At TopLine Leadership, our coaching model actually is in the form, in the acronym, the word coach: C-O-A-C-H.
At the center of the process is Commitment. It’s commitment both on the sales manager’s part and also on the sales person’s part as well. That’s the center focus. If we don’t have commitment on both ends, it falls down. Basically the model falls apart, that’s why it’s the central focus: C.
The O in the word stands for Observe. Observing is the starting point as it relates to the coach’s process itself. All we need to do is examine both: the behaviors and the activities. So, the O in the coach acronym stands for observe, we’ve got observe both behaviors and activities.
The A in the model is to Assess. What are we assessing? Two things: competence and willingness. However, it’s not just the competence and the willingness of the sales person, it’s the competence and willingness of the sales person as it relates to each task that they are performing. We said that they might be a 5-5 at one level, five-two at another, a two-five at another level. So we’re going to access the competence and willingness based on the task at hand, or the task that we’re going to coach them on. Then we’re going to communicate effectively.
The second C in the coach acronym is Communicate. There’s actually going to be four different types of sales coaching approaches. So, before you engage in that one-on-one sales coaching process, you’re going to take a step back and say: What’s the level of competence and willingness? And, what coaching approach am I going to use?
The H in the model is Help. We’re going to help our sales people by providing empathy, feedback, and follow-up.
