If you’re tired of fluffy “transformation” talk and just want to set up a real sales coaching program that actually helps your team sell more, you’re in the right place. This is for managers, enablement folks, and sales leaders who don’t have all day to wrestle with software or dig through vague help docs.
Smartwinnr (smartwinnr.html) is one of those platforms that promises to make sales coaching easier. Good news: if you know what you want and follow a few concrete steps, it actually can. Here’s how to use it to set up a sales coaching program that won’t waste your time or your reps’ patience.
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Want to Coach
Before you even touch Smartwinnr, figure out what you’re trying to fix or improve. The software won’t solve strategy problems for you.
- Pick specific skills or behaviors. Don’t just say “improve selling.” Maybe it’s discovery calls, objection handling, or account planning.
- Choose your target group. All reps? Just new hires? Only underperformers?
- Decide how you’ll measure progress. Is it more pipeline? Higher close rates? More consistent messaging?
Pro tip: Write this down and get buy-in from your boss or stakeholders. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a program nobody cares about.
Step 2: Set Up Your Smartwinnr Environment
Assuming you already have a Smartwinnr admin account, log in and get the lay of the land. If you’re new, don’t expect a magical onboarding—poke around and take 15 minutes to click through the menus.
A quick checklist:
- Add your sales team. Go to "Users" and bulk upload a CSV if you have a lot of people. Don’t obsess over profile fields—you can update those later.
- Check your permissions. Make sure you (and other coaches) have the right admin or manager roles, or you’ll hit walls later.
- Set up groups. Group your team by region, role, or however you want to assign coaching. This makes targeting easier.
Ignore: Fancy gamification stuff for now. It’s tempting but can distract from actual coaching outcomes.
Step 3: Create Your Coaching Program in Smartwinnr
Now the real work starts.
- Navigate to the “Coaching” area. It’s typically in the left sidebar. If you don’t see it, your Smartwinnr plan might not include coaching. Worth checking before you get too invested.
- Click “Create Program.” Give it a name that means something (“Q2 Discovery Skills Tune-Up” beats “Coaching Program 1”).
- Set objectives. This is where your step 1 work comes in—be specific. Vague goals like “increase sales” don’t help anyone.
- Pick participants. Use the groups you set up earlier, or hand-pick people. Don’t pick everyone unless you want a scheduling nightmare.
- Assign coaches. Usually managers or enablement staff. Avoid assigning more people than you can realistically support.
- Set coaching cadence. Weekly, biweekly, or monthly—pick what’s realistic for your team size and manager bandwidth. Don’t overschedule.
Honest take: The more specific you are here, the easier everything else gets. If you gloss over this setup, you’ll be fixing it later.
Step 4: Build Out Coaching Tasks and Templates
This is where you decide what actually happens in a coaching session.
- Add coaching tasks: Think “review last week’s calls” or “practice objection handling.” Make them actionable and not too many at once.
- Create or modify templates: Smartwinnr lets you build templates for feedback, call review, or skills assessment. Use these to keep sessions focused and consistent.
- Set completion rules: Decide if tasks are mandatory, optional, or scored. Don’t be afraid to keep it simple—too many required fields slow everyone down.
Pro tip: Pilot with a few managers first. Templates that look good on paper sometimes flop in actual conversations.
Step 5: Launch and Communicate (Without the Hype)
- Announce your program. Email your team, or better yet, walk through what’s changing in a team meeting. Avoid big promises—just explain what’s expected and why.
- Set expectations for managers and reps. How much time should they budget? What happens if they don’t do the coaching?
- Send a calendar invite for the first session. Don’t assume people will “just remember” to log in and start coaching.
What to skip: Don’t bother with fancy launch videos or contests unless you already have strong engagement. Most teams just need clarity, not hype.
Step 6: Run Your First Coaching Sessions
- Managers/coaches log in and follow the template. The system will prompt them through each agenda item.
- Capture notes and feedback in Smartwinnr. This creates a record you can refer back to. Don’t get bogged down in writing essays—bullet points work fine.
- Ask reps for feedback. After a session, a quick “Was this useful?” goes a long way. If everyone’s bored or confused, tweak your approach fast.
Honest take: The first few sessions will be clunky. That’s normal. The only real mistake is refusing to adjust.
Step 7: Track Progress and Adjust
- Monitor completion rates and feedback. Smartwinnr offers dashboards showing who’s doing what. If people aren’t participating, dig in and fix that before worrying about results.
- Look at qualitative feedback. Are reps saying the sessions are useful? Are managers finding it manageable?
- Tweak your templates and cadence. If sessions are too long, cut them down. If people keep skipping, lower the frequency or simplify the tasks.
Don’t obsess over dashboards. Data is handy, but if feedback says coaching is making a difference, you’re on the right track—even if the numbers aren’t perfect.
Step 8: Keep It Simple and Iterate
- Don’t add more tools or modules unless the basics are working. Most coaching programs fail because they’re too complicated.
- Review every quarter. What’s working? What’s a headache? Make small changes, not big overhauls.
- Celebrate small wins. If someone hits a milestone after coaching, call it out. Recognition beats prizes.
Final Thoughts: Keep Your Coaching Real
Sales coaching in Smartwinnr isn’t magic, but if you keep things focused and adjust as you go, it can actually help your team improve. Skip the bells and whistles until you’ve got the basics humming. Stay honest about what’s working and what’s not, and don’t be afraid to change things up.
Start simple, keep it practical, and remember: no software replaces real conversations. Let the tool support your coaching, not run it.