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How to Prepare for the Future of Sales Coaching

by | Blog

Cutting-edge sales organizations are utilizing real-time feedback and applying advanced sales coaching analytics to develop, retain, and empower their growing millennial work forces.

Millennial Sales Professionals

Currently, sales organizations are losing talent and money because they cannot effectively engage and retain their Millennial employees. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, over the last 20 years, the number of companies people worked for in the five years following graduation has nearly doubled.  This issue requires urgent attention: Millennials currently represent 40% of the workforce, and will only become more common in years to come. To attain success, businesses must drive engagement and loyalty among Millennials to increase sales force retention and productivity.  How can businesses improve these crucial metrics? According to recent Gallup research “How Millennials Want to Work and Live,” Millennials want much more frequent feedback, better quality feedback, engaging work, and a coach as opposed to a boss (Crowley 2016).

Consequently, companies are drastically revamping organizational feedback processes regarding sales coaching to optimize millennial performance and engagement.  Millennials want an increased quantity of feedback, but also scrutinize feedback quality (Hernandez, 2015). According to a 2018 Harvard Business Review article, many employees, millennials included, currently filter feedback out of fear of retaliation.  However, filtered feedback does not spark change, and thus does not generate improvement. Millennials need direct, honest feedback to continuously improve and remain engaged.  Lastly, as the most tech-savvy working generation ever, Millennials are comfortable communicating important and even potentially emotional information electronically. Consequently, companies should incorporate technology to enhance traditional feedback mechanisms for maximized performance.

Real-Time Feedback

Many industry leaders, such as General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Adobe, Accenture, and Morgan Stanley, are transitioning towards real-time feedback to improve feedback quality and emphasize coaching and collaboration. We discuss GE’s app-supported shift to real-time feedback, as well as the many benefits of real-time, in greater detail here, but the results are astonishing: overall, the company saw a 5x improvement in performance and is rolling out its pilot organization-wide.  (Baldassarre, Finken, 2015). Our clients have experienced similar gains. For instance, one of our clients in financial services used DevelapMe among their sales managers and sales representatives to drive desirable sales force behaviors.  We found that managers who regularly gave feedback and coaching to their sales representatives on sales-specific behaviors using DevelapMe experienced between 8% and 120% higher team productivity when compared to other sales managers not coaching their sales representatives as regularly.  Utilizing technology and real-time feedback creates a culture of shared accountability, continuous dialogue, and enhanced coaching to drive performance.

Advanced Sales Coaching Analytics

Sales coaching analytics allow leadership to x-ray the sales organization and immediately understand the specific sales techniques managers are using to coach their sales professionals–and to what extent that coaching is driving sales outcomes. Leadership can leverage this information to dramatically improve productivity and reduce turnover. Most top sales companies have sophisticated processes for measuring and managing the sales process, as well as robust sales training programs that give sales professionals techniques to increase sales effectiveness. However, sales coaching analytics on demonstrated behaviors let companies dig deeper. Competency-based analytics enhance coaching because leaders can access comprehensive data regarding sales manager actions to ensure managers develop the right behaviors in their sales professionals.

A Powerful Partnership

Like GE, many companies are turning to real-time tools to gain these analytical insights. The Leadership Analytics Group – powered by DevelapMe, a real-time sales coaching feedback app, is one such tool.  DevelapMe enables sales managers to quickly and easily deliver and track sales coaching, producing a real-time sales coaching scorecard for the sales consultant and sales management, throughout the entire sales organization. The DevelapMe scorecard is unique because it focuses on sales coaching behaviors as opposed to standard sales metrics. For example, most organizations track number of appointments obtained per sales consultant per week. However, these desirable outcomes are only produced through successful development of specific, observable sales rep behaviors.

Observable sales rep behaviors include:

  • Asking needs-based questions
  • Identifying client pain points
  • Generating prospect interest

Similarly, leadership may know which sales force members are not obtaining their target numbers, but this information alone does not help sales professionals improve. DevelapMe applies sales coaching analytics to ensure employees receive tailored coaching to improve based on the organization-specific techniques leadership is trying to instill. Through its real-time dashboard, DevelapMe enables sales leaders to: recognize the best sales managers, train and develop the other sales managers, and understand exactly how to help sales managers who are not exhibiting desired sales coaching behaviors improve.  Ultimately, DevelapMe grants sales leadership clarity into the coaching process, showing leaders exactly how to develop behaviors that optimize sales results.

Want to learn more? Check out this sales coaching white paper on 5 recommendations to drive sales force productivity.

