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    Sales coaching · ICF Code of Ethics*

    What if your salespeople's performance depended on your questions,
    not your answers?

    Managers have been trained to have the right answers. Few have learnt that coaching is the opposite: asking the questions that drive progress.

    Book a 30-minute conversation

    *ICF Code of Ethics: professionalism, collaboration, humanity, fairness.

    What you experience every week

    You support your salespeople. But are you really developing them?

    You go into a pipeline review. You look at the numbers, you ask about closing dates, you leave. Your salespeople leave too, without having made progress on what's really holding them back.

    You were promoted because you sold well. You learnt to assess a deal, spot an opportunity and close. Developing a salesperson’s skills takes a different approach. Becoming a manager does not teach you how.

    63%
    of organisations still take a random or informal approach to sales coaching.
    This is not a criticism. It is a structural blind spot. CSO Insights, Sales Enablement Study.
    +0%
    quota attainment
    vs. teams without structured coaching
    +0%
    win rate
    on deals with a formalised coaching debrief
    -0%
    sales staff turnover
    coached salespeople stay longer

    Korn Ferry, 2024 Sales Maturity Survey.

    Definition · Origin · Framework

    What is coaching really?

    Everyone says, "I coach my team."
    Almost no one actually does.

    Sir John Whitmore, 1992

    Developing a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. Helping them learn, rather than teaching them.

    ICF, international definition

    A partnership that inspires the client to maximise their potential through a creative thinking process.

    Both definitions make the same point

    The solution always comes from the person being coached.
    Never from the coach.

    Our
    approach

    Solution-focused Ericksonian coaching, for salespeople and managers alike. No analysis of the past. We start with what already works.

    Fast and action-focused, this approach works around resistance to change where training falls short. It draws on existing strengths to achieve goals set by the person being coached.

    Active listening, no judgement and full attention to what the coachee says. The coach does not assess, judge or direct. They create space for reflection.

    At the end of each session

    The person being coached leaves with a clear action plan they have developed themselves: objectives, practical actions and progress measures. Measurable commitments to meet before the next session.

    Session format
    30 to 45 min
    in person or by video
    1 /week
    or every 2 weeks
    3 months
    minimum, renewable up to 12 months
    1st conversation
    30 min to define objectives and contract
    Additional support
    AI practice between sessions
    Sales simulations, demanding virtual clients, instant feedback on objections and negotiation. Continuous practice without risking real prospects.
    CRM data grounds the coaching in reality
    Conversion rates, pipeline, cycle length. What is measured cannot be denied. Coaching starts from reality, not from the perception of it.
    ICF framework

    Our coaching follows the ICF code of ethics: absolute confidentiality, a clear contract and ethical practice throughout.

    HR Director / HR Manager

    Sales coaching offers measurable HR outcomes: management development, talent retention and team performance. A structured approach to include in your development policies.

    Beyond the deal

    Coaching a deal is just one fifth of the job.

    Coaching a deal after a meeting is useful. It is also the easiest dimension, and only one of five.

    You train a salesperson in a technique. You never touch the belief stopping them from applying it.

    A salesperson knows they should qualify budget at the first meeting. They don't. Not for lack of knowledge. For fear of breaking rapport with the contact. That's a belief. Training doesn't address it. Coaching does.

    Before the meetingaddress the limiting belief
    Duringmake the new behaviour stick
    Afterconsolidate

    What's the next step? Who else needs convincing on this deal? Which objection is really blocking progress? This coaching happens deal by deal, at the pace of what's happening in the field this week.

    Where are deals stalling for no clear reason? Is the forecast reliable or optimistic? This coaching examines the pace and quality of all current deals, not the health of just one.

    Who are the real stakeholders at this account? What happens if the main contact changes role? This coaching supports a relationship over several years, not just the next sale.

    Which accounts should you focus on this year? Which deserve less time? This coaching directs sales effort across a sector or geographical area, not a single account.

    How far does coaching go?

    Performance, the individual, the team.

    The 5 dimensions above. What happens in and around the meeting.

    Leads and opportunitiesPipeline / funnelSkills and behavioursAccountsTerritory
    Salespeople

    Objectives, action plan, career plan, blind spots, frustration, motivation.

    Managers

    The isolation of the role, credibility as a leader, guiding people rather than doing their work for them.

    2024 study, Journal of Business Research: loneliness and social insecurity linked to sales performance. Harvard Business Publishing: managerial loneliness hits newly promoted first-line managers hardest.

    A sales team does not naturally work as a unit. Its members are paid on individual performance and compete for the same resources: the best leads, key accounts and the manager’s attention.

    A study conducted over two years on 180 teams sought what distinguishes those that perform from those that stagnate. The #1 factor was neither talent, nor compensation, nor seniority. It was psychological safety: the ability to take a risk, flag a deal going wrong, admit a qualification error, share a method, without paying the price alone.

    This coaching does not seek to eliminate individual competition. It is structural and often healthy. It builds the conditions in which the team becomes stronger than the sum of its members: collective reviews without judgement, sharing practices without penalty, alignment around a common sales logic.

    Primary scope: the sales team. This can extend to the executive committee or work between sales and marketing when tension between functions creates a measurable sales cost.

    Google, Project Aristotle, 2012-2014. Amy Edmondson, The Fearless Organization, Harvard Business School, 2018.

    Want to know where your organisation stands on these 5 dimensions?

    A 30-minute conversation is enough to find out.

    Book a 30-minute conversation
    Next step

    Assess before you prescribe.

    I never recommend a format before understanding where you stand on performance, people and teamwork.

    Book a 30-minute conversation

    Email us. We reply within 24 hours.