Sales coaching, mentoring and training: What's the difference?

Sales coaching, mentoring and training: What's the difference?

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Did you know that if your work teams are constantly updating themselves, you can reduce your money losses in the long run? 89% of companies that do not have a mentor would like to have one, according to the consulting firm Kabbage.

Constantly tooling your team is giving them an arsenal of resources ready to generate profits, so it's the best investment you can make. However, there are multiple modalities and options and you may not know if you need coaching, training or mentoring.

It is common to believe that the above concepts are synonymous. Nothing could be further from the truth. These three figures can be powerful when it comes to boosting a business, but they do not generate the same impact or result. Choosing one or the other will depend on your needs.

So here we explain what each one does, so you can choose what your company needs to grow.

It all starts with training

A training serves to provide the team with information, knowledge or strategies that they did not have before, and that will help improve a process or project. According to KPI, the minimum duration of a successful business training should be 8 hours. So, less than that, it will not be effective.

So, if you are looking for a trainer in a specific subject, you should find an expert in that area who will teach and transmit knowledge. Being clear that he or she will teach and go away. He does not stay to check what has been applied. That is the nature of training.

For example, you can find a trainer to instruct your group of sales reps on new strategies for closing a deal. That person will deliver one or more theory sessions and leave.

What does a trainer do?

  • Listen and respond creatively
  • Discuss a specific topic with the team.
  • Share your skills to develop the skills of others

"We want others to respect our intellectual property, so we have to respect others'."

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Now, what is coaching?

A coach is a practical guide. It is one that addresses techniques and strategies to ensure that all knowledge is applied effectively. According to Accenture, the application of coaching increased the productivity of work teams by 21%.

The coach does not give advice or guidance, but seeks to create a change in the work process. He evaluates the individual and team strategies, in order to aim to achieve a strategy capable of generating a favorable change. He questions and provokes the reflection of the coachees, so that they themselves identify the best solution to their challenges.

In summary, the objective of coaching is:

  • To give mastery to the team of what has been learned
  • Show the usefulness of what is being worked on
  • Reflect on how you can improve your work life with new tools
  • Fostering self-knowledge
  • Ensuring that everyone passes their tests with 10 by optimizing the workload

Another clear difference with training is that coaching analyzes the daily work, looking for answers and solutions to problems immediately so that nothing remains on the wire.

Meanwhile, training is sporadic and attempts to update the team on new techniques or knowledge in the area.

Following the example of the previous point, where a trainer is hired to teach the techniques to teach how to close a deal. It is the job of the coach to evaluate the application of those techniques, see what the failures are and recognize when they are being applied effectively.

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Mentoring: The path to a successful career in your company - The mentor teaches you and does it with you.

When you think of a mentor, think of a Jedi master. This is someone with years of experience in an area, who teaches others using his or her own background. Unlike coaching, mentors do give advice and guidance to take their mentees to the next level of understanding.

According to Kabbage, 92% of companies agree that their company has grown thanks to mentoring. As well as 68% say they increased their profitability in the first year by including a mentor.

A mentor will then be the one who guides the person to find himself, learn from mistakes and focus on his identity and the entrepreneurial role he plays.

Mentors establish bonds of trust with companies, becoming trusted advisors most of the time in a long-term relationship. So trust and confidentiality should be established, because they often witness many internal work processes, and see how they are executed.

So, a mentor teaches you how to use the lightsaber and sees how you become the best; a coach evaluates how you use it over and over again until you become an expert and the trainer gives you the theory of how it works.

At Ventor we are sales experts and we offer business mentoring for owners, general managers, sales managers and sales executives. Always focused on generating a tangible change by customizing the program based on the needs of each client. You can contact us to create the new commercial DNA of your company. We help you become the best Jedi warrior in consultative sales.