The State of Sales Coaching 2025 report surveyed over 1600 sales professionals to offer a comprehensive overview of coaching practices and their impact on sales performance.

This report, the largest of its kind, highlights critical opportunities and challenges in the way coaching is delivered and perceived within sales organisations.

To provide deeper insight, we spoke with four leaders from MySalesCoach:

• Kevin Beales - Co-Founder & CEO
• Mark Ackers - Co-Founder & Head of Sales
• John Richardson -Co-Founder & Head of Coaching
• Richard Smith -Head of Growth

They shared their perspectives on coaching frequency, quality, impact, and the changes needed to maximise coaching’s effectiveness. Here’s an in-depth look at the report’s findings, enriched with the analysis and practical experiences from the MySalesCoach team.

Here's what we'll cover:

• The Frequency Of Coaching

• The Quality And Type Of Coaching

• The Impact Of Coaching

• Changes Needed In Coaching

The Frequency of Coaching:

Insights from Kevin Beales

Kevin explores the disconnect between reps and sales leaders regarding the frequency of coaching. According to Kevin, this disconnect arises from two very different perspectives: reps view coaching as personal development and skill-building, while leaders often see coaching as time spent addressing immediate revenue concerns.

Kevin explains, “I think there are two perspectives, two different sides of the same mountain, of what coaching is. For a rep, they’re looking at their skills development and personal growth.

Sales leaders are looking at revenue and short-term outcomes, so those one-to-one conversations can feel more like coaching to a sales leader than they do to a sales rep.”

Leaders may feel that their regular check-ins and deal conversations qualify as coaching, but for reps, this focus on deal outcomes doesn’t satisfy their desire for growth-oriented guidance.

"For sales leaders, those conversations are around current deals in play—how can I help with those deals, maybe sharing ideas, maybe even something that could be classed as deal coaching.

But that doesn’t equate to coaching in the eyes of a sales rep who wants to grow skills and develop."

Kevin also touches on the time constraints sales leaders face, which contributes to the perceived gap in coaching.

"Sales leaders can feel like a significant amount of their time is spent with their team, but when you’re an individual rep, the amount of actual time you get with your sales leader focused on growing skills and developing can be limited."

This limited time for true skill development is one reason 14% of reps report receiving no coaching at all. Kevin sees this as a reflection of some salespeople lacking managers who are qualified or able to coach effectively.

Kevin also points to the disparity between SDRs and AEs, with AEs being 50% more likely than SDRs to report infrequent coaching.

"SDRs, especially in larger organisations, have managers focused on growth and development. The manager of an SDR team is not going to be spending time on pipelines or deals.

It’s about the actions and the activity of an SDR, which is therefore more like coaching."

AEs, on the other hand, are often expected to self-manage, leaving a gap in the skills-focused support they need to grow.

The Quality and Type of Coaching:

Insights from Mark Ackers

Mark Ackers discusses why only 19% of reps rate their coaching as excellent while nearly 30% rate it as poor. According to Mark, these low satisfaction rates are often due to coaching that feels generic, repetitive, and misaligned with reps’ specific needs.

"Coaching can be perceived as poor when it’s not actionable, too generic, or like ‘groundhog day’"

Too often, coaching lacks the customisation reps need to tackle individual challenges.

One issue Mark identifies is that many managers coach based on their own past experiences, assuming what worked for them will work for others.

"Too many managers, perhaps understandably, coach based on their own experience - 'if it worked for me, it must work for you'".

This approach fails to resonate with reps and often leads to frustration as the same advice is repeated without tailoring to the specific deal or rep.

Mark also provides insight into why 39% of reps find their coaching too generic. This often occurs when managers, pressed for time, default to high-level advice rather than providing tailored guidance.

"Managers don’t set aside time to review calls, emails, etc., to give specific advice and instead opt for high-level, generic advice".

Without a detailed understanding of each rep’s challenges, coaching can become predictable and impersonal, leaving reps feeling unsupported.

Additionally, 29% of reps report that their coaching lacks practical, actionable advice. Mark sees this statistic as a sign of a broader gap in coaching effectiveness, where theoretical discussions fail to translate into actionable steps.

“Managers are either giving high-level, generic advice or focusing too much on theory rather than giving their reps clear, actionable steps they can apply right away”.

Effective coaching should bridge the gap between strategy and execution, and without practical advice, reps may leave sessions unsure of their next steps.

"When coaching lacks practical advice, reps often leave a session uncertain about what to do next".

He adds that this can lead to a cycle where reps return to their old, ineffective habits.

The Impact of Coaching:

Insights from John Richardson

John Richardson addresses the significant impact that high-quality coaching has on performance. Reps who rate their coaching as excellent or very good are 50% more likely to achieve quota, which John sees as clear evidence of coaching’s influence on success.

He believes that sales leaders need to receive quality coaching themselves to provide effective guidance to their teams.

"I think the biggest thing you can do as a sales leader to level up your coaching is to get coached".

“Coaches coach how they were coached, not how they were coached to coach.”

