Next Level Sales Coaching

6Skill Development Training

If you're not humble, it's hard to be coached. If you can't be coached, it's hard to get better.

—Jay Wright, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Villanova University

EVERY FOUR YEARS people around the world enjoy watching the Olympic Games, both winter and summer, knowing it took the participants years of training, practice, and sacrifice to develop world-class skills. In fields as diverse as athletics, the performing arts, and the military, we take it for granted that participants spend the majority of their time training and practicing so that, when the moment comes, they execute flawlessly under pressure.

In the broader world of sports, we are pretty confident that winning coaches hold practices, observe games, give feedback, and help their team enhance their performance. You would also expect that their players would be open – in fact, eager – for feedback on what they could do better in order to improve. Their best players not only practice with the team, they typically also have their own personal training regimen and personal trainer as well. For example, Tom Brady, who has won six NFL championships with the New England Patriots, has his own personal trainer, Alex Guerrero.

Some sales organizations make the mistake of assuming this doesn't apply to them, or that only new hires need training. Sales skills are like any other skills: those who practice ...