Sales Performance Coaching vs. Life Coaching
Posted on 17. Sep, 2009 by B2B Sales Coach in Sales Performance Coaching
The calls we receive from Vice Presidents of Sales and Sales Managers often start with questions about what sales performance coaching is and what it is not. Over the past few weeks, a number of callers have disclosed that they have spoken with sales coaches who were actually life coaches (although they didn’t know this until after they used their services).
As someone who started a coaching and consulting firm, I believe strongly in a coach’s ability to improve performance. So much so, that I have hired my own coaches to quickly improve my own performance, including two life coaches. Even though life coaches are valuable, it is not a service we provide, and it is not what our clients pay us to do. So what is the difference?
What Life Coaching Does
Life coaching focuses on the whole individual. Because this is true, they focus on helping their clients with general performance issues around their physical fitness goals, their financial goals, and their relationships. They help remove obstacles to effective action and help their client keep their commitments to taking new actions and new behaviors in these areas.
Life coaches almost always have a background in psychology, and almost never have any background in sales. Because they lack the sales pedigree, they usually cannot help with the complex sales challenges the salesperson being coached most needs help solving.
What Sales Coaching Does
Sales coaches focus only on sales behaviors, actions, issues and challenges. While there is no question that some clients being coached would benefit from improving their physical fitness, their financial fitness, and all of the other areas of their life, a sales coach focuses on the single area of sales performance. A sales coach helps remove the obstacles blocking better sales performance and helps identify the actions and behaviors that will lead to improved sales.
Our clients prefer working on the detailed problems and challenges of sales, including individual client and prospect issues. To help with these complex sales issues and challenges requires that the coach have a long history in sales and sales management. The coach has to be able to identify the challenges and have the experience and tools to advise the salesperson being coached effectively.
These are the primary differences between sales coaches and life coaches. We have a sample sales coaching call agenda posted under on our Tools page. Please download a copy and review the agenda to verify that the broad outline of the topics on a coaching call fit your needs, as well as your company’s needs. Also, call us or use the contact from to schedule a consultation. We provide the first call at no charge to ensure there is a fit between your needs and what we offer (and we recommend that you never hire a coach until you ensure that there is fit).
Two Success Factors for Sales Coaching
Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by B2B Sales Coach in Sales Performance Coaching
There are two primary factors that determine whether or not you (or your sales force) will benefit from sales performance coaching.
Success Factor 1: Openness to New Ideas
The first factor is openness to new ideas. Coaching is about changing behaviors, and changing behaviors is about being open to abandoning something that doesn’t produce the results you desire for something that does produce those results. In order for coaching to be effective, the person being coached has to be willing to step out of their comfort zone and be willing to try something new.
The best coaching candidates are open to exploring new ideas, new activities, and new methods that might help them produce better results. They are willing to believe that even though they have done something in a certain way for a long time, that there might in fact be other ways that produce even greater results.
Success Factor 2: Ability to Take Action
The second factor that determines whether or not sales coaching will help you or your sales force is the ability to take action. One way that sales coaching improves performance is in helping the person being coached to develop an action plan and to hold them accountable for their commitments. But in order for the person being coached to achieve the benefit of coaching, they must be willing to take action.
The best candidates for sales performance coaching are willing to keep their commitments and they are willing to take action. The sales performance coach can help identify new possibilities and ideas, as well as helping to build the action plan that will improve results. But ultimately, the greatest sales performance gains are made by the salesperson who takes action.
Sales Coaching Sample Agenda added to Tools
Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by B2B Sales Coach in Sales Coaching
The best way to find out if sales coaching is right for you is to have an introductory call with the sales coach. There needs to be a fit between the coach and the salesperson, and that is best determined through the experience of working together.
We are often asked what a sales coaching call entails, so that the salesperson can prepare for the call. We have added a Sample Agenda under out Tools section. Every salesperson is different, and every coaching call is based on helping the individual salesperson. However, this agenda is a pretty good outline and helpful in prepare the salesperson for the coaching call.
