The Sales Coaching Quadrant

Posted by Izzy Wakeling

In the graph below, we define each of the quadrants (and please resist the urge to get hung up on the wording, it is the axes which are the real point): Stars are those salespeople who regularly exceed expectations. They are always improving and could almost certainly handle tougher assignments. Solid performers usually meet – and sometimes exceed - expectations, but they are at or near their capacity and probably could not handle tougher work. Poor performers rarely, if ever, meet expectations. They cannot perform their current tasks adequately, and certainly cannot handle more difficult work. Underachievers are those salespeople who sometimes meet the requirements, but their work is not what it could be. With the right skills, or the right motivation, they could do far greater things.

The temptation for average managers is to leave the stars alone to achieve goodness on their own - on the assumption that they are doing just fine; ignore the underachievers, because they are often a source of frustration; spend time with the solid performers because it is easiest and spend far too much time with poor performers in the hopes of improving them. This couldn’t be less appropriate. Imagine a vertical line down the center: this is the great coaching divide. In world-class organisations, the research (and logic) shows that the greatest return on time investment is in sales coaching the star performers and those who have the potential to become star performers. They focus on the two right quadrants because that is where the payoff lies.

Figure 4 gives another perspective on whom to coach. Again, note the axes. Motivation is the vertical axis; Perception of Difficulty (how salespeople perceive their work) is the horizontal axis. The bottom left quadrant represents those salespeople who are self-motivated and perceive their work to be easy. These often high performers can be coached by simple show and tell. This group represents between 10 and 13 percent of the average sales force. The top left quadrant represents those salespeople who perceive their work to be easy, but who are externally motivated. These salespeople, representing between 35 and 40 percent of the average sales force, should be handled with incentives and rewards. The bottom right quadrant represents those salespeople who are self-motivated, but who perceive their work to be hard. They also represent between 35 and 40 percent of the sales force. These are people who will benefit massively from mentoring and great sales coaching. The fourth quadrant, those who are externally motivated and perceive the work to be difficult, are in the wrong job. These percentages, by the way, are absolutely predictable, as shown by the research.

These two illustrations reveal much about where to focus coaching time and attention. We are discussing business, not kindergarten - world-class companies are not egalitarian. They spend their coaching time and attention where they have the most potential to impact the business bottom line.

So what does great sales coaching in exceptional organisations look like?