Why didn’t my sales training increase revenue?
Oftentimes companies fail to reap the full benefits of sales training because their salesforce isn’t able to fully transfer what they learned from the classroom to real world application.
Is there a solution – Absolutely! One way to improve the ROI is to provide coaching support that aims at shaping and driving the new behaviours that are critical to winning that next deal. Sounds simple enough, but why aren’t most companies already doing it?
Reality is, not many have qualified coaches that are readily available. And the right candidates often have to juggle competing priorities. Therefore it should not come as a surprise that companies with strong coaching culture tend to be more effective at driving behaviour changes.
What happens to companies that don’t have a qualified coach?
While a sustainable solution is to develop a team of star coaches, it is going to take time and effort. So before one is available, the next best option is to engage an external coach, much like hiring a personal trainer who’s 100% dedicated to improving your movements, breathing, pace, prevent injuries, build right habits etc… An external coach can help the team achieve the most within a minimal time.
When to engage an external coach, and for how long?
The first 30 days is a critical window to build new habits so the best time to engage a coach whether someone from within or outside, is as soon as the training finishes. As to length of the coaching initiative, ideally it should be an ongoing process but the focus and objectives should evolve as the subject improves over time.
When implementing as a post-training reinforcement to a sales training initiative, the sales coaching campaign can set for one-month with specific and measurable deliverables, e.g. shape X behaviours to achieve Y outcomes.
After the first month, someone from within should take over and continue to track and motivate the best practice behaviours. The external coach may add value by supporting the internal coach to ensure continuity, and check back in every quarter to review success (and failed) cases and to refresh learning.
Who should I hire as the sales coach?
Do not fall into the trap of hiring someone for their sales achievement alone – selling and sales coaching are different skill sets. Also, unless the candidate is trained to distinguish behaviours, the coaching conversation will likely be vague and ineffective. Finally, anecdotal evidence is unreliable so beware of amateurs whose method is to mould their subjects to sell like them.
The coaches of Tiger Woods, Cristiano Ronaldo and Serena Williams are hardly champions in the sports themselves but they are able to pick out the nuances and give valuable feedback that helps their players continue to beat their competition. When evaluating potential sales coaches, look for the trifecta of 1) behaviour analytical skills, 2) ability to inspire and motivate, and 3) use of proven sales methodology – these are what separate a star sales coach from the average.
Some questions to help evaluate the sales coach candidate:
- What are the behaviours you would observe and how do you judge if they are effective or not?
- What is the research behind your sales methodology? If there are doubts from the team, what data can you quote to back it up?
- Can you describe how a typical coaching conversation is like? How do you inspire the subject to change behaviours?
What are the outcomes to expect?
Bear in mind that the goal of the sales coaching is to drive sustainable behavioural change that will impact the business results. Therefore, determining the right behaviours to shape is critical to achieving the intended outcomes. In fact, the sales training should be designed with the same intention in mind.
To sum up
Sales training is more likely to succeed when supported with sales coaching intervention.
Both the training and coaching initiatives require a good understanding of how specific behaviours impact the sales outcomes.
A sales coach who ‘speaks’ behaviours holds the key to maxing out your training ROI!
Author:
Eva Lam
Tree Consulting Asia Company Limited
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