What’s Your Primary Purpose on Sales Calls: Proactively Developing Your Salespeople or Advancing and Closing the Sale?
Mar 26, 2024
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In this episode, Mike discusses the importance of proactive coaching and development in sales management. He challenges managers to focus on developing their salespeople rather than just closing deals. The episode also explores effective coaching strategies for sales managers and highlights the upcoming sales leadership event at the Porsche Experience Center.
Focus on proactively developing salespeople during joint sales calls to enhance their skills and performance.
Practice in-game coaching to observe, evaluate, and provide real-time feedback to sales reps for ongoing improvement.
Deep dives
Recruiting A Players: Importance and Challenges
Recruiting top sales talent, particularly A players, is crucial for sales success. The podcast emphasizes the significance of proactively seeking out top performers rather than relying on job postings. The guest speaker from Pursuit Sale Solutions highlighted that A players are rarely actively job hunting. To attract top talent, proactive recruitment strategies and the use of specialized search firms like Pursuit Sale Solutions are essential.
In-Game Coaching Strategies for Sales Managers
The episode delves into the concept of in-game coaching for sales managers. While pre and post-game coaching are known practices, in-game coaching involves actively supporting sales reps during meetings or presentations. The host stresses the importance of observing, evaluating, and providing feedback to salespeople in real-time. Key aspects include elevating the conversation, edifying the salesperson, and interjecting only when necessary to enhance the learning experience.
Balancing Control in Sales Meetings
An intriguing question posed in the podcast revolves around when sales managers should intervene during sales meetings. The episode raises the critical dilemma of whether to let a salesperson navigate a potentially failing meeting independently or step in to rescue it. Striking a delicate balance between allowing learning opportunities through failure and preventing disastrous outcomes requires thoughtful consideration and alignment with overall coaching objectives.
Maximizing Sales Team Development Through Coaching
The overarching theme of the podcast centers on empowering sales managers to prioritize team development through strategic coaching practices. By fostering a culture of proactive, non-urgent coaching, leaders can significantly impact the growth and performance of their sales teams. Emphasizing the value of investing time in developing salespeople's skills and fostering continuous improvement, the episode underscores the pivotal role of sales managers in cultivating high-performing sales teams.
Mike recently led a workshop for a group of talented, hungry, driven, young sales managers who were falling into an all-too-common trap – “doing” instead of coaching, developing, and holding sales reps accountable. During the session Mike challenged this group of managers with a question he had never thought to ask before:
When making joint sales calls with your people, is your primary purpose to…
A) Proactively develop your salesperson, or
B) Advance and close the sale
The healthy discussion that ensued inspired this episode. Listen in as Mike shares more of the story, promotes the importance of proactive, developmental, nonurgent coaching, and offers thoughts on best practices when managers ride shotgun with reps on sales calls.