In Part 1 of this article, I asked you to do some serious self-reflection. The goal was to concentrate on the “who” and the “how” first. Who are you? And how do you currently employ your coaching duties? In other words, what do you bring to the table as a sales coach? If you were introspective and honest in your assessment, you probably discovered some good and not-so-good attributes and habits. The goal from here is to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and build on them.
Are you committed to being the best you can be? If so, you’ll need an unflinching commitment to continuous self-improvement and learning. Let’s look at some specific things you can do to rise from mediocre to great in the sales coaching arena. I’ll let you in on the biggest secret…being an amazing sales coach is like being an amazing parent.
If you’re like most parents, you probably do some things really well. And I’m sure there are probably things you learned along the way and improved over time. Let’s face it, there’s no instruction manual so there is always some trial and error that gets thrown into the mix. And with a little hindsight, you may even wish you had a few do-overs!
The good news is that you can take some of the parenting skills you’ve already honed or recognized as “needing improvement “and use them with your sales team.
Quality Time: This is a big one. While we can’t always be there for everything; we need to make ourselves accessible and spend quality time with our sales team. When I work with sales leaders, we look specifically at how to spend more time on the handful of “Critical” activities that really drive results. Guess what? If you’re in a sales management roll; developing, mentoring and coaching your team is probably the MOST important activity you can do to impact results…which means, it should be getting a major portion of your attention.
Accountability/Tough Love: This is one of those parenting lessons that can be hard. But we all know how important it is! Kids and salespeople do well when expectations are clear and rewards and consequences of behavior are clearly understood. Giving praise is easy and should be done often (and specifically) when warranted. On the flip side, you have to hold your team accountable when they don’t perform. To be effective, “tough love” must be well-articulated and enforced consistently. Playing favorites and ignoring “the rules” for some and not others will definitely cause dissension in the ranks!
Respectful of Autonomy: In other words, don’t micromanage! A good parent and a good manager will actively engage their charges. Instead of dictating goals or a certain way of doing something, asking for suggestions and facilitating active input is a critical coaching skill. If a salesperson feels like their voice is being heard, they are much more engaged, motivated and committed to their goals and performance. It’s called empowerment…and it works. Empowering coaches demonstrate to their sales team the value of hard work and personal accomplishment. They know that their salespeople’s active involvement with the right choices and actions will improve their psychological predisposition for more of the same and give them a sense of accomplishment and purpose. While fostering autonomy is great; be mindful of fostering independence within a framework of appropriate boundaries, limits and structure.
Empathy: Empathetic coaches are great listeners. While they might have great advice to offer, they also understand the value of refraining from offering advice, judgments or comparisons. Quality listening and genuine empathy fulfills two important needs with your sales team – the need to feel understood and the need to feel validated. By being empathetic, you are giving a tremendous gift to your team…the gift of trust. Just like kids, your salespeople want to make you proud and will do so if they feel like you are looking out for them!
Flexibility: Flexible parents and flexible coaches tend to be open-minded and easy-going. Lack of flexibility usually results in a “my way or the highway” approach (which by the way is NEVER received well by the recipient). Just because you are the “boss,” doesn’t mean you should be bossy. Being flexible does not mean that you let things go; it just means that you are open to different ways of accomplishing the same goal and you offer choices, facilitate idea generation and instill initiative with your team. In some cases, you even allow your salespeople to make mistakes, so they are able to learn from them!
Skillful Communication: A great sales coach, just like a great parent, is a skillful communicator. In addition to showing appropriate empathy and being an active listener, great communicators place high value on communicating clearly and honestly. From a coaching perspective, this includes offering both constructive praise and criticism in a way that is well-received and appreciated by your team.
Positive Modeling: Kids absorb 20% of what you say and 80% of what you do; the same is true for your “sales kids.” In other words, being the type of person you want your salespeople to be is a powerful way to lead by example. You are modeling whether you are consciously choosing to or not. Your words, actions, values and feelings are communicating for you. Do you want your salespeople to act with integrity? To mean what they say and honor their word? To communicate clearly and professionally? They will learn by what you model, so make sure it’s positive and worth emulating!
