6 steps to becoming a better inside sales coach
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 @ 01:23 AM
Last week's post described why I feel side-by-side, at-desk coaching is a far more effective management technique than call monitoring, which is done remotely. The prime reason coaching works better than monitoring is the immediacy of behavior change.
In monitoring, discussing the call even one hour later isn't very good, because the rep has gone onto other calls, and may not remember what thought processes triggered his or her actions on the call. And "gotcha" moments aren't very much fun for the reps, either. By contrast, coaching is done at the rep's desk, in real time. It provides an opportunity for immediate success and enhances team communication, initially between the rep and the manager, and later, through sharing of best practices, throughout the entire inside team as well. As I mentioned last week, coaching is way more permissible, legally, than monitoring, according to some guidelines cobbled together by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
As a manager, it's critically important for you to allow the rep to gain a "win" immediately after feedback, and the best way to do it is to coach your reps while they're in the process of making actual calls. That doesn't mean handing them scraps of paper telling them what to say during a call, either. During the call, a good coach sits back, listens, and takes good notes. After the call, you can debrief. And if the rep missed something vital on the call, he or she can call the prospect right back, while you're sitting there, and fix it. After that second call, the rep will have demonstrably shown improvement, and both of you walk away with a win. Not only that, the rep will, in all probability, welcome your presence and opinions at future coaching dates.
Here are six great steps to becoming a superior inside sales coach:
1) Your rep may be a little nervous with you sitting in the cube. Be sure to begin your session by asking if there's anything in particular the rep would like you to listen for.
2) Ask the rep to describe the prospect and sales situation into which he or she will be calling.
3) After the rep begins the call, say nothing until the call has finished. Do not prompt the rep in any fashion or give him or her written pointers during the call. Even if you're jumping out of your shoes, ready with a great suggestion, let the rep finish the call on his or her own.
4) After the call, begin by telling the rep what you liked about the call. Be sincere, and describe, from your notes, what you liked about the call.
5) If there are areas for improvement, discuss them, and ask if the rep agrees with you. If he or she doesn't, have a discussion about it, and describe why those areas are critical.
6) Ask the rep to call the prospect right back, right while you're sitting there, and address the areas for improvement you just discussed. The prospect won't be offended by the return call. In fact, he or she will be pleased that the rep thought enough about the conversation to call back.
We teach these coaching techniques in our coaching classes for managers, but you can begin employing them right now. Improving rep performance is an educative process, and giving your reps instant wins is critical to behavioral change. If you're currently monitoring instead of coaching, please reconsider coaching as a faster and more effective way to improve the performance of your inside sales and lead qualification reps. And add coaching to your Best Practices playbook.