Successful sales coaching should help teach (and model) that consistent messaging is half the job. Getting customers to buy a product or service won’t bring growth or success if you can’t maintain engagement. And the secret to retaining customers and improving engagement lies with walking the talk. In other words, find ways to consistently prove that your products do perform and your reps are willing to practice what they preach.

The link between consistency and quality

In manufacturing, quality is defined largely by consistency — the ability to produce the same components or products over and over with little to no variation. For example, manufacturing goals are often in two parts:

• To conform to specified parameters
• To ensure that those specified parameters meet or exceed the messaging about quality

In both quality and messaging, conformity (consistency) is good. Variation (inconsistency) is bad.

Similar to manufacturing, in sales, customers want to know that a business’s messaging is backed up by performance — of products as well as reps. Consumers crave (and will pay for) predictability, and when they find it, they build long-term relationships with those sellers.

The three Cs of customer satisfaction

According to survey results from McKinsey & Company, the three Cs of customer satisfaction are consistency, consistency, consistency. The survey findings highlight three areas critical to customer satisfaction:

• Customer-journey consistency
• Emotional consistency
• Communication consistency

Let’s take a closer look at how coaching can help maintain consistency in messaging — and the proof that goes with it.

Coaching bridges the gap between onboarding and real-world engagements

When a sales rep is supported by a coach through review, practice, and feedback, they gain a strong start in the sales world. The personalized encouragement and actionable knowledge from the coach gives sales reps a new perspective and the right messaging helps them build confidence and poise. Coaching provides an active demonstration of messaging and a powerful model for quality.

Coaching sets continuous learning in motion and gives it traction

With the insider knowledge that coaching provides, reps can leverage continuous learning to handle objections, educate customers, and learn new facts about their own business — all in sync with consistent messaging.

Coaching helps make follow-ups the recipe for repetition

What’s a great rep’s key to success? Consistent follow through and attention to detail — every step of the way. Winnings reps know that consistency is the secret ingredient for success, and they won’t rest until the sale is closed. By making your best sales reps into sales coaches, you’ll help your up-and-coming reps understand, remember, and apply lessons of lifetime value.

Coaching uses role play for consistent damage control and problems solving

Let’s face it. As a customer, your best experiences with sales reps happen when they listen, understand, and immediately respond when you’re upset. As a rep, it’s important to rehearse how to defuse and deflate dissatisfied customers, instead of shooting from the hip and hoping for the best. Consistency in service during difficult times is critical for assuring customers that you’re more than a fair-weather friend — you’re a valuable ally who’s got their back, no matter what.

A relationship built on consistency and reliability will pave the way to repeat business

As customers, we often reward reliability with repeat business and a deeper relationship. In the same way, when reps can demonstrate consistent service, they’ll move customers to higher levels of engagement. The fundamental goal is proving that your messaging is more than just words — it’s a way of life.

Coaching and consistency maximize ROI

When every sales rep has a chance to learn from the best, it opens a host of growth and practice opportunities. And when every sales rep has a chance to grow, their satisfaction and value increase exponentially. Consistent messaging is only part of the solution. When you support your reps with valuable coaching in practice and role play, you make sure their actions speak louder than words. And that’s a win-win situation.