I believe that one of the best courses I took as a new sales leader was Sales Coaching. This training focused on intense role plays to address the key points and takeaways for properly coaching your salespeople.

Research says that coaching should be a top priority for sales leaders. It develops your relationship with your team and builds trust for the long-term. The result? Better sales performance and lower turnover.

The formula I use for a coaching session is pretty straight forward – no matter whether it lasts 5 minutes or 50. Your goal should be consistency – at least every week or two.

The agenda to use? Ask:

• What is working well for you?
• Where can you see improvement?
• What will you change to achieve those results?
• How can I best support you?

Before you get started, it’s critical that you start out on a positive note.

What is working well for you? 

Asking this powerful question will get the session off to a good start so your salesperson won’t get defensive. It also helps to build trust moving forward so they look forward to your sessions. Remember the goal is to bring about change in behavior leading to positive results.

Where can you see improvement? 

Once you’re off on a positive note, most of your sellers will welcome a discussion about where they can improve. Your experience, thoughts and wisdom are valuable – don’t hold back, but don’t overwhelm either! Remember this is not about constructive criticism, rather it’s constructive feedback. Ask questions to pull for their thoughts so you don’t come across as a professor in lecture mode.

What will you change to achieve those results? 

Next you need to understand what they recognize should change. What actions will they take to achieve better results? Help them map their next steps to deliver better performance. What will be the results they are looking for and how will they know if they are improving their performance?

How can I best support you? 

This is the last step – and it’s critical. Ask them, “How can I best support you in moving forward?” Follow this powerful question with a conversation about the next steps, like

• When do you want to touch base to see how you are doing?
• How often do you want to meet? Though you may have a predetermined schedule to support your meetings with your leadership.

 reat sales leaders don’t just sit behind their desks analyzing numbers. They are working with their people, going on sales calls, and meeting with clients. This is what produces outstanding results as well as long-term and loyal clients.

Effective and consistent coaching sets great leaders apart from the rest. 

If you don’t feel that your sales coaching skills are that great, let’s jump on a call to see if I can give you a couple of tips – no charge, and no commitment. Just drop me a note: Stu@StuSchlackman.com

Then, if you want to dig even deeper in ways to improve your coaching, consider learning your salespeople’s personality style. Understanding their style will help you customize your communication so they can relate and really hear what you’re suggesting. This will enhance the coaching session and the results you’re both looking to achieve.

My new 38-minute masterclass on personality styles takes a deep dive into understanding the four styles and how they prefer to communicate as well as motivation and their selling style. You can access the course from this link: https://stu-schlackman.mykajabi.com/personality-styles-master-class

Here’s to great selling!

Stu