Coaching is fundamental to improving salespeople's performance, yet it remains perhaps the least understood and most inconsistently implemented management skill in sales organizations. The following articles, webcasts and research projects focus on sales coaching development for sales managers.
Measuring Sales Coaching Success
Many sales organizations embrace coaching as an essential sales management role. With good reason: coaching's impact on sales force effectiveness and salesperson development has a tangible impact matched by few other management activities. Yet even those organizations that make sales coaching a priority sometimes struggle with how best to measure sales coaching effectiveness.
In this SMA webcast we examine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) considered critical to successful coaching programs.
Topics:
- Fundamentals of measuring sales coaching success
- Holding management accountable for sales coaching results
- Best practices for using coaching KPI
Presented by Callidus Software's Curt Richtermeyer, and Wendy Reed, EVP The TAS Group.
Making the Most of Team Coaching Opportunities
Team settings provide a unique coaching opportunity. In this webcast, AXIOM Sales Force Development's Bob Sanders reviews how team coaching differs from one-on-one coaching, and how effective sales coaches use both coaching approaches to deliver superior impact.
Topics include:
- How team coaching differs from one-on-one coaching
- Establishing effective coaching cultures for sales teams
- Team coaching best practices
- Tools, tips, and techniques for making the most of team coaching opportunities
Sales Coaching Research-Summary Findings
Developed by Florida State University's Sales Institute in partnership with The Sales Management Association and The TAS Group, this research investigates various sales coaching practices within organizations. The survey results summarized here reflect data from 75 respondent firms with 100 or more sales resources. Among the more compelling findings: sales coaching is considered among the most important sales force initiatives, but gets insufficient executive leadership support. Additionally, respondents who report that their firms engage in specific coaching behaviors have better performance results than those who do not (regardless of the perceived "importance" of coaching within their organizations. We'll be publishing more related to this research in the coming weeks.
One-on-One Coaching: Deal Reviews
One-on-one coaching provides sales management’s best opportunity to impact direct reports' selling effectiveness. In this webcast, AXIOM Sales Force Development's Bob Sanders reviews the fundamental aspects of one-on-one coaching effectiveness for sales managers. Special emphasis in this session is given to deal reviews during one-on-one coaching conversations. Topics include: core principles of effective one-on-one coaching; how sales managers prepare for productive coaching interactions; structuring effective deal review discussions; and follow-up and reinforcement. Part one of a three-part sales coaching effectiveness series.
Coaching the Sales Pipeline
Effective pipeline management is critical to sales force productivity. With it, forecasts hit the mark and quotas are achieved. Without it, arrows begin to fly and casualties are incurred. The key to effective pipeline management? The ability of your managers to coach your salespeople through the opportunities in their pipelines. In this Sales Management Association webcast, Vantage Point Performance’s Michelle Teel reveals how to coach your reps to better performing pipelines. Topics include: three classic errors in pipeline management and how to avoid them; proven best practices for managing a sales pipeline
A foolproof framework for conducting pipeline coaching sessions; implementation best practices associated with pipeline management systems; and how to fill your pipeline with winnable deals, then coach reps to close them quickly.
Sales Coaching Best Practices: Panel Discussion and Case Presentations
Our first in an ongoing series of panel discussions on coaching effectiveness, this SMA Experts' Exchange features three perspectives on implementing and managing impactfull sales coaching initiatives. Panelists include Gary Braun, Principal, Pivotal Advisors; Paul Helmore, Vice President Sales Data and Consulting Services, Schlumberger Oilfield Services; and Tim McChrystal, Director of Sales and Product Training, Sentry Insurance. Moderated by Bob Kelly, SMA Chairman.
Sales Coaching Case Study
Sales coaching programs have the greatest impact when they promote specific selling behaviors. In this SMA Case Study, we review a coaching initiative implemented at NCMIC Group, Inc., a leading US provider of insurance, equipment leasing, merchant services, and financing for dentists, medical doctors, veterinarians, attorneys, businesses and families.
Serving more than 40,000 policy holders, NCMIC’s telephone-based sales force implemented coaching along with a focus on sales-driven growth at the 60+ year-old firm. After evaluating successful salespeople, the company identified a set of four core elements, and 16 unique selling behaviors around which it built a sales coaching program. Behaviors focused on establishing a clear value proposition, pre-call planning, the identification of up-selling opportunities and other telephonic selling activities that are essential to productive customer relationships. During the session, NCMIC Group’s Nick Colletti, AVP Sales Leadership, reviews several key elements of NCMIC’s coaching initiative, with an emphasis on reviewing a replicable approach that other firms can adapt to their own coaching issues and requirements. SMA Chairman Bob Kelly also presents results from the SMA’s recent coaching research that highlight additional best practices in developing, managing, and optimizing sales coaching initiatives.
Coaching Practices Research: Participate!
Developed by Florida State University's Sales Institute, in partnership with The Sales Management Association and The TAS Group, this research investigates various aspects of sales coaching within organizations. The survey is open to practicing sales leaders who coach or support a sales team. Research findings will form the basis of upcoming SMA content on coaching topics. Qualified survey participants will receive a comprehensive report of findings.
Take the online survey (about 20 minutes) and become eligible to receive the comprehensive participants' report.
Coaching Sales Performance: Timeless Principles for Sales Leaders
Though it’s perhaps the most impactful way a sales manager can drive performance, coaching is frequently the least-understood, most inconsistently implemented skill for sales managers. Effective coaching is critical to any sales team’s success, and is a hallmark of consistently-high-achieving sales organizations.
In this SMA webcast, Axiom Sales Force Development's Bob Sanders reviews core coaching principles fundamental to success for any sales leader. Topics covered include the role of “game time engagement,” “player development,” and an easily-implemented process for structuring coaching programs for sales teams. Focused on practical insights, this presentation provides valuable direction to any manager interested in raising sales coaching quality.
Sales Management's Role In Coaching the Sales Force
The sales management function requires leadership and coaching skills, but many sales managers are poorly prepared to coach and lead. In this webcast Learning Paths International provides material for sales managers interested in developing, engaging and motivating their staff to exceed expectations. This webcast is designed to complement sales management’s performance management processes, or as a stand-alone leadership development skill building session.
Topics covered in this webinar include:
- What sales people value in a coach
- Coaching protocols that develop skill and improve performance of sales people
- Creative communication skills and feedback methods ideally suited to the sales organization
- Practical steps that reduce the time it takes to conduct coaching discussions.
