How Learning Sales Makes You A Better Coach

Why is learning sales important for coaches

“when you learn professional sales like really conscious intentional professional sales when you learn it you practice it you become great at it you become a much better Coach”

— Eben Pagan▶ 1:00

Sales training teaches you how people really work and how to motivate them to take action, which is essentially what coaching is. Most successful people did sales early in their careers before transitioning to marketing.

How does rejection help you become a better coach

“it makes you a much better parent because then when your child gives you an objection or rejection instead of taking it personally and being like oh you don't love me or whatever you just go oh well that's not what they wanted to do right now”

— Eben Pagan▶ 3:36

Rejection builds resilience and teaches you not to take client objections personally. This helps in all relationships, whether with coaching clients, children, or romantic partners.

Should coaches tell prospects they won't work with them

“one of my favorite things to do is to tell someone that I've been talking to for five or 10 minutes you know what I'm not going to be a good match for you”

— Eben Pagan▶ 6:42

Yes, telling prospects you're not a good match actually increases their respect for you. It saves time for both parties and demonstrates professional standards and confidence.

What happens when you qualify clients early

“one of the things that I've learned about sales and about getting affluent clients like really successful clients is the sooner that you start qualifying them the sooner that their respect for you goes up”

— Eben Pagan▶ 9:18

Early qualification increases client respect for you as a professional and helps you find better-matched, more motivated clients while avoiding time-wasting relationships.

Why do most people want to skip sales training

“people want to just skip the sales they want to go right to marketing Evan just give me an ad tell me the headline what do I right so that the clients just call me up the fish jump into the boat and I don't ever have to worry about any of that bad rejection stuff”

— Eben Pagan▶ 1:30

People want to avoid the 'bad rejection stuff' and hope that marketing will make clients call them automatically, like fish jumping into a boat, without having to do one-to-one sales.

The Sales Foundation of Success

Eben reveals the common pattern among financially successful people: they all did one-to-one sales early in their careers before transitioning to marketing. He explains why trying to skip this crucial step robs both entrepreneurs and their clients of better outcomes.

Why Sales Makes You a Better Coach

Professional sales training teaches you how people really work and how to motivate them to take action, which is essentially what coaching is. Without these skills, it's nearly impossible to become a truly great coach because you haven't learned the fundamental psychology of human motivation.

The Value of Rejection

Rather than avoiding rejection, embracing it builds crucial resilience and prevents taking objections personally in all relationships. Early rejection in sales conversations actually saves time and prevents working with unmotivated clients down the road.

The Counterintuitive Power of Saying No

Telling prospects you're not a good match actually increases their respect for you rather than decreases it. This principle extends beyond business into parenting and romantic relationships, where setting boundaries demonstrates confidence and professional standards.