Setting up an effective sales coaching program is one of the most impactful ways to take your organization to the next level.
The CSO Insights 2019 Sales Enablement Study found that over 60% of sales organizations have random or informal coaching programs. Investing resources in sales coaching is a great way to stand out from competitors. It also enables sales teams to hit their individual and team goals consistently.
Without the proper tools to achieve success, sales personnel are more likely to quit their jobs, forcing sales management to start from scratch with new employees, putting additional strain on limited resources. This article will look at how to implement effective sales coaching processes to prevent unnecessary turnover.
What is sales coaching?
Sales coaching is the process of sales managers having conversations with sellers to improve their performance. It involves setting goals, guidance for skill development, and giving feedback to help sellers reach their full potential.
How Sales Coaching Works in Practice
Sales coaching is an essential element of any high-performing sales team. By nurturing and developing each sales representative's skills, management will drive stronger performance across the board. The sales coaching process typically starts with a thorough assessment of each seller’s current performance and identifying areas for improvement.
From here, sales managers work closely with their teams to set realistic long-term goals on a timeline that aligns with the organization’s initiatives.
They lead regular coaching sessions, provide personalized guidance, and refine sales strategy and techniques to achieve this. For example, if a seller struggles with handling objections, the sales coach would create an action plan for improvement.
Getting into a structured routine is a crucial aspect of the sales coaching process. Without proper structure, sales organizations’ efforts are wasted, resulting in poor performance and higher turnover rates.
Creating an environment of constructive feedback and continuous development boosts the confidence of individual sellers and improves team performance.
Benefits of Sales Coaching
Sales coaching divides average sales performance and the cream of the crop.
Coaches are invaluable business assets because they provide the necessary support and guidance to transform sales teams into top performers. Sales coaching helps organizations build a competitive edge by nurturing individual skills and fostering a culture of continuous growth.
Here are a few more benefits of sales coaching that you should consider when putting together a program for your organization:
- Increases Overall Sales Performance: Enhancing individual seller skills has compounding effects on a sales team’s performance.
- Boosts Seller Confidence and Maintains Motivation: Constructive feedback and skill development positively impact sellers’ mental states.
- Encourages Constant Learning and Improvement: The structure of a sales coaching program creates a positive feedback loop that helps sellers improve their skills over time.
- Higher Sales Representative Retention: Salespeople are more likely to leave if their sales manager does a poorer job of coaching them.
Understanding the Role of a Sales Coach
Simply put, sales coaches transform average performance into well-oiled sales machines. By providing individually tailored guidance, sellers can hit their personal goals and contribute towards reaching team goals. The role of the sales coach is threefold:
Motivate Sales Staff
Despite what many may think, sales reps aren’t always motivated by money and money alone. The sales coach’s role is to understand each team member’s motivating factors and take action to get the most out of them.
Setting a quota and offering a generous compensation plan isn’t enough to reach elite sales team performance. By identifying the motivation behind each team member and honing in on these factors, sales operations run more smoothly and perform better. Sellers work with higher energy levels and can take more action over more extended periods without burning out.
Develop and Nurture Sales Skills
According to a study by Sales Performance International, roughly 50% of learning content isn’t retained within 5 weeks, and by the 90-day mark, 84% of what was initially learned is lost. This study highlights the importance of structured sales coaching to help sellers retain what they’ve learned.
Sales coaching facilitates ongoing sales skill development by creating a positive feedback loop between the coach and the seller. It helps to identify areas for improvement and provides personalized guidance on how to meet goals, leading to increased sales effectiveness. The ongoing support that sales coaches provide allows sales representatives to effectively apply learnings and strategies to real-world sales situations.
Help Sellers Execute More Effectively
Creating innovative new sales processes can be a grind for staff who are ill-equipped to meet their targets.
Sales coaching empowers sellers to develop high-performance habits that help them consistently reach lofty goals. By creating healthy habits, sellers are more likely to work more efficiently.
Hosting regular check-ins helps sellers execute development plans, from brainstorming solutions to improving their skill sets and knowledge base. It’s essential for coaches to not just check in 1-on-1 with sellers but also monitor overall performance within a sales CRM to see macro trends.
Thousands of professionals and agencies trust Instantly for their sales pipeline needs. Not only can you review sales performance at a glance, but you can also review how sellers communicate with potential clients over email.
How to Write a Sales Coaching Plan
Creating an effective sales coaching plan starts with identifying areas for improvement from a bird's-eye view. From here, you can work backward from overarching goals and break things down into daily and weekly tasks to help sellers develop.
