Sales Coaching: A New Edition

I bought Linda Richardson's book, "Sales Coaching: Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach" when it was first published in 1996. For me, it was one of those books you read where you find yourself thinking, "I wish I would have written this book!" As a believer in the importance of sales manager's who coach, it was the best book on Sales Coaching I had ever read.

Now Linda's book is being released in a revised and expanded second edition. If you're a sales manager, get this book.

The principles of the first edition remain in this new edition, but special attention has now been given to streamlining Linda's Developmental Sales Coaching Model. Additions to this edition include remote coaching and a discussion of technology.

I admire Linda's Developmental Sales Coaching model:

1. Connect and Clarify
2. Compare Perceptions
3. Consider Obstacles
4. Construct to Remove Obstacle
5. Commit to Action

Linda believes the power of sales coaching is in the questions you ask (not unlike the power of selling lying in the questions one asks!). I agree. Questions are the secret strategy of effective sales coaches.

This book is not for sales managers who believe their job is to be the top seller in an organization. Nor is it intended for the sales manager who spends the entire day hunkered down in front of his computer in his office. This book is for the sales manager that understands that her biggest impact on her company will be achieved by rolling up sleeves and digging deeply into the sales behaviors of each of her sales people. For that kind of sales manager (and I wish there were many more of them), this book leads the way.

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Speaking of sales coaching, for a limited time, I'm offering a free 50 minute sales coaching session to any of my readers who are business-to-consumer sales representatives, sales managers, or business owners. Contact me for more information here or call our office at 651.681.8568.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.