Everyone says they "coach" but what are the RESULTS? Ten years ago, Business Efficacy started to "coach" sales and this was a new idea. Today, coaching is considered the "in thing.” Why do some coaches enhance improvement and productivity, while others do not make a difference? What does it take to become a "performance coach,” a coach who can get people motivated to change and improve individual results?

"Performance coaching" begins with an objective, which is different than others. Its goals are to reach measurable changes and results. It starts with determining what an individual is expected to accomplish. The individual is helped with activities to generate results. All of the coaching activities focus on enhancing the skill and knowledge necessary for improvement.

Most coaching today is generalized not individualized. "Performance coaching" is 100% customized for a specific individual. It gathers quality performance and behavioral data, then analyzes and evaluates what is working and what is not working for an individual's execution of sales fundamentals. "Performance coaching" assesses the fundamentals of call quantity, whether the calls are with the right customers, and what is occurring during the customer interaction. This is followed with one-on-one coaching to improve the most critical skill, knowledge, or activity needing improvement. The individualized development activities are the most probable way to help the individual learn. "Performance coaching" incorporates how to apply what was learned, on the job immediately. Generalized coaching attacks an assumed common skill or knowledge gap, uses the same learning method with all, lets the individual figure out how to put the learning into action, and has no defined measurement of progress.

Another difference in "performance coaching" is motivation. The "performance coach" motivates an individual to change. If the coach is the only one motivated to help an individual improve, nothing happens. The coach must determine how to engage an individual to try to improve and to reach higher levels of performance.

People do things for their reason, not ours. This sounds obvious, yet managers miss answering "what's in it for me." If the answer to the question is not connected to what an individual cares about and what motivates them, the manager faces an uphill battle. A great "performance coach" determines early on what motivates a particular individual and uses that continually as a means to get the individual to change. Assuming that an individual will change because you asked them to, or because you told him/her it is good for the company, is living in yesterday's world!

A "performance coach" requires certain leadership characteristics. A "performance coach" must possess courage to pursue higher levels of performance, deal with resistance, and stay the course long enough to obtain change.

A "performance coach" must be passionate about helping individuals improve. It is tough work helping someone step out of his/her comfort zone and be vulnerable to failure by trying new approaches and striving to hit new goals. Without being passionate about developing people, a coach ends up going through the motions of coaching and the people end up going through the motions of learning.

Another characteristic a "performance coach" must have is the ability to think critically. A great "performance coach" gathers data, sees what changes need to be made, and figures out how to motivate and help an individual learn what must be done in order to reach higher levels of performance. A non-performance coach uses a set of coaching activities that are comfortable against an assumed set of problems with a common set of solutions. A "performance coach" gets performance improvement from all levels of performers and in sales productivity, when the individuals are a "fit" for the job.

The term coaching will soon pass as another fad unless people begin to understand the difference between "coaching" and "performance coaching." "Performance coaching" is challenging work that requires dedication on behalf of the coach to help someone go beyond where they are today. All of us must strive to make our coaching activities valuable to our employees and not just an activity that has no return on time. "Performance coaching" is the way to break through the mediocrity of current performance from our people.