Field sales managers - how easy do you find it to get sales coaching done? With reps constantly out visiting customers’ stores, it’s difficult to pin them down for a couple hours to work on their game: there isn’t the time.
However, you don’t always need formal coaching sessions to make a performance difference.
Here’s an easy sales coaching technique you can use to dial in a rep’s skills when they’re in the field. It only takes 10 mins - and can generate positivity and engagement among the rest of your awesome sales team too.
The easiest sales coaching technique for busy field reps
One of your reps is visiting a new store you’ve just launched in, and they’re nervous - they’re heading in to pitch a new product line, and it’s going to be tricky. They need to strike the right line, or else a competitor will beat you to the shelf.
There’s one thing you can do in this situation to set your rep up for success and build their confidence.
Have the rep record themselves practicing their pitch and send it to you and the team for feedback before they walk into the store.
If they’re uncomfortable with recording themselves in video, they could send a voice memo. Doesn’t matter if they're sitting in the car, or outside the store. Then, they send it straight to the team Slack channel, Teams group, or Whatsapp chat for you and the rest of the team to give advice.
Quickly rallying around a teammate in need can be a really unifying moment for a team. Sharing advice, challenges, wins - these are the things which can draw a competitive team together. And the bonus? You get to fine tune the rep’s performance on the spot, ensuring they’ll nail their meeting. Message back your coaching notes and follow up after the meeting to see how everything went. Chat about it in your next one-on-one.
Sales coaching doesn’t have to be a lengthy training session. Find moments in your reps’ days where team advice could help, and try turning it into a coaching moment. The results are worth it, both for your reps’ performance, and team culture.
