This week, as part of our Managerial Excellence Masterclasses, we had the pleasure of welcoming Guillermo Di Bisotto, an expert sales trainer and author of the book “Questions for a Sales Champion”. Through his intervention, he shared techniques and practices often forgotten yet essential for maximizing the performance of sales teams. Drawing on his field experience, Guillermo invited us to revisit the art of sales coaching from a more authentic and impactful perspective. Ready to rediscover best practices?
Simplicity: An underestimated strength in sales coaching
For Guillermo Di Bisotto, one of the common mistakes sales managers make today is forgetting the importance of simplicity in coaching. With the multitude of digital tools and the race for results, fundamentals are sometimes neglected. Coaching should not become so complex that it turns into a source of confusion.
Guillermo reminded us that, often, the simplest methods are the most effective. It is important to return to basics: active listening, open-ended questions, and regular follow-up. The goal? To create a trusting environment where the salesperson feels heard, supported, and where their skills can develop confidently. For example, rather than overwhelming teams with KPIs to analyze, he encourages managers to ask simple but impactful questions, capable of prompting the salesperson to think for themselves: “What would be your next action if you were your own coach?”
Open questions: The art of making people think
In his book Questions for a Sales Champion, Di Bisotto emphasizes the importance of open-ended questions in sales coaching. For him, it is an underutilized tool, yet remarkably effective in unlocking a salesperson’s potential. These questions help to stimulate reflection and encourage personal awareness in the salesperson, rather than imposing ready-made solutions.
During the webinar, he showed how a question as simple as: “How do you think this client will perceive your next proposal?” can encourage the salesperson to anticipate objections and adjust their sales strategy. Open-ended questions thus place the salesperson in an active role, making them more of an agent of their own success.
Giving new meaning to sales objectives
Another often-forgotten practice is the need to restore meaning to sales objectives. With constant pressure for results, salespeople can sometimes lose sight of the real impact of their actions. It’s not just about selling more, but about understanding why they sell and how their actions contribute to a larger project.
Guillermo insisted that objectives, whether individual or collective, must be motivating, but above all meaningful for each team member. A good sales coach knows how to align individual objectives with the salesperson’s deep values and aspirations. It is through this approach that the salesperson finds their intrinsic motivation, a key element for sustainable performance.
The importance of personalized feedback
Another central point is the importance of providing personalized feedback, a practice too often set aside in the era of standardized coaching. While digital platforms allow for precise tracking of results, Guillermo reminds us that this data should not replace human judgment.
According to him, it is essential that managers do not simply give generic feedback based on numbers. He recommends having regular exchanges, face-to-face or remotely, where the focus is on the salesperson’s personal development. Feedback must be constructive, benevolent, but also tailored to the salesperson’s personality and specific needs. “What motivates one person can discourage another, which is why we need to adapt our feedback to each profile,” he emphasized.
Learn more about feedback here: 7 Keys to Successful Feedback
Back to the fundamentals of sales coaching
Guillermo Di Bisotto allowed us to rediscover sometimes forgotten, but essential, sales coaching practices. Through his experience and teachings, he showed us that the key to success often lies in returning to the fundamentals: simplicity, the quality of questions asked, and personalized coaching.
In a commercial environment where pressure is omnipresent and digital tools play an increasing role, it is more necessary than ever to restore importance to the human element. Salespeople are individuals, with their strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations. It is by coaching them in a personalized way, with clear objectives and relevant feedback, that managers will succeed in creating high-performing and fulfilled teams.
Don’t miss the next Masterclass!