Kevin F. Davis

Successful sales managers do not tolerate mediocrity. They set clear performance standards for salespeople, and then effectively apply those standards to correct poor sales rep performance.

Becoming a better observer of sales rep performance is key to effective sales coaching. To correctly diagnosis sales rep performance issues, you need to observe a sales rep “in the field”— whatever that means for your organization.

One of the most challenging times in sales coaching is when sales reps have been on your team for a few months. They’re starting to get a handle on how your process works, how to connect with customers, and how to value-sell your offerings. Handling this phase correctly can determine the rep’s achievements in the future.

I recently ran across an article in Forbes from January 2016 called “15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently.” Learn how to apply these things to what sales managers can do to become more productive

7 essentials for better sales coaching conversations. Making sure those conversations lead to lasting improvement and more and bigger sales.

Great sales managers question their own assumptions about their people and find ways to minimize bias when doing sales rep evaluations.

Learning how to sell value is critical in today’s market. To be effective at this task, salespeople need to be able to connect with customers at a deep level. They have to approach the sale by asking themselves, “Where can our offerings have the greatest impact on this customer’s business?”

The best sales managers avoid these four types of common “bad behaviors”

For the past 20-plus years, I’ve made it a habit to ask sales managers, “What is the biggest challenge you face in becoming the best you can be?” The answer is always the same: not enough time.

Sales managers can learn to treat every interaction with a sales rep as an opportunity to provide better coaching and understand where the gaps are in their understanding or skill set.