Powerful Motivation

There’s more to coaching than a pat on the back and a thumbs-up. In fact, one of the most effective but underutilized motivational tools at a manager’s disposal just may be coaching. That’s right – coaching can be a powerful motivator.

There is a direct connection between good coaching and motivation: good coaching leads to improved performance, improved performance leads to better results, and better results lead to higher motivation. It’s a basic law of sales: when reps do something well and see measurable improvement, they’ll want to continue doing it – and get even better at it.

Consider this example: Carolyn McGowan Coradeschi, president of Rainmaker Mindset and author of The Rainmaker’s Quick Guide to Lasting Sales Success (Thomas Noble, 2013), recently worked with a sales rep whose job was to visit with hospital physicians and obtain referrals for an assisted living facility. After three months on the job, his referral total was zero.

Realizing he needed help, the rep reached out to Coradeschi, who accompanied him on his sales calls. Coradeschi immediately noticed several problems. “He didn’t feel like he belonged. He felt like he was an interruption, and his stature showed it,” she says. “He was hunched. He wasn’t standing tall or asking to get in. His approach was almost apologetic: ‘I know you are busy. I was hoping I could talk to someone.’”

As his coach, Coradeschi knew her job wasn’t to tell the rep how to fix his problems or even what she perceived those problems to be. Instead, she asked these coaching questions to lead the rep to his own insight: How do you feel when you walk in? (The rep’s answer: “Like I’m bugging [the prospects].”) What do you think you did well? What would you say next time? What would you do differently next time?

In thinking through those questions, the rep “realized he needed to look like he belonged,” she recalls. He also realized he just needed to ask for an appointment, not make the sale in that moment, which relieved him of a lot of the pressure he was feeling.

“Immediately, I saw him stand taller. He felt more powerful. He started getting appointments right away, and as soon as he got them he was on fire,” says Coradeschi. “He said, ‘I’ve got to go here and here. But don’t go here, because they are in the ER and we won’t get in.’ He became more resourceful, more confident, and highly motivated.”

In a subsequent ride-along, Coradeschi saw this now confident and motivated rep secure four appointments and get one meeting with a physician on the spot. There are several keys to making this connection between coaching and increased motivation work so well.

Coach, Don’t Manage

Sales managers want results – fast. This prompts many managers to end ride-alongs by laying out areas for improvement, anticipating that the rep will simply follow the advice and performance will improve. A traditional, prescriptive management response to the rep Coradeschi discusses would be a statement such as, “You are too tentative; walk in with more confidence” or “When they tell you so-and-so isn’t in, say this instead…”

While managers who take this approach do so believing that they are truly helping the rep, the opposite is true. Reps who are instructed on what to do rather than encouraged to come to the realizations on their own don’t own the changes and thus have little internal motivation to change. Unlike prescriptive management, coaching uses questions that help reps reflect  and draw their own conclusions about what worked well and when and how they could improve. While the coaching process requires more time and patience, it is ultimately far more effective, as reps who determine for themselves what should be improved will be far more motivated to make the necessary chances.

Narrow It Down

Experienced managers who accompany sales reps – especially new or struggling reps – on sales calls will see many opportunities for improvement. Too often, they’ll then lay out the full list of all the things the reps can change in order to improve. But rather than motivate reps to change, this recommendation dump usually leaves reps feeling overwhelmed, resulting in no change at all.

Meaningful improvement can be gained only by zeroing in on one to three things at a time and concentrating on those until they are mastered. Short lists of areas of improvement are motivating because they feel doable and more focused, resulting in real gains that then motivate further improvement. If your coaching questions compel a rep to create a long list of things to improve, ask what is most important; help him or her narrow down the list. If, after narrowing it down, the list is still too long, say, “OK, we can talk about all those things, but let’s pick just one today.” Then work on that.

“I could have listed seventeen things the assisted-living-facility rep could have done to be better, but we zeroed in on two to three things to do, and he got it. And once he got it, he was on fire,” says Coradeschi. “If you overwhelm a rep with too much information, it becomes information overload, and there is no success.”

Role Play

Coradeschi is a strong believer in role playing, an activity that was central to her client’s quick success. She says a lot of managers and reps don’t like it because it can feel awkward and stilted, but there are few better tools that allow reps to practice in a no-jeopardy, low-pressure environment the one or two skills they seek to improve. By making the mistakes and then mastering the skill with someone on their own team, reps will have the confidence and motivation to go out and apply it – and succeed – when it counts: in front of a prospect.

