Dealing with Ego in Your Sales Coaching | Sales Strategies

Recently, I was overseas coaching a group of sales managers from the Middle East and one of them had a great question. He asked, “Colleen, how do I coach someone through ego?”

I was quick to clarify whether the ego was a problem and the person was not hitting their targets or if they were hitting them. The salesperson in question was hitting their targets but was too egotistical to see that when customers and practices change, they needed to change as well.

The advice I gave them was to not try to correct the behavior right away. Bring the person in and capture what they’re doing well to hit their targets. Try to get the unconscious behaviour from their minds conscious and leverage it with the rest of the team. Once that person knows what they’re doing consciously and is able to replicate it, they’re able to create more success. They also feel proud of the fact that they’re contributing to their teammate’s success. In doing so, they open their mind. When they realize that you really value their contribution and want others to be as successful as they are, they will start to open up and allow themselves to listen to you on new coaching techniques.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t tell your sellers what to do. Ask them questions on what they think they should do.” username=”EngageColleen”]

In doing so, you’ll draw out of them their best practices, make it conscious for them, and then allow them to implement the changes you want in a changing marketplace.