What is a sales coaching template?
A sales coaching template is the record a manager keeps for each rep across a coaching cycle, usually a quarter. It holds one skill per rep, the evidence that it is the right skill, the bar that counts as good, the practice assigned between conversations, and the date the row gets reviewed. It is a plan a manager fills in once and then keeps, not a form filled in after a call review and filed.
Most sales coaching fails for one unglamorous reason: it restarts every week. The 1:1 opens with "how did it go", the week supplies a new worst moment, and the rep leaves with a different thing to work on than they arrived with. Nothing gets four attempts, so nothing changes. A template's whole job is to make one skill survive four conversations in a row, with the evidence attached each time, so that by the fourth you can say whether the behaviour moved.
That makes choosing the skill the most important decision on the page, and the loudest signal is rarely the most expensive one. Challenger Inc. reports that 40% to 60% of lost deals end in no decision rather than a loss to a competitor (Challenger Inc., JOLT research on customer indecision, 2024-02-22). Treat that as a direction to look in, not a measurement of your team: it is the vendor's own analysis of 2.5M recorded sales conversations, published in 2024, and it is a range rather than a figure for your pipeline. If your own closed-lost reasons point the same way, the skill worth a whole cycle is probably something about helping a buyer decide, which no single call review will surface.
A coaching template is not a call scorecard, and the two are easy to confuse because both end in a judgement about a rep. A scorecard judges one recording against a fixed rubric and is finished when the call is scored. A coaching plan takes one judgement and carries it across several weeks of live work. You can run the cadence without ever scoring a call, and you can score calls every week without running a cadence, which is the more common failure.
When to use a coaching template
- You coach every week and cannot say what each rep has been working on since the start of the quarter.
- The same gaps keep turning up in deal reviews long after they were first raised in a 1:1.
- A new manager has inherited the team and needs the coaching history, not only the pipeline.
- Several managers coach the same role, and reps get different advice depending on who they report to.
- A rep has asked, more than once, what they should be getting better at, and the answer changed each time.
- Skip it for a single urgent fix, such as a rep about to send the wrong proposal this week. Handle that in the moment and keep the cycle row for the skill underneath it.
Coaching cadence vs ad hoc coaching, call scorecards and performance reviews
All four get called coaching, and a team can be doing three of them while nobody is working on a skill for longer than a week. The useful test is the last column: what has to be true before the thing is finished.
| Practice | Question it answers | Evidence it uses | Finished when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad hoc coaching | What went wrong on the call we are talking about? | Whatever the manager happened to hear, or hear about | The conversation ends. Nothing carries into next week, so nothing accumulates |
| Coaching cadence (this template) | Which single skill is this rep working on, and is it moving? | A pattern across several deals or calls, written down once and left alone for the cycle | The behaviour meets the written bar in live work, or the cycle closes with an honest verdict |
| Call scorecard | How good was this one call against a fixed rubric? | One recording, scored against weighted criteria | The call is scored and the gaps are named |
| Performance review | Has this person met expectations over the period? | Attainment, activity and manager judgement over months | The rating is agreed and filed |
The sales coaching template
Fill in the cycle header first, then one plan row per rep. Keep the skill to a single observable behaviour and leave it in place for the whole cycle. The 1:1 structure is there to reopen the same row rather than start a new conversation, and the rule block is what stops the skill becoming whatever went wrong last week.
