How that Advice on Eating Elephants Can Make You a Better Sales Coach

Hey, Enablers, Happy Friday. Mike Kunkle here. Welcome to this week’s edition of Sales Enablement Straight Talk!

Today, I want to talk about how managers can improve the effectiveness of their field training and sales coaching efforts, with just a few tweaks. To do it, I'm going to invoke that old joke:

Q: How Do You Eat an Elephant?

A. One Small Bite at a Time!

Introduction

I taught my first formal course in sales coaching 21 years ago. By that point, I’d been informally coaching since around 1992, but my first structured, methodology-driven course—based on Top Performer Analysis (TPA)—was launched in late 2003. Back then, the course was called Partnership Coaching. Today, it’s evolved into Sales Coaching Excellence , a course we offer at SPARXiQ, as part of our Modern Sales Foundations suite.

I share this to give you some context: I've been training managers to coach for many years, across multiple companies and multiple vertical industries, as both an employee (internally) and a consultant or vendor (externally). Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to conduct 16 TPAs, all of which included front-line sales management, as well as sellers. Through this work, I’ve noticed clear patterns in how sales managers coach—or sometimes, unfortunately, fail to coach effectively.

One of the things I know I do well is pattern recognition. I'd say I pride myself on it, but I've didn't work on it or develop the skill. Truthfully, it's just something I've always been fortunate to be able to do. I tend to be able to see holes in things or why things won't work (which can be incredibly annoying to other people) and to "connect the dots," if you will, through pattern recognition.

One of the biggest patterns or barriers in coaching, at the manager level, is the tendency for managers to coach too many things at once. When a manager tries to improve multiple skills in one sitting, it can overwhelm their salesperson. Trying to address everything simultaneously typically results in ineffective coaching, with the rep walking away unsure of what to focus on.

In this newsletter, I want to share some of the patterns I've seen that prevent managers from coaching well. It won't include everything, such as the failure of organization leaders to remove barriers to coaching (putting too much on their managers' plates), but I’ll highlight how breaking down complex skills into manageable pieces—just like eating that elephant in tiny bites—can improve the impact of coaching efforts.

This approach draws on concepts from Deliberate Practice and the Chunk, Sequence, and Layer principle from instructional design, which both emphasize mastering one step at a time to build up to complex skills.

One Bite at a Time: The Problem with Overloading

Many managers feel they need to address all improvement areas in a single session, tackling mindsets, behaviors, communication skills, selling strategies, and more — or even just a really big task with a lot of steps and skills. This scattergun or all-inclusive approach often means nothing is fully addressed, leaving reps overwhelmed and unclear on where to improve first or even where to start. It’s like trying to eat an entire elephant in one gulp — impossible to do or digest and not at all effective.

Instead, what we know from performance improvement research is that learning works best when it’s focused, incremental, and reinforced. Narrowing down to a single skill or behavior for each session allows the salesperson to fully grasp, practice, and build that skill until it’s habitual. Think of it as targeting just one small “bite” of the elephant at a time.

Some of the ineffective patterns I see regularly, and have for years, include:

• Overloading Reps with Too Many Focus Areas: Managers often try to address multiple skills or behaviors simultaneously, which can overwhelm sales reps and dilute their focus.
• Neglecting Skill Focus: Instead of honing in on specific skills, managers tend to emphasize high-level behaviors, instructing reps on what to do but neglecting the “why,” “how,” and “how well.”
• Skipping Understanding Checks: Managers sometimes fail to verify understanding, assuming reps grasp concepts when they may need additional clarification.
• Lacking Follow-Through: There is often insufficient follow-up to ensure that the coaching is being applied effectively and achieving the desired results.

Deliberate Practice + Chunk, Sequence, & Layer

To address these patterns, I recommend two powerful approaches:

• Deliberate Practice: This involves focusing on skill improvement through intentional, structured practice (role play) with feedback loops and reruns (redoing the practice to incorporate the feedback). To do Deliberate Practice you Identify specific skills that need improvement, break down each skill into smaller, manageable tasks, practice these tasks repeatedly and with intention, provide immediate feedback to refine and improve performance.
• Chunk, Sequence, and Layer: This instructional design principle enhances learning retention and application. Start by "chunking" related skills or information together, arranging them in a logical learning sequence. As each chunk is mastered, "layer" new chunks on top, building on previous skills for a cumulative learning effect.

