Think about the greatest performers in any field. What do they all have in common?
Beyond their extraordinary talent, they all work with world-class coaches.
Even at the pinnacle of their careers, these superstars invest heavily in coaching to maintain and elevate their performance.
Yet here’s what’s puzzling: while coaching is universally recognised as essential for excellence in sports, arts, and executive leadership, it’s often neglected in sales.
Why is that?
The truth is, coaching is hard work. Prima donna performers can be difficult to manage.
Many sales managers were promoted from the field without any coaching training.
Time is scarce. And most organisations don’t support a coaching culture.
But the cost of ignoring coaching is staggering.
The 87% Problem: Why Coaching Can’t Be Optional
Consider this sobering statistic from Xerox research: without follow-up coaching, 87% of the skills learned in training programs are lost. That’s 87 cents of every training dollar wasted.
Why does this happen?
Learning new skills creates what researchers call the “results dip” or “incorporation lag.”
When salespeople try new techniques, they feel awkward.
Results don’t come immediately. Without a coach to encourage them through this uncomfortable period, they abandon the new skills and revert to old habits.
Gallup research reinforces this reality: salespeople with the right managers can improve their performance by up to 20%.
Wherever you find great salespeople, great managers aren’t far behind.
But effective coaching isn’t just about being present. It requires a specific approach.
Based on extensive research into top-performing sales organisations, six characteristics separate world-class sales coaches from the rest.
1. Strike the Right Balance Between Efficiency and Effectiveness
Average managers obsess over activity metrics: number of calls, pipeline values, forecast amounts.
These efficiency measures are important for managing a business, but they tell you nothing about whether you’re actually selling well.
The problem?
What gets measured gets done. When you only measure activity, salespeople generate lots of activity that goes nowhere.
You enter a death spiral where more effort produces fewer results.
Worse, this approach frustrates top performers who focus on outcomes, not activities.
They often leave for organisations that value effectiveness over mere busyness.
Great coaches understand the distinction: efficiency is about getting in front of customers at minimum cost; effectiveness is about maximising sales potential once you’re there.
In major sales, success comes from working smarter, not harder.
The key insight: You only need a few effectiveness measures to counterbalance numerous efficiency metrics.
Effectiveness measures are outcome-focused and ask: did this activity lead to a progressive customer action?
World-class coaches help their salespeople understand that customer behaviour is the only true indicator of effectiveness.
The prerequisite: The ability to understand and read customer behaviour.
2. Get Management Involvement in Face-to-Face Selling Right
Most sales managers were promoted because they were stellar salespeople.
This creates a dangerous temptation: the urge to jump in and sell.
But great coaches resist this impulse by following one fundamental principle:
Only become involved in face-to-face selling when your presence makes a unique difference.
A unique difference exists when you bring one of three things:
- Expertise: Special industry knowledge that creates value
- Authority: Negotiating power the salesperson lacks
- Position: The ability to access higher levels in the buyer organisation
If you can’t bring at least one of these to the table, don’t get involved. Period.
World-class coaches also follow these strict guidelines:
- Never make sales calls alone without your salesperson (it undermines their credibility)
- Agree on specific roles before any joint call (coach or sell, never both simultaneously)
- Always have a withdrawal strategy to prevent customer dependency on you
Research shows that in average organisations, managers spend over 80% of their customer face time as firefighters, super-closers, objection-handlers, or exception-makers. In highly effective organisations, it’s less than 10%.
The prerequisite: Know who to coach and when to coach.
3. Focus on Creating Customer Value Through Consultative Selling
Not all sales opportunities are created equal. Some customers want the lowest price with no conversation.
Others are willing to pay for value.
The difference? Whether you’re trapped in transactional selling or operating in the consultative space.
World-class coaches help their teams move from commodity selling to value creation.
They teach salespeople to uncover problems customers don’t yet recognise and opportunities they haven’t considered. This is where real differentiation happens.
4. Spend More Time on Early-Stage Opportunities
Average companies focus obsessively on late-stage pipeline questions: When will the deal close? When’s the proposal due? When do we get paid?
Here’s the problem: by the late stages, when you’re focused on closing mechanics, it’s too late to create value.
You have few degrees of freedom left. By focusing only on late-stage questions, you inadvertently define yourself as a transactional company selling a commodity.
Superior coaches get involved early in the sales cycle, where opportunity to create value is greatest. They spend at least as much time – research suggests twice as much – focusing on the front end of the pipeline.
They ask different questions:
- What unrecognised problem can we help this client see?
- What unforeseen opportunity can we help them identify?
- How can we help them arrive at a better solution?
Remember: the most powerful form of measurement is what the manager asks about. If you only ask late-stage questions, you’re signalling that consultative selling doesn’t matter.
Your salespeople will respond accordingly.
The prerequisite: Sellers must understand the phases buyers go through in making decisions and how to recognise where they are in the cycle.
5. Build a True Coaching Culture
Ask most sales managers about their team’s performance and they’ll describe a bell curve: a few top performers, a few struggling, and most in the middle.
Then ask them about their job. Many will say “to deliver numbers.”
But wait—isn’t that also the salesperson’s job?
If the manager gets the same performance curve they’d get randomly by doing nothing, why do they exist?
In world-class organisations, the answer is crystal clear: the job of management is to coach and prepare the people who work for them.
People are your most important asset, and developing them is your primary responsibility.
6. Ruthlessly Reward High Performers
Here’s an easy way to identify your top performers: listen to their language.
Average performers complain about competition and pricing.
Top performers say, “It’s harder to do business inside this company than outside it. Get off my back and let me sell.”
That’s your first clue about what high performers really want.
It’s not just about money—they believe they can get money anywhere. What they crave are:
- Degrees of freedom: Independence and fewer constraints
- Immediate rewards: Recognition now, not at year-end banquets
- Tough assignments: The challenging deals that build reputation
- Quick feedback: Candid input when they succeed or fail
- Public recognition: Being known as the go-to performer
World-class coaches don’t wait for annual reviews.
They give rewards and feedback early and often.
They recognise excellence immediately—whether with money, access to resources, or a simple email acknowledging great work.
This isn’t about being fair to everyone. It’s about being smart about where you invest your coaching time.
Top performers drive disproportionate results, and they deserve disproportionate attention.
The prerequisite: The courage to identify who your top performers actually are.
The Bottom Line: Coaching Is Not Optional
Great coaches know who to coach, when to coach, and what to coach toward.
They balance efficiency with effectiveness. They get involved strategically in customer interactions.
They teach their teams to create value through consultative selling.
They focus on early-stage opportunities where impact is greatest.
They build cultures where coaching is central, not peripheral.
And they reward their stars ruthlessly.
Don’t make excuses about time constraints or coaching difficulties.
In every field where greatness is expected—sports, performing arts, executive leadership—coaching is imperative.
Sales is no different.
The research is unequivocal: without great coaching, you’re wasting 87 cents of every training dollar.
Your salespeople are abandoning new skills and reverting to old habits.
Your top performers are getting frustrated and leaving.
Your team is busy but not effective.
The path forward is clear. Master these six characteristics. Invest in coaching. Watch your sales organisation transform from average to world-class.
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