If you’re a sales manager, ask yourself these questions:
- Is your team reaching the quota?
- Are your reps productive, responsible, and accountable individuals?
- Can they make decisions with minimal supervision?
Answering “no” in most of the questions means that you might be missing out on something that could have a big positive impact on you, your team, and the whole organization.
Are you?
One of the best ways to solve the issues within the sales team is through Sales Coaching. Practicing the coaching culture in your organization will turn those NO into a big fat YES.
In this article, we will answer the WHAT, WHY, AND HOW in Sales Coaching.
What is Sales Coaching?
It’s training. It’s a process. It’s an investment.
Sales Coaching is all of that with the end goal of having top-notch sales reps that generate leads, close deals, and reach revenue goals. There has been a study that finds a correlation between quota attainment and coaching. Despite this, some organizations hesitate to jump in on this huge opportunity.
The reason why sales coaching works is because it aims to support and equip the sales team with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in what they do. It allows the leaders and the employees to go through existing processes and assess what works and what needs a little tweaking.
Sales coaching empowers employees by recognizing their strengths and working on points of improvement. Because of this guidance and close monitoring, sales reps will feel more confident to make decisions and employees will be more active in coming up with alternatives when problems arise.
Sales reps will eventually hit targets, stay loyal, create more efficient cycles and strategies.
Face-to-Face vs. Online Sales Coaching
Working remotely is slowly becoming the new norm. With that, corporate organizations have to adapt by moving operations online, including the coaching culture.
Virtual sales coaching is still the same, only online.
If anything, this is a simple solution to make sure that sales people continue to have a safe space where they could learn, assess, ask questions, and hone skills and tactics to succeed.
Online sales coaching provides a platform for virtual sales coaches the ability to create training guides that will help salespeople develop the skills, strategies, and expertise without the need to meet up.
So, Why Choose Virtual Sales Coaching?
It’s 2021, times are changing and business-wise, we always have to adapt, innovate, and move forward. Whether it’s face-to-face or online, the benefits of sales coaching positively impact everyone; thus, why you should invest in it now more than ever.
1. Improves employee retention rates
Opportunities for professional growth motivates employees to stay longer in an organization. People love the idea of learning and enhancing the skills they have as much as earning well in a good working environment.
2. Gives you a platform to share best practices
Coaching is a two way street. Sometimes the sales coaches train the sales reps, and sometimes coaches learn from them too. When one employee is doing something that works, it can immediately be shared to the whole team.
3. Maximizes investment with guaranteed results
There have been a lot of studies that found sales coaching guaranteeing results. You may not see it right away, but effective sales coaching is supposed to be a consistent, long-term commitment.
Speaking of results, what exactly do you get for investing in face-to-face or virtual sales coaching?
Effects of Sales Coaching
- Productive, accountable, and independent sales reps
- Hit and exceed targets
- Stay on track to meet revenue goals
- Generate qualified and relevant leads
- Produce efficient sales cycle
- Have a higher win rate
- Have higher retention rates
What Does Effective Virtual Sales Coaching Look Like?
We’ve talked about what sales coaching is, why it’s important, and what you can get out of it. But the most important question is, HOW?
Sales coaching has two main goals:
- To educate
- To motivate
Just like in school or in any training, coaching aims to guide sales reps into the right direction. With the right tools and training guide, virtual sales coaching is good as face-to-face sessions.
According to Saleshood, the process in sales coaching has to be repeated and should create the foundation for progress. It’s a cycle of learning, coaching, and selling.
That said, here are some important points that should be included in the training that are vital for success.
The WHY in sales
In sales, we are helping people by offering solutions to their problems. We learn about other people’s stories and motivations which allow us to serve them better. And sometimes, we forget about all of that.
Focusing on a lot of things at once tends to make us forget why we’re doing what we do. That’s why it’s important to be reminded of it from time to time. This helps align the team’s goals and values, which leads to making sound decisions and good strategies.
What Clients Need
Part of being in the sales team is being updated with what people want and need. As you might already know, client profiles and their needs change all the time. This affects sales reps because they have to change their approach based on these data.
How To Practice EQ Skills in Selling
(EQ – Emotional Quotient a.k.a Emotional Intelligence)
In order to know what our clients need to solve their problem, we have to establish a relationship and build rapport. We do this by being empathic so clients will be comfortable sharing their stories with us. Having EQ skills play an important role in sales and it would be such a waste not to practice it.
Final Thoughts
It’s insane to do the same thing over and over again, and expect the same results. What’s even more insane is being offered a new path that’s already right in front of you and still not taking it. If you see a cycle that’s going in circles, break the pattern and go down a new path.
