Coaching to Win!™ leadership builds high performing teams

Ascend Commercial Solutions developed our Coaching to Win! ™ program with focus on the essential fundamentals for leading and developing high performing sales teams. We recognize that commercial success is dependent on the highly effective and motivated salesperson working most productively to earn the targeted share of their customer’s purchase. The role of the Sales Leader is pivotal to building this sales capability and inspiring their team members to deliver revenue growth, both today and into the future. 

Although we targeted Sales Leaders when designing Coaching to Win! ™, this workshop is applicable to other functional groups who desire to increase productivity by empowering their work teams. Yet another example of Sales Skills are Life Skills™!

The four elements of Coaching to Win! ™ are Lead - Educate - Guide - Coach 

Lead prioritizes the elements of informal authority over formal authority to genuinely motivate team members to achieve organizational goals. We explore how the 5Es of Leadership, Sales Character, and Growth Mindset combine to align and inspire. 

There is a difference between Leading and Managing.   A participant in a recent Coaching to Win!™ workshop shared that when he interviews prospective managers, he asks them about their managerial style. After discussing their answer, he then asks about their leadership style.  He related how frequently their answers are essentially the same – they have yet to learn the essence of leading. 

Educate explores adult learning principles to build capability and generate good training conversations.   It all starts with assessing  where our team members are in their learning journey – their Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes and Habits to be successful in their jobs.  By integrating a deeper awareness of Adult Learning and utilizing structured training processes we build individual capability for increased performance. 

The 70/20/10 learning approach emphasizes learning-by-doing under the tutelage of a good coach which underscores how great leaders build high performing teams. Many of us have experienced wonderful workshops where we left filled with wisdom, only to watch this wisdom erode over time. Ascend Commercial Solutions integrates “Stay the Course” sessions into our programs to reinforce what was learned and utilize case study coaching and roll-plays to build productive Habits that cement this new capability.

Guide increases our team’s productivity by focusing on the highest priority work, minimizing low impact activities, and applying effective feedback tools. Effectively using feedback builds a culture of respect – “feedback is a gift”. 

During the most recent Coaching to Win!™ workshop we discussed the difficulties many find when providing Supportive Feedback; which should motivate desired behaviors. Not having the time and fear of missing someone are two common justifications. With this low baseline for Supportive Feedback, the Constructive Feedback which should be influencing a change in behavior often gets missed…until it is too late and dramatic intervention is needed. 

Coach teaches us how to flex our management style to unlock our team member’s potential to maximize their own potential. Utilizing GROW Coaching, delegation skills, and keen insight into intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, we take simple steps toward building new skills, contributing at a higher level, and increasing job satisfaction.

Ascend is an advocate of GROW Coaching.  Although GROW Coaching was developed as a tool for more productive 1:1 boss/sub interactions, it has broader application to manage change and strategic planning.  The salesperson can apply GROW to design greater impact sales territory and customer account Action Plans. The Sales Manager can use GROW to envision a future state for their Sales Team. Although not Urgent, making longer term planning a Priority will increase the productivity of our team.

Many of the concepts we explore are neither binary nor prescriptive – our roles are a blend of leader and manager, each of us have both Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset, the 70/20/10 Adult Learning ratio is a guideline for breakthrough accomplishment versus a precise ratio. Recognizing the nuances are key to leading our teams to higher productivity and contribution.

If you would like to learn how you can: 

• Harness the power of Coaching to Win!™  to amplify the beneficial impact your leadership team makes on their team’s success. 
• Schedule individual Coaching to Win!™ development sessions to build your personal capability to Lead, Educate, Guide and Coach your team.
• Learn how to apply GROW Coaching to construct robust business plans and organizational strategies.
• Apply Sales Skills are Life Skills™  to increase your ability to influence and motivate, as well as hold your team accountable for professional and personal objectives.

Feel free to sign up for a no-obligation 30-minute review of your challenges and possible actions we may take to overcome them by pressing the “Get Started” button on LinkedIn or “Let’s Talk!” button on the AscendCommercialSolutions.com website. 

Happy Selling!

George

Ascend Commercial Solutions brings our expertise in Customer Engagement, Sales Management, and Market Development to overcome your barriers to growth. Our structured approach is tailored to your specific company objectives and the challenges you face. The improvements to your business and organization will stand the test of time.