Ron Rivera Taps Potential of Young Panthers Team for Super Bowl 50

The ASLAN Other-Centered^® Leader 
Coaches Quiz Blog Series

Every winner has a coach, and every coach has a philosophy.  The ASLAN Other-Centered^® Leader Coaches Quiz matches your coaching style with some of the legendary coaches in sports.  Here is a deeper look inside the philosophy of one of today's best.

Like Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, Ron Rivera is no stranger to the Super Bowl. He was a linebacker on the Super Bowl XX Champion Bears team under coach Mike Ditka, and as the Bears' defensive coordinator, he faced Peyton Manning and the Colts nine years ago at Super Bowl XLI. Although this will be just the second Super Bowl appearance for the Carolina Panthers since their creation in 1995, they have made it to the playoffs seven times, including division championships in the last three seasons.

This year, the Panthers entered the playoffs 15-1, then beat the Seahawks and the Cardinals to get their chance at a Super Bowl victory. The Panthers have matured as a team since Rivera's stint as head coach began in 2011, when the Panthers drafted quarterback Cam Newton with its first pick in the draft. Newton is a powerhouse with the potential to get MVP of the year honors for his unstoppable offensive talent. In just five years with the Panthers, he has been named to the Pro Bowl three times.

Although the Panthers team is young, with several of its starters having fewer than five years' experience in the NFL, Rivera and his coaching staff have managed to build a powerful team that has steamrolled all but one of its opponents this year. Rivera was sure before the season even started that this year's team could reach the Super Bowl, and his ability to coax the potential from even the newest players has brought his vision to reality.

Way back in training camp, he turned to Dave Gettlemen and asked, "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Turns out, he was.

As sales coaches, it's important to have a vision for your staff which by now includes many millennials just like the Panthers roster. Well-trained sales coaches are able to see the potential of sales reps just starting out as well as encourage those who have begun to achieve but can go even further in becoming great salespeople. In this excerpt from the ASLAN Training whitepaper "Is It Possible What You Learned About Coaching Is Wrong?", the ability to see potential is quantified so that sales coaches can use their coaching time to the best advantage.

It's Not How You Hit the Ball But Where it Lands

Let's say a manager wants to measure a rep's ability to build value in a solution. Should that manager first focus on the rep's ability to communicate benefits, identify barriers or handle objections? No. The manager will certainly look at those behaviors if needed - but the key is to first look at Building Value - the competency - as a customer outcome.
For example, the rep successfully built value IF the customer embraced the recommendation and/or positively changed their opinion of the product/service/company and was willing to advance. If the rep achieved this "outcome", they were successful. If they achieve this "outcome" consistently, they are competent at building value. The "why" or "how" really doesn't matter. But if they failed to achieve the desired outcome, then we focus on the five or six key behaviors that contribute to success in Building Value (e.g., communicating benefits vs. features, handling objections, delivery) and diagnose which behavior is causing the rep to miss the mark.

Two major benefits with this approach . . .
First, the manager is able to quickly narrow the focus to the root cause of the problem (vs. wasting time measuring 50+ sales behaviors on every call). And second, managers will eliminate arguments with reps who are achieving results but don't do it the "company" way. If they can consistently hit the ball 300 yards down the middle of the fairway with their putter, leave them alone.

Coach Rivera’s ability to see the potential in his young players, many of whom are of the millennial generation, has led him to continued success. Millennials tend to respond well to individualized, outcome-based training that focuses on improving their experience rather than just the bottom line. Using techniques similar to Coach Rivera, sales coaches can quickly identify the potential of young sales reps and know how to best help them reach that potential and improve their sales skills. Contact ASLAN to see how our personalized sales training programs can help your staff reach its potential.