What is Sales
Coaching?
Today
most businesses' (large and small) first exposure to
'bottom-line' coaching (other than executive coaching for senior
management), is the introduction of sales coaching.
Performance sales coaching is relatively easy to introduce,
control and monitor, and generates immediate measurable results
Coaching in sales is working on an individual basis
to make step-by-step, measurable improvements to performance and
motivation. Coaching can reach the parts other training
methods can't. In sales coaching the
coach can also share the sales manager's burden, freeing his
time to achieve company targets and objectives. Meanwhile, the
coach works with the team to unlock their potential, provide
support and guidance to resolve issues and facilitate inter-team
communication.
Sales Skills
Coaching
Sales is a high skill, high demand job. Being
on top in sales means having success in a balanced life without
stress. Sales Skills coaching provides focused sales strategies
for you and your team. It can also reveal if low sales are the
result of current sales strategies and company goals that are
inconsistent with one another, or if you require sales
management training.
An
effective sales strategy comes not just from sales activities,
but also from
how you approach
potential
clients. If you
want to sell consistently and increase your revenues, you may
have to refine the way you engage clients throughout the entire
sales process. That's where Sales Coaching also comes in.
To achieve success, a sales person needs: - Advanced
Selling Skills and Inner
Resources. Knowing how to sell is not enough.
Success comes from within. The salesperson needs to: build the
internal resources to succeed; eliminate the roadblocks to
success; eliminate procrastination, fear, guilt, stress and
replace them with confidence and resourcefulness.
Sales Training
combined with Coaching can provide ways to enhance performance
and maintain a balanced life.
Personal
Coaching:
True success always includes matters of the heart
and matters of the spirit. Customized coaching power sessions as
you need them, either over the phone or face to face can enhance
success in all parts of life. They are short, highly focused
sessions ranging from fifteen minutes to one hour. Whether
the problem is building a strategy or building the inner
resources to be more effective, these sessions can make changes
fast.
Coaching sessions should be custom designed to fit your
organization -- high end sales or the basics, be it:
- personal
development to build personal resources or to eliminate
roadblocks
- advanced
goal-setting or balanced life
Group
Coaching:
Professional sales is a high performance job.
You have to be in top form to win. These group sessions get you
there and help keep you there ie: at least ten - half day or
one day workshops over twelve months allowing the
participants to practice what they have learnt in the training
and personal coaching sessions.
Some results with Sales Skills
Coaching can include:
- Clarify sales objectives
into manageable, realistic goals.
- Refine existing strategies
and/or create new strategies.
- Develop new sales skills.
- Discuss specific challenges
for individuals or an entire sales team.
- Eliminate unrealistic
barriers that may be preventing you from success.
- Prioritize activities into
revenue-generating activities.
- Remove the roadblocks to success
- Clarify goals that are achievable
- Build the confidence to win
- Eliminate procrastination
- Practice advanced selling techniques that
improve your productivity
- Learn advanced rapport building secrets
- Learn the power of language
The 3 Steps
to establishing a
successful Sales Coaching Program:
People
First, the organization should examine the personnel available
to complete the coaching project. Coaching is much more than a
series of learning sessions and requires a specific skills set
as well as an experienced, credentialed team. Some of the
"people" questions your organization should ask are:
- Does your staff have the required technical and coaching
project management knowledge/skills and time to complete
the project?
- Do you have a committed, trained and well-briefed development
team with defined roles?
- Do you have full support from all corporate
stakeholders?
Process
Successful coaching development requires a proven, efficient
process for "resourcing" the appropriate practices
and protocols. This process must include time for analysis,
design, user testing, review, and revision. Without carefully
designing a process that includes these and other necessary
steps, you significantly decrease your chances of coaching
success. Some of the "process" questions your
organization should ask are:
- Do you have a realistic project schedule?
- Do you have a detailed project blueprint?
- Do you have a clear list of project requirements?
- Do you have a proven, written training development
process for the key players?
Parts
Finally, do you have all the technical parts and pieces to
make your coaching effort actually work? Successful coaching
requires a complex mix of proven validated assessment
instruments, coaching tools and techniques, and support
back-up. Without these, the best-designed coaching program can
become dead on arrival. Some of the "parts"
questions that your organization should ask are:
- Do you have the coaching technical infrastructure
to meet your coaching requirements?
- Do your end users/coaches have access to the necessary
technical information and hardware?
- Does your coaching program manager and team have the
necessary coaching project management and measurement tools?
- Is 'technical coaching support' available to the program
manager and coaches?
- How to be a successful Sales Coach
1. Put yourself in the position of each
individual team member. Be prepared to see and understand the
world from their perspective
2. Listen actively. Understand what is 'true for them',
what motivates and interests them, what bores or demotivates
them
3. Be prepared to make changes to your own style and
approach as a result of what you learn.
4. Remember these three words: - respect, empathy
and objectivity. Bring these to your coaching sessions - every
time
5. Book diary time and a special meeting room for each
coaching session. Ensure there are no interruptions.
6. Let the coachee do 80% of the talking, prompted
by your carefully considered questions
7. Use open questions to understand, probe, challenge
and develop ideas. Use closed questions to pin down agreement
and next actions
8. Identify specific areas for change and agree how the
salesperson will modify their behaviour.
9. Create a clear and
definitive development plan to build on strengths and address
developmental needs
10. Establish agreed upon metrics to measure the 3 P's:
personal, professional and performance growth.
Note:
One of the first published case studies (1958) on the effect
of coaching was on individual sales performance enhancement.
The case study involved the coach working with
the Sales
Training Director and included the sales staff receiving regular
group coaching sessions focusing on team building. The program
objectives of higher sales, greater team motivation and
reduced staff turnover were all met
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