Why Developing Managers into Effective Coaches is Essential for Your Organization's Success

In sales, everything comes down to one thing: revenue. It's the primary measure of success for most sales teams, and managers are often held accountable for driving it. But hitting revenue targets doesn't happen by chance. It requires a consistent, focused effort from sales managers, especially when it comes to coaching their teams.

Yet, many managers are promoted without being equipped to effectively coach their reps through the deal-closing process. This is where the problem begins.

Without the right coaching skills, sales managers risk leaving their teams unprepared to meet their revenue goals. Coaching that is too broad, general, or misaligned with actual deals can result in missed opportunities, lost revenue, and unmet targets. Developing managers into effective coaches, especially deal-specific coaches, is the key to driving revenue growth.

Here's why coaching matters so much—and how companies can better prepare their managers to lead teams to success.

Revenue-Driven Coaching: Why It Matters

Sales is a numbers game, but it's not just about how many deals are in the pipeline—it's about which deals are likely to close. Revenue is often the primary metric that determines whether a sales team is successful. If this is the case, then coaching must be directly tied to the revenue-generating activities of each rep. In other words, if revenue is the goal, coaching needs to focus on the deals and opportunities that will generate that revenue.

When managers focus on coaching the actual deals, they're giving reps the support they need to navigate challenges, make progress, and ultimately close. Coaching that's too broad—focused on general skills or tactics—can leave reps ill-prepared to move specific opportunities through the pipeline. Sales reps need actionable guidance to overcome objections, tailor their approach to the client, and keep the deal moving forward. When managers coach with revenue in mind, the focus shifts from theoretical to practical, and the results follow.

Coaching the Deal vs. Coaching Skills

There's no question that salespeople need general coaching on techniques, skills, and overall strategy. After all, building a foundation of solid selling skills is important for long-term success. But when revenue is on the line, the focus of coaching needs to be on the deals in the pipeline.

Deal-specific coaching allows managers to work directly with their reps on the actions that will move a particular opportunity forward. This type of coaching doesn't focus on theoretical selling principles but on the specific steps a rep needs to take with a client to close the deal. This might involve tackling objections, engaging key stakeholders, or fine-tuning the proposal. The goal is to provide real-time, actionable guidance that can directly impact the deal's outcome.

By focusing on the deal, managers help their reps connect what they're learning in general coaching sessions with the real-world situations they're facing in their pipeline. This approach not only accelerates deal progress but also helps reps build confidence and skill in managing complex sales cycles.

How Deal/Opportunity Coaching Impacts Revenue

When managers focus their coaching on actual deals, the impact on revenue is significant. Every coaching session becomes an opportunity to align sales reps' strategies with the company's revenue goals. By diving into the details of each deal—identifying buyer objections, understanding decision-making timelines, and clarifying stakeholder roles—managers help reps tailor their approach, leading to higher win rates and more accurate revenue forecasting.

For example, a sales manager might coach a rep on how to engage a key decision-maker who's been unresponsive, or how to overcome a pricing objection that's stalling the deal. This kind of specific, targeted coaching is much more effective at driving revenue than generic feedback about improving sales techniques. The manager is actively guidingthe rep to close the deal, which directly influences the team's overall performance.

The Role of Data and AI in Deal Coaching

In the age of technology, data is critical to effective coaching. Managers no longer need to rely on guesswork or intuition to coach their sales reps—AI-driven tools can provide real-time insights into what's working and what isn't. Tools like Core AI's CoNNIE™ can analyze sales conversations and track the progression of deals to give managers the data they need to coach more effectively.

AI can highlight which deals are at risk, what objections are surfacing, and how reps are performing against historical benchmarks. For instance, if a deal has stalled because a key stakeholder hasn't been engaged, CoNNIE™ can alert the manager, allowing them to coach the rep on how to re-engage and move the deal forward. This data-driven approach ensures that coaching is aligned with actual deal progress, not just a rep's subjective account of where things stand.

By leveraging CoNNIE's AI-powered insights, managers can coach based on facts and trends rather than relying solely on gut instinct. This makes deal coaching more strategic and ensures that every interaction is moving the needle in the right direction.

Consistency in Deal Coaching

Consistency is key when it comes to deal coaching. Many managers focus their coaching efforts at the end of the quarter when it's time to hit targets, but that's often too late. Effective coaching should happen consistently throughout the sales cycle. Regular deal-specific coaching keeps reps proactive, adjusting their strategies as deals progress rather than scrambling to make last-minute changes.

Consistent coaching also creates a feedback loop that leads to continuous improvement. As managers coach their reps on specific deals, they gather more insights about what's working and what isn't, which helps them refine their approach over time. This cycle of regular coaching and feedback helps reps develop their skills, close more deals, and steadily improve their performance.

Shifting from Process to Outcome

One of the biggest mistakes sales managers make is focusing too much on the process and not enough on the outcome. While making more calls, following up, and building rapport are all important parts of the sales process, they don't always lead to immediate wins. When revenue is the goal, managers need to coach toward outcomes—specifically, closing deals, overcoming objections, and securing client commitments.

Coaching the opportunity means focusing on what will drive the deal to completion. This might mean helping a rep navigate a complex buying committee, advising on how to address a competitor's offering, or providing guidance on closing techniques. By focusing on outcomes, managers help their reps achieve real results, not just move through the motions of the sales process.

Creating Accountability Through Deal Coaching

Accountability is another key benefit of deal-specific coaching. When managers coach to the deal, they create a sense of responsibility for both themselves and their reps. Reps know that they'll need to discuss the specifics of their deals in every coaching session, which pushes them to stay on top of their pipeline and think strategically about each opportunity.

This level of accountability encourages reps to be prepared, proactive, and thoughtful in their approach to each deal. It also creates a stronger partnership between the manager and the rep, as both are working toward the common goal of closing deals and driving revenue. When everyone is aligned and accountable, the chances of success are much higher.

The Strategic Takeaway

If revenue is the metric by which a sales manager and their team are evaluated, coaching needs to be laser-focused on the deals and opportunities in play. General coaching is useful, but when revenue is on the line, deal-specific coaching is where the real impact happens.

By shifting the focus of coaching to the details of actual deals, managers can help their reps close more deals, improve win rates, and align their efforts with the company's revenue goals. Consistent, data-driven coaching that prioritizes outcomes over process creates a feedback loop that drives continuous improvement, both for individual reps and for the team as a whole.

The message is clear: companies that invest in developing their sales managers into effective deal coaches are investingin their bottom line. When managers are equipped to coach toward revenue goals, everyone wins.