Welcome to understanding sales development stages! Here's a key insight that will transform how you lead your sales team: development isn't just one thing.
Most sales managers think "Alex is a top performer" or "Jordan needs coaching." But that's oversimplifying what's really happening.
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Think of someone on your sales team who excels at one part of the sales process but struggles with another—who comes to mind?
Development actually has two separate dimensions. The first is competence - someone's sales skill level and product knowledge in a specific area of selling.
Think of competence as their technical selling ability. Can they actually execute that part of the sales process well?
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Which part of the sales process do you handle so well that other salespeople ask for your advice?
The second dimension is commitment - someone's motivation and confidence for that specific sales activity or situation.
Commitment combines how much they want to do that selling activity with how confident they feel about doing it successfully.
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What's a sales skill you have but rarely feel like using?
Here's what makes this powerful: competence and commitment can vary independently. Someone might have strong closing skills but low motivation for prospecting, or high enthusiasm for demos but limited negotiation ability.
They're separate measurements, not connected.
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Why might confusing competence with commitment lead to the wrong sales coaching approach?
Real example: Carlos excels at building client relationships (high competence, high commitment) but becomes hesitant during pricing discussions (moderate competence, low commitment).
Same salesperson, same day - but he needs completely different coaching approaches for each situation.
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