Many sales managers say coaching has happened.
Then they measure only one thing:
Did the results improve?
That skips an important step.
Sales results are influenced by many factors. So I start by measuring the behaviour.
For example, not:
“Improve your discovery.”
But:
“After the prospect identifies a problem, ask at least two questions about its impact before discussing the solution.”
That behaviour is observable.
So listen to 10 real conversations.
Before coaching:
2 of 10 conversations show the behaviour.
Coach that one behaviour.
Then listen again.
After coaching:
8 of 10 conversations show the behaviour.
Now you have evidence that the behaviour changed.
Only then do I look at conversion.
If conversation-to-opportunity conversion moves from 20% to 25%, that is 10 additional opportunities for every 200 conversations.
At €20K per opportunity, that represents:
€200K additional pipeline.
That is not €200K additional revenue. The actual commercial value depends on what happens to those opportunities further down the sales process.
But now you can ask a much better business question:
What is the value of changing this behaviour — and what is it worth investing in coaching to achieve it?
That is how I approach sales coaching:
Observe the behaviour.
Coach one change.
Measure adoption.
Connect it to conversion.
Then quantify the commercial impact.
Not every coaching intervention will produce a measurable commercial improvement.
But if you don’t measure the behaviour first, you may never know whether the coaching actually changed anything.
Sales leaders: what do you measure after coaching?
Do you measure the behaviour first — or do you go straight to the result?
Comment with “BEHAVIOUR” or “RESULT” — and tell me why.
If you have a sales behaviour you’re struggling to change, send me an example. I’ll share how I would measure and coach it.
#SalesCoaching #SDRCoaching #SalesPerformance #SalesEnablement