To be an effective leader, you need to know the difference between sales team coaching and sales team managing. Outwardly, the roles appear to be similar, but in practice, they are drastically different.

Managing

Managing is more about process and can sometimes evoke a “you versus them” mentality in terms of working with a team. As the manager, your role is to assign responsibilities with a specific outcome in mind, like a sales number goal, for example. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but it can be alienating when trying to bring a sales team together as a cohesive unit.

Coaching

Coaching is focused on growth and relationships by collaborating with team members and speaking on a more personal level to recognize individual strengths and areas for improvement. By switching to a coaching style, you’ll likely have a stronger relationship with your team members, as the increased number of interactions will be rewarding and informational. By shifting this focus to the individual, rather than the desired outcome, you will not only see the same numbers, but you’ll also simultaneously foster a positive work environment and plant the seeds for future growth.

The Secret of My Success

My personal style is more coaching than managing. It’s what feels better to me. I like to make people feel good about what they’re doing. Being naturally drawn to coaching has allowed me to do that. Even though this is my natural style, I can still run out of ideas to improve my team or draw a blank on questions to ask. That is why it is such an advantage to have access to our SalesFuel COACH platform!

SalesFuel COACH offers a tremendous number of resources that align with my coaching style of management. Below are some of my favorite questions straight out of my COACH playbook. Maybe you can use these questions in your next one-on-one?

• What things have you done to stand out and land an appointment with a hard-​to-​reach prospect?
• Share a specific example of how you dealt with a prospect that was stalling? Did you ever discover why they were stalling?
• Discuss your cold call approach. What is the process? What do you ask?

For a demo of SalesFuel COACH, click HERE.

Podcast pick of the month: Manage Smarter 53: Happy Teams Require Happy Managers