This post has been sitting in draft for a few weeks because for me, there is no easy answer. When I heard Chris Beall, the CEO from Connect and Sell say at the Sales 2.0 conference in Boston that he didn’t believe that sales managers should coach- my ears pricked up and the room went silent. That’s a pretty bold thing to say and goes in the face of the accepted best practice being touted by many in the sales development industry.

The argument for the return on coaching isn’t new. Research from the Sales Executive Council shows that nothing compares to coaching when improving a salesperson's performance.

In her book The Sales Development Playbook Trish Bertuzzi outlines the survey of 1,300 that she did with Steve Richard of ExecVision that shows a correlation between coaching and rep job satisfaction.

So how can you argue that sales managers shouldn’t coach? I was intrigued by Chris’ statement and found myself seriously asking the question- can they? Should they?

Before you shake your head and wonder what the heck I am thinking (of course sales managers should coach!) consider the following reasons why I am contemplating this question. When does coaching not work with a sales manager?

1. The skill gap.
   Most sales managers are rock star sales reps who are promoted. If they can do it, then let’s make them the example for others to follow, right? Except that there are additional internal DNA elements and external skill sets that make someone a good coach. According to data from the Objective Management Group last year, only 18% of managers are capable.
2. Misaligned loyalties.
   Sales managers are pulled in many directions, but ultimately their loyalty is to the one who signs their paycheck. It is easy for reps to feel like “coaching sessions” are really evaluations of their performance. Ultimately the manager answers to the company, it’s their job to manage to the company’s goals, not the reps.
3. It’s too personal.
   Who wants to tell their boss about their personal issues that may be impacting their mindset and performance? Or share their personally motivating goal is to someday leave the company and start their own business? What if their personal goals don’t align with the company’s goal for them? Doesn’t that create a conflict of interest that makes it nearly impossible for a manager to uncover what is truly motivating a rep?
4. Time crunch.
   Ask almost any executive how important coaching is and they will tell you how crucial it is. Yet when you ask how much time they give managers to coach, you will hear a long pause followed by “ahhh, ummm….”. And even those few who do only give about 2-3 hours a month- at most. The rest of their time is in meetings, reports, and in some cases- selling into new accounts themselves. Then there is the aspect of just in time coaching. Shorter, more frequent coaching sessions (daily, 15 min) minimizing the problem of reps not remembering what happening, or recreating inaccurately in their minds what happened. Just in time sessions enables a coach to strategize, role play, and debrief with reps and have a greater impact on learning and results.
5. Behaviors are deeply ingrained.
   So many say that coaching is about reinforcing the company training, or helping reps to improve their skills. And if that were the case, then sure- a few hours a month might be enough. But for sales coaching to work, then sales coaches need to be able to help the coachee be aware of the mindsets and perspectives that are causing their behaviors and help them to change it so that they can be agile and adapt any skill set. This requires more than a once a week session and demands more real time, hands on coaching that the majority of managers just do not have the time for. A coach doesn’t just tell you what you should do, a coach finds the reason that makes you want to do it.
6. Reliance on self assessment.
   We are all the worst judges of ourselves. We downplay our weaknesses and emphasize our strengths. So when managers ask reps questions like “Where do you think you ran into trouble? What could you have done better?” it is akin to asking someone to look through a stained glass window and accurately describe the landscape. We may be able to see where we went wrong, but we aren’t able to see through our own headtrash to know why it is happening. Sure, we can know what we should do, but why can’t we seem to do it when it matters?
7. Coaching the right reps.
   Who gets coached is just as important as how they get coached. Research from CEB and the Sales Executive Council shows that the middle 60% of core performers are the ones who can benefit the most coaching. Unfortunately, managers tend to try to coach the bottom 10 % of performers which yields minimal results- in fact these reps might not be a good fit at all. Or they choose to coach their top performers (which may help keep them around longer) but doesn’t really move the dial on performance.

So what should a sales manager do about coaching?

We can’t ignore that sales coaching is needed. We can’t deny that those who get coaching have better results. Maybe instead of asking if sales managers should coach, we should be asking how they should? How does an organization, and a sales manager, overcome the challenges of coaching? How can they be more effective, help their reps improve, and increase company revenue? There is a lot that can go into these answers and needs a post all of its own. Here are a few ideas to get us started:

• Encourage reps to develop their own learning plans.
  Ultimately allowing reps to hire their own personal sales coaches empowers them to set their own personal goals and do whatever it takes to attain them. The rep who makes an investment in themselves is going to take coaching seriously and apply it more readily.
• Collaborate with sales coaches. 
  What if we separate teaching and discipline? Let the sales manager represent the company and their goals and have an outside sales coach devoted to improving the rep. A sales manager can be the accountability piece and alert the coach and rep to an issue that is happening, or lack of results and let the coach do the just in time deal coaching and skills improvement with the rep.
• Get coached on how to be a better coach.
  Managers with the right mindset can be coached to overcome the coaching skills gap. Although the dynamics of loyalties will still be a factor, a manager who understands coaching will be in a better position to know which rep needs more in -depth coaching and when to give encouragement or when to discipline.

Are you a manager who does coach? How do you make it work for your reps? Or are you a sales manager who wants to coach, but aren’t sure how?

Are you a sales person who wishes their manager did (or didn’t) try to coach you? What do you think a sales manager should do to help?