Crushing Quota

About the Author

Michelle Vazzana, Ph.D. is the CEO and a founding partner at Vantage Point Performance, a leading global sales management training and development firm. With over 32 years of successful sales and management experience, Vazzana has conducted the most extensive research to date on sales coaching practices. Her insights and methodologies are grounded in practical, research-based strategies that drive sales performance.

Jason Jordan is also a founding partner of Vantage Point Performance. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the field of sales coaching, making their book Crushing Quota: Proven Sales Coaching Tactics for Breakthrough Performance an authoritative guide for sales managers seeking to enhance their teams' performance.

Main Idea

Crushing Quota is a comprehensive guide that breaks down the sales coaching process into manageable components, emphasizing three critical points: providing clear direction for sellers, ensuring effective execution, and assessing seller performance for timely course corrections. The book is based on extensive research and presents a definitive approach to making sales coaching work for any sales team in any industry.

Table of Contents

1. Coaching – What It Is, What It Isn't, and What It Could Be
   • Welcome to the Jungle: The Scary Reality of Sales Management
   • The Chaos of Sales Management
   • Sales Coaching: How It's Wrong and Why It Fails
   • How Sales Managers Coach (or Don’t Coach)
   • The Best Path Forward
2. The Groundwork for Greatness
   • Deciding What to Coach
   • Structuring Coaching Conversations
   • Conducting Effective Coaching Conversations
   • Formalizing Sales Coaching into Your Day-to-Day Job
3. Coaching to Activities – The Itty Bitty Nitty Gritty
   • Territory and Account Coaching
   • Opportunity Coaching
   • Call Coaching

Coaching – What It Is, What It Isn't, and What It Could Be

Welcome to the Jungle: The Scary Reality of Sales Management

Sales management is a challenging role. Transitioning from a high-performing salesperson to a high-performing sales manager is difficult, with many managers failing to get their teams to quota. The primary reason for this failure is an inhospitable work environment that doesn't support the behaviors needed to drive better sales performance. Coaching is crucial, yet many managers struggle to coach effectively.

The Chaos of Sales Management

Sales managers operate under immense pressure from various sources, including sales leaders, human resources, marketing, sales operations, and customers. This pressure leaves little time for coaching, with managers spending only about 32% of their time managing their sales teams. The remaining 68% is consumed by administrative tasks and direct customer interactions.

To illustrate the chaos of sales management, consider the following examples: