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UK-based. Working with sales teams across Europe.
The Sales House

Sales Performance Conversations

Hold fair, early and honest performance conversations with sellers, from diagnosing a missed target to agreeing a supportive improvement plan.

The best seller on the team is often the person promoted to lead it. Overnight, success stops being about your own deals and starts depending on how well other people sell. We have made that move ourselves and coached many managers through it. Here, new sales managers learn how to lead the team without taking over every opportunity.

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A sales manager coaching a seller one-to-one
The Sales House
Explore. Practise. Perform.

Duration

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,250

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £999

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

Every seller deserves to know where they stand.

What you’ll explore in the Studio

A fair, early performance conversation is a kindness, not a confrontation. This half-day workshop helps sales managers handle the full range of performance conversations, from recognising what a top performer does well to addressing a seller who is falling behind.

Delegates learn to read leading indicators, diagnose whether the gap is about activity, skill, motivation or circumstance, and prepare a conversation built on evidence rather than frustration. They practise staying calm and constructive when the conversation becomes emotional, and agree improvement plans with clear support, measures and review points.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Under-performance discussed too late because the conversation feels uncomfortable
  • Missed targets explained away without exploring activity, skill or circumstance
  • Performance plans that feel like a formality rather than genuine support
  • High performers rarely told specifically what they do well

What this can change at work

Sales teams live by visible numbers, which makes honest performance conversations both easier and harder. This workshop helps managers diagnose what sits behind a missed target, hold early and fair conversations grounded in evidence, and agree support that gives the seller a genuine chance to improve. It also covers recognising strong performance specifically, so the best sellers know exactly what to keep doing. The business gains earlier intervention, fairer decisions and fewer surprises at review time.

Conversations happen earlier

Managers raise a performance concern when the leading indicators slip, not when the quarter is already lost.

Evidence before judgement

Conversations reference activity, pipeline and observed behaviour, separating skill, will and circumstance before agreeing next steps.

Strong performance named

High performers hear specific recognition of the behaviours driving their results, not just congratulations on the number.

Explore. Practise. Perform.

Less theory. More application.

What participants will practise

Realistic sales scenarios, role-play and peer feedback around leading and lagging sales indicators and diagnosing skill, will and circumstance. Where helpful, participants work on their own live (or anonymised) opportunities.

What they’ll take away

Take-away materials with the questions, frameworks and techniques covered, plus a short personal action plan for the next customer conversations where the skill matters.

How we help it stick

Reflection and action planning are built into the session. Reinforcement such as manager guides, follow-up labs or coaching depends on the programme you choose and is agreed with you.

How we make learning stick

Inside the workshop

Delegates prepare and practise real performance conversations in small groups using anonymised scenarios from their teams. Facilitator demonstrations show how to open, explore and agree a plan; peers observe and give feedback. Breakouts explore leading indicators and how to tell skill gaps from other obstacles. Everyone leaves with a conversation planner and an improvement plan template.

Make Sales Performance Conversations relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with leading and lagging sales indicators. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss a customised version

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • Leading and lagging sales indicators
  • Diagnosing skill, will and circumstance
  • Preparing an evidence-based conversation
  • Staying constructive when emotions rise
  • Improvement plans with real support
  • Recognising strong performance specifically

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
Half day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Spot performance concerns early
  • Diagnose what sits behind a missed target
  • Hold a fair, evidence-based conversation
  • Agree a supportive plan with clear review points

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Spot performance concerns early.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Sales Performance Conversations into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

More from New Sales Manager Studio

Set Up to Succeed: The New Sales Manager Launchpad

A two-day face-to-face launchpad for newly promoted sales managers: the habits, conversations and first-ninety-days plan that set new leaders up for success from day one.

2 days · 9:30am–5pm each day6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

Promoting your best seller is a big bet. How you set them up in the first few months decides whether you gain a great manager or lose a great seller. Most new sales managers are promoted for what they did as sellers, then left to work out the new job on their own. Some try to close every deal for the team; others step back so far that standards slip. This two-day workshop gives a small group of six to eight new managers the foundations straight away. Day one is about the shift itself: what changes when success depends on other people, leading former peers, setting clear expectations and building a weekly management rhythm. Day two is about the conversations that make the role: one-to-ones, coaching on real deals, motivating different sellers and raising performance concerns early. Managers work on their own team throughout and leave with a first-ninety-days plan their own leader can support.

Key focus areas

  • Why the first ninety days matter so much
  • From top seller to sales manager: what changes
  • Leading former peers with confidence
  • Setting expectations and a weekly management rhythm
  • One-to-ones and coaching on real deals
  • Motivating different sellers
  • Raising performance concerns early
  • Your first-ninety-days plan

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Redefine success around the team's performance
  • Hold a clear expectations conversation with each seller
  • Run a one-to-one and a deal coaching conversation with confidence
  • Leave with a first-ninety-days plan for your own team

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Face to face

From £1,999+ VAT

Course details

New Sales Leaders Online Series

Five live online sessions of two hours for first-time sales managers: lead former peers, set expectations, run one-to-ones, coach on real deals and handle performance conversations.

5 × 2-hour live online sessions (10 hours)6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

New sales leaders learn fastest when they can try something with their team between sessions and bring back what happened. Spread over five live online sessions of two hours, this series gives new sales managers the essentials of the role without taking them out of the business for days at a time. Each session covers one part of the job, practises it in breakouts with other new managers and agrees an action to try with the team before the next session. By the end, managers have led an expectations conversation, run development-focused one-to-ones, coached on a live deal and prepared for the harder conversations, with peers who are going through the same change.

5 live sessions · 2 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Lead former peers with clear expectations
  • Run a development-focused one-to-one
  • Coach from call and deal evidence
  • Prepare and hold a fair performance conversation

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £1,499+ VAT

Course details
Your people. Your priorities.Ready to sell better? Build your programme.A programme shaped around your people — and the progress you want to make.

Where better selling begins.

Your team doesn’t need more slides. They need skills that stick.

Know you need help? Book a relaxed, no-obligation 30-minute call. We’ll talk through your team and challenge, and you’ll leave with an honest view of the options — no brief or programme needed.

Book a Discovery Call Enquire about this course