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Sales Coaching

Infield Sales Coaching – The Way of the Future for Sales Managers

Infield sales coaching is the term used to describe when a sales manager coaches a sales person in their sales territory. This can be a geographical or market segmented sales territory. Sales coaching is an ongoing process and not a single event. The process is designed to achieve a purpose and that is to assist every salesperson in the salesforce to reach their full potential. By providing challenges, encouragement and guiding them in continued professional growth, sales performance can be improved in a sustainable manner.

Attributes of great sales coaches

Sales coaches work with their salespeople in the area of strategy, targets, expected outcomes and potential sales call obstacles. Often the missing link is how these are to be achieved. Sales coaches also ask for feedback to ensure their salespeople understand. If the salesperson does not understand it’s up to the sales coach to show them.

Great sales coaches use the following tools:

  • Standardised formal sales process to create common understanding
  • Active listening and questioning skills so they can replicate a sales situation
  • The ability to shut up and let the salesperson lead the sales call even if they are failing
  • The ability to role-play the salesperson’s part of the sales call
  • The ability to uncover and question everything they hear
  • The ability to remain in the moment and not become emotionally involved
  • They don’t need to seek approval so they say, ask or do whatever is necessary to get the salesperson to the next competency level
  • Patience so they can take small steps to clarify a situation
  • Their hands on experience
  • Their wisdom based on years of experience
  • Their sense of humour by keeping it light
  • The respect of their salespeople
  • The trust of their salespeople
  • The relationship they have with their salespeople.

Adapted from Dave Kurlan ‘s Understanding the Salesforce:

What do you need to focus on when coaching your salespeople?

Focus on three areas:

  • Sales strategy

This relates to the customer and potential customers, selecting the right products or services and pricing

 

  • Facts

These include ratios and percentages such as the sales call to order ratio and sales margins. When this information is linked to the sales process facts can provide an indicator of future activity and sales results

 

  • Sales behaviour

Notice what your salesperson does before, during and after the sales call. Do they understand what they are doing, have they followed the sales process, have they applied skills correctly and can they self correct? If not, what competency gaps are there? What do you need to show and demonstrate?

  • Sales coaching styles

Every sales manager has a sales coaching style. Do you know what yours is? Do you know why you are a compatible sales coach with some of your salespeople and find it difficult with others?

Your salespeople want to know how you can help them become successful.

By developing your coaching style and competence as a sales coach your salespeople will want to learn and work with you. Your job will also become more enjoyable. You will find they will want to follow your example and grow professionally.

How to allocate your time to maximise results

Within a salesforce there are 3 categories of salespeople that determine where you should spend most of your time in order to maximise sales performance:

1. The concern category

These are the consistently low sales performers. Unfortunately most sales managers spend a great deal of their time working with these salespeople in an attempt to improve sales. These salespeople tend to rely heavily on the support of their sales manager so time is consumed with additional coaching sessions and often providing answers to problems.

Action –If you have this category of salesperson then you will need to cut back on the amount of time you give them. Start by asking them what they think the answer is to a problem rather than you providing it. Reduce your infield sales coaching time and replace it with a phone call. Set a realistic sales target and time frame. If the sales target is not achieved you will need to take action. The salesperson may be better suited to a different role in the company?

2. The top performer category

It is not uncommon for these salespeople to feel neglected because they receive minor or no sales coaching from their sales managers. This can affect their attitude and result in their being difficult to manage. They usually outsell the combined efforts of the average players in their salesforce so sales managers think they don’t need further development. Some sales managers who are not very competent in selling avoid their top performers for fear of being shown up

Action –Seek the top performers’ input as to the number of sessions and the objectives. They usually only need minor skills refinement which then further enhances their sales performance and motivation. If they have qualified for Level 6 – The Professional status they will more than likely want to develop sales coaching skills and pass on their expertise to other salespeople.

