As a sales coach, you want your reps to grow and improve their skills, but you also want them to take charge of their own learning and development. How can you encourage them to do that through coaching feedback? In this article, we'll share some tips and strategies to help you empower your reps to own their progress and performance.
One of the first steps to encourage sales reps to take ownership of their own development is to explain the purpose and value of feedback. Feedback is not a punishment, a criticism, or a judgment. It's a tool to help them identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. It's a way to help them align their actions with their goals, and to celebrate their achievements. When you give feedback, make sure you communicate the positive intent behind it, and how it can help them grow and succeed.
Show them that you believe in them, give them the confidence to take control. Show them it's part of being accountable, not just to the team but themselves. Build a culture of always learning, as I like to say " if I'm the smartest guy in the room, I'm in the wrong meeting ". But most importantly, encourage, motivate and praise.
Many people hear the word 'feedback' and automatically assume it is going to be negative. Therefore if you explain that feedback falls into two broad categories: 1. Positive 2. Developmental Then it sets a more accurate expectation and also frames what they may have seen as negative feedback into the more constructive category of 'developmental'. Straight away, this is a more encouraging approach.
Feedback both positive and constructive should be done on a regular basis, not once or twice a year or to critique. Communication is how we develop relationships with our clients and our sales team. Build a connection and trust with our team members to get to know who they are and what motivates them. If they feel valued, respected and heard you'll develop an amazing team.
One of my mentors once said that “feedback is the breakfast of champions”. Encouraging salespeople to being receptive to feedback which will help them grow and develop is essential. Often salespeople are unreceptive to feedback as they feel that they know better and don’t need to change. As someone else has pointed out, feedback is a gift. When people take the time to provide feedback it is because they genuinely care. Acting on feedback requires a growth mindset and people who have a growth mindset are much more likely to take responsibility for their own development.
I say to my SDRs: There is no failure, only feedback! Feedback will ensure you are more confident, you can progress quicker and learn and refine new sales techniques.
The SBI model is a simple and effective framework for giving feedback that stands for Situation, Behavior, and Impact. It helps you focus on specific and observable behaviors, rather than vague or personal traits. It also helps you describe the impact of those behaviors, both positive and negative, on the outcomes, the customers, and the team. For example, instead of saying "You're not confident enough on the phone", you can say "In the last call with the prospect, you hesitated several times when answering their questions, which made them doubt your expertise and credibility". The SBI model helps you give feedback that is clear, objective, and actionable.
This example works, but in this scenario, you can add a great coaching question afterwards. So for example, "In the last call with the prospect, you hesitated several times when answering their questions, which made them doubt your expertise and credibility" then add: "What do you think you could do differently next time?" This then becomes a better coaching exercise as you are encouraging them to come up with the answers (which is kind of what coaching is!)
The SBI model provides direction. For example: “In yesterday’s client meeting, when pricing was questioned, you immediately discounted 10%. This made closing difficult.” Reps learn how behaviors link to outcomes. By spotlighting Situations, Behaviors, and Impact, reps gain that self-awareness to course-correct towards mastery. Equipped with SBI, reps gain lifelong ability to navigate challenges and achieve goals. Our role is awakening potential then empowering the path to ownership. With self-direction, exceptional performance becomes their norm.
When implementing the SBI model in sales coaching, the ultimate goal is to enable reps to internalize this framework for self-assessment and peer feedback. Encourage your team to adopt the SBI method during their own review processes. For instance, after a sales call, a rep could think: "I noticed during the call (Situation) I talked over the client while they were asking about pricing (Behavior). This likely made the client feel unheard and could jeopardize the deal (Impact)." By fostering a culture where the SBI model is the norm for feedback, you empower reps to become more self-aware, focused, and responsible for their actions. This cultivates not just skill improvement but also emotional intelligence, which is invaluable in sales
The SBI model's popularity stems from its structured approach, enabling clear and precise feedback delivery. By emphasizing the Situation, Behavior, and Impact, it directs attention to specific instances and their outcomes, facilitating an objective and constructive dialogue. This model aids in fostering a growth-oriented culture, promoting accountability and continuous improvement among team members. Its simplicity and practicality make it a preferred choice for organizations aiming to cultivate a feedback-driven environment that prioritizes professional development and performance enhancement.
