5 Ways Sales Coaches Must Adapt to Virtual Selling

Virtual selling has turned the sales industry upside down—and the effects will be felt for years to come. New Allego research shows that 62% of sales professionals say they’ve lost a deal because they couldn’t meet in-person with a buyer.

How are successful sales teams adapting their coaching techniques to ensure reps can find and close deals despite the challenges of remote work? After all, missing the mark on training means missing revenue targets too.

Today, with many sales teams AND prospects working remotely, sales leaders are often no longer physically in the same building for observation and mentoring of their team. Practice, role playing, call coaching, reinforcement are more difficult now.

Allego, the leader in learning and sales enablement technology, addresses these issues and more with new, independent research. The full report, Virtual Sales Coaching Report: How Sales Training Has Changed, provides insights into how much sales have changed this year due to the pandemic and how sales leaders must adapt their approach to succeed in the new normal.

“B2B sales are very different now than they were one year ago. In fact, the impact of the pandemic on the sales cycle will be felt long into the future,” said Yuchun Lee, Allego CEO and co-founder.

“For sales teams to succeed in a virtual environment, leadership must evaluate where their teams are struggling and react accordingly. Our research identifies the specific challenges of virtual selling that are preventing sales teams from hitting their goals, further demonstrating the need for interactive sales learning and enablement capabilities purpose-built for today’s remote teams.”

In January 2021, Allego surveyed hundreds of sales trainers and sales representatives, gaining insight into the impact virtual work settings have had on their ability to coach, onboard new team members, and close sales.

The survey also evaluated the benefits of video-based training, as well as how the shift to virtual selling impacted individual and team-wide productivity and morale. The findings further reveal the repercussions the pandemic has and continues to have across multiple industries.

Actionable Insights for Sales Coaches

The report offers key insights and recommendations for sales coaches. Findings from the survey include:

1. Going Remote Has Hurt Productivity and Morale

• 56% of sales leaders say remote work has negatively affected team culture.
• 57% of sales reps say they’ve felt unmotivated working remotely during COVID-19.

2. Time Zones and Distributed Locations Reduce Sales Coaching Effectiveness

• 67% of sales leaders say it’s harder to observe remote reps during calls to give them constructive feedback.
• 60% of sales leaders say it’s hard to keep their remote team current on new products, features and pricing.

3. Going Virtual Has Hit New Hires Harder

• On average, it takes 2 times longer for new hires to be productive during the pandemic compared to when they could train in-person.
• 49% of sales reps hired since COVID-19 say they haven’t been coached well enough on virtual selling to succeed.

4. New Tools Can Improve Virtual Sales Coaching Techniques

• 91% of sales professionals say having video-based training has helped them become more successful at working remotely.
• 71% of sales professionals say team members working in different time zones makes training difficult, but 97% say difficulties can be overcome with asynchronous virtual training tools.

Tactics for Virtual Sales Coaching

Our findings reveal that coaching a virtual sales team—effectively and efficiently—requires a new approach.

The good news is that all players are on the same page: Sales reps want more and better coaching, managers want to coach more effectively, and sales enablement and training leaders want to improve the support they provide.

Get your copy of the report for tactical recommendations to improve sales coaching effectiveness and equip your sales teams for the next normal.

Learn More

Download your copy of Virtual Sales Coaching Report: How Sales Training Has Changed to learn how to coach your sellers for success.