Many managers of sales teams think they can sell better than their subordinates. When they look at their teams, they wonder why their salespeople do not sell more and why don’t they listen to theirs advices on what to do. They feel that they must do babysitting and yet they would be better off to do coaching. The founder of Coaching and Sales Institute, Ms. Peri Shawn, writes about this issue on the salesandmarketing.com server. She advises to make coaching sessions part of the teamwork, during which the manager asks his/her salespeople questions on how exactly they proceeded at a meeting with a client.
During coaching sessions speak about what worked and what should be improved next time. However, be careful not to say to your subordinate what they should exactly do. Let them come to change themselves, using the following questions:
- How successful was your meeting?
- How did you start and what was your client’s response?
- How did you respond to his/her response?
- Why do you think the client responded in this way?
- What was the most difficult thing in this meeting for you and why?
- What advantages and disadvantages can you see in the solution you've chosen?
- What your step might make your situation more difficult?
- What can you do better next time?
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