# Sales Coach

> Sales Coach

- Skill: `amo-tech-ai-rocket-path-ai/sales-coach` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add amo-tech-ai-rocket-path-ai/sales-coach`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/amo-tech-ai-rocket-path-ai/sales-coach/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: amo-tech-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/amo-tech-ai-rocket-path-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/amo-tech-ai-rocket-path-ai/sales-coach

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# Sales Coach

> Socratic coaching methodology for sales development, pipeline review, and deal strategy.

## StartupAI Integration

This knowledge feeds into:
- **AI Chat "Practice Pitch" mode**: Socratic investor meeting preparation with objection handling
- **CRM Deal Coaching**: Pipeline review questions, deal risk assessment, forecast discipline
- **Investor Pipeline**: 12-action agent uses coaching methodology for meeting prep and deal strategy
- **Dashboard**: Deal health indicators derived from qualification completeness
- **Validator Pipeline**: Scoring agent uses evidence-based assessment patterns (prove it, don't claim it)

## Coaching Philosophy

### Core Principles
- **Ask, don't tell**: "What would you do differently?" teaches more than "Here's what you should have done"
- **Coach the behavior, not the outcome**: A perfect process that loses to a better competitor needs encouragement, not correction. A lucky win with no process needs immediate coaching.
- **One thing at a time**: A session that tries to fix five things fixes none. Find the single highest-leverage behavior change.
- **Follow up**: Coaching without follow-up is just advice. Check whether the behavior changed.
- **Skill vs. will**: Skill gaps (doesn't know how) need coaching. Will gaps (knows but doesn't execute) need management. Never confuse the two.

### Socratic Method in Practice
- First instinct should always be a question, not an instruction
- "What do we not know about this deal?" beats "When is this closing?"
- "Walk me through the evidence" beats "Do you feel good about it?"
- Only provide direct instruction when the person genuinely doesn't know

## MEDDPICC as Diagnostic Tool

Use MEDDPICC as a coaching framework, not a checkbox exercise. Gaps in qualification are coaching moments, not CRM hygiene issues.

| Element | Diagnostic Question | Red Flag |
|---------|-------------------|----------|
| **Metrics** | What measurable outcome does the buyer expect? | Vague "improvement" with no numbers |
| **Economic Buyer** | Who signs the check? Have you met them? | "My contact will handle it internally" |
| **Decision Criteria** | What are they evaluating and how? | Unknown or assumed criteria |
| **Decision Process** | What steps remain before a decision? | "They'll get back to us" |
| **Paper Process** | What happens between verbal yes and signed contract? | No understanding of procurement |
| **Implicate Pain** | What happens if they do nothing? | No urgency, no cost of inaction |
| **Champion** | Who inside is selling for you when you're not there? | No internal advocate identified |
| **Competition** | Who else are they evaluating? | "They said we're the only ones" |

### Coaching the Gaps
When a qualification element is missing, don't flag it as incomplete. Coach the next step:
- "You don't know the economic buyer. What question could you ask your champion to get that introduction?"
- "There's no identified cost of inaction. How could you help them quantify what this problem costs per quarter?"

## Pipeline Review Framework

### Review Cadence
- **Weekly 1:1**: Activities, blockers, habits
- **Biweekly pipeline review**: Deal health, qualification gaps, risk assessment
- **Monthly/quarterly forecast**: Pattern recognition, roll-up accuracy, resource allocation

### Deal Inspection Questions (Top 5 by Value)
For each deal under review:
1. **What changed since last review?** Progress, not just activity
2. **Who are we talking to?** Multi-threaded or single-threaded?
3. **What is the business case?** Can you articulate why the buyer would spend this money?
4. **What is the decision process?** Steps, people, criteria, timeline
5. **What is the biggest risk?** And what is the plan to mitigate it?
6. **What is the specific next step?** With a date, an owner, and a purpose

### Pipeline Health Indicators
- Pipeline-to-quota ratio (target 3:1+)
- Average age by stage (flag stale deals)
- Stage distribution (front-loaded = risk, well-distributed = healthy)
- Weighted pipeline vs. commit forecast accuracy

### Red Flags
- "The buyer loved the demo" with no committed next step
- Deal in commit with no economic buyer access
- Single-threaded relationship (one contact, no multi-threading)
- Pipeline number accepted without inspecting deals underneath

## Call Coaching Debrief Template

### Structure
1. **What went well** (specific moments and why they were effective)
2. **Coaching opportunity**: Timestamp, what buyer said, how rep responded, what to try instead, why it matters
3. **Skill connection**: Which development area this relates to
4. **Practice assignment**: What to try in the next conversation
5. **Follow-up**: When to review the next attempt

### Behavioral Feedback Rules
- Be specific: "At 4:32 when the buyer said they were evaluating three vendors, you moved to pricing. Instead, that was the moment to ask what their evaluation criteria are."
- Never say "do better discovery" — always specify the exact behavior change
- Celebrate progress even without results: "Your discovery was the best I've seen from you. We lost on timing, not execution."

## Rep Coaching Plan

### Skill Assessment (1-5 Scale)
| Competency | Current | Target | Gap Notes |
|-----------|---------|--------|-----------|
| Discovery quality | | | |
| Qualification rigor | | | |
| Objection handling | | | |
| Executive presence | | | |
| Closing / next-step commitment | | | |
| Forecast accuracy | | | |

### Focus Areas (Maximum 3)
For each focus area define:
- **Current behavior**: What the person does now (specific, observed)
- **Target behavior**: What "good" looks like (specific, behavioral)
- **Coaching actions**: How to develop this (call reviews, role plays, shadowing)
- **Milestone**: Observable indicator that it's working
- **Target date**: When the behavior should be habitual

## Forecast Discipline

### Commit Criteria
- Commit deals based on verifiable evidence, not optimism
- The question is never "do you feel good?" — it's "what has to be true for this to close, and can you show me evidence?"
- Distinguish: **Upside** (could close with effort), **Commit** (will close based on evidence), **Closed** (signed)

### Accuracy Coaching
- Reps who consistently over-forecast need coaching on qualification rigor
- Reps who consistently under-forecast need coaching on deal control and confidence
- Track accuracy at the individual level over time
- A rep pulling a deal from commit is showing intellectual honesty — reward it

## Investor Meeting Application

When coaching founders for investor meetings (Practice Pitch mode):
- Run deal prep: What is the objective? What does the investor need to hear? What is the ask?
- Identify top 3 likely objections and prepare specific responses
- Coach the founder to lead with insight, not just respond to questions
- Debrief after: Was it qualification (wrong investor), execution (right investor, weak pitch), or competition (strong pitch, stronger alternative)?
- Build mutual evaluation framework: the founder is also evaluating the investor's fit