Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 65. Sales Coaching Increases Sales Performance

Linda Richardson

Richardson

No one in a sales organization has a greater opportunity to increase the performance of a sales team than the sales manager. As a sales manager the success of your sales team depends very much on your ability to lead and develop your team members one-on-one and collectively. Yet, a recent Richardson study revealed that 43 percent of salespeople receive little to no coaching. Of the 57 percent who are coached, 97 percent attribute their success to the sales coaching they receive from their managers. The Sales Executive Council's research with 2,000 sales professionals showed that salespeople who are coached for three hours a month, on average, achieve 104 percent of their quota as compared with 83 percent for salespeople who are not coached. A full 75 percent of salespeople feel they could be more productive if they were coached.

Most sales organizations recognize the importance of sales coaching in today's complex and competitive sales environment. Yet, despite understanding the need for sales coaching, sales organizations continue to find the transition from sales manager to sales coach an uphill battle.

Many of the obstacles to sales coaching are cultural. The majority of sales managers are drawn from the pool of high-producing salespeople. As such they are very good at selling and continue to do what has made them successful. Moreover, as much as 80 percent of their remuneration can be based on the ...