Another way to encourage sales reps to take ownership of their own development is to ask open-ended questions that prompt them to reflect on their performance, analyze their results, and generate their own solutions. Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered with a yes or no, and that start with words like what, how, why, and where. For example, you can ask "What did you do well in this sales cycle?", "How did you handle the objection from the customer?", "Why do you think you lost the deal?", or "Where do you see room for improvement?". Asking open-ended questions helps you engage your reps in a dialogue, rather than a monologue, and helps them take responsibility for their own learning.
The best coaches (like the best salespeople) listen far more than they talk. A lot of people think coaching is about showing and telling people how to improve. In actual fact, it's about using questions to help people figure out for themselves what they need to do. Let the person you are coaching be the superhero in their own story!
Curiosity is the cure for complacency. As coaches, our questions unlock the rep's potential. Open-ended questions spark self-discovery: What did you learn from that loss? How will you improve? Why do you think the close rate dropped? Where are you still struggling? This inquiry mindset drives ownership. Resist the temptation to provide answers. Instead, ignite their inner wisdom. Thoughtful silence allows insights to emerge. Validate successes to reinforce strengths. Growth happens when reps draw their own conclusions and set intentions. Ask the right questions to awaken their agency. Their role is taking action. Curiosity empowers reps to see feedback as fuel and continuous growth as the journey, not the destination.
"Questions are the key that unlocks the doors of knowledge and understanding." - Unknown Encouraging sales reps to take ownership of their development can be effectively facilitated by asking open-ended questions that stimulate introspection and critical thinking. By initiating dialogues centered on their actions, experiences, and perspectives, open-ended questions promote self-assessment and self-directed learning. These questions serve as catalysts for insightful discussions, enabling sales reps to identify areas for growth, devise strategies, and foster a sense of autonomy and accountability in their professional development journey.
Asking questions is your most important tool as a sales coach. Asking open-ended questions guides reps to self-discover their strengths and opportunities and play a leading role in developing their action plans. When the rep is in the driver seat of their own development, they take more ownership for their work and are far more likely to adopt action items from coaching sessions.
Open-ended questions initiate meaningful conversations and activate the cognitive skills necessary for problem-solving and self-improvement. Asking questions like, "What challenges did you encounter in this sales cycle?" or "How would you approach the situation differently next time?", you're essentially handing over the analytical reins to your reps. This urges them to engage with their own performance metrics and patterns. The benefit is twofold: reps develop a sense of ownership for their own growth and simultaneously build the critical thinking skills vital for long-term success in sales. The practice of such questions in your coaching sessions and team meetings will evolve you sales team into a more self-sufficient, capable unit
When you give feedback, you want to be constructive and balanced. That means you want to provide both positive and negative feedback, and focus on the areas that can help your reps improve their performance and achieve their goals. Constructive feedback is feedback that is specific, relevant, timely, and respectful. It helps your reps understand what they did well, what they need to work on, and how they can do better next time. Balanced feedback is feedback that recognizes both the strengths and the weaknesses of your reps, and that avoids being too harsh or too lenient. It helps your reps feel appreciated, motivated, and challenged.
But it’s a two-way street! Yes, I’m more than prepared to give you ‘my all” in your career, but I’ll want/ need / expect something in return. We are in essence, a ‘partnership’, helping each other to grow, achieve and develop, you and I, our Team and our customers. # I’ll expect full Participation in all we do as an individual in our Team, whether it be in meetings or out in the field. If we participate as individuals we will grow as a Team. We all bring different skills to our unit and what you give of yourself you’ll get back 100 times over. In summary, we’re here as a collective unit to H. E. L. P. each other.
I mentioned above using positive and developmental feedback. To build on this further, a simple way to provide balanced feedback is to use: General positive feedback General developmental feedback Specific positive feedback Specific developmental feedback General feedback might be: "Well done" "That was great" "That didn't work" In other words, no detail is given. Whereas in specific feedback, you would go into detail, without being personal and using phrases like: "I observed XYZ thing happening. This caused ABC thing to happen, resulting in (scenario)." This way the feedback is clear and non-judgemental and the receiver can be absolutely clear on what has happened.
Consider these ways of improving the content of the feedback you are giving: ? Concentrate on the behaviour and not the person. ? Balance the content. Using a feedback sandwich can help soften the blow of your words as you first provide positive feedback and identify what the person is doing well before giving constructive criticism and then finishing with another positive. ? Be specific. ? Be realistic. ? Avoid ‘always’ and ‘never’. People’s behaviour is rarely consistent. Own the feedback. ? Use the pronoun ‘I’ rather than ‘they’ or ‘one’ which imply that your opinion is universally held. Remember that feedback is merely your opinion. ? Be timely. Choose an appropriate time to give your feedback.
