Why You Don’t Need to Coach on a Sales Call (and What to Do Instead)
The Pressure to Coach on Sales Calls
If you’ve ever found yourself giving coaching advice during a sales call, you’re not alone. Many coaches fall into this trap, especially when they’ve positioned the call as a “strategy session.” But here’s the truth:
Offering advice or tidbits of coaching during the call often hurts your ability to make the sale.
Why? Because it shifts the focus from the client’s problem and desired outcome to you trying to prove your worth through solutions.
Why Coaches Feel the Need to Coach on Sales Calls
The pressure to coach on a sales call often comes from within. It’s a mindset issue rooted in fears like:
Fear of not being enough: You may feel you need to “prove” your value by giving solutions upfront.
Fear of being pushy: You want to avoid the uncomfortable sales dynamic by “helping” instead.
Belief that giving value = giving answers: When, in fact, value comes from clarity, not quick fixes.
The True Value You Offer on a Sales Call
The real magic of a sales call isn’t in giving advice. It’s in holding space for the client to deeply explore:
Where they are now (and what it’s costing them).
Where they want to be (and what it would mean for them).
When you create space for this exploration—without jumping in to fix—you are helping them see the gap between their current reality and their desired outcome.
Why Establishing the Gap Is Critical
If you coach during the call, you shrink or fill that gap too soon. Without a clear gap, there is no compelling reason for the client to invest in your program.
But if you stay in the gap—letting them fully feel the cost of staying where they are and the possibility of something better—you create the emotional clarity that drives decisions.
What to Do Instead of Coaching on a Sales Call
Ask Insightful Questions: Guide their exploration with questions like:
What’s currently working—and not working—for you?
What would it mean to you if this problem was solved?
How is this problem affecting other areas of your life or business?
Hold Space for Their Answers: Resist the urge to coach. Let them sit in the discomfort of their current reality.
Reflect What You Hear: Repeat their key insights back to them. Help them hear their own clarity.
Share the Path Forward (Without Giving the Plan): When they are ready, show them how your program can help bridge the gap—without giving them a to-do list.
The Gift of Contrast
When you stop coaching on the sales call and instead hold space for clarity, you give them an incredible gift: the chance to see their current reality against their potential future.
Even if they don’t buy, they leave the call with a powerful awareness. And if they do buy, it’s because they are crystal clear that they need what you offer.
This is how you sell with both service and integrity. Without giving away free coaching.
Would you like to explore how to apply this approach in your own sales conversations? Start practicing these shifts today and see how quickly your sales conversations transform.