Cycle header
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Manager and team | [Manager name] / [the team or segment this cycle covers] |
| Cycle dates | [Start date] to [end date], normally a quarter or 90 days |
| Coaching rule for this cycle | [The agreed rule for choosing each rep's skill, written before the first 1:1] |
| Where the evidence comes from | [Recordings, deal reviews, closed-lost reasons, pipeline inspection, calls you joined, the rep's own deal notes] |
| Weekly 1:1 slot | [Day and time, held for every rep and not moved for pipeline] |
| What this record is not | [State in writing whether this feeds the performance review, and then keep to it] |
Coaching plan: one row per rep, one skill per cycle
| Rep | Skill this cycle | Evidence it is based on | What good looks like | Practice assigned | Review date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Rep name] | [One named skill, written as a behaviour someone could observe] | [The pattern and where you saw it: which deals, which calls, which loss reasons] | [The bar, written so the rep can judge themselves against it without you] | [What the rep does between 1:1s, without the manager in the room] | [Date, at the end of the cycle] | Not started |
| [Rep name] | [Keep it to one. Park anything else in the next-cycle column below] | [Two imperfect sources pointing the same way are enough to open a row] | [Avoid "be more consultative". Describe what you would hear or read] | [Rehearsal, a role-play, or a named live conversation to try it on] | [Date] | In progress |
| [Rep name] | [None this cycle, if the gap is will or situation rather than skill] | [Say what told you it is not a skill gap, such as the behaviour appearing elsewhere] | [Not applicable. Record the other conversation somewhere else] | [No practice assigned] | [Date] | Paused, by agreement |
Weekly 1:1 structure: the same row, four times
| Agenda item | What the manager asks | What goes in the record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The skill row, first | Where did you try it since we last spoke, and what happened? | One line of evidence in the rep's words, with the deal or call it came from |
| 2. Against the bar | Against what we wrote down as good, where was that? | At, below or above the bar, and the specific gap |
| 3. One obstacle | What got in the way: the skill itself, or something else? | Skill, will or situation, named explicitly rather than implied |
| 4. Practice for next week | What will you rehearse, and which live conversation will you try it on? | The practice and the named deal or call it will be used on |
| 5. Deals and everything else | [Pipeline, accounts, admin, whatever the 1:1 normally covers] | Normal deal notes, kept separate from the skill row |
| 6. Close | What are you doing before we meet again? | The next date. Nothing new is added to the skill row |
The rule for deciding what to coach
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Start from a pattern, not an incident | Look across the rep's last several deals or calls for the same failure. One bad call is an incident. The same gap three times is a skill. |
| Prefer the gap that costs deals | Of the patterns you can see, pick the one that shows up in how deals are lost or stall, not the one that is easiest to observe. |
| Check that it is a skill at all | Ask whether the rep could do it if the quarter depended on it. If the answer is yes, the problem is will or situation, and practice will not move it. |
| Write the bar before the first 1:1 | Describe the behaviour so the rep can judge themselves against it. If you cannot write it down, you cannot coach it or close it. |
| One skill per rep per cycle | Two skills means neither gets four attempts. Put the second in a next-cycle column where it stays visible but inactive. |
| Re-run the rule only at the cycle end | Evidence arriving mid-cycle goes in the deal notes, not the skill row. Swapping the skill restarts the count, which is the thing the template exists to prevent. |
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Sales coaching template example
Example: fictional company
Here is the plan filled in for an invented team. Dates are written as weeks from the start of the cycle so the example stays readable.
Ferncastle Analytics sells revenue-forecasting software. Sales manager Rachel Imbert runs one 90-day coaching cycle for three account executives, and the trail below follows Nadia Brandt's row from the first 1:1 to the cycle review.
Cycle header
| Field | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Manager and team | Rachel Imbert / mid-market new business, three account executives |
| Cycle dates | Week 1 to week 12, aligned to the quarter |
| Coaching rule for this cycle | Each skill comes from a pattern in closed-lost reasons first, then from calls. No skill changes before week 12. |
| Where the evidence comes from | Closed-lost reasons in the CRM, two recorded discovery calls per rep, calls Rachel joined, and each rep's deal notes. |
| Weekly 1:1 slot | Thursday, held every week, moved only for buyer meetings. |
| What this record is not | Not a performance document. Rachel writes a separate quarterly summary and told the team so in week 1. |
Coaching plan at the start of the cycle
| Rep | Skill this cycle | Evidence it is based on | What good looks like | Practice assigned | Review date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nadia Brandt | Make the cost of staying put explicit, and get the buyer to say it back in their own words | Three of her last five closed-lost opportunities were coded no decision. In both recorded discovery calls she moved to the product straight after the buyer described their current process | The buyer states what the current process costs them and what changes if nothing happens, unprompted, and it appears in the deal notes in the buyer's own words | Rehearse the cost question and three follow-ups in role-play before each discovery call, then use them live | Week 12 | In progress |
