Yes, Coach!
How, what, and why coaching is crucial to your sales team's success
Yes, Coach!
Almost every day of the week I hear this phrase from more than seventeen, 11-year olds, multiple times per day. I didn’t ask them to do it, but they all do.
It’s kind of embarrassing. But it’s also a great reminder of the power and impact of having or being a coach.
Besides the bodily-function humor and smaller attention spans, I’m often reminded of the many similarities that exist between coaching little-league to those of us managing a sales team.
In fact, I featured THIS article earlier this year from Tony Balistrieri talking exactly this.
But football season is finally here, and coaching is on my mind - so I figured now would be a great time to compile my favorite articles, podcasts, and content on Coaching Sales.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
LevelJump with 14 things to focus on to be a great sales coach and boost your sales team’s numbers and produce stellar salespeople.
Mark Roberge talks with John McMahon on how a sales manager should coach a salesperson when a deal they were forecasting is now slipping to the next quarter
Plus loads of game tape and playbooks from championship sales coaches on the how, what, and why of coaching a sales team.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
14 Must-Do Things To Be A Great Sales Coach
Love this article from LevelJump on 14 things to focus on to be a great sales coach and boost your sales team’s numbers and produce stellar salespeople. Here’s a sneak peak:
Focus on the middle 60%
Coach with data
Coaching should be results-based
Keep reps focused on the right things
Don’t overload your reps
Don’t spoon-feed your reps
Show what “Good” looks like
Use call recordings to coach
Keep reps challenged
Measure what you want to improve
Leverage your best sales reps
Individualize your approach
Learn what motivates your team
Build a coaching culture
Coaching Salespeople Through Deals That Are Pushing
Mentor to Mark Roberge? - John McMahon. This post and video of them in a role-play is sooooooo good. I found it helpful and refreshing.
John demonstrates how a sales manager should coach a salesperson when a deal they were forecasting is now slipping to the next quarter. After the role-play, Mark and John reflect on the best practices.
My cliff notes:
John says we need to understand better the pain of what we are solving. Ask deeper, more curious questions like:
"What in your organization suffers if we don't solve this for you?
“What are the negative consequences of not solving the problem?
“Who's that going to affect the most? Why buy? Why buy from us? Why buy right now?”
“A good need is quantified and implicated".
STRETCH SNIPPETS
4️⃣ Four things incredible sales coaches have in common? 1. Provide clear direction 2. Create a winning game plan 3. Put people in the right roles 4. Develop & inspire people. via Chorus
And check out this Manager-Led Coaching Cheat Sheet on how top managers coach their teams to build a team of quota-crushers.
🧐 Rob Jeppsen gives us 4 Steps to Approach Sales Coaching Carefully and Tactically.
He says: 83% of sales leaders in a worldwide study claimed they were “Awesome” at coaching. Yet, 48% of the reps working for these leaders claim they NEVER get coaching, and when they do, the 1:1 experience was only “helpful” 13% of the time.
❼ Nice shareable from Ring DNA on the 7 Rarest Traits of Successful Sales Leaders. Which ones do you lack- if any?
💪 Loved this podcast from two great sales leaders - Kevin Dorsey and Rob Jeppsen. Kevin continues to drop wisdom on how to lead your team, effective 1-1s, learning from top performers, and how to scale greatness!
📈 Steli Efti pens a really good guide on coaching - 25 expert sales coaching tips and techniques to amplify close rates.
✍️ Get the answers to the test from this Sales Coaching Survey by Refract.
Improved Confidence
Critical to performance
Coaching disconnect between leaders and reps
Not as effective as it could be
Weekly coaching = hit/exceed quota
🏈 Check out this Stretch VP post from last year on What Sales Leaders Can Learn from Urban Meyer’s Coaching Philosophy on Why Teams Struggle.
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
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