Basically, you practice and master each chunk deliberately, and then start to put the chunks together.

Example: Running Sales Meetings Effectively

Let’s take the example of a salesperson needing to run sales meetings more effectively. This is a broad skill that can be overwhelming to tackle all at once. By breaking it into smaller steps, the salesperson can focus on one aspect at a time, gradually building up their competence.

Set Up

Let’s imagine a Sales Manager and her Salesperson have been meeting for a while, and the manager has:

• Set the Stage (why are they meeting, what will they be doing, how long they'll be doing it)
• Led the Performance Analysis Discussion (figuring out what needs the most improvement)
• And they've Explored Solution Options and Agreed that the Salesperson needs to open and run meetings more purposefully.

For the solution, while the Salesperson needs help with running the entire meeting more effectively, they agreed to start with how to open a meeting in a more purposeful way. The Salesperson hasn’t used a meeting opener like the Manager recommends before, so he needs training to know What, Why, and How to do it. For this example, we'll assume the Manager has explained Why it's important, and we’ll begin the example with the Manager using the Field Training Model (Tell, Show, Do, and Review) and demonstrating the Tell and Show steps with Understanding Checks.

Opening the Meeting

[START Example]

Sales Manager: [TELL] “The most effective way to open a meeting is to share the meeting Purpose – or why you’re meeting, your Objectives – or what you want to accomplish, your Plan to do that, and especially, the value that your customer will get out of it. Then you end with a simple check and ask if there’s anything else they hoped to accomplish. So, it’s Purpose, Objectives, Plan, Value, and Check. Does that make sense?”

Salesperson: “Yes, I like that.”

Sales Manager: [UNDERSTANDING CHECK] “Great. Now, just to ensure I’ve been clear, and to help cement it in your mind, would you summarize that back to me?”

Salesperson: “Uh, okay. I need to start with a purpose, a plan, and tell them what they’ll get out of the meeting, and then check if that’s okay.”

Sales Manager: “Very close. That’s great for just hearing it once. Any idea what you missed?”

Salesperson: “Sorry, no.”

Sales Manager: “That’s fine. You missed Objectives. You share the Purpose, Objectives, Plan, and Value – from the customer’s perspective, and the Check also includes asking if there’s anything else they want to accomplish. If it helps, that’s POP… P-O-P Value Check, for Purpose, Objectives, Plan, Value, and Check.”

Salesperson: “Okay. POP Value Check. That should help.”

Sales Manager: “I thought it might. So, try again – summarize it completely.”

Salesperson: “It’s POP Value Check. Or the meeting purpose, the objectives, the plan, and the value, ending with a check to see if they’d like to cover anything else.”

Sales Manager: “Great job! And for the value, from whose perspective?”

Salesperson: “From theirs – my customer.”

Sales Manager: “Perfect. Would it help to hear an example?”

Salesperson: “Yeah, I think it would.”

Sales Manager: “Here’s how I would do it.

[SHOW] "[Name], thanks for meeting with me. Today, I want to discuss our partnership and help you get the most out of it. Specifically, how to improve the profitability of your operation. To do that, I want to share what some of our other customers are doing to maximize both our relationship and their profitability, and then tie it to what you’re doing here at your company, so you can see the same kind of growth.

First, does that seem like a good plan for you, [Name]? And, second, is there anything else you were hoping we’d talk about today?”

Salesperson: “Wow, that’s good.”

Sales Manager: “Thanks. I’ve had a lot of practice. [UNDERSTANDING CHECK] And speaking of practice, that’s what you really need to do, so you can do it like that with your customers. Want to give it a try?”

Salesperson: “I’m not sure I can do it like that yet, but I’ll try.”

Sales Manager: “Great. I don’t expect perfection on your first try. We’re practicing, right? And look – I’ve made you a cheat sheet. Here… you don’t have to say these words exactly, but you can use this as a guide while we’re practicing, until you don’t need it anymore. Ready to try?”

