Secrets of Client Manager Coaching - How to Be More Effective?
The customer manager coaching has received increasing attention in recent years, and for good reason: research shows it is one of the most effective ways to improve performance. Studies by the Sales Executive Council have shown that no other productivity investment can improve salespeople's performance as significantly as coaching. However, not all coaching produces equal results, and it is not always the same who is targeted by the coaching process. In this article, we explore how coaching can be used effectively in sales and the most common mistakes managers can make.
What do we mean by client manager coaching?
Client manager coaching is the process of, which aims to develop the skills of a customer manager (or account manager) so that he or she can manage customers more effectively, improve the quality of customer relationships and increase sales results. The tasks of an account manager are usually to retain customers, increase their satisfaction and long-term business relationships.
Why is Client Manager Coaching important?
In essence, customer manager coaching helps salespeople to make better use of their skills and gradually improve their performance. Through coaching, salespeople receive concrete feedback that helps them identify and correct their weaknesses. Customer managers coaching for managers a tool to directly influence the performance of your team, increasing revenue and efficiency.
The benefits of coaching include:
- Individual development - They receive guidance tailored to the needs of each salesperson, allowing for personalised development.
- Increasing motivation - Salespeople are more motivated when they know they are getting attention and have the opportunity for continuous improvement.
- Performance enhancement - Regular coaching can help salespeople meet their quota and can result in performance improvements of up to 19%.
Secrets of Coaching Effectiveness
Although coaching has huge potential, not all coaching is effective. The most important factor is that kiket we coach, not just how. Research shows that coaching leaders in client management often make the mistake of focusing their coaching resources in the wrong places.
Managers tend to focus on two extreme groups of salespeople:
- Worst performers - Managers feel they must engage with them to achieve territorial goals.
- Top performers - Because they enjoy working with top salespeople, they tend to spend more time with the best ones.
But this approach is often misleading. Research has shown that coaching the weakest and best performing salespeople is less effective than coaching the middle performers.
Coaching for Low Performers
It is generally believed that for the worst performers, coaching can make a big difference because they can only improve. However, research shows that the weakest 10% are often not the salespeople who would perform better with some help. These salespeople are often more unsuited to the job and a different conversation is needed with them - often at HR level - rather than coaching.
Coaching for High Performers
For the best performers, coaching has little impact on performance. Although coaching can contribute to retention, the results show that the performance of star salespeople is not significantly improved by coaching. This may be because they are already maximising their potential and the impact of coaching is therefore marginal.
The Central 60% is the Key
The really big results of the middle 60%, can be achieved among those with average performance. Research shows that the best quality coaching can improve the performance of the middle group by up to 19%. Even a moderate improvement in the quality of coaching - for example, if coaching is raised from poor to average - can result in a 6-8% increase in performance. This improvement is often the difference between meeting targets and falling short.
How to Implement Effective Client Management Coaching?
One of the biggest challenges is that managers tend to "democratically" allocate their coaching resources so that all salespeople get equal attention. While this sounds good, in reality it is not the most effective way. Instead, coaching should be targeted to a group of mid-performing salespeople.
The Myth of Equal Coaching
For many account managers and managers, it is difficult to accept the idea that coaching should be targeted and not distributed equally among all salespeople. A common argument is that everyone deserves attention and help. However, research shows that such a democratic approach does not deliver the expected results. Coaching has its greatest return on investment in the middle, average performing group, and this fact must be accepted if real performance gains are to be achieved.
Targeted Approach to Coaching
So how can coaching be targeted? The following steps can help:
- Analysing the performance of salespeople - The first step is to determine who belongs to the middle 60%. This can be achieved by continuously monitoring and analysing the team's performance.
- Developing individual coaching plans - Once the members of the middle group have been identified, individual coaching plans tailored to their individual needs should be drawn up for them.
- Continuous feedback - Coaching is not a one-off event, but an ongoing process that requires regular feedback and guidance for salespeople.
- Maintaining motivation - For salespeople who perform moderately well, it is important that they are motivated during the coaching, as they are the ones who have the greatest potential for improvement.
- Performance assessment - The effectiveness of the coaching should be continuously evaluated to see what impact it is having on performance and to adjust the strategy if necessary.
In other words, customer manager coaching is one of the most important tools for improving team performance. But the key is to focus on the right sales people. The best results are achieved with the 60% in the middle, who already have some experience and skills but still have considerable potential for development. A coachA targeted approach is more effective than a democratic distribution of resources.
