Sales Coaching Techniques
Ever wonder why it’s so hard to find the best sales coaching techniques that actually work?
Why can’t other blogs and articles tell you what to do instead of just giving you tips or an outline?
We know sales coaching is tough. Hiring and changing the dynamic of your team is something that everyone dreads. Even just spending the time to coach your current reps – it’s something that gets missed more often than not.
But what if there was an easier way to coach new and seasoned reps? So sales leaders could continue to focus on growing their team’s pipeline and improving win rates.
Well, there is and we’ve broken the best sales coaching techniques down into four categories to help guide you to success.
Coach Smarter, Not Harder
Duh, this seems like a no-brainer right? Well we want to dive into what most people don’t talk about when it comes to coaching.
1) Some reps don’t think they need sales coaching.
Aka generally top performing reps.
So how do you deal with these types of reps? First, you need to find a way to connect. Instead of doing the same role playing time and time again, ask them what they need to be more successful. Maybe it’s just more time to prospect or ideas for a new email cadence. If you don’t ask you’re forcing yourself to work harder than you need to.
“Companies with dynamic coaching programs achieve 28 percent higher win rates.”
(CSO Insights 2016 Sales Enablement Study)
2) Reps are unwilling to put in the time and resources to make coaching effective.
They say they need coaching but don’t put in the effort. At this point, it’s time for an honest one-on-one conversation. If they are missing their quota, a change needs to be made. Give them the opportunity to decide what that is, then if they don’t – you’re now making the change for them.
Not all reps will remain in sales. In the same way as all sales leaders won’t remain in charge.
You have to grow otherwise you’ll get left behind.
Coaching In Remote Environments
Oh man did sales leaders get tough a few years ago. Navigating the world of remote work when it wasn’t the norm, they had to learn to adapt quickly.
1) Involve sales reps before decisions are made.
Before you go and change how things are done, make sure you have buy-in from your team – especially your top performing reps. Gauge where your team’s strengths and weaknesses are and then align what changes need to be made against those.
Overall your team feels included in the decision-making process, even if they don’t always agree. They are more likely to change their behavior or process by being included.
“Companies that provide an optimal amount of coaching realize 16.7 percent greater annual revenue growth.”
(Sales Management Association)
2) Use different coaching styles for your reps.
This should be used regardless of if you’re in the office or a remote environment.
You have strategic sales coaching. Looking at the big picture, planning for future months/quarters/etc. Approaching the reps with a focus on their goals and planning will more likely resonate with a strategic-driven person.
Tactical sales coaching is breaking down the process. Trying to find where something was missed or what needs to be changed. They understand the skills and can start to see the bigger picture, but the focus still needs to remain tactical.
And breaking it down even further is specific skill sales coaching. Focus solely on one skill at a time to move your rep to the next level before focusing on something else.
Scale Your Sales Coaching
We get it, you might be thinking “I can’t scale myself”. You’re right, which means your sales coaching needs to absolutely scale.
There are many ways you can do this, but when it comes to the best sales coaching techniques then you need to look to a software. Scaling can be done great, but also terribly.
Find a software that coaches for you, so you can scale but also spend time with your team where it is needed. Not sitting on every call and then micromanaging.
Using a sales enablement tool like Abstrakt, your reps can get live recommended responses (aka coaching) to help guide them through conversations.
But really this is how you scale your team. After you demo Abstrakt, show me another sales enablement tool that is that fast and actually helps your team instead of showing them hindsight.
“HR Magazine reports that companies investing $1,500 or more per employee per year on training average 24 percent higher profit margins than companies with lower yearly training investments.”
Ways To Measure Effectiveness
Every company or team will measure effectiveness differently. But what’s most important is that you are consistent.
The most obvious measurement is total revenue or sales growth. Easy to measure, can focus on monthly/quarterly/etc. to guide your team to reach their goals.
If you’re a large enough company, you probably have someone in charge of your sales enablement tools. Make sure they are being utilized and you can track ROI on your tools to ensure they are contributing to your overall revenue goals.
Another important measurement is the increased retention of top performing reps. Are you able to keep your A players? Or are you losing them to your competition?
Focusing on more of the tactical side, measuring productivity is key.
Is call volume improving, are meetings booked improving, etc? The tactical effectiveness allows reps to see progress from day to day or week to week, instead of solely focusing on revenue or total sales.
Best Sales Coaching Techniques For Your Team
Overall, when it comes to the best sales coaching techniques you can go in a hundred different ways. What’s important is that your team is responding to what you’re doing.
If you get buy-in, that’s the hardest part of sales. Your top performing reps should love being on your team.
So focus your sales efforts on that.
The best leaders are people focused, not deal focused.
When you’re looking for a sales enablement tool that is going to knock your socks off, then try Abstrakt. There are other companies who are trying to do what we’re doing, but just haven’t quite figured it out yet.