Sales Coaching Models How To Maximize Performance

Coaching is an invaluable tool that every workplace can benefit from. In fact, studies suggest that sales teams that get 30 minutes of sales coaching every week have win rates of 43%. While sales professionals that receive 2 hours have a win rate of 56%. 

When implementing this sales coaching into your training, you have an opportunity to maximize your team’s performance and provide them with the tools they need to reach their quota every month. 

However, As you explore the different sales coach models, you may feel overwhelmed by the many popular models you find online.

Whether you’re looking to take a data-driven approach or want to focus on the individual’s personal development: We’re here to help. We put together a list of the seven best models you can use to improve sales performance and boost your revenue. 

Here’s everything you need to know to create effective sales coaching experiences:

What is sales coaching?

Sales coaching is a tool sales managers can utilize to maximize workplace efficiency and improve their team’s performance. These are sessions that managers run to help sales reps meet their personal quotas and motivate them to do more in the workplace.

These are integral to the workplace dynamic and ensure your team’s success. Sales coaching ensures your team has the tools and training they need to reach goals. You may hire the best of the best employees with an impressive sales background, but they won’t find success in a new workplace environment without the support and resources. 

What is a sales coaching model?

Sales coaching models are frameworks that help sales reps and sales teams improve their selling techniques. These models are designed to help them achieve a specific goal and add structure to your team’s sales coaching initiatives. Although they focus on short-term results, they provide long-term outcomes for the coachees. 

Sales coaching models aren’t a one size fits all type of experience. A sales coach can use several different types of models in the workplace. Each model provides different results. As a sales manager, you’ll want to consider who you are coaching and decide what model will be the most effective for them, not just you.

The benefits of using sales coaching models 

Improves employee retention rate

You can retain top talent and improve retention with the right personal development resources and opportunities. Resources and sales coaching models help build a positive foundation where team members feel supported and inspired to do more.

Keeps your team engaged

The right pieces of training can keep your team engaged and motivated between 9-5. If they have the right tools and resources to succeed, it will be easier to come to work ready to take on the day.

Maximize your investment

Effective sales training and coaching experiences aren’t a one-and-done situation. Your team needs to integrate the best practices into the everyday workday. There needs to be long-term reinforcement, feedback, and consistency.

With the right sales coaching models, you can maximize your return on investment and build a motivated team that feels inspired to reach its goals.

Have a plan for your team’s success 

Sometimes one-on-one meetings and weekly check-ins are not enough. During those meetings, you may forget to discuss key components that could keep them from meeting their goals. 

With the right sales coaching program, you can ensure that you and your sales team are always on the same page. You’ll have a plan that you can use that will guide your team towards their goals and help them develop the sales skills they need to maximize their potential. 

Seven sales coaching models

Grow coaching model

This coaching program was developed in the 1980s by Graham Alexandra, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore. Together, they wanted to find a way to promote confidence and self-motivated individuals in hopes of increasing productivity. The personal satisfaction and desire to do more in the workplace would fuel their need to succeed.

The GROW model focuses on the individual’s needs. It’s a personal development journey where you find ways to accomplish your goals by assessing the situation and tackling obstacles.

Here’s a great down of GROW:

Goals

GROW starts with goals. Sales coaches will work with their sales reps to identify their own goals in the workplace. You’ll want to guide your team through the goal-setting process and help them set SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Start the conversation by asking them questions about their goals. 

• What are you looking to achieve in the workplace? 
• What are the benefits of these goals? 
• What can we do to help guide you toward success?

Keep in mind: as a sales manager, the early stages of this coaching model are all about understanding the individual on a deeper level.

Reality

Once the sales rep has a goal, the sales manager can help them create a sales coaching plan to guide them toward their goals. It’s important to understand that the sales rep’s “reality” might not be the same as yours. 

As a sales manager, you’ll want to take some time to step into their shoes and look at their approach to sales from a different perspective.

Ask them what obstacles they worry about, what actions they plan to take, and what motivates them to take this approach.

Options

The options stage looks at the goals and reality stages and finds a way to close the gaps. Of course, their reality might not always be cut and dry. Sales managers will need to work to find a happy middle ground and help the sales team rethink the possibilities and options.

Ask them: What are you hoping to get out of this journey? Do you have other options or paths to achieve this goal? Are there any obstacles standing in your way?

Will

The last stage is all about taking action and accountability. Sales managers support their sales reps by creating a list of actionable tasks that will drive them closer to their goals. This will help your sales team visualize their success and find new opportunities.

This process also provides clarity and helps the individual think realistically about their goals and how they plan to achieve them.

The growth model is about finding a way to guide your employees toward their goals. Managers are there to see things from their point of view and help them find a realistic way of achieving them.

