Sales coaching is ideal for skill development but often falls short when unrelated or non-skill problems arise.  That’s where counseling comes in to handle attitude, behavior, and motivation problems that impact a person’s performance. Counseling can be helpful when a salesperson fails to improve skills in spite of coaching, or provides challenges like a bad attitude, insufficient motivation, poor work ethic, etc.

In this course, the participant learns the difference between coaching and counseling, when to use counseling, and we will discover the process and pitfalls that make counseling an effective sales management tool.

Counseling is a private and sensitive skill and needs to be planned carefully.  Identifying a counseling problem is only the beginning and must be followed by careful documentation and preparation. One of the key concepts is developing an opening statement to share your concern and to set the stage for a productive counseling session. In addition, participants learn to plan questions to gain agreement, identify the cause, and solicit input for improving the situation.

Effective counseling will generate a jointly-created action plan for improvement, monitored by the sales manager.  Finally, if counseling fails, the participant will learn about possible next steps, discipline and termination.

Learning Objectives
  • Discover the importance of  counseling to solve sales performance problems
  •  Explore how to improve attitude, motivation, or behavior challenges
  •  Identify how to follow-up with an action plan, and next steps, if needed. 
Last updated/reviewed: August 22, 2023

Included In Certifications

This course is included in the following Certification Programs:

8 CoursesPorter Henry Sales Manager Certification

  1. Sales Coaching for Results
  2. Virtual Sales Coaching
  3. Counseling for Improved Sales Performance
  4. Managing Sales Performance
  5. Optimizing the Sales Manager’s Time to Achieve Priorities – Allocating/Saving Time for Top Priorities and Efficiency
  6. Recruiting and Selecting Sales Stars
  7. Sales Leadership 1 – Creating a Sales Vision
  8. Sales Leadership 2 – Influencing and Motivating the Sales Team
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate

There is no advanced preparation required.  We recommend that you complete related courses: Sales Coaching for Results, and Sales Leadership courses 1 & 2.

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to Counseling to Improve Sales Performance2:35
  Counseling8:30
  Counseling Planning Steps5:16
  Conducting the Counseling Session7:18
  Conclusion7:39
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Counseling to Improve Sales Performance 31:19
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Counseling for Improved Sales PerformancePDF
  Counseling for Improved Sales Performance Glossary/IndexPDF
REVIEW AND TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam