Sales Coaching: 5 Strange Sales Coaching Myths To Ignore Video Lecture | B2B Sales: Tips and Strategies

Hey, it's Ago.
Welcome to another episode of salestalk.tv.
Today, we're going to be talking about sales
coaching.
Specifically, we're going to talk about the
five most common myths or misunderstandings
that I hear from new clients and prospects
when they're wondering whether or not sales
coaching is right for them.
The first myth that I come across all the
time is that sales coaching is just like any
other form of coaching.
It's just like executive coaching, or business
coaching, or perhaps even life coaching, and
the fact of the matter is that it's really
not.
Yes, there are similarities.
They're all focused on enabling individual
growth, they're all focused on improving performance
for teams, and they're all focused on, in
some way, improving organizational effectiveness.
But that's really where the similarities end.
Sales coaching is very specific.
It's focused on short-term revenue growth,
and therefore, it is measurable.
It's measurable by things like how many deals
did we close?
How many more leads did we generate?
How many more sales did we make?
How much more revenue came in the pipeline
as a result of this specific, particular coaching
program?
That's definitely one big difference between
sales coaching and other forms of coaching.
The number two myth is really that sales coaching
is expensive.
Let me ask you a question.
If you gave me a hundred dollars, and I gave
you $500 back, would you feel that was expensive?
Would you feel a hundred dollars is a lot
of money?
No, you wouldn't.
And the same thing is true with sales coaching.
It's really about results.
If we can work with a person and turn him
from a non-performer or a sub-par seller into
someone who generates hundreds of thousands
or even millions of dollars to the bottom
line, that's probably money well spent.
The second thing is that, with the advances
in new technology, there's so much that we
can do right now to keep costs at bay, to
keep the investment reasonable.
Things like doing virtual coaching via GoToMeeting
or Skype.
Using video.
Using other forms of reinforcement via email
or other things in order to support the coaching
process, and the investment is not as large
as you'd expect.
Number three.
Sales coaching is a cure-all and it's just
for everyone.
I sometimes have clients ask me, they'll call
me up and say, "Hey Ago, we'd like to do a
coaching program for 50 of our sales people."
And I'll say, "Well, why would you want to
go for 50 of your sales people, that seems
like a lot."
So what I always recommend is to start small.
Sales coaching is a scalpel, it's not a hacksaw.
It's really intended for specific types of
people with specific types of issues and specific
types of situations, and so what I recommend
that my clients do is do a small pilot first.
Maybe we'll do an assessment first, just to
understand what the unique challenges of an
individual or a group of people are.
Then, we'll do a small test pilot.
We'll measure results on that pilot, and then
we'll make a decision on whether or not to
roll it out into their organization.
A great way of telling whether or not people
are right for coaching.
If they're very experienced, chances are training
will not do much good because they already
know what to do.
It's probably more related to hidden beliefs
and inhibitions, or maybe they're plateauing,
or maybe they're kind of bumping up against
a barrier and can't quite get over it.
That's when sales coaching is ideal.
Myth number four.
Sales coaching is all about asking great questions
and listening.
Yes, it's true, a sales coach, just like any
other coach, has to have the ability to listen,
to ask intelligent, insightful questions to
get the individual to reach their own conclusions
and therefore grow.
But there's a distinct difference.
As I mentioned before, sales coaching is really
about driving short-term revenue growth.
Really moving the needle in terms of results.
So based on my experience and my track record
and the results that I've gotten in the past
and the research that we do, I see a better
way of doing things.
I have a moral obligation to speak up.
The fifth and final myth is that sometimes
sales managers think that sales coaching is
equivalent or synonymous with deal coaching.
It's really about helping individuals win
deals, and yes, that's part of it, that's
part of the operational nature of sales coaching,
but there's more to it than that.
Sales coaching is also about understanding
and helping set goals and objectives, and
then developing an action plan to get there.
It's also about the psychology of things.
What are the inhibitions that a person has?
What are the hidden beliefs that they have
that are holding them back?
It's about helping them understand their strengths
and how to leverage those for maximum results,
and it's about developing the resilience to
keep going in the face of setbacks, and the
courage that's needed to sometimes do the
things that feel a little uncomfortable.
If you like this video, and you want to find
out more, I'll put a link to this page on
a brand new report that we just released on
the five rules of high performing coaches.
You'll find it here on the page.
As always, if you like practical, tangible,
easy to implement, easy to use sales tips,
tools, techniques, strategies, that you can
use tomorrow to generate more business, sign
up for my YouTube channel.
This was Ago.
Hope to see you on the next one.