You're never finished as a sales coach

You would think that after 30 years it would become routine.

I've been involved in consultative sales for about 30 years now, and as a sales coach for 19 years.

Thousands of sales and coaching conversations conducted, hundreds of deals closed, but certainly also many missed opportunities.

And you know what I like most about it?

I'm still learning every day. That's why I think it's important to keep doing sales myself. How else can you train and coach someone?

The pitfall of many trainers and coaches? "I have the ideal method!" or "I'm certified!"

No!

Every sales conversation is different. Every customer. Every situation. Especially for service providers who want to sell a service or solution to large organizations, it's always a challenge.

Because: can you look at their needs from the customer's perspective? Can you assess how feasible their needs are? Do you challenge them? Do you adjust your approach if they exhibit very technical behavior?

In short, consultative sales is a tailored approach. And so is my training and coaching.

Tailored sales, tailored training, tailored coaching.

And of course you use standards and ready knowledge, but the application is different in each case.

That's why I prefer to talk about “street practice” rather than “best practice”.

You're never finished. You keep growing.

I remain curious about what's going on with clients. I keep listening to what they say and especially to what they don't say. I keep asking questions, even about things I already know a lot about.

And that makes sales coaching a timeless profession.