I recently worked with a client on a new program and got the opportunity to interview a few of their sales managers. I wanted to identify what differentiated top performing managers from poor performing managers. There was one aspect, in particular, that stood out.
Ensure Transparent Data
One manager, specifically, was a top performer and an excellent coach. He shared the data with his team on a regular basis. As a result, the team was clear on their goals, results, and progress. The manager kept those goals and data transparent. He indeed showed it to them on a regular basis, had other people show it to them on a regular basis, or had the data available in real time and multiple formats.
Conversely, poor performing managers were not necessarily bad coaches. They had the skills to be a coach, but they simply didn’t share the data. They didn’t communicate to the team what the actual goal was and they often didn’t share the results of the goal.
You can’t coach blind, and the data is incredibly important. Share with your team what their goals are and, on a regular basis, show them the progress that they’re making to hit their goals. If you know they’re behind, illustrate that. Have an honest conversation about what they need to do about it.
This is pretty east to do with emailed spreadsheets with their results. I did this several times per week
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