Three Sales Coaching Lessons I Learned While Skiing

I have always loved to ski. It’s one of those activities that inevitably gets me into a state of flow. I used to regularly, but recently realized it had been a while. I was talking to a friend about this, and they suggested I check out a skiing community that focuses on helping everyone improve their skiing skills.

I’ve skied most of my life and never intended to compete, so it never occurred to me that I could benefit from coaching. But this group sounded fun, so I joined.

The community is run by professional ski instructors with a specific methodology and approach that helps skiers at all levels improve their skills from wherever they are. They were having a meetup in Gaschurn, so I decided to join them.

In the course of just a few days, I felt noticeable progress. And it felt good.

It occurred to me that if exceptional coaching could help me that much with a hobby, in that short period of time, sales coaches could learn a lot from their approach.

Here are three things they did that can help us do sales coaching better.

1. They Focus On What Matters–One Thing At A Time
   Compared to a lot of folks, my skiing skills are mediocre at best. There are a lot of things I could do to improve. But trying to improve everything at once can be overwhelming and demotivating.
   
   The ski instructors worked with each of us individually, watched us ski, video recorded us skiing, analyzed what we were doing, and then chose a single focus area that they knew would help us most.
   
   In my case, they noticed that I was placing my weight on my heels, and it was negatively affecting my balance and ability to turn. Instead of telling me everything I could do to improve, they asked me to consider what my feet felt like in my turns and then to try changing where I placed my weight.
   
   This one change immediately improved my balance and maneuverability. I was sold!
   
   In a sales context, sales coaches often have multiple salespeople at different levels and with different challenges reporting to them. Sales organizations often throw all these folks into one-size-fits-all training and hope they get what they need. Sales managers may feel pressured to improve general areas across the board, such as different activity levels and skills.
   
   Even if managers are focusing on individuals, very often, they’re trying to get salespeople to change a bunch of important things at the same time. But when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.
   
   When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority

   George Brontén
   It’s not really anyone’s fault because most of the time, we don’t even have visibility to know what the most important things are for each salesperson.
   
   Membrain and our upcoming product module, Membrain Elevate, will change that. Our process-based platform provides the insights over time that enable a coach to see where each salesperson is succeeding, where they’re struggling, and what would help them most. Armed with this information, coaches can help each salesperson focus on the area of improvement that will give them the biggest gains the fastest.
2. They Help You Focus On What You Love
   Early in the weekend, the coaches took some time to ask me about why I was there. Not just what I hoped to learn, but what brought me to the sport of skiing to begin with.
   
   This may sound like a “soft” thing to focus on, but it ended up really helping. I realized that I love the sun on my face, the natural setting, the speed going down the slope, and the feeling of control over my body and movement.
   
   Once the instructors understood what my motivating factors were, they used those to help me improve. For instance, when they asked me to focus on the weight on my feet, they asked me as well to see if it changed my experience of control over my body and movement.
   
   And it did!
   
   So, not only did I get to improve my skills, I got to improve them in a way that significantly improved my experience and enjoyment. This was highly motivating and caused me to want more.
   
   In sales, we often mistakenly assume that salespeople are primarily motivated by money. So, we tie all our compensation, motivation, and inspiration to that. But most salespeople have many reasons for being in the profession, especially those who stick around. Many of them love the challenge of “the game,” the fun of meeting new people, the friendly competition, or the knowledge that they’re contributing to the growth of their company. Even when money is the primary motivator, it often has deeper motivations–I want to buy a lake house, I want to take my family on vacations, I want to drive nice cars.
   
   When coaches take the time to understand what truly motivates their people, they can coach to the motivation. Instead of “do this and you’ll make more money,” they can ask salespeople to notice how making a change in their approach changes their ability to win, to meet more people, or to buy that new boat.
3. They Ask Questions and Leave Room For Discovery
   Finally, one thing I noticed right away is that the ski instructors never dictated what we should do. They didn’t point out what we were doing wrong or tell us what to do better.
   
   Instead, they asked questions and allowed us to discover the changes we wanted.
   
   They didn’t tell me, “Move your weight forward on your foot.”
   
   They asked me, “How did your toes feel in that turn?”
   
   They asked me what would happen if I shifted my weight. 
   
   “How does that change the way that toe feels?”
   
   This way of coaching is much more effective than dictation because it caused me to tune into my own body and way of doing things and experience the outcome of changes for myself. I bought into the changes because I could immediately feel how they changed things.

Sales coaches should use discovery questions to help salespeople understand where they can improve, too. For instance, instead of saying, “You should approach the prospect this way,” you can ask, “What happens when you say XYZ to the prospect? What would happen if you used another question instead?”

Combined with the focus on what matters and what motivates, this questioning approach can be a game-changer in coaching.

I truly believe that when salespeople can see how to improve, experience it for themselves, and align it with what matters most to them, that sales organizations can see massive improvements in performance. What do you think?