At In the Funnel, we proudly proclaim ourselves to be "Sales Coaches". The reason why is that we look at the strategy / structure / people / process / tools associated with the current sales program and optimize the interaction between them. Sales coaching comes into play as we align the sales team with a standardized approach to working with the other nodes. Sales training would be telling the sales team how to sell. We know that 50% of sales people miss quota every year, but this does not necessarily mean that 50% of sales people lack sufficient sales training. In fact, it means that half of businesses are failing their sales force by not developing a sales coaching strategy.
Essentially, the need for sales training is based of the assumption that the sales person does not know how to sell properly, and is designed to correct that through a top-down teaching methodology. Sales coaching assumes that the sales person has sales skills, and works to align them to a sales methodology in order to achieve a collaborative sales goal. Sales is not often taught at the post-secondary level, and under-performing sales people may very well need sales training. However, consistent under-performance of a sales team is likely due to neglecting sales coaching.
Sales Training:
-Top-down
-Instructing
-Used for teaching or refreshing sales skill
Sales Coaching:
-Strategic
-Collaborative
-Used for enabling sales teams to perform better
As a tool, sales coaching can be used to optimize the sales team structure, standardize sales processes, and implement disciplined sales management. Sales coaching merges the art of sales with the science of business through enabling them with a "Go To Market" strategy. We make sure that the sales team aligns with what the business has determined is the value proposition and the target market is for the product or service, as well as the plan to create awareness / demand for it. From there the sales process can be formalized with the sales team to ensure there is clear ways to measure and manage each step in the process. This not only makes it easier for sales people to sell, it makes it easier for a business to understand its sales activities.