Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales Coachesimage.huthwaite.com/Web/Huthwaite/{792cfcf2-aa09-42ab-83c4... · 2005 2012 3 orld-Clas oaches Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales

Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales

Coaches

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc.2

Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales Coaches

Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales Coaches© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc.

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© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 3



IntroductionGreat coaching is indispensable to great salesmanship. The research is incontrovertible.

Consider the world’s top performers:

• Dotheypracticeandhonetheircraftonaregularbasis?

• Dotheydoitalone?

• Dotheyhaveprofessionalsdedicatedsimplytohelpingthemimprove?

What is it that tenor Luciano Pavarotti, seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, actress Julia Roberts, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, actor Robert de Niroand tennis great Andre Agassi have in common? All of them are superstars, and allofthememployworldclasscoaches.Pavarottihasfour(oneeachformusic,acting,languageandvoice).Theworld’sgreatperformersarecontinuouslytryingtoimprovetheirskills;andthemeanstothatendisinevitablygreatcoaching.Thesameistruein business. Bill Gates turns to Warren Buffett as a coach. Executive and Leadership Coaching are booming sectors of the economy. Browse the bestseller shelf in anybookstoreandyouwill see. It justsohappensthattopperformers inevery industryhave great coaches.

This begs the question: Why is the same not true in sales? Why is coaching soneglected, especially for the sales superstars? If great coaching is such a criticalcomponentofsuccess,whyisitsolargelyignoredinthesaleseffectivenessindustry?Thereasonsaremanyandvaried,andweshalllookatsomeofthemasweprogress.But let us reflect for a moment on a few of the most obvious reasons that sales coaching is disregarded.



The first reason is that coaching is hard. Many top performers are prima donnas(don’tmisunderstand us—they are prima donnas, and need to be treated as such), andaresimplynoteasytocoach.Thesecondreasonisthatthereisa lackofgreatcoaches.Manymanagerswerepromotedfrombeingsalesstarsthemselvesandwerenever trained in coaching. The skill sets required for selling and coaching have little in common. Thirdly,where does a busymanager find the time to coach? For greatcoaches it is not about incremental time; it is about using what little coaching time may exist wisely; discarding non-productive behaviors and replacing them withproductive behaviors. It is also about choosing the right salespeople to coach and not spreading the time over the gamut thinly (more on this shortly). And finally, mostorganizations do not support a coaching culture. We shall look at this in some depth later.

Thereasonweneedcoachesisthatwesimplycannotseeourownswing;wehumansare notoriously bad at self-analysis. Many top performers haven’t a clue what it istheydo that is so successful.Huthwaite researchactually reveals that there isverylittle relation between what top salespeople say is effective and what they do inthefield.Weneedanotherwithacriticaleyetoseeourstrengthsandhelpusbuildon them; to recognize our weaknesses and help us compensate for—or control—them. Gallup research shows a significant link between great salespeople and their managers. Wherever they found a great salesperson, a great manager was not farbehind. Indeed, the Gallup research shows that salespeople with the right managers

can improve their performance up to 20 percent.1

Perhaps the strongest argument for coachingisthis.Howevergoodyourskills training in the classroom, unless it’s followedupon the job,most of its effectiveness is lost. The Xerox Corporation carried out several studies, one of which showed that in the absence of follow-up coaching, 87 percent ofthe skills change brought about by the program was lost. That’s87 cents out of every skills dollar.Knowledge training, on the other hand, generally shows a muchsmaller loss.

WhatSHOULDhappenwithanewskill.

Figure 1

1 Discover Your Sales Strengths, by Benson Smith and Tony Rutigliano, Warner Books 2003, page 16



The reason for this painful finding lies in the nature of a skill. By definition, a new skill feelsawkward and uncomfortable. It doesn’t bring instant results. Think ofanyskillyou’vetriedtochange,such as your golf swing, yourpresentationstyleoryourmethodsof handling your children. Doesthe change bring instant success?Almostcertainlynot.

In learning most skills, we go through an awkward period, illustrated in Figure 1, where the skill doesn’t feel natural and isn’t bringing results. This period, sometimes called the “results dip,” or “incorporation lag,” is a bad time for most people.However,thosewhoperseveregaintheexpectedreward.

If the learner continues with the new behavior, the skill feels more and more natural and begins to result in better performance.

