Prelims

Half Title Page

Coaching Winning Sales Teams

Title Page

COACHING WINNING SALES TEAMS

Insights from the World of Sport and Business

TIM CHAPMAN

Sales EQ Limited, UK

Lynn Pickford

Leadership and Sales Coach, UK

TONY SMITH

Hull Kingston Rovers RFC, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2020

Copyright © 2020 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78973-488-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-487-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-489-8 (Epub)

Dedication

Tim: To Rosie, Genny and Sam, and, everlastingly, to Louise

Lynn: For Derek, Jack, Dan and JJ, with love

Tony: To Lisa, Caleb and Chelsea

Foreword

There's an old saying that ‘great coaching is the art of comforting the troubled and troubling the comfortable’. Within that one, simple phrase lies a whole catalogue of demands, ranging from emotional intelligence, clarity of message, communication skills, human psychology, people management and empathy and understanding, which have never been more relevant than today. In an age where the pace of change continues to accelerate and the need to perform with consistency and focus remain paramount, who doesn't need a calm, measured coach to help us reflect at times?

This book which you are holding in your hands is written by three expert coaches, who have distilled their own hard-won wisdom and rich experiences across sport, business and life into an accessible, engaging and practical guide. Reading the chapters felt like a privileged invitation into their company and an invaluable opportunity to listen to their wit, warmth and wisdom which shines through on every page.

Enjoy the read.

Professor Damian Hughes

International speaker and best-selling author

Foreword

Sellers often talk about performance coaching in terms of sport; it is much admired and seen as fundamental to driving performance. Yet seldom is it practiced in a sales context.

Whether it is seen as too difficult and consuming, when time pressures manifest themselves in a sales environment. Or whether it is actually a science that needs more understanding, qualification and deliberate practice, is to be decided.

Whatever the conclusion, this book is much needed in my opinion. I am delighted the authors have addressed the benefits true coaching can deliver and uncover many elements for us to consider. Several members of The Association of Professional Sales were involved in the research for the book and we are delighted this topic is getting serious attention.

The Association looks forward to using this book to launch it's 2020 coaching framework focus.

Andrew Hough

CEO Association of Professional Sales

Acknowledgements

Our thanks go to all the great coaches, athletes, sales leaders and salespeople we interviewed in the process of writing this book. Fittingly the last word goes to them in Chapter 10.

We would also like to thank the many people who generously connected us to these great people. To Louise, for her painstaking proofreading of each chapter and apologies to her for the long sentences and underuse of the comma! To the team at Emerald Publishing, particularly Niall Kennedy and Sophie Darling, for their support and guidance.

We would also like to thank the people that have inspired and coached us over the years. The great teams and leaders we have had the privilege to work with. Tim would like to specifically mention Ron Righter and his colleagues and friends at Vodafone.

Lynn would like to thank Derek for his endless patience, support and encouragement and to also acknowledge colleagues and friends, who have been guiding lights, especially Ross and Amanda. And to Tim for that phone call, ‘fancy writing a book?’

Tony would like to acknowledge the coaches and mentors he's had over the years, the good the bad and the indifferent, who he has learnt so much from. He is grateful to have been invited to write this book and for the friendship that has developed, to become much more than co-authors but close friends forever.