Sales Coaching Template for Managers

6 minutes read

Sales coaching meeting, One-on-one meetings, 1:1, 1 2 1s, 1 on 1s, Check-ins

Whatever you call them, they are the most powerful tools you have as a manager.

The best leaders in the business swear by these. Here is how seriously they take their one-on-one meetings:

Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, devotes an entire section in his classic leadership book, High Output Management, to one on ones.

Serial entrepreneur, SaaStr founder, and investor Jason Lemkin says one on ones are the “#1 management hack”; “There isn’t a better investment you can make in your VPs than meeting either once a week, or at least, once every 2 weeks.”

These leaders are very passionate about their coaching sessions because of the value that they get out of it. Yet this tool is not used to its full potential by many managers. Status updates, awkward silences, and frequent cancellations are just a few of the symptoms of ineffective one on ones. So where does the issue lie? A lack of a good one-on-one sales coaching template prevents many managers from making the most of these meetings.

If you’re not getting the value that you desire from your sales coaching sessions, then take a close look at your fundamentals. Without taking the right steps before, during, and after each meeting, your one-on-ones are likely to come up short of their potential.

Therefore, having a coaching template for managers simplifies the process and improves the quality of the sessions. By using a good sales coaching template, you can make the most of every minute while covering all the necessary points.

This is an eight pointer blog that gives a detailed sales coaching template to plan your 1:1 sessions. Obviously, each company’s sales process and hence, the sales coaching template will be slightly different. But, this gives you a good starting point.

Also Read: Sales Coaching Playbook Part 2 - Training the Managers to Coach

1. Starter Question

The first step in the sales coaching template is to start a healthy conversation.

Start the session by asking the rep how his previous week went. This facilitates two-way communication between the manager and the rep right from the beginning. It makes the rep comfortable in the meeting environment. It gives the rep an opportunity to express herself freely with the managers.

Also, this question gives you the rep’s perspective on a particular sales situation. You will be able to discuss the status of previous action items.

2. Review last week’s performance

The next step is to review the rep’s last week’s performance based on the key metrics and specific activities like:

Calls made
Emails sent
Demos completed

Doing a review of these may present some coachable moments.

3. Coach to solve sales difficulties

The coaching starts from this step of the sales coaching template. Offer to coach the rep here. Ask the rep to mention some difficult sales scenarios that they have faced in the past.

Now, coach the rep on how to handle each of those situations tactfully.

Pro Tip: - Ask the question - “What’s the outcome you wanted? What is it that you could have done to handle the situation differently?”

Such questions will guide them through the process of self-discovery.

4. Sales rep’s development discussion

The next step in our sales coaching template is to review the rep’s past performance and discuss how she can develop and progress in her career. This may include listening to a specific call recording of the rep to highlight areas of improvement. Then give actionable feedback and do a brief role-play to practice how to better handle a situation, improve pitch or handle a particular objection.

Learn about the 5 Sales Role Play Games that Prepares your Team to Win.

Pro Tip: - While reviewing calls, focus on both areas of improvement and areas of strength so as to encourage the rep.

Ask your rep to suggest a call recording where he thought he did exceptionally well. Evaluate the call and highlight the good traits and best practices that the rep has used and encourage him to use more of those.

You can also have the rep listen to the call recordings of experienced reps and learn how they handled a similar situation where the rep got struck.

5. Review next week’s goals and expectations

The next up in the sales coaching template is– clearly communicating the sales goals for next week. Set reasonable expectations for the rep to achieve. This helps you and your reps in keeping the priorities and targets of selling activities at the top of your mind.

This also forms the foundation for next week’s one-on-one meeting.

6. Agree on action items

This step of the sales coaching template involves discussing and agreeing on specific action items to be completed by both the coach and the rep before the next one-on-one. These actions items should be put in writing, with due dates assigned to each, and confirmed in an email or on a shared Google doc for easy reference.

Make sure that during each session, you discuss the progress and completion of these items. And, according to that, the document should be updated for further coaching conversations. This takes the coaching full circle.

7. Request input

This is the most important step in the sales coaching template. Make sure that you include this step in your version of the template as well.

Before ending the session, request your rep to provide their inputs and feedback on how managers can improve their coaching. This is crucial as it lets you personalize your coaching to suit the learning needs of your reps.

8. Follow up

The last step in the sales coaching template is to follow up with your reps after the session. Follow up should happen between individual sessions. Send an email or two in between the sessions inquiring how the rep is progressing or asking if they need further assistance with anything. It acts as a bridge over the gap from one coaching session to another.

Conclusion

So now that you have an outline of what all should be included in a sales coaching template for managers, go ahead and create your version of the coaching template. As a manager, the best you can do for your team is to prioritize sales coaching from time to time.

SmartWinnr’s on-the-job coaching automates your sales coaching process. Plugin your own competency frameworks to measure and coach your sales teams. Managers play a crucial role in the coaching process. They do baseline assessments, set coaching goals for joint field visits, and provide crucial feedback to their sales reps.

Curious to learn more about it? Book a demo today!

Published on Fri Feb 28 2020