The Best Coaching Question Ever

Picture this: One of your salespeople approaches you with a timely, pressing issue.

“Boss, I really need your help closing this deal. I’ve been working this for the last year and have it in my forecast for this quarter. Unfortunately, now the customer is pushing back, and I’m not sure what to do. I know you have a relationship with the CFO—can you please call them and help me out here, or just tell me what I need to do?”

At this moment, you have two basic options.

Option 1: Call the CFO, or tell your salesperson what to do—or, worse, do the work for them, believing it will save you time and allow you to move on to the next task on your plate.

The result? Failure. Once someone feels they’re being talked at, they stop listening. If you’re not asking questions, you’re assuming the facts. You wind up solving the wrong problems or providing ineffective solutions.

Option 2: “I’m happy to share my opinion with you. However, you’re much closer to this situation than I am, and I trust you and your judgment on this. So, what’s your opinion on how to move forward?”

This statement acknowledges the salesperson’s role and accountability, in a positive way—then builds their confidence by acknowledging trust.

The coaching moment is the question: when you seek to understand your salesperson’s opinion and viewpoint before sharing your own. The mere act of respecting, actively listening and truly wanting to understand someone’s point of view stimulates trust, deeper collaboration and remarkable innovation.

But most important, that question empowers your salesperson to do the work.

Depending on how they answer, follow up with something like: “Thanks for sharing your opinion on this—I really appreciate it. Let’s walk through that approach together to see how it could play out and create the best possible outcome.”

This kind of follow-up enables you to further explore and solidify your salesperson’s solution, without interrogating or invalidating them. Then, together, you can refine and come up with the best possible solution.

Remember: If they create it, they own it!

Keith Rosen, CEO of Coachquest, has written several best-sellers, including “Own Your Day” and “Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions,” winner of five International Best Book awards and the No. 1 best-selling sales management coaching book on Amazon.