The world of sales can be a Darwinian one. An all-too-common approach to developing a superior sales force is to hire large numbers of people, rush them through minimal training, and quickly weed out everyone who isn’t one of the top earners. Little if any thought is given to developing sales talent; sales team coaching is thought of as little more than “time lost.” If you manage a sales force and think that you don’t have the time to coach individual sales agents, then it’s time for you to think again. You cost yourself more time than you save.

Coaching is not time lost, but time wisely invested. The time you spend helping a salesperson develop their talents will pay more significant dividends than using that time dealing with the many troubles that a weak sales force creates—a little time spent coaching saves you a lot of time down the road.

Success in any field requires preparation, training, and careful development of potential. So how should you coach your salespeople to maximize their sales skills when you don’t have a lot of time? The key is – targeted sales team coaching. You don’t have to spend a lot of time with each sales team member. You need to make the most of the time you have.

A successful sales coach will complete daily, weekly, and monthly activities that address each team member’s unique needs. If a team member has low numbers, spend some time shadowing a sales meeting or call, so you can get a good idea of the techniques they are employing. Review their performance, going over where they did well and where they need improvement. Do not tell them precisely what they should be doing, and stay away from strict scripts. You need to develop their unique talents, not shoehorn them into using the ones that work for you. Instead, help them figure out how to use their personal strengths best. In general, you should also avoid focusing on their sales numbers. Doing so creates performance anxiety, and nothing will tank a salesperson’s numbers quicker than performance anxiety. Instead, focus on techniques and skills.

Here are a few tools you can use to improve and simplify your sales coaching techniques.

1. Chorus.ai – Chorus provides a simple, scalable solution to capture and analyze all customer calls, meetings, and emails to create visibility, drive process and behavior changes, and deliver bottom-line impact.

2. Gong.io – Gain critical insights into what’s happening with your remote sales team, your deals, and your market with Revenue Intelligence from Gong

3. Showpad Coach – Deliver the onboarding, training, and coaching your salespeople need to become trusted advisors and exceed quota with Showpad Coach’s sales coaching and training software.

The best thing you can do for your sales numbers is to get rid of the idea that you need to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sure, that approach might help you quickly find a few super-salespeople who can pull in big money without needing help, but you lose a lot more than you gain because of high turnover and low morale. The more time you spend coaching now, the more discretionary time you will have later to see to other priorities.