The Five Habits of Successful Sales Coaches

While running an operationally sound store is important, coaching your sales team is more important. Are you a strong sales coach? If not, here are some things you can do about it.
March 17, 2008

By Doug Fleener

One thing I've learned during my many years in retail sales and consulting is that high-performing store managers and owners are extremely focused on being good sales coaches. I see some managers and owners who are good people coaches and have strong business skills, but their stores never reach the desired level of performance because they fall short in coaching sales.

One of the mistakes I made when I first became a district manager was rewarding strong operationally focused managers before those who were more sales focused. While running an operationally sound store is certainly important, I now see that a manager/owner needs to be focused more on coaching sales than on running a perfect store.

Here are some of the activities I see those high-performing sales coaches carry out on a regular basis:

1. They coach each individual — as well as the team — to perform at a peak level. Many managers have a tendency to coach the team as a whole, but unless they work with each individual, the team will never reach that next level.

2. They regularly meet with each individual as well as the team. High-performing managers and owners know that constantly communicating with their team is key to their success. Taking time to meet one-on-one with their team at least once a month pays huge dividends. They use the time to discuss the employee's strengths as well as those areas that need improvement. A mentor once told me that if every employee doesn't know what areas they need to work to improve, then you're not effectively coaching your team.

3. They have a monthly staff meeting that no one would dream of missing. Those meetings are used to improve the team's teamwork and performance by focusing on training and business development. These managers/owners never use this meeting to communicate information that transmitted in a memo or one-on-one. Having the team all together is so valuable that the time should never be used for anything except improving the team and business results.

4. They have their team focused on the behaviors that improve sales performance. The key word is behaviors. High-performing sales coaches know that right behavior drives the desired results. Just talking about the desired results isn't enough — you have to teach people what those behaviors are. I have sat through countless rah-rah meetings where a manger/owner went on and on about making goal but never once said what the team needed to do to achieve it.

In sports, before every game a coach will meet with his/her team and tell them what they need to do to win. They don't just say, "Go win the game!" The players already know that. They tell them how to win.

5. They spend a lot of time on practice and feedback, feedback and practice. High-performing sales coaches never miss a chance to praise employees and tell them what they could do better. They find the time to role play every day until it becomes second nature to the team.

So ask yourself, "Are you a strong sales coach?"

Doug Fleener is president and managing partner of Dynamic Experiences Group, a Lexington, Mass., retail consulting firm dedicated to helping retailers boost their sales and profits. A veteran retailer with more than 25 years of hands-on retail experience with world-class retailers including Bose Corp. and The Sharper Image, he also has owned and operated his own specialty stores. Fleener is the author of the book "The Profitable Retailer: 56 Surprisingly Simple and Effective Lessons to Boost Your Sales and Profits." Contact him at (781) 861-7803 or visit dynamicexperiencesgroup.com.