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B U I L D I N G A C U L T U R E O F

COACHING IN YOUR SALES ORGANIZATION

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THE HIREVUE COACH MANIFESTO

PHASE 2 Implement Skill Mastery

INTRODUCTION Why Coaching Matters

PHASE 3 Reinforce a Culture of Coaching

THE 3 PHASES Building a Culture of Coaching

CONCLUSION

PHASE 1 Develop Coaching Plans

ABOUT HIREVUE COACH

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04 17

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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YOUR SALES TEAM FORGETS YOUR TRAINING EFFORT WITHIN HOURS, NOT WEEKS.

WILL YOU HELP YOUR PEOPLE FIND THE COACHES THEY DESERVE, OR ASSUME THEY’LL GET LUCKY WITH THE PERFECT SALES MANAGER?

THEY NEED A GREAT COACH. SOMEONE IN THEIR CORNER

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DO REMEMBER?

TIME TO STOP WASTING YOUR BUDGET BECAUSE ‘WE FORGOT ALREADY’.

TIME TO BUILD A STRONG CULTURE OF COACHING E X C E L L E N C E .

WHETHER YOU ADMIT

IT OR NOT,

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, FORGET TING HAPPENS.

I T ’ S N O T A B O U T H A V I N G T H E A T T E N T I O NS P A N O F A G O L D F I S H E I T H E R , I T ’ S A B O U T

THE SCIENCE OF FORGETTING. Don’t take it personally - they seriously can’t help i t .

THE ACTIONS AND BEHAVIORS THAT HAVE BECOME HABIT.The f low of a p i tch that just ro l l s of f the i r tongues . They remember what they ’ve unconsc ious ly mas te red because tha t ’ s the i r zone - good or bad . Bu t . . . have they mas te red the r igh t th ings?

SOMEONE WHO CAN MAKE THE RIGHT SKILLS AND BEHAVIORS SECOND NATURE.

MASTERING THE RIGHT OR WRONG SKILLS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSISTENT SUCCESS OR FAILURE.

THEY DON’T NEED MORE TRAINING MODULES. who truly gets them & roots for their success.

IT’S TIME FOR US ALL TO START TAKING CONTROL.

Someone who wants nothing more than to

STEER THAT MASTERY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.Wil l you take control of what ’s being mastered, or leave i t to chance?

THE HIREVUE COACH MANIFESTO

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It hurts to say it out loud but the sooner we accept it, the sooner we can do something about it. Something that actually works.

What about sales training? It’s necessary, but 75% of sales training is forgotten within six days.

Ride-alongs? Absolutely. A great way to see your people pitching in front of real, live prospects and give them feedback to improve on the ride home. Solid plan, if you don’t mind your salespeople practicing in front of prospects.

Typically, feedback for sales reps comes after a misstep. Your salespeople want to know more than simply what isn’t working. They want to improve and ultimately master their skills and techniques.

INTRODUCTION | WHY COACHING MATTERS

66% 75%of sales training is forgotten within six days.

of salespeople cannot articulate their solution’s value proposition.*

Practicing in front of prospects is costly when deals don’t close because reps are not prepared” YOUR CFO

*source: Gartner in a survey of executive buyers

5*source: HireVue Coach Customers

INTRODUCTION | COACHING DRIVES PERFORMANCE

This isn’t to say you aren’t coaching your team now. Maybe some of your sales managers understand coaching. However, there is a significant difference between ad hoc coaching and the empowering mindset of a coaching culture. Ad hoc coaching is also very difficult to scale. Likewise, the feedback your salespeople are getting is probably focused on hitting numbers, and rarely focuses on improving their process and skills to impact future performance.

Despite your commitment to ongoing sales training, without repetition and practice, not much of that training gets weaponized.

What kind of impact would these metrics make in your sales organization next year?

65%

WIN RATE

25% higher win rate*

greater pipeline growth*

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INTRODUCTION | TRAINING WITHOUT REINFORCEMENT DOESN’T WORK

FORGETTING CURVE

100%

Immediate 20 min. 1 hr. 9 hrs.

