When building a sales culture there are two very important components one must consider, sales training and sales coaching. While they feel like they could be the same thing, understanding the distinction between sales training vs. sales coaching is crucial for any organization aiming to enhance its sales performance. Both are integral to a sales strategy, but they serve different purposes and are implemented in various ways.
What you will learn:
- Why sales training and sales coaching are so important
- What is sales training
- What is sales coaching
- What is the difference between sales training vs. sales coaching
- Best practices for sales training vs. sales coaching
Sales Training
Sales training is typically a more structured, formal approach to improving sales skills and knowledge. It involves specific sessions or workshops where sales techniques align with your company’s product knowledge, and industry insights are taught.
Sales training is often curriculum-based, providing a foundation of knowledge all team members need to understand and apply. And specifically, sales training should be driven to specific skills at a strategic and tactical level.
For example, a company may want to improve their sales teams’ discovery skills. While that is simple enough, it’s important to drill down the specific use case of where you want discovery skills to improve.
Sales training for initial discovery, such as first calls which are very different than a sales training program built around a demo. A demo is not just a product show up and throw up. A good sales demo speaks to your prospects’ specific needs in their world as it relates to you products or services. This means the discovery skills that need to be utilized, while similar to those of an initial sales call, need to be tweaked and adjusted. You may want your team to understand how to do discovery around the approval process, the contracting process and so on. When you think of building a sales training, remember to get into the weeds of your specific sales process and sales motion. Work to understand where your deals are stalling, and then build a sales training curriculum around those very specific use cases.
Another example could be when a company wants to implement a customized sales training process or methodology like the N.E.A.T. Selling™ Training and Reinforcement Program, which focuses on teaching sales reps how to earn the right to ask questions, which questions to ask, and when to ask them to drive urgency and revenue.
In this case, it’s important to take a look at a higher level view of what you are trying to accomplish to make sure the sales training program you are thinking about is the right one for you. Now the shoe is on the other foot. You are the buyer this time, and yet, you need to do your discovery for your sales team to ensure the right sales training program is chosen. After all, if you choose the wrong one it’s going to tarnish your relationship if not actually cause you to lose your job.
In addition to defining the specific sales skills you want your team to get better at as mentioned above you want to make sure the program is right for you. We recommend you come up with a list of high level specifics you want the sales training program to include. This could include things like customization, sales training sessions, as well as reinforcement sales coaching sessions after the initial sales training is complete. It could include things like onsite vs virtual, it might include having some of your sales team speak with the sales trainer before making a decision to get their feedback on whether they think this person will gel well with your sales team.
One of the things we hear from prospects and clients about sales training and sales coaching is that, in addition to everything else, they also want a common language. While authenticity matters and each rep needs to sound like themselves, one can still have a common language, a common thread that aligns within the sales training.
Now here is the ultimate best practice. Once you come up with the specific strategic and tactical ideas, you could then ask each sales trainer to prove to you they can do all of this. And yes, a shameless plug, we do everything mentioned above. Contact us here if you want to discuss your specific needs.
Now, let’s move from sales training to sales coaching.
Sales Coaching
Sales Coaching on the other hand, is more personalized and ongoing. It involves one-on-one or very small break out sessions between a sales manager or coach and the salespeople.
Sales coaching focuses on developing the individual according to their unique strengths and weaknesses. The best sales coaching programs use real-play and role-playing techniques. Real play is discussing conversations that have already happened. Breaking them down and then coaching on the good part as well as the areas for improvement. Role-playing is often about a unique situation that was taught in a sales training program or it could be role-playing an upcoming sales conversation. In many ways a sales coaching session role-play feels like you are rehearsing like an actor or actress, practicing, figuring out the right words, the right phrases, the right way to handle specific objections.
One of the most important parts of sales coaching is providing the right feedback based on the person receiving the feedback. Sales coaching needs to be customized to the salesperson and the way they like receiving feedback. Some reps want their sales leaders to just be direct and that’s it. Other reps may want to receive the feedback, and then role-play it a few more times to make sure they are comfortable with the suggested changes.
One of the best ways to figure out the right way to do sales coaching with each rep is to simply ask, “How do you want to receive feedback in our sales coaching sessions?”. Leave the question open-ended and let them answer you.
And remember, when you are considering a sales trainer it is important to ask them what type of reinforcement and sales coaching support they offer after the initial sales training is done.
One final thing to consider for sales coaching is that some companies provide a stipend for people to get their own sales coaching. This is when a sales rep can hire an outside sales coach to help them to improve their own sales skills.
Sales Training vs. Sales Coaching – Which Is Right for You?
Here are a few more examples of sales training vs. sales coaching to help you figure out what’s best for you.
Sales Training Example:
- Scenario: A tech company launches a new product and needs its sales team to effectively communicate its benefits and features to potential customers.
- Implementation: The company organizes a series of sales training workshops focusing on product features, market positioning, and effective sales strategies and discovery questions someone could ask your prospects about in relation to the new product. This might include role-playing exercises to practice pitching and handling objections.
Sales Coaching Example:
- Scenario: A sales rep has been underperforming, not because they lack knowledge, but because they struggle with closing deals.
- Implementation: A sales coach works with this rep in one-on-one sessions to role-play sales scenarios, focusing on the closing phase. They provide feedback on the rep’s approach, discuss different strategies, and set goals for improvement. And in most cases, there should be more than one sales coaching session to support this rep. Rarely does an underperforming sales rep improve enough with just one sales coaching conversation.
In a comprehensive sales strategy, both sales training and coaching are essential. Sales training provides the necessary foundation and standardization across the team, ensuring everyone has the same baseline of knowledge and skills. Sales training helps to create a common language within the sales team. Sales coaching personalizes this knowledge, adapting it to fit the individual’s style and needs, which promotes continuous development and improvement.
If you only focus on just one of these you are setting yourself and your sales team for failure. Nobody gets great at everything unless you focus on all things in a specific and strategic way.
If you’re team is in need of sales training or sales coaching feel free to contact us here.
And if you are on a tight budget, feel free to check out The Seller’s Journey which includes specific sales training and sales coaching tactics. We even offer a money back guarantee. If you don’t like the book, let me know, I will Venmo your money back and you can keep the book.
