How can you lead your sales team with a coaching style?

New reps or rookies, benefit from clear direction and shown how the job is done well. Once they master the basics evidenced by behaviours, more advances sales skills can be offered. This is the time when coaching starts to become more relevant.

Coaching in sales management is finding what motivates your team. Find out exactly what brings them to work everyday. Is it their goal to climb the corporate ladder? To make as much money as they can? Or is it because they enjoy using their weekends to spend quality time with their children and family. Use their motivation to drive the results needed in your organization. Show them exactly what is possible if they keep their motivators front and center while remaining open to feedback and consistently performing at their best.

Treat your sales team like a young person - be a mentor to them, but not a guide. If you want to see your company grow dynamically, don't blindly reproduce your experience in your managers. It is much wiser to put the basics in them and let them grow, protecting them from critical mistakes - this will bring novelty to sales approaches and tools. The market, as well as sales methodology, is constantly changing and you don't need to lock your team into the framework of your past successes....

Salespeople are some of the most motivated, passionate, and intelligent people out there. Constantly challenging them, holding them accountable, and showing them how they can reach their own personal goals is how they will remain fulfilled. In a world where turnover in sales is high, it’s important to keep your top talent engaged. Sales jobs are a dime a dozen and finding top sales talent is tough. Appreciate, challenge, and grow your teams so they want to continue performing for you.

I agree, ritual is very important. I believe that meetings should take place on a weekly basis. They should discuss not only the results achieved, but also the difficulties experienced by the employee. At the same time, it is very difficult, in a coaching style, to correct the work of an employee who attributes his failures only to external circumstances.

Applying coaching to your sales team isn’t about getting them to work harder for you to meet your goals. It’s about creating relationships, caring about their wins and successes, & helping them to reach their career and motivational goals. Managing is different from leading. A quick shoutout of a win, an end of the day “I see your hard work” text, and consistent documented one-on-ones with areas they are excelling, areas to improve, and commitments moving forward are key to getting results. Get their buy in by celebrating wins & holding them accountable to reaching their personal goals. Get your team to want to perform for you. Show your appreciation often & be open to their feedback on your leadership. That’s how you win in sales.

When adopting a coaching style it's important to prioritize active listening over speaking. Active listening not only involves hearing your reps' perspectives but also involves skillfully mirroring that information back to them so that they can make smarter, more informed decisions.

Leaders are motivators. They guide, support, develop, and care about the well-being of those they lead. They have a tough job especially in sales. We are the perfect mix of accountability and motivation. The person that will push you to your limits while cheering your team across the finish line. As a leader you won’t always get it right. You will make mistakes, you will have bad days, and bad months. Being open minded to feedback and growth of your own is how you will win time and time again. Being open minded, asking for and receiving feedback openly, and making every decision with the best intentions will ensure your success in sales long term.