What does this have to dowith coaching? Coaching is the onlyway to keep a newskill reinforced and encouraged during the dismal period of the results dip. Without coaching,very fewpeoplecanmaintainanewlyacquired skill.Whenweare in theresults dip,we abandon the new skill. Particularly in sales training, our evaluationstudies show that classroom methods are almost useless for skills development withouteffectivefollow-upcoaching.Mostsalespeopletryoutthenewskillsforafewcallsonlytofindthattheyfeelawkward,andthenewmethodisn’tbringinginstantresults.So,theygobacktotheiroldways.

Howeverexcellent your classroomtraining,without goodcoaching youareprobablywasting 87 cents out of every skills dollar you spend. Coaching is the only cost-effective way to reinforce new behaviors and skills until a learner is through thedangerousresultsdip.Oncethroughthedip,whenthenewskillsbringresults,theywillbecomeself-reinforcing.

WhatACTUALLYhappenstoanewskill without coaching.

Figure 2



It is clear, then, that coaching is imperative. The question then becomes: Whodowecoach?Timeislimited,andwemayhavemorepeoplereportingtousthanisoptimal (an8 to1 ratio isoptimal,butnot always practical or actual). So thenwhere is coaching time best served? Ourresearch has made this a fairly clear cutdetermination.Itisnotaboutequality,butrather about fairness and good business sense. Let us illustrate:

In figure 3, we define each of the quadrants (and please resist the urge toget hung up on the wording, it is the axes which are the real point): Stars are those salespeople who regularly exceed

expectations. They are always improving and could almost certainly handle tougherassignments. Solid performers usually meet—and sometimes exceed—expectations,but theyareatornear theircapacityandprobablycouldnothandle tougherwork.Poorperformersrarely,ifever,meetexpectations.Theycannotperformtheircurrenttasksadequately,andcertainlycannothandlemoredifficultwork.Underachieversarethose salespeople who sometimes meet the requirements, but their work is not what it could be. With the right skills, ortherightmotivation,theycoulddo far greater things.

The temptation for average managers is to leave the stars alone to achieve goodness on their own—ontheassumptionthattheyare doing just fine; ignore theunderachievers, because theyare often a source of frustration; spend time with the solid performers because it is easiest and spend far too much time with poor performers in the hopes of improving them. This couldn’t be

Coaching Quadrant

Figure 3

Figure 4



less appropriate. Imagine a vertical line down the center: this is the great coaching divide.Inworld-classorganizations,theresearch(andlogic)showsthatthegreatestreturn on time investment is in coaching the star performers and those who have the potentialtobecomestarperformers.Theyfocusonthetworightquadrantsbecausethatiswherethepayofflies.

Thefigurebelow(figure4)givesanotherperspectiveonwhomtocoach.Again,notethe axes. Motivation is the vertical axis; Perception of Difficulty (how salespeopleperceive their work) is the horizontal axis. The bottom left quadrant represents those salespeople who are self-motivated and perceive their work to be easy.These often high performers can be coached by simple show and tell. This grouprepresents between 10 and 13 percent of the average sales force. The top left quadrantrepresentsthosesalespeoplewhoperceivetheirworktobeeasy,butwhoareexternallymotivated.Thesesalespeople,representingbetween35and40percentof the average sales force, should be handled with incentives and rewards. The bottomrightquadrantrepresentsthosesalespeoplewhoareself-motivated,butwhoperceivetheirworktobehard.Theyalsorepresentbetween35and40percentofthesales force. These are peoplewhowill benefitmassively frommentoring and greatcoaching. The fourth quadrant, those who are externally motivated and perceivethework tobedifficult, are in thewrong job.Thesepercentages,by theway, areabsolutelypredictable,asshownbytheresearch.

These two illustrations reveal much about where to focus coaching time and attention. We are discussing business, not kindergarten—world-class companies arenot egalitarian. They spend their coaching time and attentionwhere they have themost potential to impact the business bottom line.

So what does great coaching in exceptional organizations look like? We shall nowexplore the Six Characteristics of World Class Sales Organizations in relation tocoaching.Thesecharacteristicsarelargelycounterintuitive,sorememberthatthesefindings are based on hard science. The best sales organizations:

1.Havetherightbalanceofeffectivenessandefficiency

2.Havetherightmanagementinvolvementinface-to-faceselling

3.Sellwherethereismostopportunitytocreatecustomervalue,or,statedanotherway,separatetransactionalbusinessfromconsultativebusiness

(continued)



4.Focusontheearlystagesofthebusinesspipeline

5.Buildacoachingculture

6.Ruthlesslyrewardhighperformers

Thesecharacteristicseachhaveaprerequisite—whatittakesinanorganizationtobeable to embrace these ideas. And remember that it is not a question of right versus wrong, but rather excellent versus average. Let us consider them in turn.