This coaching plan should include the following:
- Focus Areas of Development
- Skill Sets to Work On
- Knowledge That Should Be Taught or Learned from Experience
- Action Plan to Develop Skills
- Transparent Testing Methodology for Measuring Proficiency
Build Routine and Set Sales Cadence
Sellers won’t be able to reach their full potential without regular coaching. That’s where sales coaching comes in: we create scheduled action plans to set effective sales cadence.
Routine sounds lovely, but what does that look like in practice?
It’s as simple as breaking up long-term goals into more digestible pieces and estimating the number of hours each task will take regularly.
Here’s what a typical sales coaching routine looks like:
- Daily Meeting: Check-in and team huddle (10 minutes)
- Weekly Meeting: Individual accountability check-in (10 minutes)
- Weekly Meeting: Individual performance reviews (30 minutes)
- Weekly Meeting: Team sales meeting (60 minutes)
- Bi-Weekly Meeting: Individual sales pipeline review (60 minutes)
- Bi-Weekly Meeting: Individual skill development session (30 minutes)
- Quarterly Meeting: Team quarterly review and strategy session (60 minutes)
- Quarterly Meeting: Team building and training session (120 minutes)
Record and Review Sales Calls
Depending on what video platform your team is using, there may be simple solutions for recording their sales calls. Zoom and Salesforce are great options for recording and reviewing sales calls. If you’re taking calls via Google Meets, you could use their built-in video recording feature.
Recording calls not only allows the sales coach to give constructive feedback and opens the door for coaching opportunities but also allows sellers to have references of their own performance.
During the weekly individual performance reviews, sales coaches should start the meeting with a quick check-in to gauge the seller’s mental state before discussing sales performance. This can create a more open and honest dialogue, leading to better coaching sessions. If there are any personal or work-related updates or announcements that need to be shared, this is a great opportunity to get a sense of the terrain.
From here, the coach can review specific sales calls they’ve had in the past week. By reviewing calls regularly, patterns emerge, opening up opportunities for improvement.
Remember to Get Consent to Record Video Calls
Sales calls should be recorded with express consent from all parties involved, not just your sales representative. At the start of a sales call, the seller should prompt clients that the call will be recorded for sales training purposes. Setting up proper data storage processes to maintain confidentiality and privacy is also essential.
Transcription Software
Another great way to review sales calls is to use audio transcription software. Transcriptions are handy because they allow the coach to get an accurate overview of the entire call without having to listen and re-listen to it multiple times.
Since transcription software brings written records into the picture, it enables the coach and seller to reference specific parts of the sales call more quickly. This makes it an invaluable tool in developing skills, whether used alone or in conjunction with video recordings.
Let the Sellers Handle Goal Setting
If you want to achieve long-term development and increased sales performance, it’s vital to let sales reps set their own goals. During coaching sessions, it’s powerful to allow sellers to choose areas to improve upon because it nurtures strong motivation for development. Since the rep makes their commitment to growth, they are more likely to hit long-term goals.
The most crucial thing for sales coaches to remember is that sellers don’t always have the self-awareness they need to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The coach's role is to ensure the goals are set to suit the individual, point out their skill gaps, and ensure they commit independently.
Creating a Plan of Action
After the seller has committed to long-term goals, the next step is to empower them to devise a plan to hit them. Just like allowing sellers to set their own goals, it’s essential to do the same with creating a development plan. The more proactive and involved a seller is in crafting their methodology to hit their goals, the stronger their motivation will be. This allows the seller to take ownership of their growth and helps build confidence.
This development plan should be reviewed regularly to track progress and make any necessary adjustments.
Hold Sales Reps Accountable
Regular meetings to review progress are crucial to successful sales management. These meetings are an opportunity to discuss any challenges the seller may be facing, provide feedback on their performance, and adjust their plan if necessary. Since the plan is made in collaboration with the seller, accountability is built in from the ground up.
Every sales coach should use weekly (or more frequent) check-ins. They allow them to keep sellers on track to meet their goals while addressing any roadblocks that may pop up in the skill development journey.
Sales Coaching Plan Template
To make things easier in your journey to improve sales performance, we’ve drafted a handy template you can use in your coaching sessions:
Key Takeaways
Putting together sales coaching programs is the most effective method of developing your sales team.
Structured action plans for skill development and learning, along with regularly checking in with your sellers, ensure that they consistently improve and meet their goals. Throughout the process, employee morale also improves because of the increased confidence in management.
Taking your team to the next level starts with choosing the tools for your sales coaching program. You should partner with Instantly.ai, an AI-powered sales software suite that simplifies email campaigns and sales communication. We can help you save time, improve team efficiency, and drive more substantial conversions.
