Sales coaching: on your real conversations, with coaches who have sold themselves
Sales coaching at selling2b starts where it counts: at tomorrow’s customer meeting, the prospecting call on Monday morning, next week’s price negotiation. A senior coach from our team works with individual salespeople, with sales managers or with you as managing director on concrete cases. Live in the conversation, on site or by video, in English or German.
Companies that train with us
Sales coaching improves the next real conversation
Sales coaching is individual support for people in sales, working on their own situations: customer meetings, phone prospecting, proposals, price discussions, leading their own team. An experienced coach looks at what really happens in the conversation and works with the person so that the next one goes better.
Sales training develops a whole team on a shared method. Sales coaching starts with the individual: their customers, their style and their blind spots. The two complement each other. Many clients start with a training and secure the transfer with coaching. Others start by coaching sales leadership, so that the new routine has a sponsor within the team.
How we use the terms that come up when you look for a sales coach:
Individual support on real cases: 1:1, on the job in meetings and prospecting, for sales managers and for managing directors. With a goal, a KPI and a review.
Develops a team with process, routines and business actor simulations. More on our page about sales training.
Joint customer visits with your own sales manager. Most effective when the manager has learned what good sales coaching looks like.
Processes, KPIs, tools and AI in sales. With us as the sales check-up with a fixed process.
Four sales coaching formats, depending on who is coached
We clarify which format fits in the initial call. Clients often combine two formats, for example on-the-job coaching in field sales alongside coaching for sales leadership.
For field sales, key account and inside sales. Video sessions every one to two weeks, working on whatever is coming up: tomorrow’s meeting, the proposal that has been stuck for weeks, the customer who keeps putting things off. Preparation, a short simulation, debrief.
The coach is there for the real conversation: at the table in the customer meeting, at the trade fair stand or on the phone during the Golden Hour™. A short briefing beforehand, feedback afterwards while the situation is still fresh. Nothing shows as quickly what really happens in a conversation.
For sales and team leaders who want to coach their own team: joint customer visits, feedback that lands, KPIs that mean something, and routines that stick in the team. So that development continues once our coach is no longer there.
For managing directors, owners and self-employed professionals who sell themselves: confidential, on your own big conversations such as the annual negotiation, a price increase or entering a new market. With a business actor as the counterpart before the decisive meeting, if you wish.
When sales coaching pays off most
Our clients sell complex B2B products and services: industry and mechanical engineering, software and IT, electronics and measurement technology, retail, logistics, pharma, energy and services. These six situations bring them to us most often.
Technicians, engineers or career changers in sales: structure for the conversation, confidence with objections and someone who accompanies their first real meetings.
Experienced key account managers with well-worn patterns. They benefit most from an outside view and honest feedback they rarely get internally.
Annual negotiation, tender, price increase with your most important customer. Preparation with a negotiation corridor and a dress rehearsal against a business actor.
The team has learned a new way of running conversations in the training. Coaching supports the first weeks in day-to-day business until the new routine sits.
From best salesperson to sales manager: how do I coach my team, how do I lead with KPIs, how do I accompany conversations without taking them over?
New business prospecting is planned but does not happen. Coaching with a fixed Golden Hour™, live calls and KPIs until the hour becomes a habit.
You can recognise good sales coaching by five things
Coaching is not a protected title. These five points separate coaching that moves revenue from a pleasant chat about conversations.
- Talking about conversations without ever seeing the salesperson in a meeting
- A coach with methods but no sales experience of their own
- No goal, no KPI, no end date
- Generic textbook tips
- Sales leadership never learns what is happening
- The coach experiences real conversations, live or as a recording
- Senior coaches with their own sales and leadership careers
- Agreed goal, measurable KPI, fixed timeframe, review
- Your customers, your proposals, your objections
- Sales leadership involved at kickoff and review, content stays confidential
Three tools our coaches use every day
The same building blocks as in our trainings, tailored to one person and their situation.
Most salespeople describe their conversations differently from how they actually go. That is why the coach is there: in the meeting, on the phone or via a recording, where the customer and data protection allow it. Afterwards come two or three concrete points for the next conversation, short and immediately usable.