ELAPSED TIME SINCE LEARNING

RE

TE

NT

ION

%

1 day 2 days 6 days 31 days

80%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

100%

36%

33%

28%

21%

60%

25%

44%

The “forgetting curve” tells us that we lose 75% of information learned after just 6 days if there is no attempt to retain it. Reality check: By the end of your sales training week, most of the information is forgotten.

75%of new information is forgotten in 6 days

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INTRODUCTION | WHY WE NEED COACHING CULTURES

According to the International Coach Federation, coaching is defined as, An interactive process to help individuals and organizations develop more rapidly and produce more satisfying results; improving other’s ability to set goals, take action, make better decisions and make full use of their natural strengths.

In short, an interactive process to help people get better results sooner while improving personal capabilities.

Less than 35% of sales organizations provide a way to practice customer conversations.

Coaching gives salespeople many opportunities to practice so they can improve their performance and quota attainment. Your salespeople need coaching to reach their full potential. Coaching can reduce average ramp time for new reps and get more reps hitting quota. Training with coaching reinforcement is four times more effective than training alone.

Coaching is...

*source: CSO Insights **source: CEB

45% 4xTraining + Coaching is 4x more effective than training alone.**

of Sales Reps missed quota in 2015*

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01 02 03DEVELOP COACHING PLANS

Identify skill gaps and goals for each team member.

IMPLEMENT SKILL MASTERY

Improve and refine skills through a coaching process.

REINFORCE A CULTURE OF COACHING

Make it part of everything you do.

I absolutely believe that people, unless coached,

never reach their maximum capabilities.”

BOB NARDELLI, CEO HOME DEPOT

BUILDING A CULTURE OF COACHING | THE 3 PHASES

PHASE PHASE PHASE

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DEVELOP COACHING PLANS

01PHASE

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STEP 1

Identify the skills your team needs, like objection handling, product and pricing differentiation, stories about your offering that focus on customer pain points, demo skills.

STEP 2

Assess each rep’s performance on each skill using the Skill Mastery Pyramid on the next page.

STEP 3

Create a coaching plan for each team member to close skill gaps found in Step 2. Each sales rep will have different skills they need to develop.

STEP 4

Gain commitments from your team around the frequency of coaching sessions and regular updates on progress toward mastery goals.

PHASE 1 | DEVELOP COACHING PLANS

The truth is, most organizations assume sales managers already know how to effectively coach. After all, in most companies it’s simply expected - managers will be the main go-to for guidance and direction. But that’s not always accurate. Being a salesperson and being a sales manager require different skillsets and abilities.

Follow these steps to develop coaching plans for your salespeople to ensure effective coaching.

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5

4

3

2

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CONSISTENCYSkill becomes second nature. Able to demonstrate how it’s done with little to no thought or preparation AND in various complex situations with a high degree of accuracy and quality.

AGILITYAble to adapt skill to various complex situations AND with a high degree of accuracy and quality.

PROFICIENCYAble to demonstrate how something should be done with a high degree of accuracy and quality.

COMPETENCYAble to sufficiently demonstrate how something should be done.

UNDERSTANDINGAble to give all the right answers to how something should be done.

PHASE 1 | SKILL MASTERY PYRAMID

Coaching plans should move reps from one level to the next with target timelines for each step.

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THE MORE YOU PRACTICE THE RIGHT MOVES, THE DEEPER THE MEMORY PATH (MUSCLE MEMORY). THE TRICK IS TO MAKE THE CORRECT PATHS AS DEEP AS POSSIBLE AND THE INCORRECT PATHS SHALLOW OR NONEXISTENT.”MARK MORGAN FORD, “EARLY TO RISE”

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IMPLEMENT SKILL MASTERY

02PHASE

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PHASE 2 | IMPLEMENT SKILL MASTERY

You have developed coaching plans for each team member based on their skill gaps. Now help them master each skill with a structured process. By following the process outlined in the Mastery Cycle (next page) your team members will develop skill mastery that will eventually evolve into role mastery.

Establish a regular routine that gives your team the opportunity to maintain and expand their expertise across a variety of skills. If routines are not in place and embedded in what people do every day, every week, every month, the practice of coaching will fade, and the skill and performance gains will fade with it.

Establish a regular routine that gives your team the opportunity to maintain and expand their expertise across a variety of skills.

