Manager as Coach | Sales Performance
Recently, I was asked by a colleague about how I used coaching for my previous sales teams. Can you coach a team to a goal like revenue performance, especially when the business felt uncertain or was transforming. My management style is heavy on development; so, I shared my approach in managing the whole person even when making a tactical strike. This isn’t 100% coaching, but it is rooted in development not just one solution.
The former colleague still wanted to hear so I shared the following in an email. He told me to post it for others who may want to make impact across the team and want to develop team capabilities at the same time (long-term benefit).
It’s important to know that I’m assuming the following foundational components are already in place within the team:
The Target: This is our goal. Chipping away at this target is every person’s contribution and accountability, including mine.
Product vs. Priority: We all know what we’re selling — not the product, the value. This is our priority and it’s what matters most to our customer. The product is a how — but their priorities incentivize customers to spend money (despite holdbacks, products, features or upsells).
High customer value: Culturally, you have a high value for customers, and operate in a customer-first sales approach. You don’t hate your customers and seek to understand their complexities.
Team values: You know what matters to your team, and they know what behaviors are and are not acceptable. They know which behaviors are exemplary and the actions that lead to success.
Clarity on challenges: You know your business and it’s critics. You acknowledge what you do well, and where you’re outpaced. You also know what you can impact in the short, medium, and long term.
With these foundational components clear, you can move onto the coach approach that motivates the team to be creative and look for how can I, instead of why can’t I?
So, what did I actually do?
When we needed to plan a strategy around a difficult customer sell or revenue crunch, I partnered with each direct report individually for a strategy session to unpack what was going well, get their outlook/forecast on what’s likely to happen, and identify what was needed to succeed. We identified blockers and thought about ways to offset or minimize negative impacts. This is where my leadership often came into play, plus a healthy degree of restraint.
I held my opinion and responses so I could listen to understand. I asked questions for clarity — repeating what I understood to ensure clarity.
As we workshopped strategies, I would ask them to call out the challenges and solutions. Being critical of one’s own plan helps avoid bias, and it opens you up to creativity from others.
I’m known for saying, “OK, what’s the so what?” in the spirit of unpacking and digging a little deeper. This was never to belittle. If I sensed holes in the plan, we found the holes and poked together — never me at them.
These were not rushed interactions, especially if you’re not dealing with someone who is used to strategy. It also takes longer when a manager is typically heavy-handed in giving direction.
When we were done with the plan, we established the following check points:
A warning line — a threshold when we need to revisit or change course.
A finish line — when the goal was met, a time milestone approaches, or a critical lesson is learned.
A life-line — an escalation path of collaborators, supporters then, solvers and when to use them.
We did weekly play-by-plays to evaluate the plan and revenue progress against three-time horizons (near, medium, and long terms).
This is not a holistic sales management playbook. And it’s not the only way I’ve managed a high performing sales team. But it is how I supported my team to encourage them iterate on learnings real-time. I saw them gain remarkable confidence in themselves (and confidence in me), and chase after revenue goals with a sense of purpose, support, and independence.
Also, the value I placed into them conveyed to their clients. And that always impacted the bottom line.