As an executive sales leader, you expect your sales team to develop and improve their skills. But have you also considered the ways in which you, too, can grow to support the team? After all, a leader’s ability to refine their skills is paramount for both their own success and the success of their business.
For many sales leaders, executive coaching is becoming the go-to approach for investing in both themselves and their business. It’s a form of coaching that can assist you in setting goals, outlining a path to achieve them, and overcoming any roadblocks that lie ahead. With 63% of organizations reporting higher revenue and income growth than their competitors due to executive coaching, the direct impact it can have on your personal and professional cannot be overstated.
Before you head into 2023, take into consideration the following benefits of executive coaching and how it can reshape your business.
A Strong Leader Makes A Strong Team
Being a sales leader means you play a direct role in shaping the performance and success of sales reps at every level. Having trouble communicating your ideas or building a team committed to your company’s mission can result in your company losing direction. When given the appropriate coaching, the behaviors and ideologies you adopt will then get passed down to your sales teams. In doing so, you’re creating an environment in which everyone is doing their part to achieve peak sales performance and impact the bottom line.
Unfortunately, many sales managers believe that people who have a few years of sales experience don’t need any additional training. Even some seasoned sales leaders are content with what they already know—choosing to forego the chance at updating their skill sets. In a Brooks Group survey, 23% of managers are spending less than 30 minutes per person in coaching, which is a significant shortfall against what high-performing teams do. No matter the age, role, or experience, it’s important you and your team take the necessary steps to improve where there are any shortcomings and challenges. Quality executive coaching can help provide you with an unbiased assessment of your strengths and weaknesses—emboldening you with the clarity and tools necessary to lead your team to achieve your desired outcomes.
Ineffective Training Leads to Expensive Consequences
As the demands of the marketplace continue to evolve, frontline managers continue to be burdened with providing their direct reports coaching that develops sales skills. However, according to Gartner, many managers are struggling to meet this challenge. The average manager has seven direct reports but devotes just 9% of their time to developing them. What’s more worrisome? 42% of managers lack the confidence to develop the skills that employees need today. Instituting executive coaching in addition to an effective sales process can help establish a stronger sales culture. Plus, these ideologies can help formalize standard selling techniques for improved sales across the board.
Your ability to keep things running smoothly significantly impacts sellers’ intent to stay with your company. The cost of lackluster training begets underperforming direct reports and eating the expenses of seeking replacements should they leave—resulting in your company losing up to several million dollars. Have an executive coach sit down with you to assess your business before this happens.
Investing Will Yield You These 3 Benefits
When compared to other coaching styles, executive coaching offers a unique way of identifying your strengths and weaknesses, improving self-awareness, providing clarity on goals, and establishing trust between you and your team. Here are 3 things you can expect with good executive coaching:
1. Improved Win Rates
When done correctly, executive coaching has a significant impact on creating higher win rates and quota attainment. Consalia, for instance, saw direct quota performance results improve by at least 20% as a result of coaching.
2. Boosted Productivity Throughout the Entire Sales Team
One of the biggest benefits to executive coaching is an increase in employee job satisfaction and work engagement. As a result of their needs being met, employees are better able to perform their tasks and maintain a higher level of productivity on the job.
3. Upskills Across the Entire Sales Team
When your team uses a consistent sales process and ongoing training program, it not only ensures everyone is on the same page, but also inspires confidence that everyone is learning the same sales techniques that promote frequent deals.
Final Thoughts
It’s up to you as a sales leader to promote a sense of collaboration, empowerment, support, guidance, and high performance within your business. Signing up for executive coaching can help you figure out how to embody and pass on those traits to your sales team. Just remember, not all executive coaching is created equally. When investing in your career and personal life, you want to ensure you’re getting the most ROI. An executive coach with a proven track record, an oath to client confidentiality, and a proactive process of setting goals for you is one that will deliver results.
Interested in speaking to one? Get in contact with our expert sales consultants to see how an executive coaching program can help you and your company reach new heights.
