Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
When you coach a salesperson, which words should you hear that would tell you the session was effective?
Not "Thanks" or "OK".
Think about how frequently you hear responses like:
- "I have some great action items"
- "Great take-aways"
- "You make it seem so easy"
- "How do you come up with that stuff?"
- "I can't believe how helpful that was!"
- "I wish I had this yesterday..."
- "Perfect - that's exactly what I needed."
- "Would you hold me accountable for that?"
- "How soon can we schedule our next session?"
- "Any chance we can go a little longer the next time?"
There are certain things must always occur in a sales coaching call to achieve outcomes like those mentioned above. Here are just a few:
You'll have to role-play and you'll have to play the part of the salesperson. Most sales managers just aren't up to this task...
You'll have to take it wider and deeper than your salespeople are capable of taking it - if you can't, your salespeople won't find value.
You'll have to explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how you're doing it if you want them to be able to replicate what you demonstrated.
You'll have to make sure they understand whether a gap in skills (OK) left them not knowing, or a weakness (not OK) prevented them from doing what the situation called for.
Bring your coaching game to the next level and both you and your salespeople will reap the benefits!
