Sales: Practice skill building

Q. Am I coaching my reps or correcting them?

A. Most of the time, it’s correcting. This manifests when the sales leader “takes over” calls when they see the rep have a misstep, or while debriefing a call they list what the rep should have said instead. This is reactive and directive behavior. And it’s probably just a reflection of how they were “coached” themselves.

The job as coach is to change the behavior of the rep over time through learning, measured improvement and confidence. It’s skill-building – a skill is something that can be learned, taught and improved upon. Effective coaching is done with the rep, not to them. If we find ourselves “taking over” calls we should remind ourselves – we want to improve the rep’s skills, not the outcome of this specific call.

It’s not what they do when we are with them, but when we aren’t.

Coaching is a process, not a momentary event. It requires a plan from the coach and buy-in from the rep. When the coach has a plan to develop a rep over time and the rep has a coachable attitude, the outcome is behavioral change. This leads to improved, consistent results. If the results don’t improve, evaluate the plan and then the coachability of the rep.

Here’s how we can start coaching:

• Recognize when they do something good – not perfect. This builds confidence and creates a coaching environment.
• Start a debrief by asking, “How do you feel that call went? Tell me the good.” Most of the time the rep knows where they messed up and will start there.
• Ask them, “What would you do differently?”
• If they don’t self-diagnose the improvement, add a “next time”: “You did great at (good behavior), and next time (lesson).”

Great coaches had great coaches. It’s a skill that pays it forward.

BJ Anderson is the president of QP3 Training Systems, Inc. He can be reached at BJA@QP3.com.