Sales coaching is critical, but let's be honest—nobody has time to listen to every call or chase reps down for feedback. If you manage a sales team or run enablement, you probably spend more time wrangling data than actually helping your team get better. This guide is for folks who want to automate the grunt work, so you can focus on what matters: coaching reps and closing deals.
We'll walk through how to use Gong integrations to set up sales coaching workflows that actually stick. No fluff, no empty buzzwords—just practical steps and a clear-eyed look at what works (and what doesn’t).
Why automate sales coaching workflows?
Manual sales coaching is a time suck:
- Managers waste hours searching for coachable moments.
- Reps rarely review calls unless you nudge them (repeatedly).
- Feedback slips through the cracks, especially as teams grow.
Automation with Gong can help you:
- Surface key calls and moments worth coaching.
- Assign reviews and feedback without calendar Tetris.
- Track progress and keep everyone honest.
But let’s be clear: automation won’t turn a bad coach into a good one, and it won’t magically fix a broken sales culture. It does free up your time and create more consistency—if you use it right.
Step 1: Map your coaching workflow (before you automate)
Don’t skip this. If your process is fuzzy, automating it just makes the mess go faster. Grab a whiteboard or notebook and outline:
- Who’s giving and getting feedback (managers, peers, both?)
- What gets reviewed (all calls, just key deals, only first calls, etc.)
- How often coaching happens (weekly, monthly, when a deal hits a stage)
- How you track follow-up and improvement
Keep it simple. Automate what you do already, not what you wish you did.
Pro tip: If your current system is “sometimes I remember to coach,” start with a basic workflow: review one call per rep, per week.
Step 2: Connect Gong to your other tools
Gong is great on its own, but its real power comes from integrations. Here’s what to focus on (and what to skip):
Must-have integrations
- Calendar (Google/Outlook): Sync meetings and calls automatically.
- CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot): Tie calls to deals, stages, and pipelines. This is critical for tracking coaching impact.
- Slack or Teams: Get alerts and reminders where your team actually hangs out.
Nice-to-haves
- Learning Management Systems (LMS): If you want to tie coaching to formal training.
- Project/Task Managers (Asana, Trello): For teams who love task lists.
What to ignore (for now)
- Zapier and generic automation tools can be cool, but unless you’re tech-savvy or have a clear use case, don’t overcomplicate things. Start with the basics.
How to connect:
- Log into Gong and go to your settings or admin area.
- Find the “Integrations” section.
- Follow the prompts to connect your CRM, calendar, and chat app.
- Test each connection—don’t assume it works just because it says “Connected.”
Step 3: Set up automated call recording and surfacing
Automation starts with capturing the right data. Here’s what to do:
- Ensure all relevant meetings are recorded. Check that your calendar integration is pulling in the right calls. Exclude internal or non-sales meetings if you can.
- Set up rules for surfacing calls. Gong lets you highlight calls based on keywords, deal stage, or rep performance. For example:
- Flag calls where “pricing” or “competitor” comes up.
- Surface discovery calls in late-stage deals.
- Highlight calls from new reps for extra coaching.
Pro tip: Don’t try to review every call. Focus on the 10–20% that actually need attention.
Step 4: Automate coaching assignments
Here’s where the magic happens. Instead of manually assigning calls for review, let Gong do it:
- Create coaching “playlists.” For example, a “Best Discovery Calls” or “Needs Improvement” playlist. Gong can auto-add calls based on your rules.
- Set up review cycles.
- Assign one call per rep per week to their manager.
- Use round-robin assignments for peer reviews, so everyone gets and gives feedback.
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Push notifications to Slack or Teams so nobody can say “I missed the email.”
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Build templates for feedback. Standardize what you’re looking for—e.g., did the rep ask open-ended questions? Did they handle objections well? Gong can include scorecards or checklists.
What works: Assigning small, regular reviews. People are more likely to follow through when it’s not overwhelming.
What doesn’t: Giant review requests or “review all your calls from last month.” Nobody wants that.
Step 5: Track progress and follow-up automatically
Coaching is pointless if nobody acts on the feedback. Automation helps here, too:
- Scorecards and metrics: Track how reps are scoring on core skills over time. Gong can surface trends automatically.
- Follow-up nudges: Set reminders for managers to check back in with reps after feedback. Use Slack/Teams so reminders aren’t buried in email.
- Dashboards: Keep it simple. Track calls reviewed, feedback given, and improvements to key metrics (conversion rates, deal size, etc.).
Ignore: Fancy dashboards that nobody looks at. Focus on metrics you’ll actually use to run 1:1s or team meetings.
Step 6: Keep reps engaged (and avoid Big Brother vibes)
No tech will fix a culture of distrust. Here’s how to make automation work with your team, not against them:
- Transparency: Tell reps what’s being recorded, reviewed, and why. Show how feedback helps—not just grades them.
- Involve top performers: Let them share best calls in playlists. Peer learning is more powerful than top-down lectures.
- Keep feedback practical: Focus on actions, not just ratings. “Try opening with this question next time” beats “Your discovery was a 3/5.”
Pro tip: If reps feel like they’re being spied on, you’ll get pushback fast. Make coaching a two-way street.
Step 7: Iterate and adjust (don’t set-and-forget)
Your first workflow won’t be perfect. That’s fine. Automation is supposed to save you time, not lock you into a rigid system.
- Check what’s working: Are reps actually improving? Are managers giving better feedback?
- Get feedback from the team: What’s helpful? What’s noise?
- Tweak rules and automations: Update surfacing rules, coaching cycles, or feedback templates as your needs change.
Common pitfalls:
- Over-automating: If you set up too many alerts or tasks, people start ignoring them.
- Under-communicating: Don’t assume everyone knows how to use the new workflows—show them.
Wrapping up: Start simple, then build
Automating sales coaching with Gong integrations isn’t about chasing every shiny feature. Start with the basics: recording the right calls, surfacing coachable moments, and making feedback routine (not random). Integrate only the tools you actually use, and don’t be afraid to adjust as you go.
Keep your workflows simple. Iterate. The goal isn’t to have the fanciest automation—it’s to make coaching a habit, not a hassle. That’s what actually moves the needle.