3 Coaching Challenges Holding Back Manufacturing Sales Teams (and How to Solve Them)

In manufacturing, account growth doesn’t come from working harder; it comes from working differently.

Account managers in manufacturing are often deeply embedded in their accounts, supporting long-standing customers, answering technical questions, and resolving issues quickly. But growth doesn’t happen by doing more of the same. It happens when sales leaders coach their teams to shift from reactive support to proactive leadership.

Here are three coaching challenges that regularly show up in manufacturing and how to address them in a way that sticks.

Challenge 1: Coaching Technically Trained Teams to Lead Strategic Conversations

Many manufacturing account managers come from engineering, operations, or service backgrounds. That technical fluency makes them credible. But it also reinforces a belief that technical accuracy is what customers value most, anchoring them in specs at the expense of strategic influence.

Buyers today don’t need more technical data; they need clarity. They’re under pressure to make faster, smarter decisions, and they’re often leaning on internal voices like finance, operations, or procurement to help shape those decisions. 

If the account manager isn’t the one guiding the conversation around impact, trade-offs, and operational outcomes, those internal stakeholders will. And when that happens, it’s easy for your solution to be deprioritized, misunderstood, or dismissed.

This is exactly where coaching comes in, because most technically trained account managers aren’t naturally wired to think this way. Without coaching, they’ll continue to lead with details instead of driving strategic clarity. 

Your job is to help them rethink what the customer actually needs, then coach the confidence and skill to step into that advisory role.

What to coach:

• Start with customer objectives. Shift pre-call planning to focus on the customer’s goals, not just product features or issues to resolve. What does success look like for the customer?
• Coach “problem solving” vs. “problem shaping.” Use deal reviews to ask: Are we solving what the customer asked for—or what they actually need? Encourage teams to step back and clarify what’s behind the request.
• Model how to lead, not just serve. Share examples of how AMs have guided customers to reframe a project or spec based on operational or financial priorities. Use these as coaching moments to build confidence.

When account managers consistently lead with purpose and perspective, they don’t just respond to demand, they help shape it. Coaching is what makes that shift possible and sustainable.

Challenge 2: Coaching Beyond Legacy Relationships

Manufacturing accounts often come with history: deep relationships, set expectations, and clear roles. That’s a strength. But it can also become a trap when account managers stick to “the person we’ve always dealt with.”

Most strategic growth happens outside that comfort zone. New influencers emerge. Decisions get made elsewhere. The real risk isn’t just limited access; it’s a limited view of where decisions are made and why growth is stalling. And most account managers won’t naturally shift that view on their own, not because they’re unwilling, but because the system rewards responsiveness and familiarity. 

Without coaching, they’ll keep focusing on the relationships they know, avoiding the discomfort of reaching into unfamiliar areas of the account. That’s why sales leaders have to guide them, not just to see the full picture, but to act on it.

And when decision-making shifts upstream or across functions, your influence disappears.

Here’s what to coach:

• Build the account map together. In account planning, ask the AM to identify the full buying circle, not just who signs the PO. Who owns the budget? Who influences spec decisions? Who’s upstream from the project?
• Coach the “why now” conversation. When an AM wants to expand access, help them craft a reason for the outreach that ties to the customer’s priorities—not the seller’s. This protects the existing relationship while broadening influence.
• Use role clarity to reset expectations. If the AM is concerned about overstepping, provide language they can use to clarify their role as someone who supports the whole account—not just one function or person.

Growth within existing accounts requires expanding reach. Coaches play a key role by making that safer and more purposeful for the account team.

Challenge 3: Turning Real-World Selling Moments Into Coaching Moments

In manufacturing, coaching often gets deprioritized not because leaders don’t care, but because of how the role is structured. Sales leaders juggle massive territories, deal with distributor complexity, and frequently get pulled into urgent service or production issues, sometimes all in the same day. Add in dispersed teams across plants and facilities, and there’s little time or proximity for informal coaching moments. 

That’s why coaching can’t be a separate initiative. It has to be embedded into the rhythm of the work itself: brief, focused, and consistent. 

Here’s how to make that happen, even when time is tight:

• Reframe coaching as development, not inspection. Instead of asking “What happened?” in a deal review, try “What did you want to happen—and what did you learn?” This encourages reflection, not just reporting.
• Pick one behavior to focus on. Trying to fix everything at once leads nowhere. If the AM struggles with discovery, focus there. If they avoid cross-functional engagement, target that. Be specific and stay with it.
• Use micro-moments. A quick post-call debrief or a brief pre-meeting huddle can be just as effective as a formal session. The key is consistency and clarity about what “good” looks like.

Managers don’t need to be full-time coaches; they just need to make the most of the moments they already have. The goal isn’t more coaching. It’s better coaching—coaching that helps reps serve more, care more, and learn to lead.

Want to Drive Growth Within Your Manufacturing Accounts?

Manufacturing sales leaders face a unique challenge: coaching account teams who are strong on technical expertise but often under-equipped to lead strategic growth conversations. Add in long sales cycles, complex buying groups, and entrenched relationships, and it becomes clear that traditional coaching won’t cut it.

That’s why the most successful teams don’t just train differently—they coach differently. They embed new habits. They reinforce in the flow of work. And they build a culture where salespeople grow into advisors.

If your managers aren’t equipped to coach for strategic growth, opportunity will keep slipping through the cracks. Let’s talk about how to build the habits, rhythms, and confidence to change that.