Empowering Resilience in the Face of Disruption

In recent years, the vulnerability of supply chains has been exposed, with global trade fluctuations, resource scarcity, and labor limitations causing widespread disruptions across sectors. Organizations require transparency and robustness, necessitating the capacity to adapt promptly to dynamic circumstances.

Thinaer facilitates this resilience by providing anticipatory analysis of equipment performance and stock patterns, enabling entities to manage potential issues proactively. Whether through preventative maintenance scheduling or demand-driven inventory adjustments, Thinaer converts data into actionable strategies.

During a significant logistical disruption, a Thinaer-utilizing manufacturer successfully reallocated inventory across regional distribution centers based on current capacity data, thereby preventing production interruptions. This level of responsiveness would have been unattainable with conventional methodologies.

From Insights to Efficiency: Smart Manufacturing in Action

Effectiveness stems not merely from increased effort, but rather from strategic methodologies. Thinaer empowers manufacturers to transcend simple tracking, enabling a comprehensive comprehension of causal factors and subsequent remedial actions. The SONAR platform simplifies intricate data sets, furnishing users with lucid dashboards that accentuate pivotal trends, deviations, and areas for enhancement.

Upon identification of protracted machine idle time by a plant manager, the issue can be traced back to antecedent constraints, facilitating the scheduling of corrective maintenance and the realignment of workloads. Similarly, should a procurement manager observe the underutilization of materials at one site coinciding with a shortage at another, an immediate transfer can be initiated, circumventing protracted delays.

In a specific instance, a food and beverage producer discerned that a substantial proportion of their production machinery, specifically 20%, was operating below capacity due to suboptimal scheduling and oversight. Following the deployment of Thinaer’s solutions, the manufacturer implemented operational restructuring, resulting in a significant increase in output, measured at 22%, without necessitating additional capital expenditure on new equipment.

A Seamless Upgrade from Disconnected Solutions

Numerous organizations began their initial digital transformation efforts with solutions such as Amazon Monitron. While providing an initial advantage, these instruments frequently prove inadequate in circumstances necessitating scalability, integration, and real-time analytical capabilities. After the discontinuation of Monitron, Thinaer presents a robust and definitive trajectory for advancement, offering a comprehensive, secure, and future-oriented solution.

Thinaer extends beyond the mere monitoring of machinery; it establishes a unified operational ecosystem by integrating tools, inventory, equipment, and personnel into a singular, actionable platform. Distinct from inflexible and developer-dependent alternatives, Thinaer employs a no-code, low-maintenance framework tailored to the enterprise’s specific operational requirements, thereby facilitating adaptability in accordance with organizational dynamics.

IT and OT: Finally on the Same Page

Thinaer distinguishes itself through its proficiency in harmonizing IT and OT operational domains. IT leadership is assured a robust, regulation-adherent framework featuring expedited integration capabilities and comprehensive infrastructure oversight. Simultaneously, user-friendly interfaces empower operational teams, delivering immediate analytics pertaining to production efficiency, stock inventory, and equipment functionality, thus obviating the requirement for specialized technical instruction.

This synchronized availability of real-time data promotes enhanced interdepartmental cooperation, expedited strategic resolutions, and minimized discrepancies. Within sectors where temporal efficacy and precision are paramount, this degree of interalignment transcends mere utility and becomes an indispensable operational mandate.

Looking Ahead: AI, Automation, and the Next Generation of Supply Chain Optimization Tools

Thinaer is engineered to address not only current operational challenges but also to facilitate future advancements. By integrating embedded artificial intelligence insights, enterprises can transition from reactive management approaches to proactive, predictive strategies, encompassing demand forecasting, failure prevention, and continuous optimization of inventory management within their operational frameworks.

As the adoption of automation technologies, robotic systems, and blockchain platforms increases across diverse industries, Thinaer’s adaptable architectural design ensures scalability and evolution in concert with these advancements. Whether the requirement involves tracking serialized assets, materials, and tooling within the aerospace manufacturing sector or monitoring temperature-sensitive inventory within healthcare environments, the platform demonstrates readiness to accommodate a broad spectrum of future demands.

Conclusion

Inventory management within the supply chain has evolved from a back-office function to a strategic organizational capability. Thinaer facilitates the transformation of operational tracking, management, and optimization, offering real-time visibility, expedited deployment, and actionable insights from the outset.

In a complex environment characterized by volatility, speed, and competitive pressures, Thinaer functions as a strategic transformation ally, not merely a technology supplier. Thinaer empowers organizations with the requisite insights and assurance to progress effectively in achieving goals such as cost reduction, operational efficiency enhancement, and the acceleration of artificial intelligence deployment.

A demonstration of Thinaer is available to provide practical experience with operational visibility and help achieve optimal inventory management and supply chain modernization.