Coaching in pharma

Coaching in pharma | According to CEB, the creators of ‘The Challenger Sale’, any coaching after 3-5 hours per month has proven to not make a significant difference in sales results. How does this compare in your company? Do you have the standard coaching metric of 1 in-field day per rep per month per manager?

The secret may lie in the definition of ‘what is the agreed definition of coaching’ and what falls into that 3-5 hours per month?

Firstly, it is 3-5 hours of concentrated coaching effort in one go. Your Sales Managers probably claim they do more that 3-5 hours per month, and they probably claim to do more than 1 (equivalent) day per month, if you add in all the telephone calls, adhoc emails, sms’s, team meetings etc. So the topic of coaching is often hotly debated and Sales Managers often feel their efforts (measured in time) is underestimated and undervalued, when they are also trying to meet other business demands all within the same working month.

Sales performance improvement and coaching effectiveness research frequently professes how critical the role of the manager has in the development of the sales reps’ and in the overall sales team’s performance. It is assumed, it is an explicit part of any sales manager job description and inevitably there is a performance metric directly linked to their bonus payout.

Not going it alone

‘It takes a community to develop a sales rep.’

The performance of the sales team is a team effort. It is not solely up to the sales manager, although often not viewed this way. While the sales manager is in the pivoting point, Training & Development, the marketing team, HR and the Business Unit leader or Head of Sales supports them. Plus, consider that coaching is not something that happens to a rep, but rather an activity with the rep’s consent and involvement, so they too are part of the process and directly linked to the success of coaching efforts and their own performance success.

Inspired from a recently updated HubSpot Blog/Slide Deck ‘the art of coaching’, these are some key considerations that can give clarity to what you think coaching is:

Coaching isn’t managing. Management time is not coaching time. When the sales manager is managing, they are ensuring the rep is doing their job as described in the job description and policies and procedures. That takes a lot of time!

Coaching is about developing the person to be the best they can become and helping them see where they can develop more or overcome any barriers to being more successful in their role (or even career).

Coaching isn’t training – training is about developing knowledge and skills. Coaching could be about helping the rep refine or improve a skill.

And coaching isn’t about mentoring or counseling, the sales manager sharing his or her experiences or pulling apart why the rep is not performing. It can however be about empowering the rep to explore their own way of doing things and talking about personal barriers to success.

Agreeing the definition of what is coaching and how coaching will be monitored and measured, is a critical first step.

The coaching process

Individuals have different learning styles and therefore require some variation on the corporate endorsed coaching approach. Sales managers will more than likely be taught or have learned in the past, a particular coaching model, such as the simple and well known model ‘GROW’. This provides the foundation of how to coach, however, the application will need tailoring to each individual.

Observation plays a significant role in understanding development needs. It should be coupled with data based evidence to ensure objectivity. This is critical to ensuring coaching is relevant, targeted and timely. By analyzing the data and then observing the rep in action, the sales manager can create individualized coaching sessions.

Using historical data and previous development agreements, means that during the coaching session, the sales manager will need to find a balance between the time spent on the planned coaching and the in-the-moment adhoc coaching opportunities. The most effective coaching efforts are on the job coaching in real-time situations.

The coaching process is not a start and stop activity, but rather a continuous process over time.

A little on upward coaching

Giving and receiving feedback is always sensitive and challenging. Coaching upwards requires bravery, however, if done immediately before emotions set in and when it occurs within a coaching culture, the coach can embrace it and it can bring great value to both parties.

The sales rep needs to be clear on their feedback and plan it out in advance, being ready with specific examples. A great way to start is to ask a ‘permission’ question. That way the sales managers have indicated they are open and willing to receive feedback. The sales rep should always show respect to the manager and focus on what is in it for the sales manager.

It requires some skills that a more junior person may not necessarily acquired early in their career. The sales rep also needs to feel safe to give upward coaching and a structured approach. Training & Development and HR can assist in building techniques and a culture where this is encouraged. Remember, often employees leave their managers, not the business. The relationship between the manager and the rep is critical to effective coaching. Who better to share feedback to the coach than the coachee?

Monitoring and measuring

Quality, not quantity, is the most important outcome. Forcing sales managers to spend time in field on ‘coaching days’ may not bring about the desired results and be frustrating for everyone. It remains a large part of their job, however the desired result is sales growth, customer satisfaction, high performing teams and low rep turnover.

If we focus on the desired outcome, and coaching research professes tailored coaching to the individual is best, then let’s empower the sales manager to make the decision on how much time, what to coach (based on substantiated evidence) and measure success through a new metric such as ROT (return on coaching time) and sales growth. If a sales manager is not getting a good return on their time spent on coaching, and the sales results are not there, then their manager should address that challenge – by coaching the coach.

Upskill the sales managers continuously in coaching techniques to keep their skills honed. For coaching to be effective, there needs to be trust between the parties, support from other functions such as Training & Development and HR, and a united mission in which ‘we are all in this together’.