Sales coaching programmes provide critical guidance that helps organisations maximise the potential of individual sellers, drive team performance, and meet sales goals. Unlike sales training programmes, which typically offer foundational knowledge and periodic informational updates, sales coaching programmes deliver ongoing support that helps sellers apply training and improve skills in real-world situations.
Sales coaching programmes typically take a customised approach, tailoring guidance around the seller’s unique strengths to help them develop and refine the skills needed to have meaningful customer interactions and achieve their quotas. Behind every sales coaching programme is a sales manager, and it should come as no surprise that effective coaching requires effective managers. According to Gartner, managers who understand how to be a good coach can help individuals increase performance by as much as 8%.
Optimising sales coaching with software
Coaching sellers poses challenges for sales managers due to the added complexity of managing remote teams. Additionally, the lack of experience and knowledge in modelling the right behaviours makes it more complicated. These obstacles are just a few reasons why most managers spend less than 5% of their time coaching sellers.
To create a scalable sales coaching programme that delivers the personalised feedback that sellers require, sales managers need sales coaching software. Just as frontline teams depend on various technologies to do their jobs successfully, sales coaching software is an essential tool that makes it possible to create an online sales coaching programme that enables sellers to practise, receive feedback, and track progress over time.
8 qualities every sales coaching programme needs
To create the best sales coaching programme for your organisation, you should start by identifying your objectives and then determine the technology you need to achieve them. Below are the top eight qualities that you should look for and implement as you develop your sales coaching programmes:
Customisation
Customisation is one of the most critical qualities of any sales coaching programme. Tailor coaching sessions to address individual and team needs, considering factors like experience level, strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. This helps sellers and teams capitalise on their strengths and address problem areas faster.
Clear objectives
If you don’t measure it, you can’t track it. Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for coaching sessions provides clear direction and focus. This ensures that coaching efforts align with organisational goals and sales targets. SMART goals also hold individuals and teams accountable, making it more likely that they’ll follow through and take the steps needed to improve performance.
Continuous feedback
Sales coaching programmes should offer feedback to sales reps in the moment — whether it’s positive reinforcement or constructive criticism — to help them adjust their behaviour quickly. It’s important to deliver continuous feedback to promote learning and facilitate improvement.
Role-playing exercises
Practice makes progress. Prepare sellers for new challenges by incorporating role-playing scenarios to simulate real-world sales situations in a risk-free environment. Sales coaching software makes it easy to deliver scenario-based training at scale, helping sales reps enhance skills, confidence, and adaptability. This tool also enables sales leaders to identify problem areas and know where to correct them.
Data-driven insights
All sales leaders need data to determine what’s working and what isn’t. Utilise sales data and analytics to identify performance trends, areas for improvement, and coaching priorities. Sales coaching software should provide easy access to dashboards and custom reporting to help leaders make data-driven decisions and track the ROI of their coaching efforts.
Skill development
The business landscape is constantly changing, making it critical for sales leaders to prioritise learning and development for their teams. Supplement coaching conversations with training to help sellers master a wide range of sales skills, including prospecting, objection handling, negotiation, closing techniques, and relationship-building.
Offering training and coaching doesn’t just contribute to better performance, it can also improve retention. Seismic’s Value of Enablement Report found that companies that provide on-the-job coaching increase seller retention by an average of 20% each year.
Peer-to-peer learning
Facilitating opportunities for sales team members to learn from each other’s successes and failures through peer-to-peer coaching or knowledge-sharing sessions is a great way to communicate best practices. Sales coaching software enables teams to scale winning strategies by easily distributing playbooks, choreography, and content across the sales organisation.
Tech integrations
There are several essential technologies that sales teams rely on to perform their roles. Consider sales coaching software that integrates with your sales enablement tools, CRM systems, and other technology platforms to streamline coaching processes, track progress, and provide access to resources. Connecting with your systems of record helps maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of your sales coaching programmes.
Scale your sales coaching programme with Seismic
Empowering your sales reps to meet their quotas and beyond is not a one-and-done activity. It requires a commitment to sales coaching that’s ongoing and tailored to every sales rep’s specific needs. Seismic’s learning and coaching solution equips sales leaders to assess skills, deliver personalised coaching, and track development — all within the flow of work. Our coaching software enables sales teams to train their teams 62% faster and reach their goals more often.
Are you ready to experience a modern coaching platform? Jump into this free lesson to see Seismic Learning firsthand.