Before a big conversation, a business actor plays the customer: the buyer who says “too expensive” for the third time, the managing director who has actually already said no. The conversation is held, debriefed and held again, better. By the real meeting, much of it has already happened once.
Anyone who is supposed to win new customers needs a fixed hour a day for it. In coaching, the Golden Hour™ is introduced, supported live and measured against a few KPIs: decision-maker conversations per day, meeting rate, next steps. The method is described in the book Golden Hour by Marvin Verweyen (German) and explained on our page on B2B cold calling (German) .
From the initial call to the review: how sales coaching works
Every coaching has a start, a goal and an end. Twelve weeks is standard, often longer for managers and managing directors. Content and rhythm adapt to the person; the structure stays the same.
We clarify the trigger, the goal and who will be coached, which format fits and how you want to measure success. You meet the proposed coach before you decide.
Agree goals with the person and sales leadership and capture the starting point: an accompanied meeting, a look at pipeline and proposals, two or three typical conversation situations.
Video sessions on current cases, with implementation in day-to-day business in between. Depending on the format, accompanied meetings, live calls or a dress rehearsal with a business actor are added.
A few numbers that fit the goal: decision-maker conversations, meeting rate, proposal rate, average discount. They show whether behaviour is really changing day to day.
With the person and sales leadership: what has changed, what remains open, how things continue without a coach. Personal content from the sessions stays confidential.
What runs differently after the coaching
Coaching rarely changes everything at once. It changes the two or three things on which most deals used to get stuck. These four come up most often in reviews.
Better questions, more listening, an agreed next step at the end of every meeting. Customers notice the difference in the very first conversation.
The fixed hour for new customers is in the calendar and actually happens. “When there is time” becomes a habit with a KPI.
“Too expensive” is followed by a question instead of a percentage. Concessions only come in return for something.
Sales managers accompany conversations and give feedback that lands. That way development in the team continues when the coaching ends.
Topics we often work on in coaching
Each topic has its own page with methods, examples and phrasing (most in German):
Sales coaches who have sold and led themselves
Every coach at selling2b is a senior trainer from our team with their own sales career, usually with leadership responsibility, and methodological training. Sebastian Fleck, for example, is a certified business coach under DIN ISO 17024, and Dr. Alexandra Philipp headed the global training department of a pharmaceutical company.
Industry, language and occasion decide which coach suits you. You meet them in the initial call before you commit. For dress rehearsals before big conversations, a business actor from the team joins in.
What participants and clients say about working with us
Selected voices from trainings and the support that follows. Quotes are translated from German. More examples are on our references page (German).
Philip Rafferty and Wolfgang Schatz delivered a great, authentic and honest training for our sales staff. Initial scepticism among colleagues quickly gave way to the enthusiasm both of them sparked in younger and older salespeople alike. Wolfgang is very charismatic and able to put himself into every kind of customer and supplier role. Philip is a very good facilitator, motivator and observer who worked out numerous tips and suggestions for improvement with our staff. Unfortunately the time went by far too quickly. We will soon book a refresher to deepen what we learned and start the new year perfectly prepared.
Thomas GottschallCEO, EIDEX GmbH
Particularly effective: the realistic role plays with the actor in the customer role, intense, challenging and instructive. A personal follow-up in our own offices consolidated the content further, and the team is now entering the next prospecting phase with fresh know-how and greater self-confidence.
Leonie CoemansRegional Marketing Manager, DEIF GmbH
Absolutely recommended. The content was superbly prepared. What was especially exciting was that a professional actor was there to simulate real sales situations. That made the theory immediately tangible and helped us reflect better on our behaviour in sales conversations. A completely different, modern training format.
Hakan IcerHead of Sales, Cox Automotive
With new approaches, the trainings stand out clearly from other sales trainings. Our sales staff use the tools and concepts they learned successfully to perform better in everyday sales.
Bernhard BrandlHead of Transport Logistics, Kiessling Spedition
At first I was sceptical whether I could apply the basics in practice. And lo and behold: it works. I have now built Golden Hour into my daily workflow. The more regularly you do it, the easier it gets.