Solution-focused model

For this model, management helps sales reps explore different solutions to problems that are getting in the way of their sales performance. By taking time to look at alternative solutions, the sales reps will gain a new perspective on the sales process and find new ways to improve their sales strategy in the future.

When connecting with your sales reps, you’ll want to look at the past as only the past. The mistakes they’ve made and business goals achieved were all just stepping stones that the coach can use to guide them to pursue their future goals and achievements. 

Remember to ask powerful questions about what they’ve done in the past to achieve goals and invite your team to use this understanding to reimagine their future.

FUEL coaching model

John Zenger and Kathleen Stinnett created the FUEL method. This coaching style requires coaches to ask open-ended questions. These open-ended questions help both individuals involved understand their wants, know the outcome, and find a way to achieve it.

Here’s what FUEL looks like:

• Frame: This is the conversation that sets the premise for the plan. Everyone will discuss the purpose, plan, and outcome.
• Understand: Where are we currently? During this phase, the coach will help understand the individual’s perspective and core challenges.
• Explore: The exploring phase is about stepping out of the understanding phase and looking at your goal from a new perspective.
• Layout: In the end, you’ll have a personalized plan for them. This is a set of actionable steps they can take to get one step closer to their goals. The layout step is longer and includes follow-ups and check-ins.

The OSKAR Coaching Model

Paul Z. Jacosn and March McKergow in 2002 developed the OSKAR model. The coaching model focuses on the individual’s progress and taking a positive approach toward actions and goals.

Here’s a breakdown of the five stages:

Outcome

The outcome stage focuses on understanding the individual’s outcomes. The coach will need to ask the sales rep about their personal aspirations and goals in the workplace. You’ll want to understand their point of view and ask them what they hope to improve and make progress.

Scale

During this stage, coaches will want to help the sales rep by setting realistic expectations and helping them adjust their goals. Now that you know their outcome and aspirations to can find that happy middle ground that makes sense.

It’s recommended to use the 1-10 scale to gauge how close the sales rep is to achieving their goals. You can use this gauge to help them make beneficial adjustments.

Know-how

The know-how stage is all about knowing how. During this stage, the sales manager will focus on showing the sales reps the different resources and tools they have readily available to help them reach their goals. They’ll help them identify skills that will help them and provide them with the support they need to achieve these goals in the near future.

Give them what they need to know how to do something so that they can improve their sales performance one action at a time.

Affirm & Action

This is the reflection stage. Sales reps will be asked to look at what they are currently doing. The sales manager will ask what is and isn’t working well. Where do you see yourself going? What changes can you make to improve your sales performance?

Slowly but surely, your team will have the opportunity to effectively revise their actions to get one step closer to their desired goals.

Review

In the final stage of this coaching model, management will ask the team to review what they’ve been doing and make adjustments moving forward. As the coach, you’ll want to use this opportunity to ask your team what has helped them get where they are now. What challenges have you overcome? What steps do you want to take moving forward?

CLEAR Coaching Model

The CLEAR modeling method is similar to OSKAR. It asks management to focus on meaningful questions that can lead to transformational changes for your team. While achieving a specific goal is still top of mind, the focus here is more on the professional development and personal transformation they’ll receive from the experience.

Here’s a breakdown:

Contract

The sales manager will start the coaching session with a conversation. During the discussions, individuals will be asked about their outcomes, ideal focuses, and what successful sales would look like.

Listen

During the next phase, the coach will need to hone in on their active listening skills. They’ll need to listen to their sales team. You’ll want to aim for detailed explanations of their point of view, professional development needs, and unique working style.

Explore

By this stage, the coach should have a “clear” understanding of the individual’s personal and professional desires. You’ll want to take your findings and push them by exploring their needs with specific questions about their current sales approach. How can they change their sales calls strategy to be more effective? What sales coaching techniques do they believe they would benefit the most from? Are there any changes they can make to the sales cycle to see results?

Action

Next, it’s time to consider what the coach can do during the coaching process to push them toward their desired action. You’ll want to check in and ask them what resources and tools they need to meet their quotas and get closer to their goals.

Review

Lastly, it’s time to reflect on the process. Is there anything that wasn’t included in the coaching efforts? Were there ongoing pain points or challenges the sales rep would like to address? Coaching is a two-way street. With the CLEAR method, both parties can get meaningful feedback.

WOOP Coaching Model

Gabriele Oettingen developed the WOOP method. This strategy aims to help working professionals fulfill their professional “wishes.” By focusing on the emotional and behavioral aspects of outcomes and obstacles, managers can coach their teams through challenges and help them achieve their goals.

