When coaching can enhance sales training and development

Have you ever run a training programme in your business, then watched as some or most of the learning – and the important behavioural change that goes with it – fails to embed properly?

There is a simple solution to this that you may not have considered as valuable until now – executive or senior level coaching.

Coaching is a powerful tool that can enhance existing sales training and development programmes in a number of ways. By providing salespeople with one-on-one guidance and support, coaching can help them to identify and overcome obstacles, set and achieve goals, and develop the skills and strategies they need to be successful in their roles and achieve next-level performance and results.

Let’s look at a few ways in which coaching can complement and enhance the skills development targeted by traditional training and development programmes:

Application
Refining skills
Accountability and support
Mindset and attitude
Staying relevant

Application

One of the main ways in which coaching can enhance sales training is by helping salespeople apply the knowledge and skills they have learned during training sessions to their real-world work. This is particularly important for salespeople who are new to the role or who are struggling to make progress in their sales efforts, but of course it has relevance to all – even the more experienced sales person must continue to develop in order to stay successful as the market changes around them. A coach can work with salespeople to help them understand how to use the information they have learned to create effective sales strategies and to overcome common obstacles such as rejection or lack of motivation.

Refining skills

Coaching can also help salespeople to develop and refine the skills they need to be successful in their roles. For example, a coach can work with a salesperson to help them improve their communication skills, for instance by exploring how to ask more effective questions or how to anticipate and handle objections. A coach can also help a salesperson develop their sales techniques, for example by breaking down the sales process and focusing on how to enhance each element incrementally (e.g., by adopting different types of closing technique) so that the cumulative effect becomes significant in raising the individual’s performance bar.

Accountability and support

Another way in which coaching can enhance existing sales training and development programs is by providing salespeople with ongoing support and accountability. This is important because sales is a challenging and often stressful role, and salespeople may need additional support and guidance to stay motivated and on track. A coach can work with a salesperson to help them set and achieve goals, create action plans, and hold them accountable for their progress – short, medium, and long term.

Mindset and attitude

Coaching can also help salespeople to develop the mindset and attitude they need to be successful in their roles. For example, a coach can work with a salesperson to help them develop a positive attitude, stay focused, and to overcome self-doubt or fear of rejection. A coach can also help develop resilience to stay motivated, even when faced with setbacks or obstacles (something that happens all the time in sales!)

Staying relevant

Finally, but equally importantly, coaching can help salespeople to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in the sales industry. This is important because the sales landscape is constantly changing, and salespeople must be able to adapt to new technologies, strategies, and customer needs & expectations. A coach can work with the salesperson to help them stay informed about the latest trends, and to develop the skills and strategies they need to be successful in today’s highly competitive sales environment.

In conclusion, whatever challenges currently facing your sales effort, coaching can play a vital role in enhancing the sales training and development programs that you put in place to address them. Whilst – for a variety of reasons – it has the potential to be most beneficial to larger teams operating in a corporate environment, it can be equally successful in any team, small or large, and irrespective of sector or size of organisation.

Some may question the potential additional cost involved (though we, unsurprisingly, see it as an investment). The reality is that investment in coaching is often a highly effective way of augmenting the benefit gained from the initial training programme(s), where the additional ‘cost’ is far outweighed by the benefit generated through an uptick in performance and results.

Please get in touch to discuss your challenges and how our methods and approach can make the difference in your business.

Author
Recent Posts

David Brown

David is an experienced business development & strategy leader, having operated at senior level in developing businesses for 4 major insurance and financial services companies. He has run large regional operations around the UK, delivering profitable growth for each.