Step Two to Extraordinary Coaching
If it's true that there are too few sales leaders who are good coaches, there are far fewer sales leaders who are also great coaches. That makes sense, given the characteristics all great coaches share in common.
The good coach, as I said last month, is adept at teaching the fundamentals of his or her discipline. In sales, the great coach, like the good coach, is an effective teacher who teaches and reinforces the fundamentals of selling. What makes them great coaches is their knack for recognizing talent and potential in their team members that many others simply don't see, their ability to motivate their sales teams, and their communication skills.
Managing Strengths
A sales leader who is also a great coach, for example, may see that while a team member is reluctant to prospect for new business, she exhibits great ability to capitalize on any opportunity she encounters.
Great coaches know that it is folly to manage to a person's weaknesses. They know the words of Sun Tzu, who wrote in The Art of War: “Do not charge people to do what they cannot do. Select them and give them responsibilities commensurate with their abilities.”
The sales leader who is a great coach will zero in on the strengths of each team member and help them develop these strengths to improve their performance. These leaders refuse to allow a team member to fail. When a team member falters, and is obviously unable to execute the duties of his position, the sales leader who is also a great coach will place the team member in a new position – a position better suited to the individual's talents and desires.
Master Motivator
The sales leader who is a great coach is also a master motivator. He knows that uncovering the personal drivers of each team member provides the key to motivation. He is a master at using that information to inspire the team members toward great performance. He knows that when people sense a clear, personal benefit in any activity, and when they begin to excel in their performance, they are likely to continue that activity with vigor, enthusiasm and determination.
Master Communicator
Finally, like all great coaches, the sales leader who is a great coach is a master communicator. He is always brutally honest with the members of his team. His assessments of individual performances, and his evaluation of a team member's potential, are direct, honest and emphatic.
Recognizing the paramount importance of the team, and respectful of individual needs, he clearly communicates what contributions are needed from each team member. He also clearly delineates the consequences of failure to deliver those contributions.
Next month we will examine the ultimate in coaching – the extraordinary coach. What characteristics and talents do extraordinary coaches share in common, and what can sales leaders do to develop themselves into extraordinary coaches of their sales teams?A sales leader who is also a great coach, for example, may see that while a team member is reluctant to prospect for new business, she exhibits great ability to capitalize on any opportunity she encounters.
Great coaches know that it is folly to manage to a person's weaknesses. They know the words of Sun Tzu, who wrote in The Art of War: “Do not charge people to do what they cannot do. Select them and give them responsibilities commensurate with their abilities.”
The sales leader who is a great coach will zero in on the strengths of each team member and help them develop these strengths to improve their performance. These leaders refuse to allow a team member to fail. When a team member falters, and is obviously unable to execute the duties of his position, the sales leader who is also a great coach will place the team member in a new position – a position better suited to the individual's talents and desires.
Master Motivator
The sales leader who is a great coach is also a master motivator. He knows that uncovering the personal drivers of each team member provides the key to motivation. He is a master at using that information to inspire the team members toward great performance. He knows that when people sense a clear, personal benefit in any activity, and when they begin to excel in their performance, they are likely to continue that activity with vigor, enthusiasm and determination.
Master Communicator
Finally, like all great coaches, the sales leader who is a great coach is a master communicator. He is always brutally honest with the members of his team. His assessments of individual performances, and his evaluation of a team member's potential, are direct, honest and emphatic.
Recognizing the paramount importance of the team, and respectful of individual needs, he clearly communicates what contributions are needed from each team member. He also clearly delineates the consequences of failure to deliver those contributions.
Steve Chriest
Tell us what you think
Is It Time for Right-Brain Selling?
Executive Preferences
Several of the senior executives I’ve talked with about this expressed the preference for interacting with creative, enthusiastic sales professionals who understand the executive’s business and deliver solutions that directly impact what the executive wants to accomplish, fix or avoid. Most important to these senior executives is quantifying the impact any solution will have on the company’s bottom line.
Are right-brain sales types wired for success in the 21st century? Has the time passed for the logical, linear, by-the-numbers attributes of the left-brain? The answer, I think, depends on exactly with whom your sales professionals are interacting.
Just when many of us want our sales teams to acquire business acumen and learn to engage with CEOs, CFOs and business unit leaders, Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, tells us that we are entering the 21st Century “conceptual age.”
A New Era
In this new era, right-brain skills like illuminative thinking and storytelling may become more crucial success attributes than computer programming, accounting and general analytical reasoning.
In this new era, right-brain skills like illuminative thinking and storytelling may become more crucial success attributes than computer programming, accounting and general analytical reasoning.
Mr. Pink suggests that we humans will exhibit a different form of thinking and will develop a new approach to life in this new age. Empathy and creativity will be crucial in the conceptual age.
Should we, then, begin exercising the right-brain hemisphere muscles of our sales professionals? Is it time to cultivate creativity, empathy, artistry and emotional story-telling?
Several of the senior executives I’ve talked with about this expressed the preference for interacting with creative, enthusiastic sales professionals who understand the executive’s business and deliver solutions that directly impact what the executive wants to accomplish, fix or avoid. Most important to these senior executives is quantifying the impact any solution will have on the company’s bottom line.
It seems that sales professionals can indeed do better at big picture thinking and connecting the dots when helping customers develop solutions to challenges. Senior executives appreciate creativity and empathy, but not at the exclusion of left-brain logic, statistics and analytics.
I’m convinced that as this century marches on, selling, as we’ve practiced it for decades, may need to undergo a radical transformation to meet the needs of a changing human brain. I’m not yet convinced, however, that it is the right-brain that will lead the way.
Daniel Pink’s book is an interesting read, and I think his reasoning – or hope – may fly in the face of left-brain reality.
Steve Chriest
Tell us what you think
New PowerPoint Presentations
We are always looking for ways to better communicate what we do and how our services and solutions impact our clients' businesses.
In the next few days, we will post mercifully brief (8 minutes on average) PowerPoint presentations on our most popular offerings: our Sales Management Operating System™(SMOS), Getting To Win-Win™ (our framework selling process) and Selling To The E-Suite™.
You will find links to the presentations on the home page of our website. If you prefer to receive a PowerPoint via email, please send us a request and we will forward the presentation to you immediately.
Steve Chriest
Tell us what you think
New PowerPoint Presentations
We are always looking for ways to better communicate what we do and how our services and solutions impact our clients' businesses.
In the next few days, we will post mercifully brief (8 minutes on average) PowerPoint presentations on our most popular offerings: our Sales Management Operating System™(SMOS), Getting To Win-Win™ (our framework selling process) and Selling To The E-Suite™.
You will find links to the presentations on the home page of our website. If you prefer to receive a PowerPoint via email, please send us a request and we will forward the presentation to you immediately.
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