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Tiger Woods may be the greatest golfer of all time, but even Tiger attributes much of his success to having a great coach. Butch Harmon has been Tiger's coach for more than ten years and has helped Tiger to consistently improve his performance on the course. In many sales organizations, District Sales Managers (DSMs) spend two to four days a week in the field "coaching" their sales team. They can learn a lot about the art of coaching from Butch and Tiger's process. As
in golf, professional success in sales requires a mastery of
many
During a competitive round of golf, Tiger isn't allowed to ask Butch for advice or suggestions. Instead, during competitions, Butch observes Tiger, noting his strengths and weaknesses. He collects statistics that identify both shortfalls and areas in which Tiger excels. Based on observation, statistics and the player's own concerns and opinions, Tiger and Butch map out target areas for improvement.
The Coach's Responsibility
Set the Agenda - Sales reps are expected to be prepared for
all of their calls. Similarly, sales managers should be prepared for their
field day with the rep, though unfortunately many district managers
do little to prepare. At a minimum, District Sales Managers
should prepare by:
Ideally, the District Sales Manager will know which accounts will be visited and will be able to review a recent call history for these customers.
It is the DSM's responsibility to make sure that all of the reps' core skills improve over time. To make certain this happens, a District Sales Manager needs a shift in the observation and coaching focus. Many District Sales Managers focus coaching only on the "call". The best coaches observe and coach on all the skills: account strategy, targeting, frequency, pre-call planning, relationship building, product knowledge, message delivery, probing, closing and follow through. Observe, Document and Playback - A primary reason for spending time in the field is to observe. We encourage District Sales Managers to use a structured observation guide that helps ensure appropriate focus. If the focus of the day is "pre-call planning" the DSM guide should be focused on attributes of "pre-call planning". Observation will then be focused on how the rep plans calls, what information he or she uses, and how he or she organizes materials likely to be used in the call.
By documenting observations and saving feedback for lunch or even the end of the day, the District Sales Manager can act as a "video recorder." During feedback time, the DSM can "play back" the rep's effort. In this environment, the DSM can point out the rep's strengths as well as identify weaknesses that need attention. Establish
a Vision of Success - People are most likely to change their
behavior when they understand the benefit, importance and urgency
of making the change. Early in his career, Tiger Woods had difficulty
controlling the distance of his shots. This weakness caused
his game to be erratic, with many shots finishing well past
or
Similarly, District Sales Managers can help even high performing reps to visualize how to "take their sales game" to the next level. A good DSM can effectively coach his or her reps, facilitating more consistent sales performance. Create Interesting Practice - Tiger doesn't wait for a major championship game to try out a new shot for the first time. Likewise, the preferred place to try a new selling skill is not in front of a key customer. Great DSMs hold "practice", role playing a new message or probing strategy at the start of the day or while driving between accounts. The District Sales Manager can easily adopt several customer personas, providing the rep with practice for both friendly and more challenging customers. Monitor Performance and Impact - Ultimately both rep and DSM are measured by performance. If the District Sales Manager has correctly identified improvement opportunities and helped the rep advance, performance will increase. With
all of the statistics tracked in professional golf, it's easy
for Tiger and Butch to track improvement. Most sales organizations
collect a significant amount of information that can be used
to create similar key statistics. The District Sales Make adjustments to enhance results - No one is perfect -- even Tiger Woods shoots above par some rounds, and even very skilled reps can continually improve. The challenge for the sales manager or coach is to continually identify opportunities for improvement. Through good documentation, planning and observation, a good coach will be able to recognize, encourage and facilitate progress, assuring the rep that significant opportunities still abound. Tiger
recognizes that the competition is hot on his heels, and that
all of his competitors are working with coaches every day in
order to get just a little bit closer. Are your District Sales
Managers successfully coaching your reps to become as effective
and consistent as Tiger? Review our checklist to determine your
DSMs' coaching effectiveness.
By consistently following these guides to good coaching, district managers will significantly improve their own performance and the performance of their reps.
Questions If you have questions or would like to discuss the contents of this article, please send us an e-mail and a senior consultant will respond to you. Other Newsletter Articles This Quarter Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness -- This month we conclude our four-part series on Sales Force Effectiveness (SFE) with an article on measuring effectiveness and monitoring performance. Prior articles in the series described a process to diagnose and identify improvement opportunities, prioritize opportunities and develop solutions, and implement change. Measuring and monitoring performance is a critical component of this process that helps sustain effectiveness gains. Targeting Higher Sales -- Anyone familiar with the game of darts knows how difficult it is to hit the bull's-eye -- even from a short distance. Now imagine trying to hit the bull's-eye while blindfolded. In the US, pharmaceutical sales reps and managers have extensive customer information on which to base customer targeting decisions. In many overseas markets, however, regulatory and market restrictions limit the information available to firms to assist the customer selection process. The article outlines a process for developing the information you need to effectively target customers when "perfect information" just isn't available. Prior Newsletters To view prior newsletters, please visit our newsletter index at http://www.rmcionline.com/html/news/ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Please click here to unsubscribe from the RMCI newsletter. Copyright Notice Copyright 2003, RM Consulting International. All rights reserved. Every viewer may copy, reprint or forward all or part of this newsletter to friends, colleagues or customers, so long as any use is not for resale or profit and the following copyright notice is included intact: "Copyright 2003, RMCI. All rights reserved."
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skills. In golf, these skills include putting,
chipping, getting out of sand traps and choosing the right club.
In order to succeed, golfers must become highly competent in
all of the fundamentals and achieve mastery in many. In sales,
the key skills include account strategy, pre-call planning,
relationship building, product knowledge, message delivery,
probing, closing and follow through. Success comes to sales
people who not only master sales basics, but who excel.
Based
on the preparation, managers should start the day with a discussion
of the day's goals. These goals should include an understanding
of the call objectives for the day, the rep's needs and the
District Sales Manager's focus for the day. 
Butch
doesn't give Tiger feedback after watching only one swing. Similarly,
District Sales Managers shouldn't give feedback after seeing
a skill (or lack of skill) demonstrated only once. Managers
should set the expectation that they will be simply observing,
providing very little feedback for at least the first half of
the day. 
falling far short of the hole. Tiger was convinced that the
only way to increase his consistency was to make major changes
to his swing. He accepted his coach's swing suggestions and
has become the world's best and most consistent player. 
Manager
and rep should both monitor the key statistics that will reflect the results of their work. These
may include increased sales,
increased access or calls, higher frequency on target accounts
or higher message recall. Click