It’s that time of year again. In September and October there were no training needs, and then suddenly in November and December every salesperson has a personal development plan. How did that happen? How come six weeks ago I didn’t have any training needs and now I have a shed-load of them? It’s called the year-end appraisal.

In companies up and down the land, filing cabinet drawers are being emptied of last year’s contents; objectives and training needs swiftly consulted so that judgements can be made and duplication avoided. For some, the half-year appraisal will help with the completion of the dreaded form; for many it’s another chore in long list of administrative chores.

It’s meant to bring the parties together (sales management and salespeople) to have meaningful conversations about achievement, development, and future goals. In reality the game is played out as it’s always been played out.
Sales Manager: Michael, can we fix up an hour to do your appraisal? (I already know what score you’re getting, but I have to have this conversation for an hour so you feel involved)
Michael: Oh Yes Aidan – that time of year again! (I know you know what score I am getting, so why don’t you just tell me)

And is there any need for it? A soccer coach does not sit down at the end of the year with a player and review progress against a set of objectives set over a year ago. They do not decide training needs for the next twelve months at the end of every year. They already know what the training needs are and are already working on them.

The conductor of an orchestra does not have a yearly interview with each person in the violin section to review their progress and find out whether they fancy playing the trombone next year and what training can be provided to achieve this goal. Everyone knows what is expected of them.

A choreographer does not suddenly become aware of training needs in December.

Sales coaches do not include a training needs analysis during the appraisal interview. They know what each salesperson in the team is doing and how they are performing against specific objectives. There are no surprise training needs identified in December because they have been working on training and sales coaching throughout the year based upon a clearly defined sales process and job profile.

Sales coaches do not identify negotiation skills, presentation skills, communication skills, technical knowledge, sales skills, or any other form of training requirements during a year-end appraisal. They do not suddenly present the training manager with a whole set of training requirements because they have already worked alongside the training manager eliciting specific help for individual salespeople, specific where required, during the year. If these elements are relevant to the job, then they should have been delivered when the salesperson started the job. If they are part of a progressive process, then they will be part of plan which has been scheduled with specific learning outcomes and business results, not as part of a year-end process.

In a sales organisation that truly employs a sales coaching culture there is no need for any training requirement outcome of an appraisal system. Its purpose should be solely and merely to ratify the size of reward due based upon the achievement of a sales goal. It would be rare in a true coaching environment for there to be a mass training requirement outside of foundation and induction.

Sales coaches work in the following way:
- Determine the sales process to be employed by the salesperson
- Design it in detail and test it
- Agree who will conduct initial basic training – the coach or a separate trainer
- Implement the training piece by piece and assess the salesperson against a set of measurable criteria
- Do not let anyone who fails the training assessments to meet with your customers
- The sales coach must meet the salespeople who have passed the assessment and determine that they have maintained the knowledge, skill and attitude requirements before using this knowledge and skill with customers
- Do not let anyone who does not meet the minimum standards sell to your customers
- Observe the first salesperson using the knowledge and skills taught with at least the first customer they meet after the training event, and provide feedback
- Continuously improve their knowledge and skill

It’s not rocket science, but it works.

In summary, sales coaches know what the process is – i.e. this is what I want the salesperson to do. They publish the rules – i.e. this is what I want you to do. They organise the training to bring the person up to the minimum standard acceptable (this happens at the beginning, not at appraisal time) – i.e. I will train you to do this. They ensure that the training is transferred to the job – i.e. I will check that you can do what I have trained you to do – i.e. I will accompany you on sales calls and assess your ability. They improve people – i.e. I will seek to improve you all the time – I will assess your ability regularly. This process feeds back into the process design – i.e. how can we make this better?

With business coaching as a system, the yearly feeding frenzy for training could be at an end.