Kevin Davis

Ever wonder what your salespeople think about your coaching style?

Recently, I asked a group of experienced salespeople “What are the most ineffective aspects of sales coaching that you have encountered?” Here are four of their answers, along with some practical solutions:

“My sales manager doesn’t follow-up.”

There is perhaps no more important step in the coaching process than follow-up. If you don’t follow-up, you are sending the message “I don’t really care about whether this gets fixed.” Salespeople will perceive you as uncommitted to the coaching process. When you follow up you demonstrate your commitment to the growth of the sales rep, which is crucial for their motivation and morale. At the end of every coaching conversation, make it a habit to schedule the next...

A VP of Sales with a force of 22 first-line sales managers and 175 salespeople recently told me that not one salesperson had expressed an interest in moving up into a sales management role even though there was an opening. His opinion as to why? He described his sales managers as reactive fire-fighters, working 70+ hours/week, overwhelmed by all their job demands. They weren’t managing their time effectively, were easily distracted, and frequently stressed out. “I don’t think my salespeople like the lifestyle they see,” the VP said.

Here are some practical solutions I provided my client for improving sales coaching effectiveness, along with the 3 costly mistakes that many sales coaches make every day.

Mistake #1: Focusing too much on pursuing the big deals

Most sales managers were top sales reps at some time. So by nature, they do what they know best – chase the big deals,...

Far too often, sales managers get involved too late in qualifying specific sales opportunities that their salespeople are pursuing. The manager discovers that the “sure-thing” deal is anything but a sure-thing.

The sales opportunities your salespeople are working on right now will comprise the lion’s share of your team’s sales revenue between now and the end of the year. The most successful sales managers recognize the importance of getting involved early in a sales process (like October), not only at the end of a sales process (like December).

The best sales managers know that the size of the sale is determined at the beginning of the buying cycle, not the end. That’s where customer needs are determined. So, now is the time for you to get involved by asking some probing questions of your salespeople, to qualify your team’s Q4 pipeline. Here are a couple of my favorite questions to ask salespeople beforethey deliver a demo to the customer:
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Here’s one of the most critical questions that a sales manager needs to ask themselves this time of year: How confident am I that my sales team can achieve the annual goals we just set? Rate your confidence on a scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high).

If you can’t answer 4 or 5, then the obvious challenge is what you as a sales manager must do in the coming months to improve the capabilities of your sales team.

The place to start is by evaluating each sales rep on both their skill (their sales expertise) and will (their willingness to learn, improve, and hustle). Then take the following four steps.

Step 1: Use those you rate high in both skill and will as “bell cows” (herd leaders): the role models for the rest of the team. Set performance expectations for the entire team based on these peak performers. Communicate those standards to the entire team....