A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”
– John Wooden
Sales can be a difficult job, and having a great manager to help guide you can be invaluable, especially in challenging times. As a manager, it's important to understand the best practices for coaching your sales team to ensure success and long term performance and growth. Here are some of the best coaching practices that managers should keep in mind.
1. Always Establish Clear Goals - As a manager, it's important to set clear expectations and objectives for your sales team. Setting specific goals that are achievable and measurable can help your reps stay on track and stay motivated. Make sure to set realistic goals that fit within the scope of the sales cycle and provide regular feedback to your reps on how they are doing.
2. Provide Regular Feedback - It's important to provide regular feedback to your sales reps. This feedback should be timely and precise, and should focus on both the positive and negative aspects of their performance. This feedback should also be tailored to each individual sales rep, as each person may respond differently to different types of feedback.
3. Give Constructive Criticism - It's important to provide constructive criticism to your reps, and maneuver around ego. This should be done in a positive manner and should focus on areas where the rep needs to improve or do better. This criticism should be specific and should be used to help the rep understand how to better reach their goals.
4. Celebrate Success - It's important to celebrate success with your sales team. Acknowledge when reps reach their goals and celebrate their successes, publicly. This can help build morale and foster a sense of camaraderie among your reps, as well as drive motivation to succeed.
5. Provide Training - Providing sales reps with training and resources can help them become more successful. Training can include anything from sales techniques to product knowledge, and should be tailored to each individual rep. I encourage a short portion of sales meetings be devoted to sharing new techniques and as a distribution point for white papers, industry news and sharing lessons learned
These are just some of the best coaching practices for that managers should keep in mind and incorporate into their rep cadence meetings. By implementing these practices, managers can help their sales reps become more successful and achieve their goals.