In today’s market, a sales team must not only be able to sell a competitive advantage; they must be a competitive advantage.  And that requires them to be able to think and act strategically.
 
So, let’s explore some best practices used by top Sales Managers for coaching Account Executives to become more skilled at selling strategically.  
 
Select the Right Accounts.  A classic trap for Sales Managers is spreading their coaching efforts too thinly.  If you want to improve strategy coaching, begin by selecting the right accounts on which to focus the effort.  While several selection criteria should be considered, one stands out as particularly important —accounts with high revenue potential.
 
Rarely does an Account Executive have base in which all the accounts have equal potential for revenue growth.  In conjunction with the Account Executive, Sales Managers should target their strategic coaching efforts toward those accounts which have the greatest potential for revenue growth. In addition, Sales Managers should consider how many Account Executives and how many accounts?  With the “too-thin trap” in mind, it is best, during any given time period, to focus on one or two key accounts per three or four Account Executives. To maximize the  impact of time spent on strategy coaching: doing a really good job coaching a few often equals high-payoffs. 
 
Establish Expectations.  There is no such thing as a generic winning strategy when selling in a complex market. For an effective and efficient strategy coaching session, Sales Managers must establish the expectation that the Account Executive will, at a minimum, come to the strategy coaching session with a foundational business understanding of the customer.  The Account Executive should have an understanding of the business environment, the account’s business objectives, and a good sense about the buying process and players – plus some initial thoughts about the value proposition.  Capturing the business is not about selecting a strategy; it’s about formulating a strategy.  And formulating a winning strategy is all about having a comprehensive understanding of the customer. 

Define Account Strategy. When discussing the formulation of a strategy, it is always a good idea to make sure that everyone has a shared vision.  Define account strategy. If you think this one is a “slam dunk,” try posing` this question to your sales team: “What is our company’s definition of an account strategy?”  If your organization is like many, it is probable that the number of different responses will be approximately the size of the sales force divided by four.  Although there is not just one acceptable definition – having one definition for your team is critical. 
 
If you don’t have a team definition, try the following:
 
Account Strategy = A plan of action for getting to the right players, at the right time, with the right message.  
 
Focus on Thinking and Acting Strategically. Even the best strategy will fail unless what goes on in front of the customer is executed skillfully. So, when  formulating a strategy for complex accounts, you want to  coach strategy formulation in conjunction with how to execute that strategy.  This means the last step in any coaching session should be to plan the first call in the implementation of that strategy.  In some cases, it may be appropriate for the Sales Manager to go on the call to help the Account Executive. 
 
Leverage Time.  The greatest barrier to any type of sales management coaching is lack of time. By selecting the right accounts and establishing expectations, the efficiency of the coaching effort can be improved.  Another practical way to leverage time is to consider coaching more than one person at a time.  Whereas call execution coaching is correctly done on a one-on-one basis, strategy coaching lends itself to small groups. Often, the types of accounts and the dilemmas faced will be common across members of the sales team. Hence, it’s feasible – even advantageous – to involve two or three members of the team in a strategy session because everyone benefits from the discussions of each other’s targeted accounts.  
 
A Final Word or Two. Coaching is Critical. There is little doubt that the best Account Executives sell strategically, and the best Sales Managers are really good at helping them learn how to do it. The requirement to be competitively better at selling strategically is one that very few Account Executives will be able to achieve in a timely fashion by themselves. To help them get there, sales management coaching is critical.  It is so critical and the potential pay-offs so substantial, the authors suggest that every Sales Manager could benefit from doubling the amount of their coaching time devoted to strategy coaching.   
 
Authors: Richard D. Ruff, Ph.D. is a principal in Sales Momentum^®, a sales effectiveness training company.  For more than 20 years, the leadership team at Sales Momentum^® has been working with companies to help improve sales productivity. They may be reached at 480-513-0900 or at info@salesmomentum.com.
 
Steve Gielda, is a principal in Sales Momentum, a sales effectiveness training company. For the past 10 years Steve has customized and created training solutions in sales and management effectiveness.  Steve has worked with a variety of companies ranging from Canon, Ricoh, Medtronic, J&J, Georgia Pacific, UPS, Beckman Coulter, Time Warner and Freddie Mac.  Steve may be reached at 703-266-7667 or sgielda@salesmomentum.com.