Balanced feedback motivates and educates. As a sales coach, try adopting the "sandwich method" for feedback delivery: start with a positive observation, follow with an area for improvement, and then close on another positive note. For example, you might say, "Your product knowledge really shone in that presentation (positive). However, your closing could have been more compelling (constructive). Overall, your energy was contagious and lifted the team (positive)." This reassures reps of their strengths while giving them specific pointers for improvement. The aim is to create a holistic coaching environment where constructive criticism is just as welcome as praise, cultivating a resilient, self-aware sales team ready to tackle any challenge
One of the best ways to encourage sales reps to take ownership of their own development is to encourage them to give themselves feedback. Self-feedback is feedback that your reps give themselves based on their own observations, data, and criteria. It helps them become more aware of their own performance, strengths, and areas for improvement. It also helps them set their own goals, action plans, and measures of success. You can encourage self-feedback by asking your reps to prepare a self-assessment before each coaching session, and by giving them feedback on their feedback. You can also provide them with tools and resources to help them monitor and evaluate their own progress.
Some good questions to include here could be: What have been your successes? What areas do you want to develop in yourself over the next quarter? What was your biggest learning experience in the last 6 months? How will you know if you have achieved your personal development goals?
Fostering a culture of self-feedback is like equipping your sales reps with an internal GPS for career development. A great way to operationalize this is through "Personal Performance Dashboards" that reps can update weekly with key metrics, wins, and areas for improvement. Make these dashboards an integral part of one-on-one coaching sessions. Discuss what they observed about themselves, how it aligns with your own feedback, and collaboratively decide on the best steps forward. By being active participants in their own assessment, reps are more likely to be engaged and take the corrective actions needed. The result is a more agile, self-aware, and high-performing sales team.
Finally, to encourage sales reps to take ownership of their own development, you need to follow up and support them. Follow up means checking in with your reps regularly to see how they are applying the feedback, what results they are getting, and what challenges they are facing. It also means acknowledging their efforts, celebrating their achievements, and providing additional feedback as needed. Support means providing your reps with the guidance, tools, resources, and opportunities they need to learn and grow. It also means creating a culture of feedback, where your reps feel safe, valued, and encouraged to share their opinions, ideas, and feedback with you and with each other.
The best thing you can do as a supportive sales manager is to develop emotional intelligence and self-awareness in your sales reps because they firstly have to be sold on themselves. Sales success has always been an inner game before an outer one. The best way to do that is to be self-aware of yourself first as a leader and model that behaviour by showing your vulnerabilities, admitting you don't know something or made a mistake. They need to feel psychologically safe with you when they can see you feel safe and secure enough with yourself.
Following up and providing continuous support is pivotal in fostering a culture of growth and development within your sales team. Regular check-ins and acknowledgments of their progress and achievements help maintain momentum and motivation. Offering guidance, resources, and creating an environment where feedback is actively encouraged not only facilitates professional growth but also builds a collaborative and supportive work culture. By consistently engaging with your sales reps, you demonstrate your commitment to their success and create a platform for ongoing learning and improvement.
One thing I found very helpful when I managed sales reps was to find out what their financial goals were. Once I knew that I would get an agreement with the sales rep to partner to help them achieve their goals. Now become a partner rather than a boss.......It worked everytime
To encourage sales reps to take ownership of their own development, I use the GROW coaching Model. O Stands for Options Challenge the sales rep to find the answers for themselves - What do you think you could do to change this situation? What else could you do? Who can help you to achieve this? Would you like a suggestion from me?
Tie personal goals to business goals with these steps: Clarify their personal goals: Do they have truly meaningful goals? Are they accelerated or too long-term? 1) Calculate the how: Clarify the cost of their top 2-3 goals. Calculate the # of sales needed based on their average deal size and commission/sale. # of sales is in addition what's needed for living. 2)Identify key growth areas for the greatest results impact: which KPI conversion is lowest? What skills apply? 3)Create a coaching plan: What will they do and role will you play? 4) Accountability: who will help & how will they stay consistent? 5) Focus them on activity vs. results so they can develop confidence from things they can control 5) Discuss in every 1:1
I have found applying some of the interesting models from the field of positive psychology hugely helpful. This is a new tool I am bringing into my sales training since exploring this field and relevance to sales. Of particular value is sharing the idea of growth mindset versus fixed mindset. If you help people develop self-awareness around where they might straddle this spectrum, it can be hugely beneficial. Understanding feedback in the context of personal growth & resilience strategy, really powerful.