Introduce them to sales coaching over a period of time by allowing them to take on the additional responsibility as well as continue to manage their sales territory. This will give you the time to evaluate their performance as well as the performance of the salespeople they coach. The top performer will also have the opportunity to see if sales coaching is a career they would like to pursue full-time.

3. The average category

The majority of salespeople are in the average to above average range in terms of their sales competence and sales results. This category is ideal for the top performer to begin developing their infield sales coaching skills. There is usually at least one salesperson in this category who has the potential to become a top performer.

Action –Schedule regular sales coaching sessions for this large category and identify the salespeople who have achieved Level 4 or 5 Sales Competency. Assess their talents and strengths and outline a fast track sales development plan because they will provide you with the greatest single increase in sales. It will also motivate the more junior salespeople to work harder and achieve a higher level of sales competence.

To consistently improve sales performance is no easy task. By coaching and leading by example in their world is your greatest opportunity to really get to know them. This in turn will help you to increase your salespeople’s sales competence, motivation and sales results.

If you want more information about this subject or have any sales performance issue you would like to discuss please contact Kurt Newman direct on 0412 252 236. Alternatively email sales@salesconsultants.com.au

Kurt Newman is the co-founder of Sales Consultants Pty Ltd a firm that works with companies to increase sales and reduce the cost of selling. http://www.salesconsultants.com.au

Kurt’s expertise is in sales strategy, sales management development; group structured sales training and infield sales coaching. As a sales person he has successfully sold products and services in 4 major market/product segments: new product sales, consultative sales, relationship sales and retail. During his selling career he created sales records for three companies in two industries and won many other sales awards for outstanding performance.

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Sales Coaching

Acquire Top Sales Talent With a PLAN Sales Managers – Don’t Rely on HR

When asked which management activity is most critical to sales team success, 97% of Executive Sales Managers from across the country indicate the Identification and Acquisition of Talent as “extremely important” or “important”. No big surprise.

During my daily conversations with Executive Sales Managers, the discussions and debates inevitably turn to talent. The people on our sales teams dominate our time and attention, and for all the right reasons. My intent is not to recommend that this would change; it is in fact quite the opposite. We need to continue to find ways to get more from our human capital. That is what extraordinary sales coaching is all about- incremental gains in performance. However, when referring to the identification of talent, Executive Sales Managers need to recognize these gains can be hindered by an individual’s capacity, or in other words, their talent. As Sales Managers we need to help all members of our teams improve, but you will get greater results if you begin with those that already have the “right stuff”. A sales team’s production potential is determined by the base line talent, for which Executive Sales Managers are accountable.

Here are a few best practices I’ve used and observed others using with significant success. Success is here defined as a constant flow of the right sales talent, with minimal time during which open positions are not filled. I will defer quoting statistics of what it costs to turn a sales department employee or the cost of an open sales territory, acknowledging you already have a keen understanding of the value of long term, high performing associates on your sales team.

ABR (Always Be Recruiting) Although 97% of Sales Managers agree on the importance of talent, very few sales departments have what I would say is a “talent identification and acquisition culture”. I am in contact with Executive Sales Managers every day, and I witness firsthand that identifying and acquiring sales talent has not been proactive, but most often a reactive response to a termination and/or a need to expand. The preponderance of those in sales management roles haven’t identified, nor do they consistently have recruiting lines in the water at the best fishing holes. Ask your sales management team the question “If you have a termination tomorrow, do you have a candidate or list of candidates identified whom you could contact to immediately begin the recruiting process?” It is not until we lose someone on our sales team that calls go out to recruiters, Linked-In is accessed, internal company emails are sent, and so on. But every Sales Manager should make it their duty to have several prospects already identified and to some degree pre-screened. Something to shoot for is that every Sales Manager has lunch, coffee, or drinks once a month with a prospect who might be a fit for your team. Right now, measure the average time a territory stays open, and see if you can reduce it by 50%. If done, how much would you save in lost revenue?

