Why Sales Coaching is more valuable now than ever

KONA Sales Coaching — Garret Norris – CEO of the KONA Group at a KONA Sales Workshop

The main objective of Sales Coaching is to provide real value to a business. A quality Sales Coach will help salespeople recognise and understand their points of weakness, and then create a structured plan to overcome them.

Sales coaching is an important element of continuous improvement and development of salespeople.

It is more important now than ever for businesses to invest in Sales Coaching for their Sales Teams. In a cost-sensitive climate, sales productivity has a direct impact on the bottom line, which then impacts business revenue. Maximizing sales productivity begins with effective sales coaching.

The difference between training and coaching.

The difference between Sales Training and Sales Coaching

Training and Coaching are actually very different and have different outcomes.

Sales Training typically teaches people specific skills, focusing on knowledge transfer and skill retention.

Coaching offers tailored advice to clients during one-on-one sessions and hones in on enhancing skillsets that are already there, rather than introducing new skills.

For example, if a company is introducing a new CRM (customer relationship management system), the employees will need to be trained to learn how to use the new system.

Once the team has learned how to use the new CRM, some employees may struggle to apply their knowledge in real-world situations. This is where coaching comes in.

Studies have shown that up to 73% of employees who have received coaching, say that coaching improved their communication skills, interpersonal skills, work performance and more.

How will you know when coaching is required?

Some signs that your team may need coaching can include:

Lack of productivity
Low morale
Lack of employee engagement
Breakdown of communication between team members
Conflict

Some common areas that we find coaching should be focused on include:

Sales Productivity
Generating and qualifying leads
Pipeline management
Storytelling for Sales

Sales coaching enhances the performance of individuals in your team with ongoing and personal attention to develop their strengths. It will enable the team to reach their full potential and achieve sales goals.

Return on Investment after Sales Coaching

Good indications of ROI (Return on Investment) after Sales Coaching are factors including:

Improvement in sales metrics
Increase in revenue
Boost in employee morale

Some ways that you can measure ROI after sales coaching can be through: employee surveys before and after the coaching, KPI’s, and Sales performance tracking. Focusing on the results before and after coaching will give you a good indication of how your team has benefited from Sales Coaching, as well as bringing to the surface other areas that may need attention in the future.

Coaching for Team Leaders and Sales Managers

KONA facilitates Team Leader and Management Sales Coaching. Performance and development plans can be incorporated to meet the development expectations of your team.

Hiring a Sales Coach for your business comes with many benefits. Sales Coaching can:

Bring your team together
Increase business revenue
Bring in new clients
Retain existing clients

KONA’s Sales Coaching is tailored to your company’s needs. We offer different programs based on who needs coaching, and what areas they need to be coached in, such as improving communication skills, refining closing techniques, or addressing particular weaknesses.