Is Coaching the New Frontier of B2B Sales Mastery?

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Is Sales Coaching the New Sales Training?

Sales managers often burn out juggling operations instead of focusing on what really moves the needle—coaching. Think about it, when is the last time you coached instead of managed someone?

The result is underperforming teams, disengaged employees, and turnover rates that keep headhunters happily employed.

Could the fix be as simple as coaching more? Well, not exactly.

Managers frequently say they’re too strapped for time to coach. Some suggest their salespeople need more training before coaching would be beneficial. The truly self-aware managers? They confess they’ve never been trained to coach effectively in the first place.

Enter the Peter Principle, where people get promoted based on their previous role’s performance until they hit a job they’re not actually equipped to handle. Spoiler: the skills that made someone a rockstar salesperson don’t always transfer to being a great sales manager.

So, what’s the fix? Coaching. But not just any coaching—coaching for managers and reps.

Here’s the kicker: managers need to coach more. Groundbreaking, right? But hold on, it’s backed by solid numbers. Research from Aberdeen shows companies that deliver real-time, deal-specific coaching see an average annual revenue bump of 8.4%. What’s more, good coaching boosts performance in the middle 60% of sales reps by up to 19%. That’s the bulk of a sales team we’re talking about.

The bottom line is if you’re not coaching, you're leaving revenue on the table.

Despite the obvious perks, many organizations are floundering when it comes to implementing coaching practices. Only 40% of salespeople say they work in a culture where coaching is a thing, and just 42% of managers are held accountable for offering decent coaching.

Here’s the penny drop moment: Many of the skills needed to coach effectively are the same ones your reps need to progress deals.

Coaching skills are sales skills.

So why not level up everyone? It’s time to make coaching the priority it deserves to be and start seeing the results—both for your team and your bottom line.

I'm training sales managers on how to coach more effectively, and as part of that, I'm teaching them how to pass these coaching skills on to their sales teams. The goal is to help managers empower their reps to improve their sales performance.

Lot's more to discuss on this topic. In fact, one could argue that ALL of the coaching skills should be used in sophisticated sales deals.

Could this be the foundation of next generation of B2B selling?

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For those of you who do not know me, I deliver global sales training and coaching, along with leadership development programs, designed to help companies expand across regions and equip next-gen leaders to tackle emerging global challenges and leverage hybrid work opportunities.

My Linkedin Learning program covers topics on international expansion AND I wrote a book about the lessons learned, good, bad and ugly, when expanding into foreign markets called The Accidental Business Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across a Shrinking Planet. It looks at the hyper-globalization era over the last few decades and the lessons learned about working across cultures. It won the Axiom Business Book Award and has been translated into traditional Chinese.