TheRightBalanceofEfficiencyandEffectivenessEfficiency metrics are activity measures, while effectiveness metrics are outcomemeasures. The key word in this characteristic is balance. There is a balance that mustbe struckbetweenefficiencyandeffectiveness.Thegoodnews is that itdoesnottakeverymucheffectivenessmeasurementtocounterweighanenormousamountof efficiency measurement. Effectiveness measures tend to be leading indicators(because they are indicative of something about the client) whereas efficiencymeasurestendtobelaggingindicators—ifthat.

Efficiency is a measure of activity: number of calls, opportunities in the pipeline,total value in the pipeline, forecast values and so on. These numbers are important; theyarethemetricsweusetomanageabusiness.Infact,thehigherupyougoinanorganization,themoreyouwill findthesenumbersrelieduponfordecision-making,becausetheyarethepureandobjectivedatabywhichbusinessdecisionsaremade.

The problem with measuring only efficiency indicators is thatwhat is measured is what gets done. When the focus is on measuring activity, activity will be done inspades, for its own sake.

In tough times, managers have a tendency to push harder on the accelerator ofefficiency,whichistosay,theypushformoreactivity—andtheygetalltheactivitytheywant.But it doesn’t goanywhere.And they get intoadeath spiralwhere themore theydemand, themore theyget,and the lessoutcometheyget from it.Anddowntheygo.Theotherproblemwithefficiencymeasuresisthattheytendtostymietop performers, who are focused on outcomes, not activities. It is average performers who focus on activities. Averagemanagers tend to drive top performers away fromtheir companies at the very timewhen they aremost needed. The truth is, as theresearchshows,moredoesnotequalbetterinconsultativesales,andinfactitmaybe



counterproductiveasonerouspaperworkandfruitlessracingaboutgenerallyfrustratetopperformers.Inmajorsales,successcomesfromworkingsmarter,notharder.

Salesefficiencyisabouthowtogetinfrontofcustomersfortherightamountoftimeat a minimum cost. Sales effectiveness is about how to maximize sales potential once you’rethere.Themethodsthat increaseefficiencyareverydifferentfromtheonesthat increase effectiveness.Many sales organizations have run into severe troubles,because theyhave tried to apply efficiency solutions to effectiveness problemsandvice versa. Many major sales managers damage their own success and the successof theirpeopleby intentionallyadopting selling harder solutions for selling smarter problems.

Great sales managers find the balance: optimal efficiency metrics and practicaleffectiveness measures. Recall that just a few effectiveness measures will balancea myriad of efficiency measures. Efficiency metrics are quantitative; effectivenessmeasuresaredone in ratio form,e.g.,didacallplan leadto thedesiredoutcome?Thefulldiscussionofthisiswellbeyondthescopeofthiswhitepaper,butinessence,effectiveness metrics are oriented to a ratio measure of whether or not a progressive outcomeresultedfroman individualactivity.Efficiencycanbe improvedbyactivitymanagement and territory configuration, for example. Effectiveness improvementrequires training, modeling and great coaching. Great coaches help their salespeople understand the importance of outcomes.

The prerequisite for striking a balance between efficiency and effectiveness isthe ability to understand customer behavior. Customerbehavior is the only indicator of effectiveness. Theonly indicator thatwehavedone a good job is that thecustomer has said, “I’mwilling to act”—whether that’sto make a purchase or to make an interim step. If the customer is not reacting, our activity is going nowhere.And if all we are measuring are activities, we have no idea what the client or customer is doing. The good news is thatitonlytakestwoorthreeeffectivenessmeasurestocounterweightalltheactivity.Ifwehadjustafewwaysof understanding how customer behavior maps to what we are doing, the world would come up roses. Few sellers know how to read or how to elicit customer behavior, so they are lost in a sea of activity.Great coaches help tosortthisoutbyputtinginplaceafeweffectivenessmeasures.

