Progression Of a Sales Leader- The Sales Progress Blog

Doc Rivers, The Boston Celtics, and Sales Coaching

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So, you want to have a high performing sales team, but you don't know where to start. You could try reading hundreds of books and learning different methods, you could send your employees to a seminar or you could have turned on the TV and watched the NBA playoffs.

The Boston Celtics managed to transform from an average regular season team that was thought to be too old to compete into a stellar playoff team that was a force to be reckoned with. How did they do it though? Simple. Practice, determination and the non-stop coaching of Doc Rivers.

Every team has the same the same type of players: the Rajun Rondo's, who are stars that everyone has to deal with, the Kevin Garnett's, who may be older but still have something left to give, the Rasheed Wallace's, who simply seem uncoachable, and the Paul Pierce's, who are worn out, tired and injured. These types of personalities are also found in the office. So, how do you overcome daunting odds and make them into a championship playing team?

Just ask Doc Rivers, who over the span of his coaching career, has always preached two things: have confidence in yourself and play as a team. As a supervisor or manager of a sales team, really take those words to heart and apply them to your coaching style. Don't mention what your players do "bad" or "wrong". That deteriorates confidence. By leveraging people's strengths, you will open their minds to what they need to improve upon. Realize the areas that your team excels at as a whole and emphasize it. The Celtics are one of the top defensive teams in the league, and Doc Rivers knows this; so, he makes sure that no team member only specializes in offense.

Follow these tips, and you can think of yourself as coach of the year.