Several years ago, I wrote about the five essential characteristics of effective sales coaching, based on CSO Insights’ 2015 sales performance optimization study. Since writing that blog post, I have witnessed that of the five characteristics listed – timely, accurate, consistent, relevant and individualized – only three have demonstrably risen to the forefront of sales coaching.
One Fortune 100 conglomerate I worked with was focused on digital transformation across the enterprise, including sales operations. With a sales force of thousands, the one-size-fits-all method of coaching did not result in sales growth, and non-performance inevitably led to turnover. The management team realized good salespeople were leaving and were open to recommendations. Based on our expertise, we were able to observe and implement appropriate coaching characteristics that included timely, consistent and individualized coaching.
Timely Coaching
The digital transformation of sales performance management includes managers who leverage data to see where sales reps perform (or falter) on a daily, weekly or quarterly basis. Data provide predictive analytics and help managers see where reps may be unable to close a sale or instances where the company never even receives an invitation to bid. Wherever the opportunity is in the pipeline, managers can personalize sales rep coaching to improve on specific targeted areas, which brings us to the first characteristic: timely coaching.
Timely coaching was the first characteristic I examined in 2015 and is the first I observed to rise to the top. Sales training and coaching need to take place as soon as there is a need. In everyday life, we don’t wait to provide guidance to correct a behavior issue, so why should a business wait 12 months to provide feedback and coaching? When management sees that a corrective action should be taken to help close a sale, the onus is on managers to provide timely feedback to the sales rep. Timely coaching builds confidence and new skills and minimizes the anxiety of an annual evaluation. In the situation I cited earlier, management was able to fortify their global sales team when they implemented timely coaching.
Consistent Coaching
While managers at that company focused on correcting areas that required immediate attention to help reps succeed, they also followed through with consistent coaching. Without this rigor in place, 80 percent of new skills are lost within a week of training, according to the Association for Talent Development. By creating guidelines on the frequency of coaching, sales reps were focused and ready to learn at the designated time intervals.
Individualized Coaching
Our clients recognize the need for individualization is critical to their future success. Tailoring coaching to each sales rep’s strengths, weaknesses and goals shows the rep that you are interested in his or her success instead of providing an umbrella approach with one-size-fits-all training.
Providing individualized coaching is also as a critical workplace need for millennials. This generation is very focused on self-development and thrives on learning new job skills, which makes individualized coaching even more important.
No matter your coaching style, creating a bond with your sales reps through a genuine interest in their success adds value to any relationship, including those the rep has with customers, his or her manager, and your company’s brand. One proud employee goes a long way to building a successful sales team.