Alexandra DremmlerDirect Sales Munich, Linde GmbH
What sales coaching costs and what drives the price
We price per coaching programme and give you a binding range after the initial call. So you can estimate in advance where you will land, here are the five factors that determine the price.
- Format1:1 by video, on the job on site, coaching for managers or leadership. On-site assignments take more effort than video sessions.
- Duration and rhythmHow many weeks, how many sessions, how many accompanied meetings or live calls.
- Number of peopleA single key account manager, a sales manager or several people from one team coached in parallel.
- Business actorOptional for dress rehearsals before big conversations, several times during the coaching period if you wish.
- Location and languageOn site in Germany, Austria and Switzerland or remote, in English, German and other languages. Travel costs are charged at actual cost.
What you get in the initial call
- An honest assessment of whether coaching solves your issue, or whether a training or consulting fits better
- A proposal for format, duration and rhythm
- The coach who suits you, with reasons
- A price range within one working day
The initial call takes 30 to 60 minutes.
Questions about sales coaching
What is sales coaching?
Sales coaching is individual support for salespeople, sales managers and managing directors on their real situations: customer meetings, phone prospecting, proposals, price discussions and leading their own team. An experienced coach observes what happens in the conversation and works with the person on a few concrete points until they stick in day-to-day work.
What is the difference between sales coaching and sales training?
Sales training develops a whole team on a shared method, with simulations and an implementation phase. Sales coaching starts with one person: their customers, their style and their habits. The two work well together. Many clients secure the transfer after a training with coaching, or coach sales leadership first so that the new routine is carried by the team.
What does a sales coach do?
A sales coach supports people in sales with their real tasks. They prepare conversations together, join meetings or calls, give feedback straight afterwards and agree what should go differently next time. At selling2b, these are senior trainers from our team who have sold and led sales teams themselves.
How does on-the-job sales coaching work?
Before the meeting, coach and salesperson agree the goal and focus in a short briefing. During the conversation the coach stays in the background and observes. Straight afterwards, while everything is fresh, comes the feedback with two or three concrete points for the next meeting. Phone prospecting works the same way, usually during the Golden Hour™.
Does sales coaching work online?
Yes. Most sessions take place by video, because short, regular sessions fit well into the working day. Live calls and video meetings with customers can also be supported remotely. For on-site customer meetings and dress rehearsals with a business actor, we recommend individual days in person.
How much does sales coaching cost?
The price depends on format, duration, number of people, on-site assignments, an optional business actor, and location and language. We price per coaching programme and give you a binding range after the initial call, usually within one working day.
How long does sales coaching take?
Twelve weeks is standard, with sessions every one to two weeks and a review at the end. Before a single big conversation, a short, intensive preparation is often enough. Coaching for managers and managing directors often runs longer, because leadership routines change more slowly than conversation techniques.
Can’t the line manager do the coaching?
Day to day, they should, and that is exactly what our coaching for sales managers is for. An external coach also brings something that is hard to create internally: a neutral view without the pressure of appraisal, and experience from many sales teams. The two work best together.
Does sales leadership find out what is discussed in coaching?
Sales leadership takes part in the kickoff and the review and sees goals, progress and agreed KPIs. What is discussed personally in individual sessions stays confidential. We agree this rule with everyone involved in advance, because otherwise openness in coaching does not develop.
Is sales coaching also suitable for experienced salespeople?
Especially for them. Experienced salespeople have well-worn patterns that worked for a long time and at some point start costing deals, for example on price or in conversations with several decision-makers. An outside view and honest feedback from the customer’s perspective are often the most valuable things for them.
What does sales coaching at selling2b include?
Four formats: 1:1 coaching for salespeople, on-the-job coaching in meetings and prospecting, coaching for sales managers, and coaching for managing directors and owners. Each runs with an agreed goal, a few KPIs and a review, and can be combined with a business actor as a dress rehearsal before big conversations.
Do you coach in English, and in Switzerland and Austria?
Yes. selling2b is based in Zug and supports salespeople and managers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on site and remote. Coaching is available in English and German, and in other languages with coaches from the team. The German version of this page is Vertriebscoaching.
