What are the most important sales coaching fundamentals for your team?

I completely agree with this rhetoric. Some of my favorite things to know about my team are non-traditional. I value Strength-Finder and Myers Briggs, but I try to get to know them at a human level before a work level. Some things I like to know about my team include their workplace appreciation language (Gary Chapman's Love Languages), their learning style, their skillset based on their education and work experience, and one thing that brings joy to them no matter what. For the last one, this could come in the form of a coffee order or a type of soda/pop or candy that I can keep on hand (if in person) or send through the mail. Know your people as people first and you will set your team up for inherent success

When I think about fundamentals my mind goes into: 1. Inputs to Outputs recipe 2. Coaching more effectively on calls (objection handling, setting up clear next steps) If you can nail these 2 principles you'd be able to improve your reps conversion and hit goals! Tip: use Gong or any Sales Intelligence Tools and work closely with your RevOps team to fully understand what great looks like on the Inputs to Outputs conversion.

Similar to my response on "Knowing your team" I would always suggest starting with your team's individual goals and then aligning them to the company and larger team's goals. For instance, someone may have the goal of a promotion. If one of the company's OKRs surrounds creating SMEs or driving a stronger L & D culture, then listen to the personal goal and align it to the company's goal. The best way to ensure attainment in my experience is to make the goals personal and mean something for those you lead.

Observation and feedback are the foundation of effective coaching practices. Developing a culture that encourages constructive and collaborative feedback by everyone on the team is essential. We all have the capacity to learn and improve. Cultivate this in your team at every opportunity and watch how much better everyone becomes as a result.

It is critical to provide honest feedback to the sales rep and to develop a plan that will help them improve. As the sales leader, it is important to have a culture where the team members feel you are genuinely interested in helping them grow and develop.

You cannot effectively coach from behind the desk, you must get out in the field and observe the sales rep in action. At the end of the field day sit down and ask the rep: 1. What they did well 2. What they did ok 3. What they can do better

Wow! So many tools to choose from: How do you choose where to begin? Start with you! No tool is as good as your brain, your attitude, and your heart. No tool will replace the trust of your team. So, my suggestion is you consider where you fall short as a leader and where you think your team stands to gain the most. It could be in HR software, CRMs, scheduling platforms, project management, etc. Run a SWOT analysis alone and have your team do it individually and then meet to discuss. I wager a lot of people will be on the same page and once you meet to discuss, that will become abundant. The beauty of involving your team is early adoption and heavy utilization as they feel equally responsible for the decision and success.

The most important thing to instill in your sales team is 'curiosity'! Curiosity to ask great questions when speaking to prospects, curiosity to learn and develop their skillset and the curiosity to continually seek out feedback!

Sales coaching has to be part of the culture. It starts at the top of the organisation. This then has to be executed by the sales leaders and sales managers. Consistency of approach and also delivery is essential.

It is very important that the reps are open to being coached and want to improve. The rep must view his/her sales leader as someone they respect and who can help them.

Consistency is also key when it comes to sales coaching. 5 mins every week adds up over the course of a quarter. Stick at it!!