You may not feel like you’ve got time in your busy schedule to regularly coach every individual sales rep, but in reality, those who make the time to coach will reap the rewards in the form of improved performance, more closed deals, and greater generated revenue.
Plus, good coaching isn’t about spending more time doing it — it’s about doing it right.
If you need some sales coaching ideas to kickstart a lucrative program, we’ve got the tips you need for successful sales coaching below.
Best sales coaching techniques to optimize your time
Establish a formal process and cadence
Any good business initiative starts with a plan — not just a rough, spoken plan, but an organized documented one. Three-quarters of sales organizations waste resources due to random and informal coaching processes. Formalizing your sales coaching strategies means you’ve got a blueprint to follow and you’re more likely to stick to it, effectively and incrementally improving performance across your team.
Devote time and focus to coaching sessions
Being distracted while sitting down with a rep is not effective. If you can’t listen and provide relevant and impactful feedback, you’re not properly serving the members of your team. Put other tasks and stress aside to not only deliver more thoughtful and significant guidance but to also make the seller feel valued. When you know you’ve got a block of coaching sessions approaching, wrap up any outstanding work and close out any unrelated programs and windows to prevent your mind from wandering.
Cater to performance and preferences
Ahead of a coaching session with one of your reps, take a few minutes to look through performance metrics — like training completion, content usage, and insights from real buyer interactions — so you’ve got visibility into where that seller is succeeding and where they could use further support. This way, no time is wasted during the session trying to pinpoint areas to work on; you’re already up to speed and can offer more meaningful guidance during your one-on-one.
Aside from utilizing performance insights to drive coaching sessions, managers should also consider reps’ unique learning styles and motivations. Structure and tailor your conversations accordingly for each seller so your feedback lands and has a greater impact.
Build relationships and trust
None of the above is possible if you don’t take the care to establish a relationship built on trust with your sellers. Get to know them and allow them to get to know you; this will open the door for reps to share achievements as well as concerns and struggles — helping you get to the heart of the matter and enabling you to provide higher-quality coaching that makes a real difference.
By Rahul Mathew