Your sales team is underperforming. What can you do to turn things around?

2 Set clear goals

Once you have identified the areas of improvement, you need to set clear and realistic goals for your sales team. These goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, instead of saying "increase sales", you can say "increase sales by 10% in the next quarter by upselling to existing customers". Setting SMART goals will help your sales team focus on what they need to do, how they will do it, and when they will do it. It will also help you track their progress and provide feedback.

3 Provide feedback and guidance

Feedback and guidance are essential for sales coaching. They help your sales team learn from their successes and failures, improve their skills and strategies, and overcome their challenges and obstacles. You should provide feedback and guidance regularly, not just at the end of a sales cycle or a project. You can use different formats, such as one-on-one sessions, group meetings, or online platforms. The key is to make your feedback and guidance specific, constructive, and actionable. For example, instead of saying "good job", you can say "good job on closing that deal by using the value proposition and handling the objections". And instead of saying "you need to improve", you can say "you need to improve your prospecting skills by using these techniques and tools".

4 Encourage collaboration and teamwork

Sales coaching is not only about improving individual performance, but also about fostering collaboration and teamwork. Your sales team can benefit from sharing best practices, insights, and feedback with each other. They can also support each other, motivate each other, and celebrate each other's achievements. You can encourage collaboration and teamwork by creating a culture of trust, respect, and learning. You can also use various activities, such as peer coaching, role-playing, or gamification, to make your sales coaching more interactive and fun.