Sales Coaching

Is anybody interested in brainstorming how much of a Sales VP or Sales Managers time should be focused on training and coaching their sales team. I realize it will vary depending on many factors. I would really welcome some views. -ActivateYourSales

IMO, a large percentage of the sales manager's time should be allocated to training and retaining employees.

To me, the position of sales manager is a position of "leverage." For every one (1) sales manager I hire I can look forward to (x) number of additional employees and their potential production. -Jolly Roger

The titles of Sales VP and Sales Manager don't adequately describe the positions' functions which can vary from company to company. Ideally, and regardless of title, it can be hugely beneficial to a sales force if someone high on the company's pecking order spends most of his/her time in the field coaching people one-on-one.

In addition to the training support, there are the added advantages of keeping salespeople sharp, focused, and appreciated. -Gary Boye

What are your views on the subject? -Houston

I've thought about this and placed it in practice -- I try to dedicate about 1/3 of my time to developing my team. The other two thirds are tied up in planning, strategy and reporting.

Within the time I dedicate to development, some has to be reserved for recruiting. The balance I dedicate first to new hires and second to my top 20% of my reps. The rest of my reps can wait as a second priority except the bottom 20%, who get almost zero of my time. Their disposition is handled by new recruiting efforts. It took me a long to to figure out that 1 hour of my time spent with the top 20% yeilded more revenue than 1 hour spent w/ the bottom.


-John Owen

Uhm Houston, we have a problem. It appears ActivateYourSales is no longer on board. -WobblyBox

Cute. I bet you've been waiting for the opportunity to throw that one in. :D -Jackie

Using this example, how many hours per week do you think you allocate for developing your team? -Calvin

The position of Sales Manager is a position that is also that of a teacher/coach. Just as major league baseball players complete almost daily batting practice with a coach. sales and service industry professionals also need training and coaching almost daily. As a personal coach and trainer of sales and management for over 38years, I can tell you that short daily lessons and reinforcement work better with adults than long drawn out meetingw. Just helping a staff member avoid the hundreds of selling myths is almost a full time job. -Virden J. Thornton

Hi Virden,

Welcome to Salespractice and very good points.

You know, the Sales Industry is awash with "the latest idea to make millions". People often forget that certain sales techniques only work with certain types of character and are also dependent on the industry one is selling in (Account Management, Telesales, Telemarketing, Door to Door etc).

Whenever I deal with a new sales person who is just starting in the industry, the first thing I get them to do (apart from helping them understand the "sales process") is read books on the subject, so that they may develop a keen interest in learning, which is my opinion one of the most important traits a sales person needs to have!.

I am sure that during your career within sales management and coaching, you have seen how the art of selling has changed over the years. One of the hardest things to impart to a newbie is the importance of "action, reflection, correction and connection". IMHO, the best way to learn is to:

1) act,
2) then reflect on what happend,
3) then correct themselves to get better and understand why,
4) then connect the new habit into their daily sales cycle.

I look forward to hearing more about your experience in sales! ;)

Good luck!

Tony D from Sales Journey -Tonyd