Re-coaching Reps
Re-coaching reps is a phrase we hear quite too often. Sales leaders spend their days trying to motivate and coach their team to handle objections in a very specific way.
Now you might not like what we’re about to say…
It’s time to stop re-coaching your reps! Let their personalities shine and give them the tools they need to succeed.
Sure, you can stop reading and be close-minded. But that puts you in the category of a manager, not a leader.
If you’re looking to improve your leadership skills, let’s take a step back and show you what we mean by “stop re-coaching your reps”.
What Sales Coaching Has Evolved To
Sales coaching has evolved with technology. As hopefully most of you know. There are so many tools that leaders can use to make their team better, but it has caused such a divide in the way sales leaders coach their teams.
You have the old school mentality:
- Role playing every week and making a sales rep try to handle a scripted objection in front of the rest of the team.
- Trying to be on every call with their reps when they aren’t performing (just slightly micromanaging).
- Not constantly learning, solely focused on what I did as a sales rep instead.
What sales leaders can do now:
- Investigate new technology, questioning how they can continue to help their reps stay motivated and improve their performance.
- Involving reps on demos to see what their initial reaction is.
- Utilizing real-time sales coaching software and post-call analytics to give reps constant feedback without having to micromanage.
Two very different ways of thinking are now causing a divide in the software sales world.
There are so many options now when it comes to your tech stack, the worst part is most sales leaders don’t review the ROI to see if the software is making a difference.
If your team isn’t using the software or you haven’t seen an improvement in the first couple of months, it’s time to reflect and ask questions if this is a good use of your budget.
Onboarding vs. Re-Coaching Reps
There is a major difference between onboarding new sales reps and re-coaching existing reps.
In many cases, your deadlines and overall job obligations as a sales leader won’t magically disappear. But, as tough as this might sound, you need to power through these kinds of seemingly overwhelming stretches without skimping on your leadership efforts.
Onboarding new reps is tough. But if you create a process and plan, it will make things go smoothly. You need to break down the mechanics of cold calling and objection handling. They won’t feel micromanaged.
But if you treat “re-coaching” like you do onboarding, your turnover rate for reps won’t improve. Sales reps evolve and need to gain more responsibilities so sales coaching becomes more and more strategic as they grow with the company.
What You Should Be Doing Instead
We’ve been lucky enough to have plenty of customers share how their sales coaching journeys have changed over time as they find new tools that give their team the ability to book more meetings or close more opportunities.
Sales coaching is absolutely 100% needed, and always will be.
How to make improvements instead of “re-coaching your reps”
- Allow your reps to do self-evaluations of their performance. Then give them feedback on where they think they need it the most.
- Embrace peer-to-peer sales coaching. Partner up your sales reps and allow them to learn from each other.
- Show empathy. Getting rejected when cold calling is NOT fun. Tell them stories of situations you were in, it allows them to connect without feeling micromanaged.
- Let your reps lead meetings and have them teach the team something.
- Continue to show their growth path and the different options they have to keep working towards.
Sales coaching might be one of the most fundamentally significant responsibilities sales leaders have. But you have to evolve as time goes on. You can’t be coaching your reps the same way you were 5 years ago.
Take those next steps as a sales leader and find ways to help your team grow.
Be Intentional
My last piece of advice for you is to be intentional with everything you do as a sales leader.
Just like your reps, sales is tough. The team rises and falls with you.
If you’re not sure where to go next, ask your sales community or find a mentor.
If you are intentional with everything you do, it will always benefit your team as you can be transparent with your goals and vision for the organization. This will trickle down from the best sales reps to any new sales reps.
Here are some great resources we’ve used for our team on cold calling, sales coaching, you name it.
- Cold Calling Guide
- Outbound Lead Call Framework
- The Abstrakt Podkast – lots of golden nuggets!
If you’re looking for ways to make your life easier as a sales leader.
Check out Abstrakt. We will let you know immediately if you’re not a fit and even show you other products that might solve your solution.