Survey: Three Challenges in Coaching

The following conclusions are based on the Sales Coaching Challenges in 2020 survey. The results pointed to the great importance of business coaching. At the same time, they confirmed that many managers are trying to set up coaching programs that have a direct impact on performance, mainly due to the common challenges that marketers face.

Here are three main issues that contribute to ineffective business coaching, as well as some action tactics that sales managers can use to improve their programs:

Challenge 1: Lack of training for managers

Ninety-eight percent of managers stated that they worked as rank-and-file employees before being promoted to a managerial position. It's a big percentage, but not surprising. Most top marketers will become leaders over time, but that's all.

Managing business teams is not the same as selling. It is a different role with completely different responsibilities, skill requirements and measures of success. Managers often lack the training needed to coach and motivate their own subordinate sales representatives.

There are ways you can hone your sales coaching skills yourself - or at least get started.

Solution:

• Start a dialogue: Communicate with your supervisor about how you would like to grow as a coach and mentor for your salespeople. This will show your commitment to your team and your desire to be successful as a sales manager. When you have this conversation, know in advance what you are asking for: Do you need specific resources? Is there a course you would like to take? Be specific and solution-oriented.
• Identify opportunities for professional development: The sales world loves events, webinars, training and conferences. Sales coaching is always a topical issue. Don't underestimate the power of the community either; find industry groups, for example on LinkedIn, where you will find a lot of people who ask and answer similar questions as you.
• Ask for feedback: Getting regular feedback from your team will clarify your assumptions about what is going well and where the reserves are. Make sure you do this in a variety of formats. Of course, people may feel more comfortable expressing themselves anonymously, but be sure to provide opportunities for open dialogue.

Challenge 2: Insufficient visible performance

The best coaching for marketers is data-based coaching. However, according to the survey, only 27% of managers have an excellent overview of the progress of their representatives compared to the goals.

It's hard to coach if you don't know how your representatives are doing, what they're fighting, or where their skills gaps are - and this story needs to be told based on data, not just feelings.

Solution:

• Keep an eye on the correct KPIs: Data visibility is only useful when it's meaningful data. Make sure you follow the correct metrics for your team. You should have an overview of the daily sales activities that lead to closing deals, and the weekly or monthly sales goals that will eventually lead to your team reaching (or exceeding) the quota.
• Go real-time: Real-time statistics are valuable for your weekly personal information because you know you're working with very up-to-date numbers, not just snapshots of what happened last week, month, or quarter.
• Ensure the visibility of the entire team: Your representatives need an overview of the team's performance just like you. Whether they're in the office or working remotely, you can take advantage of sales rankings as well as real-time alerts to keep up with your goals.

Challenge 3: Lack of structure

Structure and consistency are crucial to the effectiveness of coaching, but many managers have problems with this. According to the survey, more than half of managers said that time is a key resource they lack to effectively coach and lead representatives.

Many managers spend large parts of their day in management and departmental meetings or doing administrative tasks. While individual meetings would ideally take place each week, both managers and representatives report there are far fewer coaching opportunities than what they actually need.

Solution:

• Get automated: Leverage sales coaching software to help you choose the tasks you can deploy on autopilot, such as tying sessions to KPI data, sending questions in advance, and recording notes and action plans.
• Choose a format: Don't try to reinvent the wheel every week, it's nice to have a similar format for all your sales representatives. The key is to ask the right questions and make sure you give your representatives a chance to reflect and answer them before starting the session. There are countless sales coaching methodologies and templates that you can use.

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