Coaching Sales Reps Who Think They Know Everything

“That chip on my shoulder made me less empathetic, more rushed, too eager to solve things too fast, and less thoughtful. That chip built me, but then it started to tear me down.” I said that recently in a conversation with Harriet Mellor of Your Sales Co, and it captures something every sales leader needs to understand. I grew up in the sales training business. My dad literally wrote THE book on prospecting—several of them, actually. I worked at Paycom, Comcast, and various startups where I consistently crushed my numbers. But what I learned is that knowing the right techniques and getting your team to actually implement them are two completely different challenges. Sales training resistance is rarely about bad content. More often, it is about ego and pride standing in the way of growth. I had to recognize that in myself before I could address it in the people I lead. Why Your Top Performers Resist Training the Most When I was a rep, I was terrible at taking coaching. Not because I didn’t understand the concepts. I understood them better than most. But when someone tried to coach me, I tuned out. The problem was I’d already figured out a system that worked. I was hitting my numbers. Why would I mess with it? Think about learning golf. You chunk the ground twenty times, then suddenly you make contact. The ball doesn’t go straight or very far, but it goes. Someone tries to teach you proper form, your first thought is, “I already figured out how to hit the ball.” That’s where many top performers live. They’ve reached an equilibrium. Not peak performance, but functional competence. Training feels disruptive because it threatens what is currently working. They’re not resisting because they’re stubborn. They’re resisting because they have something to lose. What if they try something new and their numbers drop? They’d rather stay at 85% effectiveness than risk dropping to 60%, even if it means eventually reaching 120%. Two Ways Ego Hurts Performance Creates Rush Instead of Curiosity At Paycom, I carried a massive chip on my shoulder. I carried the same name as my dad. People knew who he was. I felt pressure to prove I belonged. So I rushed. I skipped discovery. I pushed toward proposals. I talked more than I listened. Every call felt like a test I needed to pass. You can hear this on your team’s calls. Reps who are trying to prove something move too fast. They stop asking questions. They perform instead of selling. That behavior is driven by ego, and it costs deals. Telling them to slow down will not fix it. You need to understand what they feel compelled to prove and why they associate speed with competence. Blocks From Actually Learning When I was carrying a quota, I thought I was a lifelong learner. I read every sales book. I listened to podcasts. I sat through hours of training sessions. But when it came to changing what I did on Monday morning, I defaulted right back to what I knew. I’d hear a new objection handling technique and think, “Yeah, I basically already do that.” I didn’t. But ego wouldn’t let me see the gap. Your salespeople are doing the same thing right now. They’re taking in your coaching but filtering it through their existing beliefs. They’re protecting the system that’s currently working. And they’re developing blind spots they can’t see. Watch for the reps who stop recording their calls because they “know what they sound like.” The ones who skip role play because it’s “not realistic.” The ones who tune out your coaching because you “don’t understand their territory.” Reps who do this aren’t trying to be difficult, but instead trying to protect their self-image instead of improving their performance. Why Your Team Listens to Outside Trainers But Not You One of the most frustrating parts of leadership is to preach a methodology for six months and nothing changes. Then an outside consultant shows up and says the exact same thing. Suddenly, everyone’s taking notes and engaged. I experienced this firsthand with my dad. He would offer advice, and I tuned out. Days later, I would hear the same message from someone else and think it was brilliant. It wasn’t about the message. It was about who was delivering it. When you try to coach your team, there’s history. There’s baggage. Maybe you’ve given conflicting directions before. Maybe they see you as “management” instead of someone who gets it. Maybe they just don’t like admitting to their boss that they need help. Outside trainers don’t carry that weight. They show up with a clean slate and credibility that’s granted just by being an outsider. The real question isn’t how to make your team listen to you. It is how to create an environment where learning feels safe, regardless of who delivers it. How to Break Through Sales Training Resistance Frame Training as Addition, Not Correction I stopped resisting coaching when my leaders stopped making me feel like ...