Understand the type of talent you can acquire Whether you know it or not, you may be limiting the quality of the talent you attract. Many factors are at work here. Compensation, market competition, your company reputation, and the quality of your existing sales coaches/managers can all impact your ability to attract and acquire the best. I once worked with an organization that said they wanted only the best talent– period. However, they didn’t seem to obtain what I would consider top-notch sales and sales coaching talent. Further investigation showed they didn’t have a new hire training program that allowed them to bring on board the best talent. Because of this limitation, they instead had to bring on “people in their business” and they sought “industry experience” over sales, coaching, and leadership talent. They settled for mid-age sales folks who were content with a $70,000/year plan. I have not encountered many mid-age sales people with spotlight talent that are satisfied with $70K/year. Our recommendation was to change the model and look for a sales person who was in their first sales job, someone who already had sales skills training in that job and would love a chance to take a bump in earnings. Or to create an internal training program that taught the skills needed so “industry experience” was not a hiring requirement. Or to be really cutting-edge and do both! Be realistic, and understand the demographic you need.

To illustrate this “experience” factor, consider Terry Pettit, the retired NCAA volleyball coach with the highest all-time winning percentage, and former Sales Coaching Summit Instructor. When he started coaching at Nebraska, he was told he could never win a NCAA championship because the best talent went to places such as UCLA, Stanford, California, and Hawaii. He was told there was not enough available talent in the market. Rather than settle and not compete for national championships, Pettit instead redefined talent for the Nebraska program. He quickly determined that talents such as speed, instinct, urgency, coordination, and competitiveness were not teachable, but that volleyball skills could be taught. So at one time early in his coaching career, in his starting rotation, five of the six were high school high jump champs in their respective states, with little volleyball experience. He took raw talent over experience and created a dynasty.

Understand your sales department talent limitations and look for ways to remove or raise your lid. By the way, I’ll take talent over experience every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Take control of your identification and acquisition process This is not an HR responsibility; it is your responsibility, and the responsibility of every Sales Manager on your team. HR doesn’t likely have goals and bonuses tied to the sales department having all spots filled with the greatest talent, but Executive Sales Managers certainly do. When I recently asked an executive sales manager if HR was a big help, his response was “they are when they want to be, but too often they are too busy planning for other things such as the company holiday party.” This is not to suggest you don’t partner with HR for assistance in the process, but their role is administrative in nature and managed by the Executive Sales Manager. Some HR departments may serve as exceptions, but not many.

Another point of importance that should be obvious, but that few think about or act upon is that the person who is your lead recruiter is the face of your company, and certainly the face of the sales department. Make sure the “face” will attract talent. This person needs to be able to sell (assess for the qualities of a great recruiter), should dress well, and must possess a strong executive presence. We can all relate to meeting those people with an “aura” that is attractive, not just physically but in a way that make us want to learn more about that person. This aura should be exemplified in your lead recruiter.

Science-based assessments work Don’t be naïve and think you can select better without an assessment. In a related newsletter article this month Danita Bye references a University of Michigan study which reveals that interviews account for almost 90% of hiring decisions, but were found to be only 14% accurate in predicting success. 14% stinks! Dr. Susan Hirt from Talent Plus shows that the highest correlation to predicting job success is the use of structured interview science-based assessments. Like most everything else in our world today, research is causing us to look hard at ways to make assessments more accurate and predictable of success. Sales Managers need to constantly refine their approach to the selection of sales department talent. And don’t think for a minute that assessment tools should be used only to identify top sales performers; utilize them for all roles on your sales team. These tools are certainly not the sole determinant of selection, but should account for approximately 33% of the decision. The other two thirds split between personal interviews and reference checks.

Put these pieces together and, speaking from experience, your offer-to-acceptance ratio should be over 90%. Whether or not your new sales talent stays and performs then becomes up to you and your team’s ability to coach, which is another critical component of maximizing sales team.

