How to Build a Sales Coaching Plan with Checklist
By CloudTalk
| 8. October 2024 |
Sales
By CloudTalk
| 8 Oct 2024 |
Sales
    By CloudTalkCloudTalk
    | 8 Oct 2024
    Sales

    How to Build a Sales Coaching Plan with Checklist

    call center dashboard

    Building a robust sales coaching plan is essential for aligning with business objectives, achieving defined goals, and overcoming common challenges like lack of buy-in, limited performance data, and shifting sales targets.

    This guide will help you develop a tailored coaching plan that incorporates regular call reviews, performance metrics, feedback loops, and consistent training throughout the sales cycle—enhancing call visibility, customer engagement, and conversion rates.

    Here’s what we cover:

    • Key objectives of a sales coaching plan
    • 8 essential steps in the sales coaching roadmap
    • Tech-enabled coaching techniques
    • A customizable coaching plan checklist

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    Objectives of a Sales Coaching Plan

    A sales coaching plan can improve win rates by 28%. To make yours effective, it will need to clearly define best practices, break down useful strategies for tackling skills gaps and creating training materials, and get buy-in from your sales team to drive ongoing learning, development, and improvement.

    A good coaching plan will set the foundation for your sales coaching strategy. It’ll cover: 

    • Business and coaching objectives to help close deals
    • Tactics for training and learning
    • Outlining the key outcomes of following this plan
    • Highlighting obstacles and how to overcome them 

    With a successful sales coaching plan, you should expect these outcomes: 

    • Increased sales productivity 
    • Skill development
    • Higher win rates
    • Improved retention 
    • Higher customer satisfaction
    • Better alignment with company objectives

    Let’s look at how sales leaders can develop a coaching plan. 

    8 Key Steps in a Sales Coaching Roadmap

    Here are the eight steps you should follow and check off as you build your sales coaching plan:

    1. Define specific training goals

    A sales coaching plan needs to align with your team’s specific challenges and the core objectives of your department and business.

    Example: If your call center team struggles with call visibility and efficiency, set a goal to enhance these areas by leveraging tools that offer real-time insights and analytics. For instance, CloudTalk enables call monitoring and provides data-driven insights into call performance. 

    With this information, sales managers can provide targeted feedback on specific areas, such as call-handling techniques or response times, allowing team members to make quick adjustments and see immediate improvements in their performance.

    2. Assess current skills and identify gaps

    As you audit your sales teams to identify key gaps in their knowledge and skills, use hard data to inform your findings.

    Analyze call metrics such as response times, conversion rates, and call quality using features like call recordings and real-time monitoring to pinpoint where your sales reps are struggling. This data-driven approach helps uncover hidden skill gaps, allowing you to target high-impact areas for improvement.

    Example: You notice that certain sales reps have lower conversion rates. This might indicate a need for better call handling or objection management skills. With  CloudTalk’s Inbound Call Tracking and analytics, you can use call recording, 3 Way Calling, and whispering to identify issues and provide real-time support. This enables reps to adjust their techniques on the spot.

    Real-Time Call Monitoring Case Study:

    CloudTalk Analytics helped Nokia improve performance across multiple core metrics among a team of 200 agents.

    By providing real-time monitoring with visual charts, Nokia was able to see discrepancies between its agents and make changes to workflows, like increasing ring time for calls before they were considered missing. 

    Within the first few weeks of implementation, results included: 

    • Fewer missed calls
    • Reduced stress
    • 10% increase in productivity

    3. Develop a training curriculum that accommodates different learning styles

    Some sales team members thrive in one-on-one coaching sessions, while others benefit more from group workshops or peer-to-peer learning.

    By incorporating a mix of teaching styles into your coaching plan, you can cater to various learning preferences, increasing engagement and retention of key skills.

    Example: Incorporate role-playing exercises that simulate real customer interactions using call recordings and analytics. This allows team members to practice handling objections, closing techniques, or upselling strategies in a controlled setting. You can provide immediate feedback and adjust coaching to individual needs, helping reps build confidence and refine their skills more effectively.

    4. Create or source training materials

    Once you’ve created your coaching plan and identified key areas to focus on, you can develop external resources to support your training. As part of a broader sales enablement strategy, these resources could include videos, reading materials, sales playbooks, and other content tailored to your industry to help your team improve their skills and effectiveness.

    Providing a variety of resources as part of your sales enablement strategy ensures that team members have access to the right information at the right time. 

    For example, videos can be used for visual learners who benefit from seeing concepts in action, while reading materials can provide in-depth explanations and serve as reference guides. Sales playbooks, on the other hand, offer actionable steps and best practices for different selling scenarios.

    Here are 8 different types of training materials you can consider creating or sourcing, with a CloudTalk example for each one:

    • Video tutorials
      Create video tutorials that demonstrate how to use Call Monitoring and AI-powered Sentiment Analysis.
    • Interactive e-learning modules
      Include simulations of sales calls using Customer Details to develop highly realistic scenarios.
    • Sales playbooks
      Provide step-by-step instructions for handling different sales scenarios, complete with examples of successful calls , which you can easily access using Call Tagging.
    • Case studies
      Use call recordings to develop case studies that show how top-performing reps handle specific objections or sales challenges.
    • Role-play exercises
      Have reps listen to their recorded role-plays to self-assess performance, while you provide specific feedback on areas like tone, objection handling, and closing techniques.
    • Webinars and live sessions
      Demonstrate how to use CloudTalk’s features like Power Dialer or Call Whispering.
    • Infographics and visual aids
      Use CloudTalk’s live dashboard to share real-time information and active calls.
    • Quick reference guides
      Use Call Transcriptions to create quick reference guides that capture key phrases, objections, and successful responses from real sales calls.

    5. Schedule and implement your training sessions

    When scheduling training sessions, consider your sales team’s commitments and workload. Use tools like Calendly, Google Calendar, or Microsoft Outlook to coordinate and find a time that fits everyone’s schedule, minimizing disruptions during peak working hours.

    If finding a shared time is challenging, consider asynchronous coaching tools like Loom, Vidyard, or Trainual for video lessons and training modules that salespeople can access on their own time.

    6. Monitor progress and provide and receive feedback

    Throughout the sales training program, make sure you establish a check-in cadence to see if the entire sales team is progressing together. This will help you monitor the training and give you the chance to change direction and focus as required. 

    For example, if the team feedback is that people need more time to improve specific call-handling techniques or objection management, you can adjust your schedule accordingly and provide some extra guidance before continuing. 

    7. Evaluate training effectiveness with trainee feedback

    An organized sales coaching program is more likely to have a lasting impact. Use scheduled check-ins to measure the program’s success against your set metrics, providing insights into what’s working and what isn’t. For instance, feedback may reveal a preference for hands-on roleplay over quizzes or a need for more interactive content.

    Use this feedback to refine your training process, ensuring it equips your sales team to meet business objectives.

    Recommendation: Leverage CloudTalk’s Talk-to-Listen Ratio to easily measure how much reps are talking versus listening. With this information, you can compare performance across your team, identify outliers, and set concrete targets for improvement.

    8. Conduct ongoing training and reinforcement

    While achieving the end of your sales training is a milestone to celebrate, the work isn’t done yet. Training is an ongoing process, and you’ll still need quarterly or annual training to keep building on the momentum you created.

    Recommendation: Regular check-ins allow you to continually refine the training program, ensuring your sales team stays sharp and up-to-date with the latest sales techniques and industry trends.

    Customizable Sales Coaching Plan Checklist

    Now that you’ve learned about the basics of a sales coaching plan, you can use this coaching plan checklist to guide you. This comprehensive checklist can help you keep yourself and your team on track. Feel free to customize as needed to meet your specific needs. 

    Goals and Objectives:

    Define the overall business objective for the sales team.

    Outline the measurable goals for each sales rep or team. 

    Align the business objectives with sales objectives.

    Identify key metrics to track success.

    Establish a set timeline for monitoring these KPIs.

    Initial Assessment:

    Conduct a skills audit for each sales rep.

    Use CloudTalk to review past sales performance data and results.

    Evaluate the use and knowledge of sales technology.

    Gather feedback from sales professionals on what their skills are lacking.

    Identify the skills gaps and map out areas for improvement.

    Action Plan:

    Create a personalized training plan for each sales representative.

    Outline the types of training activities (e.g., workshops, quizzes, one-on-one coaching).

    Assign sales managers as mentors for different sections of your training plan.

    Set deadlines for each phase of the coaching plan.

    Progress Tracking:

    Monitor the progress of the training program and the sales professionals’ performance against the set goals and objectives.

    Use CloudTalk’s dashboard to track the quality of sales calls and their outcomes.

    Document the progress in a central area that anyone can access.

    Review the effectiveness of the training program.

    Adjust accordingly to improve data.

    Feedback and Adjustments:

    Collect feedback on the progress of the training and adjust accordingly.

    Provide real-time feedback for sales reps using CloudTalk’s software.

    Schedule one-on-one or team meetings to discuss the sales rep performance.

    Encourage reps to do a self-assessment.

    Use call recording to identify any improvements or room to grow. 

    Routine Check-Ins:

    Check in with the sales team once biweekly.

    Check in with the goals and metrics.

    Reinforce key concepts learned in the training during each check-in.

    Celebrate big and small wins to motivate the team.

    Provide check-ins and results to business leadership to continue to get buy-in.

    Master Sales Coaching with CloudTalk

    Creating an effective sales coaching plan is key to improving sales results and affirming long-term business success, especially in a competitive market or challenging economy. By following a structured approach based on clear metrics and objectives, and utilizing powerful tools like CloudTalk, you can empower your sales team and optimize performance. 

    CloudTalk’s features, like Call Monitoring and AI-powered Sentiment Analysis, enable more personalized and impactful coaching that drives both immediate and sustained improvement. 

    With data-driven insights supported by AI technology, you’ll have the data-driven insights you need to identify performance gaps, tailor feedback, and refine strategies to consistently exceed sales targets.

    Try CloudTalk for 14 Days Completely Free!