The most fundamental point is that an effective

organization-a world-class sales

force- thinks a priori about the rules of

when a manager will be involved faceto-

face with a customer

(continued)



TheRightManagementInvolvementinFace-to-FaceSellingOurconclusionsregardingmanagementinvolvementinface-to-facesellingmayseemrathercounter-intuitiveuntilyouseetheelegantsimplicityoftherightinvolvement.There are several basic guidelines that govern the behavior of great coaches.

The most fundamental point is that an effective organization—a worldclass salesforce—thinksaprioriabouttherulesofwhenamanagerwillbeinvolvedface-to-facewithacustomer.Thatistosay,theyconsiderinprincipleunderwhatcircumstancestheirmanagerswillbeinvolvedinface-to-faceselling,andtherulesarederivedbyaprocess of reasoning without reference to particular facts or experience, but rather to certain generic realities.

Thebasicguidelinesforinvolvementinface-to-facesalesareasfollows:

• Onlybecomeinvolvedinface-to-facesellingwhenyourpresencemakesa unique difference.

• Don’tmakesalescallsonacustomerunlessyoursalespersoniswithyou.

• Beforeanyjointcall,agreeonspecificandclearsellingroleswithyoursalesperson.

• Alwayshaveawithdrawalstrategythatpreventsanycustomerfrombecomingdependentonyoupersonally.

The most vital, indeed the overriding principle on which all the others hang, is the first:amanagershouldbeinvolved—andonly shouldbeinvolved—whenhecanmakeauniquedifference.AuniquedifferenceexistswhenamanagerhasExpertise,Authorityor Position that is both valuable to the client and valuable to making the sale.

Expertise: Themanagermayhavespecialindustryknowledge,forexample,thatcancreatevalueforthecustomer,andthusmaymovethe sale forward.

Authority: Themanagermaybringnegotiatingauthority,e.g.,whichthesalesperson cannot provide.

Position: Themanagermaybeabletousehistitletogethigheraccessinthebuyerorganization.

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 11


If a manager does not bring at least one of these three unique strengths to the table, hemustabsolutelynotget involved.Period.Because thesearegeneric strengths,agreat corporation thinks about them a priori.

Asnotedearlier,most salesmanagersarepromoted intomanagementbecausetheywerespectacularlysuccessfulassalespeople.Forthisreason,mostmanagersareableto sell at least as well as their top performers. Sometimes being great at something makes itverydifficult tositonthesidelines; thetemptation is toget inthegame.Greatcoachesunderstandtheerror inherent inthis impulse.Theycontrol theurge,and get involved only when their presence will make a unique difference.

Theotherguidelinesarejustthat:guidelines.Andtheycomeintoplaywhen,andonlywhen, it has already been determined that their presence in a face-to-face sellingsituationwillabsolutelymakeauniquedifference.

Thereareanumberoffairlyobviousreasonsforamanagernottomakeasalescallalone,butwhilemostwouldagreethatitisabadidea,ithappensdangerouslyoften.Someexamplesofwhyitisnotagoodideamightinclude:

• Itunderminesthecredibilityofthesalesperson.

• Itopensthedoorforthecustomertoplaydivide-and-rule.

• Itwastestime(theerrantmanagerwillhavetoexplainlatertothesalesperson what went on during the meeting, a situation fraught with pitfalls).

Greatcoachesmakenoexcuses.Theysimplynevermakeasalescallalone.

Great managers insist on agreeing with the salesperson before a sales call whether theirroleinthemeetingwillbetocoachortosell,andthentheysticktotheplan.Onecannotcoachandsellatthesametime.Iftheyintendtosell,theycarefullyandsystematicallyplanjointroleswhichallowbothtoknowwhowillleadthediscussionatanypointinthecall.Iftheyintendtocoach,theyaretheremerelyasanobserverandstringentlyadheretoapolicyofsilenceandobservation.

Asthefatfeesofdivorcelawyerstestify,relationshipsaregenerallymucheasiertogetintothantogetoutof.Themoreactiveamanagerbecomesinamajoraccountsale, the harder it is for that manager to disentangle themselves from customer involvement once the sale is complete. The research shows that many managersspend more than half their time fulfilling minor customer requests that should have



been handled by the salesperson but that came directly to the manager becauseof the manager’s prior involvement with the account. Great coaches avoid such entanglements by never visiting the customer alone; by building the stature of thesalesperson in the eyes of the customer; and by never being seen making thingshappen(creditforanyspecialtreatmentisgiventothesalesperson).

