By Chris Fisher – BenefitsAlly
Some of the best sales coaching I’ve ever been part of happened in the back of an Uber between two broker meetings.
A while back, I spent 2 days traveling with a vendor rep to meetings with advisors in one city. Every time we walked out of an office, we’d have 30 or 45 minutes in the car before the next one, and I’d tell her what I saw. Here’s where the broker leaned in and started asking real questions. Here’s where he rolled his eyes and picked up his phone. Here’s the part you could probably cut.
Then she’d adjust the pitch before we walked into the next office, and we’d do it all over again.
I didn’t think of that as the main event. I was there to make introductions and keep the trip on schedule. But after we got home, she told me those 2 days were the best sales coaching she’d had in her career, and I don’t think it was because of anything particularly clever I said. It wasn’t role-playing in front of a whiteboard or a training deck about handling objections. It was a real advisor, in a real office, deciding in real time whether to keep paying attention, and then a chance to fix what didn’t land before the next meeting.
Most reps never get that. They pitch, they walk out, they guess how it went, and the only feedback they hear is “nice to meet you” from someone who has already moved on to their next email.
If you lead a sales team, I’d spend less time on training decks and more time sitting in on real meetings, then telling your people the truth on the walk to the car, while they can still use it.