| Jonah Pike | Get a second stakeholder named and invited before the first demo | No recordings on his calls, so the evidence is four single-threaded closed-lost deals and the two live calls Rachel joined in week 1 | A named second stakeholder, with a role, appears in the opportunity before the demo is booked | Write the invitation ask into his own words and try it on every discovery call this week | Week 12 | In progress |
| Tomas Reiner | None this cycle. The gap is will, not skill | Tomas does the behaviour well on renewal calls and stopped doing it on new business after the territory split in week 1 | Not applicable. Rachel is having the territory conversation instead, recorded outside this sheet | No practice assigned | Week 6, to decide whether a skill row opens | Paused, by agreement |
Nadia's row across four 1:1s and the cycle review
| 1:1 | Evidence the rep brought | Against the bar | Obstacle | Practice for next week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 2 | Asked the cost question on the Marlow & Finch discovery call. The buyer said the current process was "just a bit annoying" and Nadia moved on to the demo agenda | Below. The question was asked; the vague answer was not pursued | Skill. No follow-up ready when the first answer is soft | Rehearse three follow-ups to a vague answer, then use them on the Oakmere call |
| Week 4 | On the Oakmere call the buyer described the rebuild work that eats the end of every month, and named who does it | At the bar for the first time. The cost is in the buyer's words and in the deal notes | None this week | Do the same on both discovery calls booked for next week |
| Week 6 | Two discovery calls. One got a cost in the buyer's words. On the other, Nadia answered her own question before the buyer did | Mixed. One at the bar, one where she filled the silence | Skill, narrowing. She is uncomfortable with the pause after the question | Count to three after asking. Replay the week 4 recording and note what the silence sounded like |
| Week 8 | Three discovery calls, three costs in the buyer's words. One buyer repeated it back in their own follow-up email | At the bar three times in a row | None | Keep the behaviour. Record a model clip of the week 8 call for the team library |
| Week 12 review | The behaviour held from week 4 onward and survived two calls Rachel did not attend | Met. Row closes | None | New row opens for the next cycle: getting a second stakeholder into the first call, taken from the same loss pattern |
Example: fictional company. Ferncastle Analytics, Harborview Metrics, Marlow & Finch Logistics and every person named in this example are invented for illustration. Any resemblance to real companies or people is coincidental.
How to run a coaching cycle with this template
Set the cycle before the first 1:1
Write the start and end dates, the weekly slot and who the cycle covers. A quarter is long enough for a behaviour to change and short enough that a wrong choice is not expensive. Put the review date in the calendar now, because a cycle with no end date never produces a verdict.
Choose one skill per rep from a pattern
Look across the rep's last several deals and calls, and at how their deals are lost, before you look at last week. The gap that appears three times is a skill. The gap that appeared once, loudly, is an incident you should still address, just not in this row.
Write the bar in language the rep can use
Describe what you would hear on a call or read in a deal note if the behaviour were there. The test is whether the rep can judge themselves against it on a Tuesday without asking you. If you cannot write that sentence, the skill is still too vague to coach.
Decide where the evidence comes from, including without recordings
Recordings make this easy and plenty of teams do not have them. Closed-lost reasons, the calls you join, the rep's own deal notes, buyer follow-up emails and what a champion says in a deal review all work. Two imperfect sources pointing the same way are enough to open a row. Write in the row which source the evidence came from, so the rep can argue with it.
Assign practice the rep can do without you
The 1:1 is one hour. The behaviour has to survive the other days. Give the rep something to rehearse before a named live conversation, and name the conversation. Practice with no live target attached turns into reading.
Open every 1:1 with the same row
This is the habit that makes the rest work. Before pipeline, before admin, ask where they tried it and what happened. Then write one line of evidence and where it sits against the bar. Keep the deal conversation underneath, in separate notes.
Close the cycle with a verdict, then start a new row
At the review date, say met, not met, or paused, and why. A not-met verdict with a clear obstacle is more useful than a row quietly rolled forward for a third quarter. Then pick the next skill, which is often the one you parked.
Common sales coaching mistakes
Starting fresh every week
If the 1:1 opens with "how did the week go", the skill resets and the rep gets one attempt at twelve things. Open with the same row and the same bar, and let the week supply the evidence instead of the agenda.
Coaching whatever went wrong last week
The most recent bad call is the loudest signal, not the most expensive one. Choose from a pattern across deals, write it down, and then leave the choice alone until the review date.
Coaching skill when the problem is will
If a rep does the behaviour on renewals and not on new business, more practice makes it worse and reads as not being listened to. Name it as will or situation in the row, pause the skill, and have the other conversation somewhere else.
Letting the record double as a performance file
A coaching record that gets read in the performance review stops being honest inside one cycle. Reps bring their best calls, the evidence column fills with wins, and the obstacle column empties. Decide which document is which, and say which out loud.
Two or three skills at once
Three skills means one attempt each per cycle rather than four at one. Park the others in a next-cycle column where they stay visible without competing for the four conversations.
A bar nobody can judge
"Be more consultative" and "show more urgency" cannot be observed, so they can never be met or closed, and the row survives for years. Write the behaviour the rep could point to in a recording or a deal note.
How Revspire keeps a coaching cycle going between 1:1s
The cadence usually breaks between the conversations rather than during them. A rep leaves a 1:1 with one behaviour to work on, and the next chance to use it is a live buyer call days later. The first attempt happens in front of a customer, and nobody sees it but the rep, so the next 1:1 runs on memory.
Revspire AI Sales Training & Coaching gives that practice somewhere to happen. Reps run AI video role-plays of the conversation they are about to have and get scored on the behaviour the row names, including objection practice built from the battlecard for the deal in front of them. The attempts are recorded, so the review date has something to look at and the rep can hear their own week 2 attempt next to their week 8 one.
For the manager, readiness and improvement tracking across the team shows which rows are moving and which have been open since the start of the cycle. That is the part a spreadsheet cannot do on its own: a sheet holds the plan, but it will not tell you that a skill has been marked in progress for three cycles running.
Sales coaching template FAQs
What should a sales coaching template include?
A cycle header, one plan row per rep, a weekly 1:1 structure and the rule for choosing the skill. The row needs the skill, the evidence behind it, the bar that counts as good, the practice assigned and the review date. Add one line stating whether the record feeds the performance review, because the answer changes how honest it stays.
How often should a sales manager coach each rep?
Weekly is the usual rhythm, and the count matters less than whether the sessions are about the same thing. Four conversations about one skill beat twelve about twelve. If the slot keeps getting moved for pipeline, shorten it rather than skipping it, because a missed week quietly resets the row.
What do you coach when you have no call recordings?
Use what you already have: closed-lost reasons in the CRM, the calls you join yourself, the rep's own deal notes, buyer follow-up emails and what champions say in deal reviews. Two imperfect sources pointing the same way are enough to open a row. Write in the row which source the evidence came from, so the rep can challenge it.
What if the rep's problem is motivation rather than skill?
Test it first: could they do the behaviour if the quarter depended on it, and do they do it anywhere else, such as on renewals? If yes, it is will or situation, not skill, and assigning practice makes it worse. Pause the skill row, say in the row why it is paused, and have the other conversation separately.
Should a sales coaching template feed the performance review?
In our view, no. A record that will be read as evidence in a rating stops being a record of what went wrong. Reps start bringing their best calls and the obstacle column empties, which is exactly the information coaching needs. Keep a separate summary for the review and tell the team which document is which.
Related templates and reading
- Free templateSales call scorecard templateA weighted 1-5 rubric for scoring recorded calls on agenda, discovery, value messaging, objections, next steps and talk/listen balance.
- Free templateSDR onboarding plan templateA week-by-week ramp plan for SDRs and BDRs: ICP, messaging, sequences, cold calls, qualification and the first qualified meeting, with gates.
- Free templateSales onboarding plan templateA 30-60-90 day plan for new account executives: learn, certify, then sell, with owners, exit criteria and a path to the first closed-won deal.
- Free templateSales battlecard templateA one-page card per competitor: why you win, where they are strong, landmine questions, objection responses and pricing guardrails.
- Revspire data: the skills reps score lowest onSales skills gap benchmark
- Blog: coaching templates and where AI helpsAI-assisted sales coaching templates
- Guide: the skill in the worked exampleHow to handle status quo objections
Sources
- Challenger Inc. (research by Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna), How to Overcome Customer Indecision Using the JOLT Effect Approach (2024-02-22; vendor analysis of 2.5M recorded sales conversations)