We run a little metric on people sometimes: We ask them to think about the percentageoftimethattheyspenddoingface-to-faceactivitiesinthefourcategoriesof Firefighter, Super-closer, Objection-handler and Exception-maker (the greatperilsofface-to-faceinvolvement).

We ask them to consider, as regards to time with the client, what percentage of that time is spent doing one of these four functions. In average organizations, typicallymorethan80percentoftheirclientface-to-facetimeisspentdoingoneofthosefourthings. Inhighlyeffectiveorganizations, it’s lessthan10percent.Quiteadisparity.It is an excellent little self-analysis. It clearly shows the importance of definingmanagementinvolvementinface-to-facesellingapriori,andstandingbytherules.

The prerequisite for the right involvement in face-to-face selling is that managershave toknowtwothings: (1)who tocoachand (2)when tocoach.Thesequestionsprovidethekeytobeabletoseparateouttheuniquedifferenceyoucanmake,andwhentoapplyit.

Sell Where There’s an Opportunity to Create Customer Value through the Selling Process or, Separating Transactional Business from Consultative

Business

Economics101willtellyouthatValue=Benefits–Cost.Itisasimpleequation,andit is true. Sales professionals probably prefer a more practical definition, such as,“Value is something the customer is willing to pay for.” Great coaches show theirsalespeople where the opportunities exist to create value, independent of the product yousell.Theresearchshowsthattherearefourwaystocreatevalueforcustomers:

1. The Unrecognized Problem: Helpcustomersunderstandtheirproblemsandissuesinnewand/ordifferentways.

2. The Unanticipated Solution: Helpcustomersarriveatbettersolutionsthantheywouldhavearrivedatontheirown.

3. The Unforeseen Opportunity: Present opportunities that have escaped the customer’s attention.

4.Broker of Capabilities: Become a broker of services and act as a customer advocate within the seller’s own organization.

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 13


Thekeypointabout sellingwhere there isanopportunity tocreatecustomervalueis that great sales forces think through ahead of time what kind of unrecognized problems can be exposed, what kind of unforeseen opportunities can be uncovered, what kind of unanticipated solutions can be provided and what kind of organizational capabilities can be brokered. These value drivers are considered beforehand.

But let us back up a little. Even before thinking through means of creating value, world-class salesorganizations take the first step by categorizing the type of buyerorganization they are dealingwith. There is a simple taxonomyuncovered by the research whichhelps make the determination of buyertype.Inordertocreatevalue,itisfirstnecessarytodeterminethatthecustomeriswillingtobuyvalue.

Greatmanagers go through the process of considering how to become strategicallyimportant or difficult to substitute a la these four quadrants. They identify whichcustomers place them in their shopquadrant,why customers force them there andhow they intend to filter through those customers continuously to make sure theonly people who put them in the shop quadrant are the people who actually are

trulytransactional.Whatthatrequires for a manager, then, is a relentless orientation to guiding their sales force towards the four value drivers and towards the question: What are you doing in salescalls and sales strategythat makes you difficultto substitute or makes youstrategically important?Another way to look at it isthrough the lens of the value equation, which again is value equals benefits minus cost.

Difficulty of obtainingsubstitute product/service

Strategicimportanceof productor service

high

low high

Shop

Leverage

ManageRisk

Partner



Manyindividuals,organizationsandindeedmanyindustries,arepurelytransactional.Theywantthecheapestpriceandnoargument.Wal-Mart,HomeDepotandtheDollarStore are examples of this phenomenon.Great coaches are always looking tomoveinto consultative sales.

Once again, the vital point is that great coaches are constantly encouraging theirsalespeople to move out of the shop quadrant and are looking at the potential for value creation beforehand.

Greatcoachesknowthedifferencebetweentransactionalandconsultativesales;theyunderstandwhere they can create value and they focus there.Theprerequisite forvalue creation is that the sales force must be able to create value independent of the product/servicetheysell.

FocusontheEarlyStagesoftheBusinessPipelineTherealemphasisof thischaracteristicofworld-class sales forces is spendingmoretimelookingattheearlystagesofthepipelinethanthelatestages.Thatisbecausethe opportunity to create value rests in the early stages. In the case of averagecompanies,thelanguageofmanagementtowardsitssalesforceisalwaysthus:When

is thedeal going to close?Whenarewegoing to submitthe proposal? When are we going to get the contract?Whenarewegoingtogettheorder?Whenarewegoingtosendtheinvoice?Whenarewegoingtogetpaid?

