3 Reasons to Develop a Peer-Peer Sales Coaching Program

By: Eric Young, Director of Sales & Sales Trainer

One frustration I frequently hear from sales managers is they wish they could be in “5 places at once” on the floor working directly with their team. Because they have other priorities (and because of the laws of physics) this is not realistic. Thus, many managers are in a bind. On the one hand, they want to diagnose skill gaps and drive performance improvements before these issues emerge in a territory review; on the other hand this is not always feasible. A key way to bridge this gap is to develop an effective peer-peer coaching program. There are several advantages to this type of program:

1. Coaches have no competing agenda: Most managers I have worked with are extremely effective coaches; however, no matter how good they are at working with their team, there is always the undercurrent of the manager's compensation being tied to the coachee’s improvement. This can lead the coachee to feel that the coach isn’t solely devoted to his improvement. With a peer-peer coaching program, this problem is eliminated because peers have no competing agenda.


2. Peers have more time & ability to work one-on-one: The most effective sales coaching occurs when the coach sits down with the rep and puts on a headset and they make calls together. The coach can see at micro level what the coachee is doing and spot areas for improvement and the coachee is able to see successful tactics in real time. Most managers will not have time to sit with their reps on the floor as frequently as is ideal, so a peer-peer program can fill this gap.


3. Identify and groom future managers: Another benefit of the peer-peer program is it enables managers to quickly find and develop the leaders of the future. This enables managers to have an effective career track for top employees and ensure that coaches don’t feel like their time is being wasted.

The key to an effective peer-peer coaching program is it enables managers to bend the laws of physics. While managers will always be the most effective coaches and this program should not replace their own coaching efforts, if implemented correctly, this type of program can be extremely effective in improving performance.

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