Bill Eckstrom
President and Founder, EcSELL Institute
3119 South 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 69506
402-805-4238
http://www.ecsellinstitute.com

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Sales Coaching

7 Obstacles That Hold Sales Professionals Back and What You Can Do to Overcome Them

To be successful in sales you must overcome 7 obstacles. Almost every sales professional runs into these obstacles at some point in their career. For many these obstacles continue to reoccur. These obstacles are not always addressed in sales training, which is why we advocate an ongoing sales coaching relationship. As you read, assess your sales skills and your effectiveness at overcoming these challenges. By conquering them you will be able to take your sales performance to a whole new level.

Obstacle #1: Fear of the “No”. Much has been written about the fear of rejection but it still remains an issue for many sales people. I find that it is helpful to give my prospects a “no-option” right up front! My product/service is not for everyone. I don’t want anyone to feel manipulated or disrespectfully coerced. Neither do I want any “buyers-remorse.” When people say “yes” to me I want them to truly want what I am offering. I want it to be a “win-win” situation. Otherwise there is no hope for a long-term relationship.

As a sales professional you need to truly believe in your product or service. You need to be passionate and enthusiastic about what you are offering. You need to communicate the unique benefits of buying from you. But in the end, if the prospect says “no” it does not diminish the value of your product/service, and it is not a personal rejection of you. You must differentiate that within yourself in order to succeed.

Obstacle #2: Not Being Prepared. It’s very important that you prepare before making the sales contact. I know that there are times when selling opportunities present themselves serendipitously, but most of the time you will have an opportunity to prepare before the contact.

For me, preparation involves going to the prospect’s website, blog, or social media sites before the contact. There I want to learn everything I can about the company and the individual that I will be meeting with. Prospects are typically very impressed if they see that you have done your homework. They feel valued and respected.

I also want to prepare my attitude. I want to go in with the right mindset, being customer-centered and customer-focused. I want to be optimistic and visualize this prospect becoming my customer. I want to anticipate as much as possible what will happen in this conversation. However, I always want to remain flexible and open to the unexpected.

It is very important to be prepared. I would encourage you to develop a system for personal preparation and use that system every time you make a contact.

Obstacle #3: Focusing on Yourself Rather Than Your Prospective Customer. I alluded to this in Obstacle #2. It is very important that you focus on the other person. Your attention and your energy must be directed to understanding them and serving them. This contact is not about me. It is about the prospective customer, about their wants and needs. We must be tuned in to them before and during the contact.

There is a Hebrew Proverb that says “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” I want to understand my prospect (if possible) better than he understands himself. I do not want to be preoccupied with my fear, my discomfort, or my ideas. I want to be totally present for my prospect in that moment of contact.

Obstacle #4: Failure to Listen During the Selling Conversation. The most important tools you have in the selling conversation are questions. The quality of your selling is directly related to the quality of your questions. You must go prepared with good questions and then be ready to ask more questions as they surface in the conversation.

Questions are essential to help you get to know your prospect and to understand what their needs are. I always encourage my clients to prepare good questions ahead of time so that they will be asking better questions than their competition.

However, it is not enough to just ask questions. You must also listen carefully to what they are saying. When appropriate, say back to them what you hear them saying. Listen beneath the words. What are they feeling in the moment of the conversation? How is my question impacting them? Listen and observe. Let them do most of the talking as you guide the conversation with powerful questions.

Obstacle #5: Not Keeping Your Promises. It amazes me how many people do not follow through and do what they say they will do. Successful sales professionals keep their word! They stand behind their promises no matter how difficult or inconvenient.

Prospects are asking themselves one primary question, “Can I trust you?” If you fail to keep your word in the initial meetings or the sales process, it is likely that the prospect will assess you as unreliable and/or dishonest. Bottomline: Keep your word!

Obstacle #6: Inability to Close the Sale. In my early days of selling this was a huge problem and I’ve discovered that it is for many other people as well. I could have a great conversation, ask some good questions, and uncover some clear needs that we could meet. But when the time came to close the sale something happened and I walked away empty-handed.

