How Personalized Coaching Improves Engagement

BY Kathy Crosett
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Are you having a tough time convincing a top salesperson to step into the sales management role at your company. Your situation may improve if you offer to set up personalize coaching by using a sales coaching management platform. Some employees wisely perceive that a management job is much different than an individual contributor job. Being a great manager means applying a new skill set. Leadership can go a long way toward improving the quality of management jobs by clearly defining goals and providing the necessary tools to succeed.

The results of last year’s State of the American Workplace by Gallup show that only 29% of front-​line managers are engaged. Their general lack of engagement could be spreading through your organization. Here are the percentages of employees, by industry, who told Gallup pollsters they are engaged at work:

  • Clerical/​office workers 34%
  • Sales workers 33%
  • Farming/​fishing/​forestry workers 33%
  • Installation/​repair workers 32%
  • Transportation workers 30%
  • Service workers 31%
  • Manufacturing workers 25%

While these numbers show some improvement over survey results from previous years, most organizations need to step up their game.

Gallup measures engagement by looking at the answers to a range of questions. They ask workers if they have the materials and equipment to do their jobs. They want to know if their supervisors seem to care about them and if their opinion counts. Workers also indicate whether anyone at work encourages their development.

Millennials, more than any other generation, value development. And, according to Gallup, their engagement overall is lower than that of Gen Xers and baby boomers.

One way to improve the plight of sales managers and of millennial sales reps in your organization is to focus on development. Consider establishing a sales coaching program that allows your managers to identify and address skill gaps in their reps. Using a system like SalesFuel Coach, your managers can make a difference for their reps. They can personalize training by asking reps to engage with content that will help them close their skill gaps, whether it's in networking or closing.

When managers feel they are improving their reps' professional skills as well as the bottom line, their engagement levels will rise. And sales reps who see positive results from their personalized coaching will be motivated to work harder. 


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