Employ the "Coach-Finder!"

In a January post, I spoke of the opportunity to employ a “Coach-Finder” or two, and challenged you to watch at least a 30% increase in your pipeline as a sales leader and individual contributor. What is a “Coach-Finder?” This is my term for a traditional lead qualification specialist. You know who they are. Hundreds of firms exist to satisfy the need to outsource a company’s appointment setting requirements. Many firms employ them directly. I have a different spin on this type of resource.

I must qualify my remarks by stating first that I have never had direct experience with employment of an outsourced appointment-setting firm. I am sure that there are many potential relationships with these firms that would work well in certain situations. I only know that by taking direct control of the lead qualification process, my group was very successful. When under my tutelage, I turn them from “lead qualification/appointment setting” resources to “Coach-Finders”.

Why are “Coach-Finders” important and where and how do they succeed where lead qualification/appointment-setting resources may not? In a complex sales environment, defined by Miller Heiman and others as a sales situation packed with multiple decision makers, this role is key. A true Coach will coach you through the complex arena of decision-makers and the client buying process so that you can match your sales process toward the buying process and a successful win. Someone on your side has to determine who the real potential Coach might be early in the sales cycle, determine their influence and develop the relationship into Coach-Finder if the potential Coach has influence and insight. In this way, when your outside sales resource is deployed, they are doing their best work at the right time in the sales cycle.

I have found that there are door-openers and door-closers in my tenure as a sales leader. Most outside sales folks are not the best at both. Even if they are, you are spending lots of money to pay for that outside resource to do a lot of heavy lifting, early in the sales cycle, with small return. How many cold calls and/or lead response calls result in meaningful dialogue between company and prospect? This depends on your industry, product and competitors but 5-10% is a good benchmark for most competitive industries. Point is, you want someone inside, with the right skills, dedicated to this all-important task. Find yourself a door-opener or “Coach-Finder” and put your outside reps to work doing what they do best, discovery, presenting and closing.

I ask my Coach-Finders to identify the following before an appointment can be set for the outside sales person:

• A compelling BUSINESS reason for buying
• The decision-making landscape, roles, titles, influence and identification of the Coach
• The competitive landscape, who else is being considered and why
• A commitment to put at least two of the stakeholders at the table for the appointment

The overwhelming majority of these appointments will result in a closed sale. But hold your Coach-Finder to these requirements! This is the science and discipline of good selling.


What about the competencies of a good Coach-Finder? The true Coach-Finder does nothing but ask questions. They don’t respond to price quotes, they don’t pitch features. They perform outstanding discovery interwoven with tremendous telephone relationship-building skills. They can attract a prospect’s interest on the telephone with those relationship-building skills and solid business questions. They are naturally inquisitive. And, most important, they are willing to work closely with sales management while triaging each opportunity.

If you are an individual contributor and your company will not hire a Coach-Finder, go find one for yourself. Pay them from your increased commissions! If you are a sales leader without this role defined, build a business plan for this role and sell it to your management. If you are a sales leader with this role in place, either in-house or outsourced, is it performing to your expectations? If not, try my suggestions. I hope that I can help.