I spend a lot of time reading other business, sales, and training blogs, and I ran across one today, written by Will Fultz, that really got me thinking.  His post, "Should I trust my Sales Manager's Advice," caught my attention, as we are a consulting company that focuses a lot on coaching and employee development this question made me take a step a back.

A 2009 Sales Performance Optimization Survey done by CSO Insights reported that only 58.8% of sales people were meeting their quotas in 2009.If only half of your company’s sales force is hitting their numbers the important question becomes, how do we increase sales? The average number of phone calls and meetings has already increased significantly throughout recent years but even with this..

We need it. Plain and simple, we need to build performance EVERY DAY in our business and in our people. To be successful, sales coaching must be a dedicated effort across all departments and management levels. There are so many fundamental reasons why organizations need to coach its amazing we do not have more organizations with formal coaching programs. Here is a brief list of reasons why..

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There is certainly some gray area between management and coaching, and when each type of leadership is needed. Here is a rough example, if an employee is continuously late for work, reprimanding them is probably a management issue. There is not really a performance issue to be addressed per se. On the other hand, an employee who constantly misses deadlines may be lacking time management skills...

Defining a sales coaching culture at any organization can be nebulous as well as ambiguous. A coaching culture can take on the appearance of many different faces. There are however, specific attributes that will illustrate if an organization has truly created a coaching culture.

I spoke with two managers this week that had what I call "Defining Moments". They both overcame some anxiety with coaching and successfully confronted issues by asking questions and getting employees to see what they need to do to perform more effectively. The key is top open your mind to what we all need to confront and overcome and the rest gets easier.

• Business coaching is a process NOT a destination.  Don’t get hung up if you don’t see the progress your looking for right away, keep trying.

• Only target 1 - 2 performance areas at a time.  More than that is just too much for someone to handle and be successful with.

• Coaching is about being proactive, while management is about being reactive. Keep any eye out for potential areas of need in..

The biggest factor in changing an employees behavior is a good attitude.  Below are 6 ways to positively affect your teams attitude toward change.

The difference between managers and leaders or coaches can be a blurred line for some. As the year comes to an end, and reps begin to stress about hitting end of year goals, the difference in performance of teams managed and those coached can be astronomical.  A true coach wants to see their people change and grow, not maintain the status quo.Take this opportunity to lead your team to success, and..