Coaching for Development vs. Coaching for Production

In today's hyper-competitive business landscape, the difference between mediocre and exceptional sales performance often comes down to one critical element: effective coaching. 

As organizations increasingly recognize this truth, coaching has evolved from a nice-to-have perk to an essential strategic tool that drives both individual growth and company revenue.

Coaching is now one of the most critical tools that companies use to develop sales teams and enhance overall performance. Yet many sales leaders find themselves at a crossroads, unsure of which coaching approach will yield the best results for their unique team dynamics and business objectives.

There are two common approaches: coaching for production and coaching for development. 

• What's the difference, and how do you apply each of them? 
• When should you focus on immediate results versus long-term skill building? 
• And how can you strike the perfect balance between these complementary but distinct methodologies?

Let’s unpack both styles and explore how and when to use each to unlock real growth for your sales team.

Coaching for Production vs. Coaching for Development: What’s the Difference?

Coaching for production is the very essence of traditional sales training, the kind you tend to see in many organizations. It’s focused on short-term goals, immediate outcomes, and individual skills. In a practical sense, it’s mostly reactive, directive, and firmly fixated on the pipeline.

Picture the manager who jumps in to rescue a collapsing deal, correct a misstep by a sales rep, or tell them exactly what to do next. It’s basically coaching in its most transactional form. 

Yet, here lies a common pitfall for sales leaders: the overwhelming impulse to give advice. It’s natural. We’ve been there, done that, and we want to help. After all, experience compels us to guide, intervene, and share the lessons we’ve learned the hard way. 

However, to build high-performing, self-sufficient sales teams, we must learn to resist that urge and shift from telling to asking.

By contrast, coaching for development is focused on long-term growth. It's proactive. Curious. Centered on the person rather than the pipeline. It's about helping reps build the skills, confidence, and mindset they need to navigate situations on their own. 

Here’s a quick comparison:

Neither style is wrong. The key is knowing when—and how—to apply each.

The Advice-Giving Monster (and How to Tame It)

Let’s be honest: we love to give advice, especially when the answer seems obvious, when the solution sits right there, polished and ready in our minds.

It’s like being in first grade again, waving your hand in the air—“Ooh, I know! Pick me!” But in sales coaching, that eagerness comes at a cost. Blurting out the solution doesn’t build your team’s skills. Instead of sharpening their instincts, it just creates dependency and robs them of a chance to discover it themselves. 

To coach for development, you’ve got to suppress that inner advice-giving monster and get curious.

Try questions that unlock deeper thinking instead of jumping in with what to do. Ask:

• “Tell me more about that.”
• “What do you think is the real issue here?”
• “What else do you think is going on?”
• “If you could go back to that meeting, what would you do differently?”

This approach draws from Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit, which outlines simple, powerful coaching questions that help people think for themselves.

One of the best? The “AWE” question: And What Else?

It’s deceptively simple yet incredibly effective.

Three words, barely a question, yet they have a way of peeling back layers, revealing insights that even the manager might never have unearthed alone. The magic is not in having the answers but in helping reps find their own.

Why Coaching for Development Matters More Than Ever

If you’re continually solving problems for your reps, you’re teaching them to rely on you and, essentially, building a team that cannot thrive without you. 

You’re turning them into order-takers, not decision-makers. 

While this may keep the machine churning out positive results in the short term, it’s ultimately a risky foundation for any sales team, especially one that wants to scale. The team cannot scale, adapt, or truly excel if it depends on constant intervention.

Coaching for development rewrites this dynamic. It:

• Builds critical thinking and self-awareness
• Helps reps learn from their experiences
• Creates a culture of accountability and ownership
• Unlocks long-term performance gains

Your goal isn’t just to get a deal across the finish line but to help your team learn how to do it themselves next time.

But… Sometimes, You Do Need to Just Tell Them

Let’s be clear: there is a time and place for giving direct answers. There are moments when coaching means stepping in, not stepping back

If someone asks, “Where’s that proposal file?”—don’t reply with, “Well, where do you think it is?” That’s not coaching. That’s just being annoying.

Or if a rep is about to say something problematic on a call and the deal is veering toward disaster, it’s okay to jump in with a course correction. That isn’t overreach; it’s leadership.

The key is intentionality. Are you helping them get unstuck temporarily, or are you doing the thinking for them in the long term?

How to Balance Coaching for Development and Production

Think of these two coaching styles as opposite ends of a continuum rather than two opposing forces:

Production ⟷ Development

You’re rarely 100% on one end or the other. Instead, you shift along that spectrum depending on the situation. The most effective leaders don’t rigidly plant themselves at one extreme; they move fluidly between them, adjusting their stance to fit the moment. 

Here’s how to strike the right balance:

1. Segment Your Conversations

Not all discussions serve the same purpose. Clarity begins with separation.

Pipeline Reviews: 

Focus on production. Talk deals. Get tactical: dive into deals, dissect numbers, and strategize immediate next steps. Be direct, tactical, and results-driven.

1:1 Coaching Sessions: 

Here, development takes center stage. Step back from the urgent to explore the important. Ask open-ended questions. Reflect on patterns, behaviors, skills, and long-term growth.

Separate these conversations. Don’t let coaching moments dissolve into forecast updates. Give each of them the space it deserves.

2. Leverage Call Recordings

Instead of just telling reps how a call could’ve gone better, listen to it together. Then ask:

• “Where do you think you missed an opportunity?”
• “What would you do differently next time?”
• “What was the prospect really trying to say here?”

This helps reps self-assess, which is one of the most powerful ways to learn, and self-assessment is where true skill-building begins.

3. Ask Better Questions

Structure your coaching dialogues to provoke deeper thinking.

Use a question framework like this:

• What’s on your mind?
• What’s the real challenge here for you?
• What else?
• If you could do it again, what would you try?
• How can I support you moving forward?

The goal isn’t to trap them; it’s to help them slow down, reflect, and think critically.

4. Let Silence Do Some Work

Resist the urge to rush in and fill every pause. Let your rep sit with a question and come to their own insights. That silence can be uncomfortable, but it’s where growth happens. Let the silence linger and watch as your rep leans into the tension, wrestles with the thought, and arrives at their own "aha."

Final Thoughts

Great sales coaches don’t just build stronger pipelines; they build stronger people.

That means shifting from being the answer machine to being the thinking partner, from always stepping in to stepping back, from coaching for production to coaching for development.

It’s not an either/or. It’s about having the awareness to find the right moment for each, and to always lean a little more toward curiosity over control.

Start by asking “What else?” and go from there.

Recommended Reading:

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier – a practical, game-changing read for any sales leader ready to become a better coach.