Always remember that people buy based on emotion, and they justify with logic. In other words, every buying decision is an emotional decision. A good selling conversation will guide you into the prospect’s points of pain and passion. If you never uncover pain or passion you will probably never close the sale.

The 3 keys to a successful close are emotions, buying signals, and questions. Through your conversation look for the moments of emotion. Don’t be afraid to linger there. Also be watching for both verbal and visual buying signals. And then, when the time seems right, ask the closing question.

There is an art to this but with practice and evaluation you will be able to improve your ability to close the sale. You might consider engaging a coach to help you with your questions and scripts, as well as to help you increase in your self-awareness and other-awareness.

Obstacle #7: Failure to Continuously Improve. Leaders are learners, and successful sales professionals are always learning and improving their skills and their mindset. Both require attention and intentional development. No doubt you are reading this article because you want to improve. Let me encourage you to continuously read, observe, engage mentors, attend seminars, talk to colleagues, and evaluate your selling experiences. Be an aggressive learner and you will become a top notch sales professional!

As you increasingly overcome these obstacles you will gain more confidence and improve your sales performance. I believe that you will fall in love with selling and begin to see it as “serving” rather than taking! You will gain greater financial success and enjoy the fruit of a growing network of people who appreciate you. And you will realize the enormous potential you have to succeed in sales.

To learn more about how we help sales professionals go to www.TheGrowthCoachHouston.com/increase-your-sales/.

D. Glenn Smith is CEO and Lead Coach at The Growth Coach Houston, a business coaching firm whose mission is to empower business owners and sales professionals to achieve exceptional performance in their businesses and to live extraordinary lives. Glenn has over 30 years of experience and has coached business and organizational leaders on 5 continents. He is a sought after motivational speaker who has spoken to groups of 20 to 2,000, including several national franchises. For more FREE resources go to http://www.TheGrowthCoachHouston.com.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/D_Glenn_Smith/877909

Sales Coaching

Do You Coach Or Do You Compete? The 7 Most Destructive Styles of Coaching

Some managers do a rotten job of coaching. Are you one of them?

Most are not aware of it but they do a rotten job because they actually ‘compete’ with their sales reps rather than give constructive feedback that will help them change and modify their behavior to sell more.

Though well intentioned, “competitive” coaches do more harm than good. Apart from doing little to improve the sales behavior of the rep, they can inadvertently cause resentment, foster frustration and destroy confidence.

What is a Competitive Coach?

Put simply, the competitive coach is a manager whose feedback tends to elevate their own knowledge and expertise in selling while diminishing the effort or the skill of the sales rep. Often oblivious to this behavior, the competitive coach tends to belittle their sales rep by pointing how they (the manager) would have done things differently and of course, better.

Here are some typical examples of competitive coaching styles to illustrate the point.

Style #1: The Tell Style

The competitive coach tends to a have a ‘tell” approach to feedback. They are direct and often blunt in their remarks, “You didn’t close,” “You missed the buying signal,” “Next time, practice your presentation.” Certainly, there are times when the direct approach is effective but the problem with the ‘tell’ approach is that it rarely helps the sales rep alter their selling behavior. Instead, it reveals flaws which embarrass or annoy the rep.

Style # 2: Chide, De-ride and Kid Style

Some managers tend to coach their reps by chiding, kidding or de-riding. For instance, “Kelly, what the heck was THAT?” or “Cathy, are you kidding me? A seven year old could have closed that one?” The manager doesn’t necessarily mean to be harsh or demeaning but that’s the net result. Most reps get defensive, silently or otherwise.

Style #3: Nit Pick Style

Very competitive coaches often feel that they MUST give some sort of critical feedback even if the call was exceptionally good. They will find something – anything- that could be better or improved. Again, this approach tends to raise the perceived value, intelligence and savvy of the manager if only because it ‘lowers’ the skill or ability of the rep. Good coaches know that if there are no flaws, there is no need to make them up.

