Do you know what the two most common mistakes Sales Managers make with regard to coaching their salespeople?  

 

The first mistake is they throw their hands in the air and claim they are simply too busy to coach. Often a sales manager is also playing the role of the super seller, rather than sales manager. Is that a trap you 've fallen into?  

 

The second mistake is they spend far too much time coaching the poor performers. Unfortunately, this mistake is both common and costly. Sound familiar?

 

Think of coaching as part of a continuous cycle of performance management. The most important step in the performance management system is to have a  fair and open conversation that clearly communicate expectations. Remember last week's  blog was about the 4 E's of Coaching (Expectations, Education, Exampling, and Encouragement)?  

 

Your job as a sales leader is to develop each person on your team.  You do this by defining and setting expectations and goals, assessing performance, and finally providing coaching and counseling. This continuous cycle involves coaching and mentoring your salespeople to reach their annual sales goals and personal development plans. Counseling comes into play when you need to work with an employee to solve a performance problem that is causing him or her to perform consistently below expectations. This is the essence of sales leadership and it has to be a continuous cycle to function optimally.