Most organisations are not sure about how much time their sales leader should spend coaching and as such they have them caught up in overseeing operational activities and focusing very little time on what matters the most, coaching their sales people to be much better at getting the results.

I have been talking a lot about sales coaching in recent times because of the impact the lack of good sales coaching has on the numbers.

On a typical day I coach four different sales experts and two clients on how to coach salespeople and sales managers more effectively. I have noticed that most sales managers believe that they are fairly good at coaching when, in reality, most of them are very ineffective at it. Why?

First, let us look at what is required for effective coaching. Some of it is tangible and measurable, while some is not. Effective sales coaching requires:

• Great listening skills

• Great questioning skills

• No need for approval

• That the sales coach not be too trusting

• No assuming

• A strong grasp of the sales process

• Common sense sales strategy

• Large mastery of appropriate sales tactics

• Debriefing skills

• Role-playing skills

• Confidence

These skills are all interdependent, so even if a manager possesses many of these skills, lacking even one or two would still render their coaching ineffective at best. For example, what if a sales manager owned the entire list except for role-playing skills? They would never be able to demonstrate the best practice required.

If they owned the entire list, except the company did not have a formal sales process (TGL assessment data reveals that 91 per cent of companies in the Caribbean lack a formal sales process), it would be difficult for them to put the scenario into the proper context of time (when it should happen) and space (where it should happen).

If they owned the entire list, except mastery of sales tactics, it would be exceedingly difficult for them to discuss how it should happen. If they owned the entire list, except for debriefing skills, it would be incredibly challenging for them to identify the underlying problem behind the issue at hand.

In my experience, most sales managers lack most of the skills on my list.

The second part of the coaching equation is frequency. Salespeople need to be coached daily. Most sales managers only provide coaching as needed, because they are either poor at it or they are caught up in operational issues and have no time to coach their team.

The third part of the equation is consistency. The coaching process should be the same each time you coach a salesperson. You want your salespeople to be comfortable with this process.

The fourth part of the equation is the credibility factor. Salespeople must trust you, respect you, and have a good relationship with you. If any of that is missing, you’ll have a much more difficult time getting salespeople to have faith that your coaching is on the mark.

Finally, the last part of the equation is accountability. Sales managers must hold salespeople accountable for implementing the lessons learnt in each coaching session.

How effective are you at coaching your salespeople?

Now is the best time to have your sales leaders trained in the art and science of effective sales coaching.

— Duane Lue-Fung is founder & chairman of sales development company Think Grow Lead. For more insights on sales training, sales recruiting and sales outsourcing please visit TGL’s website. www.tgltrainers.com/ www.tglsalesschool.com or e-mail me your comments at topsalesguruja@gmail.com