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PHASE 2 | THE MASTERY CYCLE

L E A R N F E E D B A C K

M A S T E R Y

C O A C H P R A C T I C E

Teach team members with a simple but comprehensive overview of the

fundamental techniques for the targeted skills. At this stage, the focus should be

on answering the question, “How do I do that?” before practice or application of

the new skills.

Provide the ability for peers, identified experts, and coaches to give immediate feedback on skills, behaviors and techniques. Ensure feedback is in response to the demonstration of a specific skill, rather than a general evaluation of one’s performance. And don’t overwhelm with everything they could work on at once. Focus on a single, simple action that will have the most impact on performance.

Coaching is informed by feedback identifying what specific actions can be taken to quickly influence future performance. It is the art of balancing insightful questions that promote

self-discovery with direct suggestions that facilitate adherence to best practices. With a healthy dose of encouragement reps should look forward to what they will accomplish as

they continue to grow.

Provide a simple-to-use platform, like video, to allow team members to demonstrate skills, behaviors, and techniques. Enable them to practice using chunked “skill drills” within specific, realistic, and common contexts. Provide reference points or a guide for desired behaviors to allow self-assessment and “correction” of their techniques against demonstrated mastery from an expert.

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4 2

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ALL COACHES HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON, IT’S THAT THEY ARE RUTHLESSLY RESULTS-ORIENTED.”FAST COMPANY MAGAZINE

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REINFORCE A CULTURE OF COACHING

03PHASE

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PHASE 3 | REINFORCE A CULTURE OF COACHING

A culture is a way of life. Second nature. Habits. In sales coaching, where your sales reps develop these habits matters. Building a culture of coaching isn’t going to happen overnight. There is no single event or transaction that will flip the switch. It’s a process of transforming your organization with successes and setbacks that require commitment and patience.

It’s a process of transforming your organization with successes and setbacks that require commitment and patience.

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Hold competitions and reward those who fully invest in the purpose of these events - practice and growth.

Identify appropriate rewards and recognize teams and individuals (e.g., President’s Club, gift cards, congratulations from senior leaders).

Publicly recognize best practice examples with the whole team.

Partner with your recruiters to develop an interviewing process and questions specifically designed to uncover those who have a core philosophy that demonstrates coachability and a deep hunger for learning, no matter how many years of experience they have.

RECRUITINGYour culture is largely the sum of your people - their values, behaviors and attitudes. Recruit people who share a passion for learning and growing their own and others’ careers.

RECOGNITIONPublicly recognize and reward top performance, participation and progress. Recognition can provide a great opportunity to highlight examples for those searching for a model to follow, or behaviors to replicate.

Measure the impact practice, feedback and coaching has on business performance and identify direct correlations between participation of these activities on KPIs (e.g., quota attainment, pipeline growth).

Capture successes and stories at all levels and broadcast them publicly to celebrate wins of your new coaching culture - big and small.

Establish clear responsibility for the progress and impact of coaching programs, and provide insightful recommendations for continual improvement.

RESULTSArticulating meaningful results will further embed a culture of coaching into routine business processes and practices.

PHASE 3 | THREE R’S TO MAKE COACHING A PART OF EVERYTHING YOU DO

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CONCLUSION | TAKE THE FIRST STEP

Sometimes the hardest step is the first step. But once you take it, keep going! Learning is in the doing. Over time, you’ll notice what works and what doesn’t. Move beyond just noticing and do. Improve. Refine and keep going.

Move beyond just noticing and do.

Improve.

Refine and keep going.

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ABOUT | HIREVUE COACH

HireVue Coach is a mobile video platform for sales reps to practice their pitch and receive ongoing coaching. Managers watch their team members’ recorded sessions and provide feedback in the platform, finally making coaching scalable across large teams and helping sales teams achieve their goals.

HireVue’s Team Acceleration software combines digital video with predictive analytics to help companies build and coach higher performing teams. HireVue works with more than 600 of the world’s most successful companies, including American Express, GE, Nike, Chipotle, Nordstrom, Red Bull, Under Armour and Hilton Worldwide--as well as hundreds of successful small and mid-sized businesses in over 100 countries. AUTHORS

Derek Mercer General Manager, HireVue Coach

Brett Andersen Director, Coaching & Consulting Services

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