The Model

Carolyn McGowan Coradeschi recommends that sales managers use the following model to create an effective coaching culture in their organization.

1. Have an initial conversation.

Prepare your team members for coaching by talking with them about coaching – what it is, how it works, and how it will help reps reach their full potential. Get your team on board and create buy-in for the process.

2. Meet and observe.

Schedule time each week with each person on your team. Use questions to help your reps identify specific goals they want to work toward, narrowing down the goals to two or three to focus on in the short term. In addition, observe your reps regularly – in the field or on the phone – and have prompt conversations immediately afterward. Ask them to tell you what they are doing well and what challenges them. Let them dissect specific scenarios and come up with their own next steps and solutions.

3. Hold them accountable.

Once reps have committed to specific goals, hold them accountable for meeting them. Before each coaching session, ask them to fill out a form on which they capture what they’ve accomplished since the last coaching session – wins, attitude changes, insight, personal/professional successes, etc. – and where they stand in achieving their goals. Knowing they’ll need to regularly commit their progress to paper goes a long way toward motivating reps to achieve those goals.

4. Coach between sessions.

A lot of coaching can take place in day-to-day interactions between managers and reps. Pass along articles or resources that might help your reps. Ask how they’re doing on a specific goal. Your continued interest and support is great motivation for any rep!

 

Don’t Ask Why

Coaches know the importance of asking open-ended questions that get a rep thinking and answering with more than a yes or no; however, in crafting open-ended questions, many sales managers start their questions with “why,” a word that can put people on the defensive and sap motivation, warns Coradeschi.

For instance, a manager looking at performance metrics or coming out of a sales call with a rep might ask, “Why aren’t you hitting fifty calls a day?” or “Why did you answer the prospect’s question about our maintenance plan that way?” These kinds of questions can feel accusatory, even if they aren’t intended to be, causing reps to put up walls and start justifying their every action. This result is the opposite of the coach’s goal to get reps to open up, reflect, and brainstorm new ideas.

Rather than ask a why question, start by looking at what the rep is doing well. Rather than asking why the rep isn’t hitting 50 calls a day, Coradeschi suggests saying something similar to this: “I notice that on Mondays and Fridays you are really consistent with your calls. What’s been working well on those days? What is enabling you to consistently hit your target on those days? How can I support you in bringing up the other days to the Monday and Friday level?”

These questions help guide reps to reach their own insight while letting them know that they have your support – a far more motivating environment than one in which they feel they must defend themselves.

Notice that the better questions started with “what” and “how.” When you find yourself about to ask a why question, switch to a how or what question instead, and watch how it changes the way your reps respond.

 

When Suggestions Are OK

Professional coaches emphasize the importance of allowing reps to reach their own conclusions, establish their own goals, and arrive at their own insight. It is the coach’s job to ask questions, not to give advice. But what if you are coaching a rep who wants advice? Is it ever OK to tell him or her specifically how to address an issue?

Yes – with a caveat, say Jack Canfield and Peter Chee, longtime leaders in the coaching field and authors of Coaching for Breakthrough Success: Proven Techniques for Making Impossible Dreams Possible (McGraw-Hill, 2013). First, don’t jump straight to offering advice when it is requested; instead, ensure that you have done all you can to draw out the answers from the rep you are coaching. Often, unsure reps will ask for advice, but if you are patient and ask effective questions, they’ll come up with solutions on their own – and feel empowered and motivated because of it. If, after several attempts to draw out their own ideas, your reps are still stuck, first ask permission to help using a question that begins, “May I suggest…?”

“The act of getting consent shows respect and a belief in the capability of the people you coach,” say Canfield and Chee. “It keeps you from giving unsolicited advice and reminds you as a coach to keep suggestion giving to the minimum.”

Finally, rather than offer advice, which might make people feel obligated to follow it, make suggestions instead. A suggestion is “based on our own opinion, knowledge, perception, and experience,” say the authors. Suggestions may wind up being wrong, but it is clear to the rep that he or she can consider what to do about the problem. Still,  make suggestions sparingly, caution Canfield and Chee. If you give too many, “you can unconsciously change your role to a consultant or advisor,” say the authors, which increases dependency on you, resulting in lower empowerment and motivation.