Avanti Entrepreneur Avanti Entrepreneur Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 12

JACK DALY: COACHING
T
eams win championships — not coaches
or star players. What are you doing to
build each individual into a stronger
performer and a more valuable contributor
to the sales team?
Our goal here is to enhance your effectiveness as a
builder of strong sales people. You can coach them to
success!
Our job as sales leaders is not to grow sales — our job is
to grow salespeople. And then it’s their job to grow sales.
While it is true that our success is ultimately measured
on sales levels, we personally aren’t going to make that
happen. Our job, then, is to help salespeople be better at
what they do. We need to coach them.
By “coaching” we are talking about field coaching —
hands-on and in competitive situations. Think about
the impact a basketball coach has during the game
compared to after the contest.
While the “after the game” sales meeting is important,
it’s working in the field with salespeople that holds forth
our greatest opportunity. We see a sales leader working
with salespeople on three types of calls:
TRAINING CALL
Here the sales manager takes the lead during the call
to show how it should be done. Other than being
introduced to the prospect or client, the salesman is
essentially a silent observer.
After demonstrating “how-to,” the sales leader debriefs
after each call. “What went right” and “What went
wrong” are thoroughly discussed, so that the salesman
can see the dynamics involved.
“Nothing in the world can take the
place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost
a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent.”
—Calvin Coolidge
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JOINT CALL
A sales manager and salesman both participate in these
calls. Each person contributes appropriately, and often
these calls are used in re-establishing a relationship or
introducing the sales leader to customers.
Joint calls are also effective for gathering information
about market activity, the competition, and individual
customer wants and needs. How well your company is
meeting those needs should be ascertained on a joint call.
COACHING CALL
In these instances the sales leader plays the role of
an observer, and the salesman conducts the call. The