Management s Sales Coaching Impact

Transcription

1 Sales Management Association Research Management s Sales Coaching Impact 21 May 2014 Presented by Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association.

2 About The Sales Management Association A global, cross-industry professional association for sales operations and sales management. Focused in providing research, case studies, training, peer networking, and professional development to our membership. Fostering a community of thought-leaders, service providers, academics, and practitioners. Learn More: Slide 2

3 Today s Panelists Slide 3

4 Sales Management Association Research Management s Sales Coaching Impact 21 May 2014 Presented by Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association.

5 About the Research Management s Sales Coaching Impact This research study examines sales managers practices, priorities, challenges, and impact areas related to sales coaching. Research Focus Which sales coaching objectives represent the most important management priorities? Where are managers focusing coaching efforts? Where and how is sales coaching most impactful? What obstacles prevent impactful sales coaching? Research Underwriting This research was made possible in part through underwriting support from Forum. Slide 5

6 Survey Background Research conducted between 1 February and 15 May, participating firms. More than 500,000 salespeople work in participating firms sales organizations. (The ten largest participating firms represented about half this number.) Size of responding firms ranged from small to very large. About one-fifth of participating firms are under US$25 million in annual revenue, and 38% have annual revenue in excess of US$1 billion. Respondent firm size, annual revenue Slide 6

7 Survey Participants Respondents are predominately senior managers. About one-third are sales operations leaders, and one-third are sales managers (from first-line to senior-most). Three-fourths of respondents provide coaching directly to salespeople Do respondents personally coach salespeople? Respondent job roles Slide 7

8 Sales Organization Span of Control On average, sales managers in responding firms are responsible for about seven direct report salespeople. Ratio of direct-report salespeople to sales managers Slide 8

9 Respondent Business Performance As a group, respondent firms are over-achieving annual sales and profit objectives. About 60% met or exceeded sales and profit objectives over the past 12 months. Achievement of annual profit objective Achievement of annual sales objective Slide 9

10 Respondent Business Performance Most responding firms are growing revenue; almost 60% of respondent firms had positive revenue growth over the past 12 months. Year-over-year revenue growth (past 12 months) in responding firms Slide 10

11 Sales Coaching Matters Coaching and training top the list of initiatives that impact sales effectiveness Importance rating of activity, based on its impact on overall sales organization effectiveness. n=205 1 Not at all important Somewhat important Slide 11 7 Extremely important.

12 Coaching Program Objectives Coaching programs foremost aspiration is to drive overall effectiveness and performance. Respondent ratings of coaching program objectives. n=152 1 Not at all an objective of coaching in our organization Somewhat an objective of coaching in our organization Very much an objective of coaching in our organization Slide 12

13 Research on Management s Sales Coaching Impact Audience Poll: Who is Coached? Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association.

14 Which Salespeople Are Coached? High performers are coached less. Most coaching occurs monthly. How often are these salesperson types coached in your organization? n=161 Weekly Every few weeks Monthly Quarterly Between quarterly and annually Annually Never Slide 14

15 Coaching Topics Coaching is most often informal feedback, or focused on a specific opportunity. How often does the coaching you provide focus on the following topics? n=119 1 Never Sometimes Always Slide 15

16 Coaching s Impact Coaching s foremost impact is on selling effectiveness. Respondent ratings of coaching s impact on performance. n=152 1 No impact Moderate impact Very significant impact Slide 16

17 Research on Management s Sales Coaching Impact Audience Poll: Coaching Obstacles Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association.

18 Obstacles to Coaching Sales managers are too busy to coach. Respondent ratings, based on management impact, of potential obstacles to coaching salespeople. n=154 1 No impact Moderate impact Very significant impact Slide 18

19 Coaching Program Characteristics Essential programmatic characteristics are not present for sales coaching. Respondent ratings of how accurately coaching program characteristics describe coaching in their organizations. n=155 1 Not at all like our firm Somewhat accurate in describing our firm Very much an accurate description of our firm Slide 19

20 Coaching Effort and Firm Performance High-performing firms provide more 15-20% more coaching than low-performing firms. Respondent rating of coaching frequency by salesperson type. Weekly Annual firm sales goal achievement Every few weeks Lowest third Middle third Highest third Monthly Quarterly Between quarterly and annually Annually Never Slide 20

21 Coaching and Firm Performance High-performing firms coach more often. Respondents ratings of coaching frequency by coaching topic. High-performing firms are those that met sales and profit objectives. N=88 1 Never Sometimes 7 Always Slide 21

22 Differences in High-Performing Firms High-performing firms focus on management coaching and training much more so than other firms. Respondent ratings of how accurately coaching program characteristics describe coaching in their organizations. n=88 Ratings of how closely statements describe coaching within respondent s organization. Highperforming firms defined as those which made sales and profit objective in the preceding 2 months. Seven-point scale, 1= Completely disagree; 7= Completely agree. 1 Not at all like our firm Somewhat accurate in describing our firm Very much an accurate description of our firm Slide 22

23 Research on Management s Sales Coaching Impact Summary Findings 21 May 2014 Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association.

24 In Summary: Coaching is Important Management believes that sales coaching is important. Sales coaching rated first among all potential sales effectiveness-impacting initiatives. Its impact is considered a way to lift overall firm performance not simply an approach to developing talent, improving engagement, or retaining employees. Slide 24

25 In Summary: Practice Aspiration Organizations coaching practices are disconnected from their stated aspirations. As practiced, coaching appears to be an ad hoc, reactive activity. Despite the professed importance of coaching, and its acknowledged impact on performance, managers are nevertheless too busy to do it. Slide 25

26 In Summary: Coaching Is Unstructured Sales coaching doesn t share the hallmarks of structure and purpose of other initiatives despite its importance. It s lack of structure, defined objectives, measurement, assessed impact, accountability, training, support, and leadership endorsement signal to the organization: coaching is an idea we are not serious about implementing. Slide 26

27 In Summary: Great Firms Coach Sales coaching activity correlates with high performance. Firms that meet sales objectives coach 15-20% more frequently than firms that did not meet sales objectives. Slide 27

28 In Summary: Invest in Managers Investments in management are most impactful in linking coaching and overall organization performance. These include manager training, executive leadership endorsement, and coaching-the-coach. Slide 28

29 Questions and Discussion Our speakers answer questions from the webcast audience Slide 29

30 Q1: Should the Coaching Approach Change? Should the way coaching is delivered change? For example, should coaching be based on more of an outside-in approach. Slide 30

31 Q2: Does Negative Coaching Work? Is there a difference in results achieved when negative coaching is offered, and is it better or worse when positive coaching is offered? Slide 31

32 Thank You. Copyright 2014 The Sales Management Association