John elaborates that leaders who expose themselves to exceptional coaching develop the skills and insights needed to be better coaches.

"Your ability to coach is directly proportionate to the level of coaching you receive yourself,”

"If you want to become a better coach, you've got to expose yourself to incredible coaches and to people who are going to be game-changing for you."

When it comes to low performers not receiving coaching John believes these individuals should still take charge of their own growth.

“Your career, your success or failure is completely and utterly up to you,” he emphasises. While companies play a role, John stresses that reps should actively seek out mentors and coaches.

“Looking for coaches, mentors, people who can add their skills and knowledge…are things you should be seeking out,” he advises, emphasising that reps shouldn’t wait for their companies to provide coaching.

If you're interested in learning about sales rep management and to coach low performing reps, we have an article here.

Although 96% of sales leaders agree that coaching influences quota attainment, John notes that coaching often doesn’t receive the priority it deserves.

"Coaching always falls into the important but not urgent bucket,"

"A deal is never lost because you didn’t coach in the moment for that deal."

John argues that to make coaching effective, leaders need to recognise its value and commit to structured coaching sessions. Many leaders, he notes, have never been coached themselves, so they don’t always appreciate its full impact. By planning intentionally, leaders can harness sales coaching as a powerful tool to improve their team’s outcomes.

Changes Needed in Coaching: Insights from Richard Smith

Richard Smith discusses the structural changes required to make coaching more impactful.

With 82% of sales reps stating that coaching is critical to their success, he argues that companies must prioritise coaching if they want to drive sustainable performance. Richard points out that organisations often pour resources into sales technology, yet these tools don’t directly improve reps’ core skills.

“Companies will spend tens of thousands on sales tech, ranging from data and intent to power diallers and sales engagement tools,” he notes, “but none of these things actually make a salesperson more skilled.

You can put me in a Formula One car, but if I don’t know how to drive fast cars, then I’m unlikely to get very far.”

For Richard, sales reps’ desire for skills-based coaching reflects an awareness that skill-building has long-term value.

"Salespeople want a focus on developing skills because that’s what helps them become more competitive and effective in an increasingly challenging environment."

He points out that reps receive extensive product and market training but often feel under-supported in their core sales techniques, such as prospecting, rapport-building, and managing complex sales cycles.

Richard notes that 48% of sales leaders are seeking more support to become better coaches, yet many receive little to no formal training. At a recent event with sales leaders, he asked the audience to raise their hands if they had ever received formal sales leadership coaching.

"About 10% of the room put their hand up," Richard recounts, "which is a stark microcosm of a huge problem."

He explains that many leaders are promoted for their individual sales success but lack the development needed to effectively lead and coach a team.

"Is it any wonder that so little coaching is actually taking place? How can you do something you have never been taught to do?".

To truly address this gap, Richard believes companies need to invest in developing sales leadership skills rather than focusing solely on frontline reps.

“We live in a world where there are countless resources to help individual contributors get better results,”

“But the truth is, great sales results stem from great Sales Leadership. It’s baffling when you see the dearth of support in developing the people who lead our sales teams.”

If you're interested in learning more about sales team leadership, we have a deep dive article here.

For companies that lack the experience or capacity to provide this kind of training in-house, Richard recommends external sales leadership coaching—something MySalesCoach has seen a rising demand for.

“It’s why we’re seeing so many Sales Leaders knock on our door here at MySalesCoach”.

highlighting that leaders are recognising the importance of leadership-focused coaching to build the skills and knowledge they need to guide their teams effectively.

Interested in finding out more about how leaders are being supported with sales coaching for teams by MySalesCoach? - find out here.

To ensure reps receive the skills-focused support they desire, Richard suggests that companies allocate dedicated coaching time separate from KPIs or live deals.

“Spend that time focused on developing a specific skill.”

This might include reviewing past calls, practising handling objections, or setting individual goals.

"The key here is that following the coaching, the salesperson needs to tell you that they feel ‘levelled up,’

If they don’t feel like they have grown, then it’s likely they didn’t find the coaching valuable."

Finally, Richard highlights the unique benefits of external coaching. Independent coaches bring an unbiased perspective, free from the internal dynamics that may influence an internal manager’s approach.

"Having somebody independent, who’s not within your business, has zero agenda other than your success".

This objective focus enables external coaches to prioritise long-term growth over immediate deal outcomes, encouraging reps to engage openly in their development. For Richard, external coaching represents a proactive commitment to growth, giving sales teams and leaders the skills to succeed both now and in the future.

Conclusion

The State of Sales Coaching 2025 report provides a roadmap for how organisations can strengthen their coaching practices. By addressing coaching frequency, quality, impact, and necessary changes, companies can create a culture of growth that supports both individual success and organisational performance. Through the insights from Kevin, Mark, John, and Richard, it’s clear that coaching isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a critical factor in quota attainment and professional development.

For organisations ready to take their coaching to the next level, the recommendations in this report highlight actionable steps to ensure reps and leaders alike have the support they need. By prioritising personalised, skills-focused coaching, companies can drive sustainable performance and set a new standard in sales excellence.