Thefactis,bythelaterstagesofthepipeline,whentheorientationisonclosingthedealandtyinguplooseends,it is too late. There are very few degrees of freedomlefttocreatevalue.Andbyfocusingonthelaterstages,averagecompaniesare inadvertentlydefiningthemselvesas transactionalcompaniessellingacommodity.Now,to

besure,thereisnothingwrongwiththeselatestagequestions,buttheyhavetobecounterweightedwithmuchmoreattentionattheearlystagesofthepipeline,wheregreat coaches begin asking questions like: What unrecognized problem can we help thisclientsee?Whatunforeseenopportunitycanwehelpthisclientidentify?Andsoon.

The management in a world-class company spends at least as much time—and ourresearchwouldarguetwiceasmuchtime—focusingonthatfrontendofthepipeline

by focusing on the later stages,

average companies are inadvertently

defining themselves as transactional

companies selling a commodity

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 15


where the funnel is wide and the degrees of freedom are numerous to be able to create value. Again, there is nothing wrong with asking the late stage questions, but if that’s the only focus, the company is being focused in a transactional way.Companies that inadvertently become transactional by not focusing on the earlystages of the pipeline, and then turn around and ask their sellers to be consultative, willfindthemselvesinaquandary.Iftheonlyquestionsbeingaskedarethelatestagequestions, salespeople will soon realize that they have no need to be consultativebecause what is measured is what gets done. The most powerful form of measurement iswhatthemanagerasksabout.Andifamanageronlyasksthelate-stagequestions,heissimplysaying:Makebusinesshappen.Superiorcoachesgetinvolvedearlyinthesalescycle,wherethereismostopportunitytocreatevalue.Theyaskthequestionsthat help to create value and drive progressive outcomes.

Theprerequisiteforfocusingontheearlystagesofthebusinesspipelineisthatsellershavetounderstandthephasesthatbuyersgothroughinmakingadecision,andhowto recognize where they are in the cycle. The organization can then embrace theearlystagesofthatcycle.

Build a Coaching CultureWorld-class sales forces have a coaching culture as the driving force of their salesmanagement practice. There are several questions that we ask of managers all the time.First,ifweweretolookattheperformanceofthepeoplewhoreportdirectlyto you, and if wewere to graph their performance,whatwould the shape of thatcurvebe?Inevitably,eveniftheyarenotawareofthemathematicalprinciple,theywill say that it is a bell curve. (“I have a few top performers, I have a few lousyones, and the vastmajority are in themiddle.”) And then we ask them, “What isthejobofasalesmanager?”Inmostaveragecompaniesthemanagerwillsay,“Itistodelivernumbers.”But ifwethenaskthem,“What’sthejobofthesalesperson?”They will say, “It is to deliver numbers.” So we usuallysay, “Wow, that’s kind of striking.” Remember the oldadage,whykeepadogandbark?Ifwestepbackfromtheanswersandconsiderthemcarefully,werealizethatthemanager is getting the same performance curve that he would have gotten randomly, if he did nothing. And themanagerhas the same jobas the salesperson.Why isheinmanagement?Whereas,inworld-classcorporations,thejob of management is to coach and prepare the peoplethat work for them.

the job of management is to

coach and prepare the people that work for

them



Ithasbeensaidthatthemost importantasset inacompanygoestotheparkingloteverynightanddrivesoff. Ifpeoplearethemost importantasset,thenitstandstoreasonthatdevelopingthemtotheirhighestpotentialisacapitalinvestment.Nothingis more important. Great companies recognize this basic truth and invest their time in developing a culture of coaching. Coaching cultures have thought through four questions:(1)whodowecoach,(2)whendowecoach,(3)howdowecoachand(4)to what do we coach.

Intoomanycompanies,coachingfallsunderthesameheadascallingyourmotherorworkingouteveryday—it isallthisstuffthatwewishwewoulddo,andwekindofknow that it is good for us, but we haven’t gotten it down to the practical, tactical measuredthingswedoonaday-to-daybasis tomake ita fundamentalpartofthefabric of our culture.

