How to Overcome Resistance to Sales Coaching

Today’s post is by Michael Mallin, professor of Sales and Marketing at The University of Toledo’s Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales. He has published more than 40 articles in sales and sales leadership and is the academic director for the Executive Master of Sales Leadership degree program – a specialized master’s degree program for sales professionals.

 

Sales coaching is an ideal way to improve productivity among your team. In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, “… no other productivity investment comes close to coaching in improving reps’ performance.”

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, however, sales coaching outcomes aren’t always as effective as they could be. Chalk it up to basic human nature – salespeople sometimes have an instinctive, negative reaction to sales coaching.

Why Salespeople Sometimes React Negatively to Sales Coaching

Even if sales managers have the best intentions to positively impact performance, salespeople might respond with feelings of defensiveness, reluctance, fear, confusion, and apathy. This is perfectly natural, and there are a few key ways managers can lay the groundwork for successful coaching outcomes.

Put on Your Sales Coaching C.A.P.

Dealing with a salesperson’s negative reaction should be treated like the process of handling any sales objection, issue, or concern. Think C.A.P.: Clarify, Address, Proceed.

Clarify. First, clarify or acknowledge the negative reaction to reveal the basic issue. This may be accomplished by

• Asking questions (“Help me understand your concern with me traveling with you”);
• Reflecting (“So, you feel there are no areas in your questioning techniques you can improve upon?”); or,
• Showing empathy (“I understand it may be difficult to try something new”).

Address. Next, address the negative reaction by clearly explaining the purpose. The key message should be to remind salespeople that your focus is to help them develop and refine their skills so they can achieve sales objectives.

Proceed. Finally, proceed with the coaching session only after clarifying and addressing the salesperson’s basic issues.

This table illustrates some sample conversations you can use when salespeople display negative reactions to sales coaching.

Salesperson Negative Reaction	Basic Issues	What You Might Say: Clarify or acknowledge (C) the basic issue Address (A) the concern
Defensiveness	Ego and self-esteem protection; Risk of exposure of skill deficiency	C: “Help me better understand your hesitation.” A: “I’ll share with you my observations during the (sales) call and we’ll discuss steps to get you back on track.”
Reluctance	Defiance or unwillingness to engage; Does not see or believe a benefit will result.	C: “I see you are a bit reluctant. The benefits of doing this may not be apparent.” A: “I’ve been working with Joe over the past few weeks on this (skill). He is now on track and is more confident.”
Fear	Concern over consequences stemming from skill deficiency	C: “I can appreciate your concern, given last month’s results.” A: “However, I believe in your abilities. If we spend some extra time together, I know you can make a great comeback next month.”
Confusion	Lack of clarity or ambiguity of the process and benefit	C: “It seems that you are not clear on the purpose.” A: “My goal is to facilitate a discussion with you so we can agree on some adjustments necessary to help you achieve your sales goals.”
Apathy	Self-improvement is not important; Belief that coaching will not make a difference	C: “I sense your skepticism.” A: “This is an important step to ensure we both agree on your steps to performance improvement.”

Conclusion: The Key to Effective Sales Coaching

Remember, negative reactions from salespeople don’t have to be a roadblock. By incorporating the steps discussed here, sales managers can put themselves in the best position for their coaching efforts to be received more favorably by salespeople and for their feedback to indeed be viewed for what it is: a gift.

Effective sales coaching is an action-oriented process to help salespeople further develop their knowledge, skills, and efforts. It is not a one-time event but a sequence of ongoing conversations providing lessons to maximize performance. If you’d like to learn more about coaching and other sales leadership topics, look at the curriculum of the Executive Master of Sales Leadership degree program at The University of Toledo’s Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales.