Sales coaching

Sales Coaching

Overview

Coaching is the highest-leverage activity in a revenue org — and the most often skipped. Managers who "coach" by asking "how's the pipeline?" get fiction. Managers who inspect evidence (MEDDICC scores, call recordings, SPICED fields) change behavior.

Jacco van der Kooij (Winning by Design) built REKS so managers diagnose before prescribing: a rep missing quota might need effort discipline, product knowledge, or conversation skill — three different interventions. Late-stage stalls need JOLT (Dixon/McKenna), not more ROI slides.

This skill is the coaching operating system: cadence, diagnostics, deal reviews, call rubrics, 1:1 agendas, founder-as-coach, and manager calibration.

Process design → pipeline-management. Hard conversations / PIP → gtm-leadership. Onboarding ramp → revenue-team-onboarding.

When to Use

• "Build sales coaching program"
• "How do I coach my AEs / SDRs?"
• "Deal review format for managers"
• "1:1 template for sales manager"
• "Coach discovery calls"
• "Rep stuck — REKS diagnosis"
• "Coach late-stage indecision"
• "Founder coaching first sales hire"
• "Call coaching rubric"

Authoritative Foundations

• Jacco van der Kooij / Winning by Design — REKS. Results → Efforts → Knowledge → Skills. Coach the layer, not the number. SPICED for discovery coaching; Bowtie for handoff quality.
• Andy Whyte — MEDDICC. 0/1/2 scorecard (max 14). Managers inspect evidence per dimension — same gates as pipeline-management.
• Matthew Dixon & Ted McKenna — JOLT. Judge indecision → Offer recommendation → Limit exploration → Take risk off table. Coach when fit exists but buyer stalls.
• Kevin Dorsey. Daily manager rhythm during ramp; pipeline accountability without micromanagement; coaching as leadership core competency.
• Jon Barrows (Sell Better). Short-cycle skill reps for discovery, demo structure, objection handling — coach behaviors in 15-min drills.
• Jason Bay — PVP. Coach outbound relevance (Permissionless Value Proposition), not volume — for SDR/BDR coaching.
• Keith Rosen. Accountability coaching: commitments, timelines, ownership.
• Kim Scott. Radical Candor for performance — separate coaching from status.
• Randy Seidl (Sales Community). Three Plays — sell yourself, company/product, customer outcome. Relationship map + decision map for enterprise deals. Coach behaviors (trust-building touches, extended team usage) over pipeline fiction. Load references/randy-seidl-relationship-selling.md.
• Tom Slocum (The SD Lab). Sell the Meeting (nurse, not doctor); 3×3 research before call blocks; dial discipline and SDR intensives. Coach prep quality and conversation structure — not dial volume. Phone SDRs only (not email PVP). → references/tom-slocum-cold-calling.md
• Ryan Reisert (CallBlitz, Outbound Operators). CRM Activity Buckets for daily rep prioritization; CallBlitz live floor for peer/manager call coaching; completions-over-dials accountability. Pair with Slocum for skill; with Gilkey dispositions for list diagnosis. → references/ryan-reisert-cold-calling.md

Step-by-Step Process

Phase 1 — Coaching Stack (Load Order)

1. pipeline-management     → stages, MEDDICC gates, SPICED fields
2. sales-enablement        → playbook reps should execute
3. sales-coaching (this)   → diagnose + inspect + practice
4. buyer-indecision          → JOLT when late-stage stall
5. gtm-leadership          → if coaching fails → PIP / exit

Phase 2 — REKS Diagnosis (Before Any Coaching)

Load references/reks-diagnostic.md + templates/reks-diagnostic.md.

Layer	Signals	Coach toward
Results	Quota miss, win rate drop	Diagnose E/K/S — don't yell at results
Efforts	Low activity, empty calendar	Prioritization, time blocks, accountability
Knowledge	Wrong ICP, bad product answers	Enablement, shadowing, certification
Skills	Bad discovery, weak demo	Role-play, call review, Barrows drills

Rule: If E+K+S are adequate and Results still fail → territory, quota, or fit (gtm-leadership).

Phase 3 — Manager Cadence (Kevin Dorsey + WbD)

Cadence	Duration	Focus	Artifact
Daily huddle	5–10 min	Deals at risk, one win	Slack #sales-team
Weekly 1:1	30–45 min	One skill + one deal deep-dive	templates/1-1-agenda.md
Weekly pipeline	60 min	Commit deals MEDDICC ≥ gate	templates/deal-review-scorecard.md
Call coaching	2–3 calls/rep/week	One keep, one fix	templates/call-coaching-form.md
Monthly	60 min	Career, skill plan	templates/coaching-plan-30-day.md
Quarterly	Review	Goals, territory, comp reality	team-management

1:1 rule: No status updates — CRM holds status. 1:1 = development.

Phase 4 — Deal Review (MEDDICC)

Load references/deal-review-guide.md.

1. Rep presents scorecard (0/1/2 per dimension) — not narrative
2. Manager asks for evidence per score of 2
3. Identify gaps blocking next stage gate
4. One action per gap: owner, date, next step
5. Forecast category only if score ≥ gate (pipeline-management)

Coaching questions (Whyte):

• "Whose numbers are in Metrics — buyer's or ours?"
• "When did you last speak to the Economic Buyer directly?"
• "Does Champion pass all four tests — show me proof."
• "What's the Decision Process step and date?"

Phase 5 — SPICED Coaching (Discovery)

When rep struggles before MEDDICC is populated:

SPICED gap	Coach
Situation	Research depth, pre-call prep (meeting-prep)
Pain	Question quality — Barrows discovery drills
Impact	Quantification — tie to Metrics field
Critical Event	Timeline urgency — why now?
Decision	Stakeholder map — multi-thread

Phase 6 — JOLT Coaching (Late Stage)

When MEDDICC ≥ gate but deal stalls — load references/jolt-coaching.md + buyer-indecision.

JOLT step	Manager coaches rep to
Judge	Score indecision 1–10; identify FOMU vs objection
Offer	Make explicit recommendation — "Here's what I'd do"
Limit	Stop sending more options — collapse choice
Take risk	Pilot, SLA, opt-out, executive sponsor

Do not coach "send another ROI deck" for indecision — it increases FOMU.

Phase 7 — Call Coaching

Load references/call-coaching-rubric.md.

Per call (15-min manager review):

1. Listen at 1.25× — note timestamps
2. Score: discovery, value, objection, next step (1–5)
3. One keep — reinforce
4. One fix — specific behavior next call
5. Rep re-records 2-min role-play before next live call

SDR calls (phone): Coach 3×3 prep + sell-the-meeting (Slocum), pattern-interrupt opener + tonality (Pessar), CRM bucket discipline (Reisert). Live review via CallBlitz when available. Disposition distribution after 50 completions (Gilkey).

SDR outreach (email/LinkedIn): Coach PVP and relevance (Jason Bay), not dial count.

Phase 8 — Founder-as-Coach

Before first manager hire, founder coaches directly (references/founder-coaching.md):

Stage	Founder focus
First AE	Shadow 50% of calls; SPICED on every deal
2–3 reps	Weekly deal review only; delegate call coaching to senior rep
Manager hired	Founder coaches manager on coaching (meta-coaching)

Founder trap: doing deals instead of inspecting deals. Calendar-block coaching.

Phase 9 — 30-Day Coaching Plan (Underperformer)

Template: templates/coaching-plan-30-day.md

Week 1: REKS diagnose + enablement gap analysis
Week 2: Daily call review + skill drill
Week 3: Deal inspection cadence + accountability
Week 4: Measure leading indicators — if flat, escalate gtm-leadership

Output Format

Request	Deliverable
Coaching system	Cadence calendar + artifact index
1:1 program	templates/1-1-agenda.md per role
Deal reviews	Scorecard + question bank
Call coaching	Rubric + feedback form
Underperformer	REKS diagnostic + 30-day plan
Late-stage stall	JOLT coaching brief

Run scripts/check-output.py before delivery.

Quality Check

• REKS layer identified before coaching action
• Deal reviews use MEDDICC evidence — not rep confidence
• 1:1 agenda excludes status updates
• Call coaching: one keep + one fix per session
• JOLT used for indecision — not more collateral
• SPICED coached for discovery gaps
• Founder/manager cadence appropriate to team size
• Phone SDR coaching uses Slocum/Reisert — email SDR coaching uses Bay PVP
• Cross-ref pipeline-management stage gates

Common Pitfalls

1. Coaching results, not behaviors. "Hit quota" isn't coaching. Fix: REKS layer + one skill.
2. Skipping diagnosis. More dials for a knowledge gap. Fix: REKS first.
3. Deal review as storytelling. Fix: scorecard + evidence.
4. 1:1 as pipeline readout. Fix: CRM for status; 1:1 for development.
5. ROI pile-on for indecision. Fix: JOLT — recommendation + risk removal.
6. Founder stops coaching after hire #1. Fix: meta-coach the manager.

Execution Artifacts

| ../../outbound/cold-calling/references/framework-notes.md | Phone coaching framework anchors | | templates/output-template.md | Deliverable structure | | scripts/check-output.py | Validator |

File	Use
references/reks-diagnostic.md	REKS layer signals and fixes
references/deal-review-guide.md	MEDDICC inspection flow
references/call-coaching-rubric.md	Call scoring dimensions
references/jolt-coaching.md	Late-stage manager prompts
references/founder-coaching.md	Founder-as-coach by ARR stage
references/coaching-experts.md	Expert map (Jacco, Dorsey, Barrows, Bay, Seidl, Slocum, Reisert)
references/randy-seidl-relationship-selling.md	Relationship map, Three Plays, trust scorecard
references/tom-slocum-cold-calling.md	3×3, sell-the-meeting, call blocks (repo root)
references/ryan-reisert-cold-calling.md	CRM Buckets, CallBlitz live coaching (repo root)
references/cold-calling-experts-index.md	Phone expert router (repo root)
templates/1-1-agenda.md	Weekly 1:1 structure
templates/reks-diagnostic.md	Per-rep diagnostic form
templates/deal-review-scorecard.md	MEDDICC deal review
templates/call-coaching-form.md	Per-call feedback
templates/coaching-plan-30-day.md	Underperformer plan

Related Skills

• pipeline-management — MEDDICC gates, SPICED fields, stage design
• meeting-prep — SPICED questions reps should master
• buyer-indecision — JOLT playbook for reps
• sales-enablement — Collateral coaching references
• gtm-leadership — PIP, fire, Radical Candor
• team-management — OKRs, general 1:1s
• cold-calling — SDR phone motion, dispositions, call structure
• revenue-team-onboarding — Ramp coaching first 90 days
• demo-scripts — Demo coaching content
• objection-handling — Objection drills