exact scenario you heard on the call.
Live coaching gets a bad rap because people feel it puts added pressure on the rep. If you have a very infrequent coaching cadence, it probably will. If you've created a supportive environment, it's very effective at making fast improvements.
There are two places I like to do live coaching. The first is going on live meetings with a rep and serving as support if needed. This allows them to put themselves in a situation they don't feel ready for. If they struggle, you can step in. If they don't, it's a huge confidence boost that they can run on their own.
Debrief after and give the compliment sandwich. Then role-play the area for improvement in the exact scenario you just heard.
The second place for live coaching is listening to calls during cold calling sessions. If you have to cold call many people, it's hard to replace live coaching.
Block off time to have the whole team cold call. Listen to one conversation at a time and give a compliment sandwich after each call. You'll often see improvement on the very next call.
I hold a 15-minute huddle every day, and the last question I ask is, "Where are you stuck?"
When a common theme emerges, we discuss possible solutions and hold a group coaching session. This is particularly great for new products and markets.
First, bring the team together in a conference room or over Zoom. Next, lay out the problem and the proposed solution. Then, role-play the solution until we're all confident in our delivery.
Proceed to test the proposed solution and gather feedback on its effectiveness. Use the feedback to make iterations and repeat the process until everyone is unstuck.
By using these sales coaching methods, you'll build a high-performing team with an amazing culture. Sales coaching has had the biggest impact on my success as a new manager. Better yet, I formed some amazing relationships with my team as a result.