Why Today’s Top Sellers are Poised to Become Great Sales Coaches

For years, there has been skepticism about whether top sellers can become great coaches. While promoting top sellers into frontline management positions has historically carried some risk, today’s top sellers are far better prepared to become great coaches.

The change in this dynamic is based on the sales DNA required to be a great seller shifting from “push” to “pull” strategies” for B2B sellers. Traditionally, “push” strategies focused on the steps sellers need to convince buyers to make a purchase decision. Top sellers would hone their “sales pitch,” focus on building rapport, and then focus on convincing customers to make a purchase decision.

While “push” approaches may still work for some highly transactional sales, they have become less effective in more complex selling situations. Headwinds working against “push” strategies include:

• A shift from product sales to more complex solution sales. As an example, as opposed to selling software products, technology companies increasingly sell more sophisticated platform solutions that embed multiple products and services (e.g., think about “traditional telecom” versus a “communications platform”).
• Multiple stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. This number has increasingly grown in response to the impact purchase decisions have on multiple departments and roles. As many as 12 stakeholders can be involved in the decision-making process for more complex solutions.
• Increased scrutiny over purchase decisions. Given a checkered ROI history from prior investments, companies have imposed more scrutiny over budgets, including higher-level approval for purchase decisions.

These changes in market conditions all work against “push” strategies where sellers typically target one or two stakeholders they are trying to convince to move forward with a purchase decision.

In contrast, “pull” strategies involve guiding the customer through their purchase process and creating value at each stage of the process. To be successful with this approach, top sellers think strategically about the steps required to achieve a successful outcome. These skills include:

• Call Planning: Understanding the customer, mapping the account, and tailoring messaging to align with varied stakeholders.
• Needs Identification: Given the number of stakeholders involved in the decision process, needs identification should be supported through consultative questions relevant to the various stakeholders. Additionally, sellers must have the situational awareness to ask questions and demonstrate interest that supports a “sales conversation” instead of what the customer perceives as an interrogation.
• Solution Development: Based on a clear understanding of the customer’s needs, sales professionals can present relevant solutions to review and discuss with the stakeholders. Unlike “push” strategies, the goal here is to solicit additional stakeholder input and refine the solution based on customer feedback.
• Managing Objections: Objections are a natural part of the sales process and are typically brought up by customers who are genuinely interested in the solution. The key here is to respond with empathy, clarify the objection to ensure you understand the underlying concern(s), and then address the objection.
• Gaining Commitment: Like the rest of the process, securing their commitment should be collaborative. As a starting point, review the solution to ensure it addresses their needs, ask if there are any remaining questions/concerns, and confirm that key stakeholders are supportive.

Back to Sales Coaching: In reviewing the sales skills that support “pull” strategies, there are clear parallels with effective sales coaching.

Sales coaching is a top skill for frontline managers, and good coaching significantly impacts sales team morale and performance. Based on changing market dynamics, today’s top sellers are better prepared than ever to make this transition and develop their skills as High-Impact Sales Coaches.