One of the most frustrating aspects of sales coaching is dealing with sales reps who don’t want to be coached. We all have managed these types of salespeople before. They get defensive when you provide feedback, deny they have a development need, or try to deflect the blame for performance challenges.
Do these examples seem familiar?
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, salespeople will resist coaching. When this happens, it is important not to match resistance with resistance. This will only create conflict and not help you achieve your ultimate sales coaching goal of modifying the salesperson’s selling behaviors.
The most effective way of managing resistance is by starting with the mildest management intervention and escalating only when necessary. This escalation process is illustrated by the C.O.D.E framework (described below) for managing coaching resistance:
One fundamental mistake sales managers make when giving coaching feedback is not adequately considering the salesperson’s perspective. It may be that the salesperson’s resistance to your coaching is based on an underlying substantive issue.
For example, you may want the salesperson to prospect using a script developed by Marketing. The salesperson, on the other hand, believes the script sounds contrived and he or she feels uncomfortable using it. Perhaps the salesperson is raising a legitimate point. Rather than argue, why not work with the salesperson to edit the script, putting into his or her voice while maintaining the key points Marketing wants to communicate?
Another consideration is to pick your battles carefully. If the salesperson’s in our prospecting example is booking a sufficient number of appointments using his or her own approach, it may not be worth the effort to try to get him or her to change the behavior.
The key objective in considering alternative solutions is to avoid unnecessary struggles. If there is a simple and effective way of resolving the difference, use it.
Now, let’s continue with our prospecting example. Assume the salesperson is booking a sufficient number of appointments, but the quality of these appointments is low. Through observation, you have determined that this salesperson is “badgering” prospects into agreeing to appointments, rather than creating genuine interest.
In this case, an acceptable alternative to modifying the salesperson’s prospecting behavior isn’t available or feasible. You need to address the salesperson’s resistance to your coaching by investigating the issue and addressing its source without creating more hostility. Here are a few effective tactics:
If the salesperson still is resisting your coaching efforts, you may want to consider escalating your intervention and directing. Many sales managers confuse directing with barking out orders – i.e., “Do it my way!” Effective directing is a process that consists of the following steps:
Directing should be used sparingly, especially when coaching high performers.
Sometimes, even directing doesn’t work. Maybe your salesperson has the requisite skills to be an effective prospector, but they lack the motivation to prospect consistently.
In these cases, you should consider employing other management actions such as performance counseling in order to understand the root cause of the motivation issue, re-set performance expectations, or, given the fundamental importance of prospecting to a successful sales career, discuss career alternatives (e.g., account management, customer service, etc.).
Sales coaching should never be a struggle between you and the salesperson. It should be a collaborative process and you should be flexible in your approach, tailoring your coaching based on each of the salesperson’s specific development needs. When you do encounter coaching resistance, remember to use the C.O.D.E. framework.