Style #4: Schizophrenic Style

Competitive coaches often use the ‘sandwich’ technique of feedback which has been taught for years but is really a discouraging model. This technique states that constructive feedback should be sandwiched between a couple of positive comments. For example, “Jen, that opening statement was really good… but I’m afraid the questioning and qualifying needs some work. You didn’t really get to the heart of the client’s needs… Mind you, you did attempt a close.”

The ‘but’ is the real killer. The poor rep is left confused. The beleaguered rep hears the positive remark but they are waiting for the other shoe to drop the moment the manager says “but.” In an instant, the positive is whipped out. Or, the rep hears the positive remarks, congratulates himself and doesn’t hear the negative. Rare is the rep who can emotionally separate the two types of feedback.

The non-competitive coach gives either constructive feedback or positive feedback and lets the call stand on those merits.

Style #5: The Rhetorical Style

Like sports coaches, competitive sales coaches sometimes use rhetorical questions as a means of pumping up reps and giving them feedback. “You want to be winner, don’t you?” “You want to close ’em, right?” “You don’t want to stay at the bottom of the heap, do you?”, “Why didn’t you ask for the referral?” The manager is not looking for answers, she is pointing out the mistake and trusting that it dramatically improve sales performance. The fact of the matter is most reps simply endure the rhetoric and do the same thing.

Good coaching is a two way street. A good manager/coach asks questions and waits for feedback. This interactive approach helps the rep understand and learn.

Style #6: Personal Anecdotes Style

Many sales managers are former sales reps and chances are they were good sales reps. Consequently, their coaching is spotted with all sorts of personal anecdotes such as, “When I was on the phone, I used the direct close…” or “I remember a similar customer I had and here’s what I did to close that $20K deal.” Sure, there are times when personal gems might have some value but mostly they are war stories that tell the rep how good the manager was…and, oh by the way, how good the rep could be if they only followed your advice.

Style #7: Heaping Style

The final coaching style is the manager who ‘heaps’ on the feedback to the extent that the information is too overwhelming for the rep. This often occurs with rookies where the entire call is weak and the manager provides feedback on everything from the planning, the opening, the questioning, the presentation, the objection handling and the close. The tele-sales rep is left lost and discouraged.

A good coach focuses on one, maybe two areas that require constructive feedback. Let the rep learn and master these areas before moving on to the rest of the call.

Summary

Competitive managers are not ‘bad’ people with a nefarious plan to sabotage their sales reps. Most competitive managers are not effective coaches simply because they have never been taught how to provide feedback that is effective in getting their reps to change their selling behavior. See the article below if you think your coaching style could use an overhaul.

For over 18 years Jim Domanski has been president of Teleconcepts Consulting and works with companies and individuals who struggle to use the telephone more effectively. Author of four highly regarded books on tele-selling, Jim has provided training, coaching and consulting to companies, audiences, universities, and clients and tele-sales reps throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Visit his website at http://www.teleconceptsconsulting.com and download your FREE Special Report, “The 9 Blunders That Tele-Sales Managers Make (And what you can do about them)”

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jim_Domanski/473393

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Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – An Executive’s Guide

When Am I Coaching?

Corporate climate surveys and interviews repeatedly indicate that employees feel they are not coached enough, that they are not clear enough about expectations, that they get too little feedback. Consultants, academics, human resources professionals, some senior managers, and almost all corporate training departments press continually for managers to dedicate more time to coaching. Yet neither managers nor their direct reports can reliably tell you when “coaching” is taking place and whether anyone has been coached.

Why? There is no shared definition. Sales managers, sales people, and trainers describe coaching based on what they’ve experienced, in terms of activities, among them:

 

  • Expectation setting
  • Coaching disciplines
  • Feedback about results
  • Pushing for skills to improve
  • Lots of short interval feedback and management

 

The resulting gumbo mixes old athletic coach models with new-age mumbo jumbo, academic research, and training program models to produce frustration and confusion. Since business leaders and sales managers have precious little time for any task, we need definitions of “what’s a sales coach” and “what’s sales coaching” that experienced managers can use.

