“My sales manager drives me crazy during sales coaching!” These were Marianna’s exact words.

Many wouldn’t expect this from a top salesperson. She went on, “I know he means well but his sales coaching isn’t improving my sales. He mostly talks about my numbers. I’m frustrated because I really do want to increase my sales and know he wants the same.”

Your experience might be similar to Marianna’s. If it is (and even if it’s not), you can help make your sales coaching time more profitable for you by working on 3 steps with your sales manager.

Step 1: Chat about Your Sales Coaching Expectations

If you are like most salespeople, you could probably benefit from having a discussion with your sales manager about sales coaching expectations. This can help you clarify how you both can contribute to improving your sales coaching sessions. To ensure you and your sales manager are using sales coaching to increase your sales, include some of the following topics in your expectations discussion:

1. Your sales coaching roles
2. Each of your sales coaching activities
3. Your sales coaching topic of discussion 
4. The degree of specificity of your sales coaching topic 
5. Who speaks the most 
6. Who listens the most
7. Your sales coaching outcomes 
8. Your measure of sales coaching success 
9. Your sales coaching agenda 
10. Your sales coaching frequency 

As you know, the more you and your sales manager clarify what to expect during sales coaching, the
more helpful your sales manager can be to you. And the more helpful your sales manager is to you, the
better your sales results will be.

Step 2: Update Your Definition of Sales 

Recently at a networking event, I was introduced to Amir who engaged me in a pleasant conversation. Innocently, he asked what I do. I answered, “I’m a sales coaching author.” His response revealed his perception of sales.

“Really?” he said, “But you seem so nice.” Simultaneously, he took a step back. He perceived sales as it once was decades ago, not as it is today. Amir was reacting to the manipulative sales techniques that were once used in selling.

In today’s marketplace, selling is truly about buying as prospects often have as much as 70% of their buying decision made before they even speak with a salesperson (E. Berridge).

Therefore, if you and/or your sales manager haven’t done so already, update your definition of selling.

Why? Your sales definition informs your sales behaviors.

With mountains of neurological research behind it, here’s how selling can be best described today: selling is about helping others with their buying decisions, emotionally and logically. Consequently, buying is about decision-making. And decision-making involves not just the logical part of the brain but also the emotional brain.

This updated definition of selling also informs your sales coaching sessions. To help make your sales coaching more profitable for you, let the updated definition of sales drive your sales coaching sessions
by ensuring you and your sales manager include what you are doing and/or asking to:

• Explore prospects’ decision-making process 
• Discover prospects’ buying criteria 
• Find out where prospects are in their decision-making process
• Better engage prospects emotionally in their buying decisions 
• Provide prospects with the logic they need to justify their buying decisions

When you ensure your sales coaching sessions with your sales manager are based on an updated definition of sales, you make your sales conversations more valuable and relevant to your prospects.

You truly will be helping them with their buying decisions. This way, they won’t step back from their conversations with you (literally and figuratively).

Step 3: Identify Your Biggest Sales Mistakes 

We all make sales mistakes during our sales conversations. Sales coaching can help reduce the frequency of those mistakes. With the help of your sales manager, be on the alert for your sales mistakes.

You may be thinking, “How do I know which sales mistakes I make?” That’s a great question. There are symptoms that indicate you might be committing 1 or more of the 10 biggest sales mistakes.

For example, are you:

• Not getting as many referrals as you would like? 
• Not getting much repeat business? 
• Taking too long to close? 

Here’s the list of the 10 biggest sales mistakes people make during their sales conversations:

1. Not being clear who's buying 
2. Forgetting why people buy 
3. Being self-focused 
4. Telling mistruths 
5. Being ill-prepared 
6. Taking too much of the client's time 
7. Sharing what's not relevant 
8. Missing prospects' buying cues 
9. Acting like a traditional salesperson 
10. Treating clients as enemies 

Do any of these sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. During your sales coaching sessions with your sales manager, prioritize, prepare and practice what you are going to do, ask and say during your sales conversations to avoid these mistakes. By eliminating these mistakes from your sales conversations, you’ll sell more.

Use the 3 steps to help you and your sales manager make your sales coaching sessions more profitable for you. You’ll help both of you do better and you’ll sell more.

This blog post is adapted from award-winning author, Peri Shawn’s latest book, Sell More with Sales
Coaching. To get 2 free chapters, go to www.CoachingandSalesInstitute.com. 

Learn more sales coaching techniques in the free Salesforce ebook below.