With this coaching strategy, managers can identify what their team is passionate about on a personal level. You can then use this passion to fuel innovation and provide the resources they need to succeed. 

Here’s a breakdown of WOOP:

• Wish: What the sales rep wants or aspires to achieve
• Outcome: The SMART goal that they will achieve with the “wish”
• Obstacles: The challenges that they will need to consider and find ways to overcome
• Plan: The plan the coach helps them find to achieve the “wish”

AOR Coaching Model

This model takes a unique approach to coaching. Instead of focusing on goals, your team will be asked to take a trial-and-error approach to the sales process. Instead of having a plan for everything, they’ll be encouraged to work through challenges and obstacles on a case-by-case process. They’ll be challenged to work in the moment, to act quickly, and to think strategically about each task they’re given. 

The AOR coaching model is one of the more flexible models. It’s a great model to use with new teams because it allows for innovation and will help your management discover top performers. 

Here’s the breakdown:

• Activities: This is each individual activity that your sales team does daily. This includes all outbound communication efforts such as emails, phone calls, and LinkedIn messages.
• Objectives: Objectives are goals. During your coaching sessions, you’ll want to set goals with your team and hold them accountable for these goals.
• Results: As a coach, you’ll want to look at the outcomes of each individual obstacle. Was your team able to reach its revenue goals? Did they increase the customer’s lifetime value? How many calls resulted in a sale?

Sales Coaching Tips 

Use Data to Measure Team’s Success 

Over 51% of sales managers and leaders rely on the power of data to measure sales rep performance. This data provides insight into what your sales team currently does and where they need to improve if they want to meet their determined outcomes.

Your customer relationship management tools and sales software are vital to your success and are filled with meaningful data you can use during coaching sessions. You can use these tools to understand your team’s everyday life, such as:

How many emails do they send? 

How many meetings do they land? 

What are their demo-to-close rates?

With these insights readily available, you’ll always have a pulse on your team’s performance and activity metrics. Leaders can then restructure their sales coaching to meet the needs of the sales rep’s current position. 

Take a Hybrid Approach

You don’t need to commit to one particular model or style of coaching. Every sales team is different and will require trial and error to find what works for them. With several different skills and techniques, you can develop a more strategic and beneficial approach to coaching that is personalized to your team’s needs. 

Ask yourself:

• Does your entire sales team have a different selling process?
• Would your team benefit from focusing on sharpening their communication and marketing skills?
• Is your team struggling with the buying process for your unique product offering?
• Does your team need help with building relationships with clients?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you’d most likely benefit from a more hybrid approach to your coaching. 

Get your team involved 

Involving your team in the sales coaching process is a great way to ignite your team and build their collaboration skills. They are an invaluable asset that understands the ins and outs of the customers and the obstacles they run into during the selling process. 

Consider involving them in the improvement process and looking for ways to bring your team together through town hall-style meetings and focus groups. 

Use your top performers

Your top performers are top performers for a reason. Don’t forget to leverage them for feedback, advice, and hands-on coaching sessions. You can ask them to present the entire team with their unique sales strategy. This will motivate your team members to enhance their own sales strategy. 

Create team leaderboards 

Sales coaching models help sales managers and sales reps connect on an individualized and personalized basis. As each sales rep works towards their personal goal and checks in with their team leader, they’ll need motivation and inspiration to keep them or push forward. 

With leaderboards, you can create a workplace culture that thrives on transparency and friendly competition. If everyone knows where their team members stand for sales for the month or the year, it will motivate reps to meet their quota.

How do sales managers know their coaching it’s effective?

Coaching is a process. It takes time and dedication to know if your actions are working. As a coach, your focus should always be on helping your team reach its personal goals. This means each team member may require a slightly different approach.

Here are a few ways you can check in on the efficiency of your coaching:

• Check in with your team through surveys and ask for feedback
• Analyze the sales data 
• Review data and look for signs of performance improvement 
• Review weekly, quarterly, and annual activity metrics 
• Employee satisfaction and employee retention rates 
• Customer satisfaction

Guide your team toward success 

Did you know that 84% of sales training content is lost after 90 days? If your business isn’t taking the time to create strategic coaching models for your sales organization, you could be throwing money out the window. With any of these models, you’ll have an opportunity to teach reps how to sell, find their own solutions for obstacles, and meet their quota for that period. When the coaching skills exceed expectations, and your team is using the right coaching tactics, you can be sure that your sales reps are fully prepared for anything that comes their way.

If you’re ready to create an engaging workplace experience for your team, lean on Spinify. We’re here to help your team visualize sales data and get recognized for their accomplishments. With our leaderboards, live recognition, and comprehensive coaching tools, you can create a thriving workplace experience for your entire team. 

Book a demo today to learn more.