Introducing Call Coaching: Seamlessly coach your team to more deals won

Don’t you miss being in the same room with your reps, being able to walk onto the sales floor and hear the conversations, feel the energy, and give feedback in real-time?

If your sales team is remote (or even if they’re in the office with you), it can be hard to get a real-time understanding of how they’re performing on calls. And whether you’re in the room or listening to a recorded call, you can only give feedback once the call is over, and possibly after the sale is already lost.

Looking for a better way to seamlessly coach your team, no matter where they are?

Well then, you’re in luck.

We’re excited to announce the release of Call Coaching in Close, giving sales managers the ability to listen, whisper, or barge sales calls that are in progress.

Close Business users now have access to this feature in the app.

So, what exactly is call coaching, and how can this make a difference for your sales team?

What is Call Coaching?

Part of a sales manager’s job is to coach their reps and help them improve their sales call skills, with the ultimate goal of elevating team performance and increasing conversions. For many sales managers, this means going through sales call roleplays with their reps.

True, roleplay is a proven and widely-used way of training reps. But the best coaching happens in real sales calls with real conversations between your reps and their leads. Sales managers looking to expand their reach and more effectively coach their reps often record the sales calls of their team, allowing them to hear real conversations and give feedback based on the day-to-day performance of their reps.

That said, this feedback can only happen after a call is finished, and that lead may already be lost.

Now, it’s time to kick it up a notch.

With live Call Coaching in Close, users are given the ability to join outbound calls that are still in progress and even to speak to the participants.

There are three coaching modes available:

• Listen: Users can hear the sales rep and the lead, but can’t be heard by either.
• Whisper: Users can hear the sales rep and the lead, and can be heard by only the sales rep. The lead can’t hear the user.
• Barge: Users can hear the sales rep and lead, and can be heard by both.

Wondering how this new feature can work for your sales team?

How Call Coaching in Close accelerates your team’s revenue

It’s no secret that effective sales coaching is directly related to increased revenue. But call coaching in real-time takes this to a whole new level.

Here are three ways Call Coaching in Close can help your team score more deals and lower their overhead:

Train and coach new reps remotely like you’re sitting right next to them

Onboarding new reps is already a challenge, and it only gets harder when you have to train and coach from a separate physical location.

For remote sales team managers, Call Coaching is a godsend that can help them get back into the game instead of trying to coach from the bleachers.

Sales managers can now be part of live sales calls, and even give feedback while the call is in progress. This not only improves reps’ sales skills: it can even help save a rep from fumbling and turn that call into a touchdown.

Retain your rockstars and elevate your average performers

Your top performers are ultimately the most valuable assets on your team. So, don’t leave them to make the hard plays by themselves. With regular live call coaching, top-performing reps get the continuous assistance and attention they need, helping you retain your A-players and keep them at the top.

That said, you’ll see the greatest percentage of improvement within the middle of the pack—those average performers who aspire to greatness but are in serious need of guidance. Live call coaching allows you to sit in with those average reps and give them the real-time tips and advice they need to elevate their performance and close more deals.

One unified platform for call coaching

Call Coaching in Close gives you everything you need to coach seamlessly no matter where you are—and without increasing the cost of your tech stack.

Let’s face it: there are myriad sales tools that could add value to your team and boost their performance. But if you’re an SMB or startup, you’re trying to keep to your budget and only use the tools that give your team significant ROI.

With Call Coaching in Close, you get top-tier coaching software natively integrated with the CRM system you already know and love.

That means you can coach at the same level as the big enterprise companies, but at a price that’s accessible to your team.

5 ways to use call coaching to increase rep performance and close more deals

Want to see specific ways Call Coaching can help your team succeed? Here are 5 ways you can use this new feature today:

1. Listen to calls and get live insights on rep performance and buyer feedback

Get into the trenches with your reps and listen to their conversations. For sales managers, this is one of the best ways to gain real insights into:

• How your reps are executing your sales process
• How sales scripts are performing with leads
• How buyer behaviors and reactions are evolving depending on current circumstances
• The day-to-day motivation and attitude of your sales team

For example, why not set aside a chunk of time every week while your reps are calling to jump on and listen? Let your reps know that during a certain period of time each week, you’ll be hopping on random calls just to get a feel for what’s happening. Then, they’ll be prepared to see you jump in.

While listening, you can record your feedback to share later with reps. For example, create a Custom Activity with a set list of skills to rank your reps on, or specific questions that help you dig into more meaningful feedback quickly.

Having a structured process for feedback with Custom Activities helps you scale the time you spend coaching and gives reps a clear, structured view of feedback that they can review.

2. Whisper to reps to coach them in real-time

This is an especially powerful feature to help onboard new reps faster and better.

New hires can have more confidence in sales calls knowing that their manager is there to help them every step of the way. Give reps encouragement as they navigate new sales scripts, add brief context to help them proceed smoothly, or even give them the answers to difficult questions or objections they’re facing for the first time.

3. Barge the call to save the day when a rep gets stuck

If you’re listening to a call that suddenly starts to go south, Call Coaching gives you the ability to jump in and save the day.

Have your rep introduce you, so the lead knows who you are when you barge the call. Then, whether it’s a sticky point in negotiations, a problematic objection, or an irate lead, you can serve as the hero to save the call and come to the rescue of a rep who is out of their depth.

4. Give new hires the ability to listen to top performers as they call live

Often, peer learning is one of the most effective ways to train and onboard new or less experienced sales reps. With Call Coaching in Close, you can give all sales reps the permissions necessary to listen (but not barge) ongoing sales conversations.

That way, new sales hires can join calls with top performers, listen to how they execute the sales scripts, get insights into how leads typically respond, and learn from the skills and style of the A-players.

5. Allow reps to ask for help directly when they need it

Sometimes on a sales call, a rep may need assistance. In Close, reps on a call have the ability to invite another team member to join the call.

The invitee will receive a notification in-app with the ability to join the call directly and help smooth out the situation.

How to use Call Coaching in Close

Ready to get started? Here’s how to start using Call Coaching in Close:

Make sure you’re on the right plan

If you’re already on a Business plan, you’re ready to get started! If not, sign up for a free trial now, or upgrade your plan to Business.

Also, you’ll need at least two users in your account to use Call Coaching.

Find team members that are currently on calls

Inside the Close app, open Settings > Team Management.

Here, you’ll see a list of your team members. When a member is active, their picture will appear with a green circle.

To find reps that are currently on a call, look for a green calling icon next to their picture.

Then, you can click ‘Listen to call’ to join.

Join a call from the lead page

Another way to join a live sales call is directly from the lead page.

A banner will appear at the top of the lead page when a call is in progress. Simply choose the coaching mode (Listen, Whisper, or Barge) to join the call.

Decide whether to listen, whisper, or barge

At the top of the screen, users who have joined a call will see the options to Listen, Whisper, or Barge.

Depending on the situation and the needs of the sales rep and the lead, you can decide whether you just want to listen, speak directly to the rep, or join fully in the conversation.

Respond to an invitation to join the conversation

In Close, sales reps have the ability to invite another user to their call. If you’re invited by a rep, you’ll see a notification at the top of your screen in the Close app.

From there, you can click the link to join directly, or find the rep in the list under Settings > Team Management.

Get started with the only CRM with built-in Call Coaching

Sales training and call collaboration are now easier and more accessible than ever before.

Double your reps’ revenue, boost the skills of your new sales hires, and perfect the performance of your A-players—without increasing your tech spend.

Want to give Call Coaching a spin? Upgrade to Business today, or start a free trial of Close to see what this powerhouse feature can do for your sales team.