Beware, the siren calls of the AI Sales Coach

Beware, the siren calls of the AI Sales Coach.

This is not an anti-AI post. The potential of AI in the field of learning is huge and the possibilities will only continue to expand over time. However, it is important to maintain perspective and recognize that the gap between the potential of AI and what it can usefully do right now is also huge. So let’s not get carried away by all the hype and convince ourselves there is an instant remedy for some of the more complex capability building challenges we continue to face.

One such challenge is Sales Coaching.

This is a vital skill for all sales managers and over the years, many organisations have invested heavily to build this capability. However, success has largely proved elusive and there remains a big gap in the quality of coaching required to make a tangible difference to sales performance.

Research has shown that this is often due to an underestimation of the complexity involved in good quality coaching. Coaching is a sophisticated human interaction that gets under the skin of the factors that both drive and hamper performance and growth. It requires a highly accomplished blend of probing, sensing, challenging, emotional intelligence, holding people to account, overcoming fears, motivation etc. – all set in the context of a multi-dimensional relationship between a sales manager and salesperson.

AI isn’t going to bridge gaps in these areas any time soon.

So what should we do if we want to bring sales coaching to a level of quality that drives improvement in sales performance?

Firstly, it is important to avoid looking for short cuts for mission critical skills like sales coaching. We could spend a lot of time, money and effort investing in coaching avatars that focus on discrete skills such as asking good questions. However:

❌ The quality and accuracy of the feedback many of these avatars currently provide is questionable.
❌ These discrete skills are a very small part of what it takes to be a good sales coach.

So the remedy?

✅ Build a learning pathway centred on regular practice, observation & feedback.
✅ Use seasoned sales coaching experts to do the observation, provide the feedback and have the human to human developmental conversations required to shift the dial on coaching quality.
✅ And yes, experiment with AI where it can help, keep up to date with how it evolves and use it as and when it reaches the quality required to make a real difference.