3 Reasons Sales Managers Don’t Follow Up (And What To Do About It)

In any kind of coaching, whether it’s weight loss, fitness, or complex sales, follow-up is key to success. If you hire a coach to help you lose weight, you expect them to follow up. You tell them how much weight you want to lose, and agree on a plan. When you come in for your coaching appointment the next time, you expect them to ask whether you followed the plan. If you hire a trainer to help you get in shape, same thing. You expect to collaborate on a plan and then report back to them at each session.

But in sales coaching, managers often miss this critical step. They tell salespeople what quotas they have to hit, and possibly also them what activities they need to engage in to get there. But then very rarely follow up between one session and the next to see how they’re doing with the goals and tasks they set for themselves.

Why Follow-Up is Key

I used to go to a very professional and upscale sports massage clinic. Everything about the experience was smooth and professional except one thing: The therapist never seemed to remember from one session to the next what we had talked about. As a result, each session had to begin with me reminding them where my trouble areas were, what my goals were, and what I hoped to gain from the session.

I asked them why this was, and the therapist said they didn’t have a system for tracking. It struck me as very strange that they were so professional yet every time I went in, I had to take the time to re-educate the therapist on what to do. It created friction for me in what was otherwise a very seamless experience.

When coaches don’t follow up, a similar thing happens: Salespeople don’t feel seen, and it damages the rapport with their coach. But there are other consequences too.

Follow-up improves motivation. If you are going into your guitar teacher’s class and you know they will ask you if you practiced your drills that week, you are much more likely to practice your drills. Nobody wants to tell the coach (or teacher) that they didn’t do what they said they were going to do.

Additionally, when you follow up routinely, it’s easier to see and track progress. Because I had to re-educate my massage therapist every time, we couldn’t have a real conversation about my progress, because he couldn’t remember where I started.

3 Reasons We Don’t Follow Up

As I see it, there are three big reasons sales coaches don’t follow up with their salespeople:

1. They think follow-up is unwanted
2. They don’t remember what was discussed
3. They don’t know how

1. “Follow-Up Is Unwanted”

Nobody likes to have someone looking over their shoulder and micro-managing everything they do. Sometimes, sales managers feel like following up is a type of micromanaging. This comes from a mindset that “nobody likes to be held accountable.”

But the truth is, people do like to be held accountable to goals that matter to them. Great coaches don’t just tell salespeople what they need to do. They help them set their own goals, goals that matter to them. Then they help them to identify the activities and tasks they need to engage in to meet those goals.

When framed this way, following up becomes an act of care, motivating and empowering the salesperson to achieve what they want to achieve.

2. I Don’t Remember

If my massage therapist’s office had invested in tracking software, we could have had a more productive conversation each time. He could check in on my goals and experience, asks if there are any changes to what I’m working on, and discuss my progress.

Likewise, managers who are equipped with the right technology are enabled to have more productive conversations with their team members. That’s why Membrain Elevate has built-in tracking capability with customizable goals. Salespeople can track their progress against goals, and coaches can see at a glance both what was discussed last time, and how the salesperson is doing.

Coaching time can then focus less on whether the tasks were done, and more on what’s working, any problems the salesperson encountered, and how they can overcome them. In this way, the conversations are constantly building on each other instead of starting from scratch each time.

3. I Don’t Know How

Finally, coaches often stop short of following up because they don’t know how to do it in an effective way. Nobody wants to just run down a list and say, “Did you do this? Did you do that?”

Instead, coaches need skills and guidance to help them follow up well. It begins with goal setting and task commitments. Instead of dictating to the salesperson, a skilled coach collaborates with the salesperson to identify their own personal goals and motivations. For instance, “I want to exceed quota by 15% so that I can take my family on our dream vacation.”

Once the salesperson’s motivations are clear, then a great coach can work with them to identify what they need and what is in the way. They can set tasks and activities together. The salesperson then owns the task list, and makes a willing commitment to do it.

Then, for follow-up, the coach can simply ask: “Do you remember the goals and tasks you wanted to complete this month? How is that going?”

This removes friction and sets the stage for productive ongoing coaching conversations that help the salespeople meet their goals, and the company meet its quotas.

What do you think? Are your sales managers coaching effectively? Do they follow up consistently? Why or why not?