Sales training and coaching · Coaching the sales team
Ask your reps what coaching they received before you say you coach.
A coaching reality check compares how a sales manager rates their own coaching with what the reps say they experienced. It covers the survey questions, how to keep answers anonymous in a small team, and what to do with the gap between the two sets of scores.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A coaching reality check compares how a sales manager rates their own coaching with what the reps say they experienced. It covers the survey questions, how to keep answers anonymous in a small team, and what to do with the gap between the two sets of scores.
The sales manager at a Coimbatore pump dealer talks to the reps every day, by their own account. Ask the three reps and one says the manager only calls when a target is missed, another says the last useful conversation was at joining, and the third has stopped picking up before month end.
The check puts both views side by side. The manager rates themselves on ten plain statements: I watch a rep on a live call each month, I agree one skill to work on, I follow up within the week. The reps rate the same ten about their manager. The difference between the two columns is the finding.
The owner runs it, not the manager being checked. The owner collects the answers on paper or a form, removes names, and shares the combined sheet with the manager privately before anyone else sees it.
It replaces the manager's own belief that coaching is happening. It comes before the monthly one to one and the call review, because those rituals only work once the manager accepts that today's coaching is thinner than they think.
Where this sits
Topic 6 of 8 in sales training and coaching: coaching the sales team. Coaching routines a manager runs weekly and monthly.
- The topic before
- Team foundations
- The topic after
- Hiring and onboarding sellers
If you want this done for you
Training happened once, and the habits it was meant to fix did not last the month.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Anonymity is hard in a team of four”
With four reps, anyone can guess who wrote what. Pool the answers into one score per question, hide free-text comments unless three people wrote similar ones, and let reps hand in paper slips instead of sending messages from their phones.
“The manager hears it as an attack”
A manager who sees a low score from their own team may defend instead of listen. Give the results in private, with the owner present, and ask only one thing: which two statements will you change first.
“Month-end pressure counts as management, not coaching”
Chasing a number is supervision. Coaching is a conversation about how a rep sells. The survey should separate the two with questions such as 'my manager listened to how I handled a call', and not 'my manager checks my progress'.
“Good reps leave without saying why”
Exit interviews come too late. Running this check twice a year gives you the reason before the resignation, and the question about the last useful piece of feedback exposes it.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The ten-statement form
One page with each statement rated one to five. Same wording for manager and reps, with a final open question: the last useful thing your manager told you.
Result: Finished when a rep can complete it in under ten minutes without help.
The side-by-side sheet
Statement, manager's score, average rep score, gap. Gaps above two points are shaded.
Result: Finished when every shaded row has a short note of what the manager will do.
The private debrief note
A half-page the owner writes after the conversation: two statements chosen, one action for each, and a date for repeating the check.
Result: Finished when the manager has signed it and the repeat date is in both diaries.
The collection method
A line on how answers are collected, who sees raw slips, and when they are destroyed.
Result: Finished when each rep has been told this before they fill in the form.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should the manager see individual answers?
What if the scores all come back high?
How often do we run it?
We have no manager, only the owner. Does it apply?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of coaching the sales team
Or read all of sales training and coaching.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.