By Mike Jacoutot, Managing Partner
As I sit with leaders from different industries across companies ranging in size from $13 million to $21 billion, inevitably, the topic of a leader’s role in coaching is always of paramount concern. With the “command and control” management style of the 20th century giving way to the more participative leader of today, talent development through coaching is a top priority for all leaders at all levels of the organization. For the purpose of this blog, there are a couple of leadership fundamentals everyone should buy into, regardless of the business you are in:
Your company is in the customer business, first and foremost
Your revenue and bottom line profits are derived from customer money
You have ONLY two types of employees in your company—both of equal importance
Those who serve the customers
Those who serve those who serve the customers
Whether a sales leader or a non-sales leader you should be coaching to three things:
1. Coach to strategy
2. Coach to activity
3. Coach to skill
Next, we’ll take a look at the differences in coaching “those who serve the customers” and “those who serve those who serve the customers” and you will quickly see how similar coaching can be when you are focused on the right things.
Coach to Strategy
Sales: Are they correctly segmented where they can create value? Are they calling on the right prospects relative to our ideal customer profile? Are they calling on the right contacts or key decision makers within those prospective customers?
Non-Sales: Are they working on the right projects to create the highest return on investment? Are the projects aligned with the company’s overall strategy? Are they working on the things that contribute to increasing revenue, reducing costs or improving margin? Are they working on things that can improve cycle time?
Coach to Activity
Sales: Once the correct segmentation strategy is in place, are they creating enough opportunities? Are they hitting the standard of performance for outbound calls and face-to-face sales calls? Do they have enough in their pipeline?
Non-Sales: Are they completing their projects and workload on-time? Are they processing enough work for their role? Are they living up to their commitments?
Coach to Skill:
Sales: Do they do the required amount of preparation? Are they diagnostically oriented? Are they effective about uncovering customer needs and wants? Can they effectively handle objections? Are they continuously improving?
Non-sales: Are they diagnostically oriented? Can they determine root cause of a particular problem? Do they have the proper technical skills for their position (i.e. Excel, MS Project)? Are they making a concerted effort to continuously improve their skills? Do they have the proper people skills to help others?
At Butler Street, our leadership development programs focus on coaching skills. We believe in today’s complex world, simplicity is key to driving the desired behavior and developing strong coaching skills is a foundational to talent development. Whether a sales leader or a non-sales leader, we can help you develop your talent. Click on CONTACT to and let’s start the conversation.