I went to watch a couple of games of a boy's AAU basketball tournament this weekend. While the talent was phenomenal, what really caught my eye were the referees.
The local referee association was using the tournament to train it referees. Supervisors were on the court, giving advice and instructions during the game, during time outs and after the game. The supervisors did not sit in their offices and say, "tell me how the game went." Instead, they were on the front line with their team members, giving instant feedback.
How are the Sales Leaders in your company doing in the area of coaching? Are they "on the court" or "back in the office?" While Sales Leaders can't be on every sales call with their salespeople, the only way to do effective coaching is to watch them in action.
Sales Leaders need to set goals on the number of joint calls per week or month they conduct. It is only through observation that they can give solid coaching advice. Sales Leaders will learn what the salesperson is doing right and encourage more of that activity. They will also see mistakes and areas for improvement. The Sales Leaders can then offer immediate feedback to the salesperson on how they can improve their performance.
Every great athlete has a coach that works to take her to the next level. Every salesperson needs a coach to help get him to the next level in sales.
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