To all those sales leaders out there that believe coaching their managers is their job…. you have two choices, either step up and do it or realistically, outsource the best sales performance coach you can find and reap the rewards of your successful hindsight.

Success can be defined as achieving an objective or goal. In our industry, sales  leaders are accountable for achieving the company’s sales objectives and sales objectives equal success. As part of their role, sales leaders set the direction, create the culture, hire, develop and retain top sales professionals all with the goal of creating an environment that facilitates success.

Sales leaders that have their sales force operating at peak performance have the greatest chance of achieving their objectives. A high performance sales force is one that flawlessly executes the plan and develops their sales people to be their best.

Facilitating peak performance

Peak performance translates into front line sales managers that can efficiently manage the execution of sales plans while effectively developing and encouraging their sales people to operate at peak levels.

Sales leaders believe it is their job to develop their sales managers. While on paper, this assessment seems reasonable, the real problem remains that sales executives are just too busy dealing with other issues. As a result, the development of their sales managers suffers, often dropping to the bottom of the priority list.

The solution is simple yet complicated: Bring in outside expertise to help develop sales managers and you open a whole kettle of trouble. Many sales leaders fear that engaging an outside sales coaching expert will show that they can’t do their job. They worry about losing control and giving up their leadership role in the mentorship of their managers.  So how do we overcome this biased assertion?

The Marketing Executive Gets It

In comparison, when faced with the same challenges, marketers will bring in an outside advertising agency. They will utilise the agency’s expertise to develop creative materials and programs, to write impactful copy and develop strong product positioning.

You’ll ask, isn’t this the responsibility of the marketing executive? Why do marketing executives allow their product managers to work with outside marketing experts?

The marketing executive is judged by the outcome of the various marketing programs and campaigns their team delivers. If their product management team delivers a great program and campaign they have done their job and are deemed successful. The marketing executive understands that they are accountable for achieving objectives and accept that they are not experts in every aspect of the process.  There is no fear, no stigma to utilising marketing experts as long as they help them achieve the success they desire.

Conclusion:

The fearless sales leader is one, who understands,

a) that they need to ensure that their team is operating at peak performance and

b) that finding the expertise to make it happen is really their job.

Like their marketing counterpart sales leaders need to learn that it is not a weakness to bring in sales coaching experts to help develop their sales management teams but rather a strength. The true definition of success can be achieved by sourcing the expertise to help them accomplish their goals of performing at peak performance and thereby delivering on the sales plan.

To all those sales leaders out there that believe coaching their managers is their job…. you have two choices, either step up and do it or realistically, outsource the best sales performance coach you can find and reap the rewards of your successful hindsight.