Define the Coaching Context

To begin, coaching is a process, not a thing, not an event, not a single type of discussion. The coaching process serves a purpose; you coach to reach an objective. The coaches we’ve met begin thinking about coaching by answering three questions:

 

  • Why am I coaching? What’s the objective?
  • What are the circumstances? How much damage is done if we don’t achieve the goal?
  • Who am I coaching? What do they need from me in order to fulfill the purpose?

 

Their answers to these three questions help them set priorities in terms of their commitment of time to coaching, the frequency and extent of coaching conversations, and their coaching focus.

Specify Your System

Successful sales coaches have developed “systems” that work and that they can teach so that other people can successfully reach meaningful goals. The primary responsibility of executive-level sales managers is to define (or have others define) the “success path” or “system” which will enable their reps to be successful.

Watch any successful team manager, from sales to symphonies to soccer fields, and you’ll see a system. Dig into any successful franchise operation; you’ll find a system that enables ordinary people to produce extraordinary results repeatedly. The system defines performance in detail:

 

  • The correct activities,
  • Done at the correct time,
  • At the correct frequency,
  • In the correct manner.

 

People who are serious about reaching a particular objective flock to good coaches because they know the coaches have systems to get the job done and that, if they use the coaches’ systems, they’ll be successful.

In sales, this means having a “pilot’s manual” that describes how your company and your team, and everybody on it, does business. The manual documents your business development and sales management process in detail – the correct activities, the correct timing, the proper frequency, and specific methods.

For example: When do you meet with your sales reps for coaching? What topics do you cover? What does an acceptable proposal look like, how many of them should someone submit in a year to be successful?

If you can’t define the optimal performance system for your sales team, you’re not well positioned to coach.

Work the System on Three Levels

When developing and implementing their systems, coaches work on three levels:

Strategic – the game plan. In sales, this includes establishing a mission for the team, profiling target customers, choosing products or services to emphasize, and deploying sales resources to customers.

Statistical – the relationships between activities and results. This means connecting data about sales process (i.e. steps activities) to sales results so you can prioritize activities and predict results.

Behavioral – what people do and how. This includes sales call behaviors, internal and external communications, and personal management.

The more senior the sales executives, the more attention they should pay to the “strategic” and “statistical” aspects of the system and implementation of sales team strategies.

When executive sales managers meet with their direct reports (regional, district, or sales team sales managers), they should coach at all three levels:

 

  • Observe performance at all three levels (strategic, statistical, behavioral).
  • Note gaps between what you see and what your system says you should see.
  • Communicate observations to sales managers.
  • Where necessary, instruct sales managers as to what to do, when to do, or how to do strategy implementation, activity management, or specific sales behaviors.

 

Executive sales managers’ expectations, coupled with feedback and consequences, change sales management behaviors. The changed sales management behaviors drive sales activities and sales results. Sales managers who are directly coaching individual sales people should work through the same three levels of coaching with their sales reps.

Do You Get Style Points

Style is important. As a coach, you have to connect with your team members to communicate. You have to enroll them in your vision of what is possible for the team and why it’s worth getting up in the morning.

At the same time, remember what they want from you. They want to know you can help them be successful. If you can demonstrate that your system works, you’ll tend to attract people who want to work for you… and the people who work for you already will be more willing to adapt their styles to yours because they know, in the end, they’ll reach their goals if they follow your coaching.

Nicholas T. Miller, president of Clarity Advantage, helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees. Clarity consulting, communications, sales tools and training help banks recruit and deploy sales team members, choose their best business and consumer prospects and clients, then approach, engage, sell, expand, and retain relationships. Clarity also assists banks with consumer sales and cash management sales. Clarity clients have posted increases in household penetration, cross-sells, deposit volume, and loan volume. Visit Clarity’s website at http://www.clarityadvantage.com where you can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business selling and sales management.

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