Salesperson: “Okay, let’s do it.” (Salesperson continues...)

[END Example]

Next Steps with Our Example

There is obviously a lot involved with running an effective meeting, even after a great opening. If the Salesperson needs help improving sales meeting management skills, the same concepts of Deliberate Practice with feedback and reruns, along with Chunk, Sequence, and Layer, will help.

This is what musicians, dancers, actors, Olympians, sports pros, and almost all performance-oriented professions do. (Except, of course, sales professionals. Until now, that is.)

It works.

To continue with additional meeting management training in our example, something I've done in the past is to lay out the major steps of the meeting, one-by-one. Then, have the Salesperson work on the messaging (sometimes I call this "the words that work" or "starter words") to start and end each section, and transition smoothly to the next.

• Start
• End/Summary
• Transition

This helps the Salesperson with effective messaging for the meeting structure. Then, if it turns out they need help in-between the start and end of each section, with the "meat" of the section, the Manager can take it section-by-section and role play those (as needed).

Some things are tougher to do this way, with a complex skill like meeting management, but it's possible to get close. One problem I see a lot in sales meetings, is poor time management. Salespeople don't often:

• Use Parking Lots (to "park" topics outside the agenda, to come back to them later)
• Redirect conversations back on track, to stay on point
• Check-in with attendees when time is running short to determine how to best proceed
• Summarize decisions, open issues, action items, and set the next meeting during the current one

Or generally use best-practice meeting facilitation skills, often because they aren't trained in them (go figure). If this is a challenge for your sellers, you can send someone to meeting facilitation training, as well as training them yourself and coaching to the new skills, on your own.

Closing Thoughts

Effective coaching requires managers to break down complex skills into manageable, bite-sized chunks, reinforcing each one through deliberate practice. When managers narrow their coaching focus and apply the Chunk, Sequence, and Layer approach, with Deliberate Practice with feedback loops and reruns, they create a learning process that fosters skill mastery and gradual improvement. This approach also respects the mental load on the salesperson, allowing them to build confidence and competence one step at a time.

On the surface, I know it seems like this is more work. And truthfully, it IS a front-loaded process (like good discovery is, when selling). But doing coaching this way actually saves endless hours of spinning wheels, saying the same things over and over, without behavior change or performance improvement. The investment upfront, delivers dividends through less wasted effort and faster results.

So, just as Olympic athletes and performers rely on these methods to achieve peak performance, sales managers can use similar techniques to elevate their team's effectiveness. The result? A stronger, more self-assured team equipped to deliver impactful results.

Remember, coaching is not about achieving perfection in one session, but about nurturing steady progress that compounds over time. So, the next time you’re coaching, consider asking yourself, “What’s the next small bite that will move the needle?” With this mindset, you’ll build a culture of continuous improvement, empowering your team to succeed.

RESOURCES

SALES COACHING EXCELLENCE (SCE) COURSE

• SCE Course Page: https://go.modernsalesfoundations.com/sales-coaching-excellence-course
• SCE Program Trailer: https://go.modernsalesfoundations.com/sales-coaching-excellence-program-trailer

OTHER RESOURCES

• Your Sales Managers Think They’re Coaching, But They’re Probably Not by Mike Kunkle
• The Mysteries of Sales Coaching Revealed! by Mike Kunkle
• The Power of Role Play Reruns! by Mike Kunkle (check out the video!)
• The Ultimate Deliberate Practice Guide: How to Be the Best by Farnam Street
• Deliberate Practice: What It Is, What It's Not, and How to Use It by James Clear
• "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
• Resources on Deliberate Practice from ScienceDirect

Well, that's it for this week, Enablers! Did you learn something new reading/watching this newsletter? If you did, or if it just made you think (and maybe chuckle from time to time - bonus points if you snorted), share it with your favorite enablement colleague, subscribe right here on LinkedIn, and check out The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement Learning Experience . For other courses and content from Mike, see: https://linktr.ee/mikekunkle

Until next time, stay the course, Enablers, and #MakeAnImpact With #Enablement!