Sales Coaching
Part of Sales coaching
Choosing a specific skill for a coaching session
Turn a broad sales performance concern into one observable skill with a fair practice opportunity and clear coaching goal.
Choose one action a representative can practise in a defined buyer situation and a coach can later observe. Start with a work example, then narrow the goal until both people can recognise a sound attempt. “Improve discovery” is a topic; “check who approves the buyer’s proposed change before suggesting a date” is an action.
Find a candidate in the work
A missed target can prompt a review, but it does not reveal which skill to coach. Examine suitable conversations, notes or practice attempts that your organisation permits you to use.
What was the buyer trying to decide? What information did the representative have? Which action might have helped when the exchange became unclear?
Check other explanations. If the representative asked a sound question but no approved answer exists, its owner needs to settle the answer. If the buyer’s requirement cannot be met, record a fit issue.
If the representative had an opportunity to clarify the requirement but did not, that action may be a coaching candidate. Ask what they understood at the time before settling on a goal.
Pros and Cons of Focusing on One Skill vs. Multiple Skills
- Pros of focusing on one skill
- Clear goal, measurable progress, fair practice, builds confidence
- Cons of focusing on one skill
- May miss broader context; other issues could be overlooked
State the goal as a situation and action
Describe the trigger, action and purpose. Suppose a buyer says an approval process is slow. A proposed goal is: “When the buyer mentions delayed approval, establish which step is delayed and who decides the next action, so the follow-up reflects the actual constraint.”
Test the goal with four questions:
| Question | What to establish |
|---|---|
| When is the skill needed? | A recognisable buyer situation. |
| What can the representative do? | A question, explanation, check or summary. |
| What can the coach observe? | The action and relevant response, rather than a personality judgement. |
| What can vary? | Wording and order can adapt to information the buyer has already supplied. |
If the goal contains several unrelated actions, choose the one that matters most to the next decision. If it depends on a product statement, provide the current approved answer and its limits before practice. A complex conversation may call for a learning goal and judgement, rather than a fixed count of questions.
Check that practice will be fair
Identify an upcoming conversation where the situation might arise, or build a short fictional case. Give the representative the information they would be allowed to consult. Agree on what the coach will look for and what would count as a sound alternative. For instance, the representative might confirm the approval owner through a summary instead of a direct question.
Keep the practice small enough to retry after feedback. Record the chosen skill, why it was selected, the approved information available, the observation criterion and the next opportunity. State the limit of the evidence: one conversation can reveal a useful practice topic without proving a team-wide pattern.
If the review reveals another issue, assign it to the right owner or reserve it for a later session. Leave this session with one skill both people can practise and recognise.
