The #1 Skill of a Great Sales Leader (It's Not Closing)
By Shawn Hamilton, M.S., DBA(c) Shawn Hamilton is a leading sales leadership advisor and doctoral researcher at the University of Houston, specializing in Sales Leadership.
The #1 Skill of a True Sales Leader: Coaching
In last week's post, we met "Mike," the "Super-Rep" manager who couldn't stop himself from taking over his rep's calls. Mike’s behavior, while common, is the single biggest bottleneck to scaling a sales team.
There is a direct antidote. It's the one skill that separates the "Super-Reps" from the true "Leader-Builders."
It’s coaching.
If you're a sales leader, your job is not to be the best salesperson on the team. Your job is to be the best coach. Your goal is not to personally close the biggest deals; it's to build a team of reps who can.
Why Coaching Is the Ultimate Lever
Many managers think they are coaching when they are actually just "managing."
"Managing" is reviewing the pipeline and asking, "Is this deal going to close?"
"Coaching" is reviewing a call recording and asking, "What did you hear when the prospect said X?"
"Managing" is telling your rep what to do. ("Go call the decision-maker.")
"Coaching" is asking how they'll do it. ("What's your plan to build consensus with that new stakeholder?")
This distinction is the core of sales leadership. Research from the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management has explored the specific constructs of effective sales coaching. True coaching, as G. A. Rich (1998) identified, is not about assigning blame or even just giving praise; it's a specific, developmental process of collaborative problem-solving.
A manager who tells their team what to do creates dependence. A leader who coaches their team to solve problems creates competence. This is the only way to scale your talent.
How to Coach: The G.R.O.W. Model
The Super-Rep manager (Mike) defaults to "selling" because, as we discussed, their new role is ambiguous. Coaching, however, is not a vague art; it's a specific, learnable skill.
One of the most effective and simple frameworks to learn is the G.R.O.W. model. Instead of taking over the call, Mike should sit down with his rep afterward and walk through these four steps.
1. GOAL: "What do you want to achieve?" This isn't about the quota. This is about the specific interaction.
Instead of: "You need to close this deal."
Ask: "What was your goal for that call? What's our goal for the next call?"
2. REALITY: "What is happening now?" This is the most critical step. It’s about creating self-awareness. Let the rep diagnose the problem.
Instead of: "You completely missed the buying signal."
Ask: "Walk me through what happened. What did you hear right after you gave the price? What was the prospect's tone?"
3. OPTIONS: "What could you do?" This is the brainstorming step. The leader's job is to facilitate, not dictate.
Instead of: "Here's what you do: send them the case study on X."
Ask: "What are a few different ways we could handle that objection? What resources do we have that might help? What have you tried in the past?"
4. WILL (or WAY FORWARD): "What will you do?" This creates commitment and accountability. The rep, not the manager, owns the solution.
Instead of: "Okay, I'll send an email to the prospect to fix this."
Ask: "What's your specific next step, and by when? How can I support you?"
Actionable Takeaways
Notice the entire G.R.O.W. framework is built on asking powerful questions, not giving directions. This is the fundamental shift from "seller" to "coach."
Stop "Telling" in Your 1:1s. For your next 1:1, put a sticky note on your monitor that says "ASK, DON'T TELL." Your only job is to guide your rep to their own solution using the G.R.O.W. model.
Separate Coaching from Pipeline. Do not try to coach in a forecast meeting. That's a "managing" activity. Schedule separate, 30-minute "Call Coaching" or "Skill Development" sessions that are 100% focused on coaching, not "the number."
Coach the Middle. Most managers spend all their time trying to "fix" their C-players or fawning over their A-players. The greatest ROI comes from coaching your B-players. A 10% improvement in your "B" players (the middle 60%) is worth more than a 10% improvement in your "A" players.
You can't be a Super-Rep forever. You'll burn out, your team will stagnate, and your best people will leave. The only scalable path to leadership is to stop taking over the calls and start coaching the person who makes them.
References
Rich, G. A. (1998). The constructs of sales coaching: Culpability, praise, and problem solving. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 18(1), 53-63.
