3 Reasons Sales Coaching Works

When it comes to building a successful sales team, it’s all about the one-to-one sales coaching.

Business consultant and Forbes.com contributor Scott Edinger reminds us that you can’t actually major in sales in college or even school, which means that salespeople are educated in the field. This is why sales coaching matters. In fact, Edinger believes that sales coaching trumps even sales management. Still not convinced? Here are three reasons to include sales coaching as part of your sales team development:

1. Sales coaching dives into the details

In sales team meetings, so much of the talk and planning focuses on the bigger picture. With sales coaching, you can focus on the smaller details. This allows you to hone in on an individual’s actions to see what’s working and what’s not.

2. It lets you listen more, talk less

For Edinger, sales coaching does not mean that the manager lays out the plan for the salesperson. Instead, the sales coaching session should be a conversation during which the manager asks the salesperson plenty of questions (like these) and gives feedback. This means that when a sales manager takes on a sales coaching role, he or she is doing a lot of listening. In fact, Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz believes managers should talk only 10% of the time and listen for the rest.

3. Sales coaching lets you focus on early-stage deals

It’s tempting to spend a lot of time talking about deals that are about to close, but Edinger says those are already water under the bridge. Instead, look at deals in their infant stages so that you still have time to influence the outcome. This is where the real magic happens during a sales coaching meeting. Together, the sales manager and salesperson can figure out where the value is in the deal and how to gain more of it.

Sure, it can be a daunting task to add one-on-one coaching to an already maxed-out sales team, but it’s definitely worth it in the long run when it comes to energizing your team for success.

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Patrick Hogan

Patrick is a Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Tenfold.

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