Creating a coaching culture means allocating time; it means allocating metrics; it means allocating attention. But ifwe just step back and think of the previous fourcharacteristics,theyallreflectwhatitmeanstohaveacoachingculture.Byfocusingoneffectivenessmeasuresthatcounterweightefficiencymeasures,wehaveadirectwaytoknowwhattocoachoursalespeopleon.Wepayattentiontotheearlystagesof the pipeline because we can coach people there. All we can do at the end of the pipeline is negotiate price and terms. We can coach at the front end of the pipeline. Bycoachingoursalespeoplewheretocreatevalue,wearemovingthelargepartofourcorporation,asmanysalespeopleaspossible,intotheconsultativespace.Theyallplayin.

Sothecultureisreflectiveofwhatwemeasureandwhatwefocusonasajob.Thereis nothing wrong with focusing on the numbers. But it is the means to the numbers thatmakeadifference.Inaworld-classcorporation,thejobofamanageristocoachpeople to achieve the numbers.

Theprerequisiteforagoodcoachingculturerequiresasystemofempirical,objectiveand quantified measures to drive performance.

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 17


RuthlesslyRewardHighPerformersWeusually tellpeople that there isagreat little test youcangivea sales force todecidewhoyourtopperformersare.Allyouhavetodoislistentotheirlanguage.Anaverageperformer—anditdoesnotmatterwhatcompanyorindustryitis—constantlycomplainsabouthowthecompetitioniskickingtheira--,andifwejusthadabetterprice, if we just hadmore stuff to give away for free, he will swear he would dobetteroutinthemarketplace.Theyblamethecompetitor’sstrengthfortheirfailure.Butifyoulistentoatopperformer,theyalwayssaythesamething,“It’shardertodobusiness inside this corporation than it is to do business outside this corporation. It’s youguyswhoareencumberingme.Icouldsellmoreifyou’dgetoffmyback.”That’sthefirstcluetotheruthlessrewardthathighperformerswant.Itisnotaboutmoney.Theybelieve theycangetmoneywherever theygo. It’saboutdegreesof freedom.It’saboutdegreesoffreedomwhichallowthemtosay,“I’matopperformersogiveme more independence, give me more access to resources, give me things that enable metomovefaster.Quittyingmedownwithleadboots,andI’lldeliver.”

Thekeytorewardingtopperformersisthattopperformerswantimmediaterewards.Theydon’twanttowaituntiltheendoftheyearforanawardsbanquet.Theywanthardassignments.Theywanttobeknownastheonewhogetsthetoughassignments.Theywantquickandcandidfeedback.Whentheyfailtheywanttoknowit,andtheywanttoknowitimmediately.Theywanttobeknownasatopperformer.Socelebratethatonaregularbasis.Now,youcanrecognizeitwithmoneyoryoucanrecognizeitwithapatontheback,oryoucanrecognizeitwithanemailoranawardonthewall.Itdoesn’tmatter.Don’tbethinkingitisonlymoney.Theruthlessrewardsthathighperformers get in great corporations are degrees of freedom and immediate reward andfeedback.That’swhattheywant.World-classcoachesgiverewardsandfeedbackearlyandoften.

Theprerequisiteforruthlesslyrewardingtopperformersisthecouragetoidentifytopperformers.



ConclusionGreatcoachesknowwhotocoach,whentocoachandwhattocoachto.Theyhavefiguredoutthesecrettothebalanceofefficiencyandeffectiveness; theyhavetherightmanagementinvolvementinface-to-faceselling;theyknowhowtocreatevaluebyunderstandingthenatureofconsultativeselling;theyunderstandthe importanceoffocusingontheearlystagesofthebusinesspipeline;theyworktowardsbuildingacoachingculture;andtheyruthlesslyrewardtopperformers.

Ifyouwanttohaveaworldclasssellingorganization,youmustcoach.It’sliketheadsays:Justdoit.Makenoexcusesaboutthelackoftimeavailableorthedifficultyofcoaching.Coachinginsaleseffectivenessislikecoachinginanyfieldwheregreatnessis expected: it is an imperative.

Note: We have used “manager” and “coach” interchangeably throughout thisdiscussion. That is because great managers are great coaches!

© 2005, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 19


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Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales Coachesimage.huthwaite.com/Web/Huthwaite/{792cfcf2-aa09-42ab-83c4... · 2005 2012 3 orld-Clas oaches Six Characteristics of World-Class Sales