Six Keys to Turn a Sales Manager into a Great Sales Coach

I always wanted to be a coach. My high school coach, Greg DeMarco and my college coach Dave Icenhower (both now no longer with us) were Hall of Fame Coaches and had a tremendous impact on my life.

My oldest brother Bill, is one of the most successful coaches in New York state history. I have often said if I were as successful at my craft as Bill was at his, I would have been on the cover of Fortune Magazine.

These are just three of the people who have influenced my life in a positive way.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad coaches out there giving bad advice to up-and-coming salespeople.

Coaching revenue generators (sales, recruiters, etc.) requires a similar approach to coaching athletes. Why, you may ask? Paraphrased from author, Jack Carew, who said the following about the demands of being a salesperson:

1. A salesperson is never psychologically safe.They often face rejections and resistance to their ideas. The words “no” and “not interested” loom ominously on every phone call, email and any customer/prospect can turn them down. A long-awaited contract may be cancelled.
2. A salesperson’s job requires focus, endurance and psychological stamina. They must conquer distractions and interruptions. They have to persist until they get a commitment. The company relies on them to bring in the business.
3. The Quota/Activity Board Tells Your Story. There is no place to hide. All of their successes and failures are out in the open for everyone else to see and pats on the back are few and far between when they fail.¹

Not much different than being an athlete, is it? So, how do we effectively “coach” the revenue generating “athlete?”

The secret to coaching revenue-generating people is to:

simplify, simplify, simplify.

Perhaps the most complex sport to coach is football, yet Alabama’s legendary coach Nick Saban, has distilled the entire game to encouraging each athlete to simply “win your play.”