To tell if a sales candidate is coachable, look for evidence of what they've done with feedback, not what they say about it. Ask for specific times they changed how they sell because someone told them to, and how it turned out. Then watch what happens in the interview when you push back on one of their answers. A coachable candidate adjusts. One who isn't defends the original answer.
Ask any sales candidate if they're coachable and you'll get the same answer: "Absolutely." It's the easiest interview question in the world to pass, which is exactly why it tells you nothing.
What does "coachable" actually mean?
Researchers Shannahan et al. (2013) defined coachable salespeople as those who are "open to seeking, receiving, and using external resources to increase their sales performance."
Notice the three parts. Seeking feedback, not just tolerating it. Receiving it without getting defensive. And using it, which is the part most candidates skip. Plenty of people listen politely to coaching and then do exactly what they did before.
A related idea from organizational research is feedback orientation, which London and Smither (2002) described as a person's overall receptivity to feedback (as summarized in Linderbaum & Levy, 2010).
Does coachability make a difference in sales?
The research suggests it does, though it's a smaller body of work than you might expect.
In the 2013 study by Shannahan et al., published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the researchers surveyed 271 outside business-to-business sales reps. They found that a manager's leadership style improved performance entirely through the rep's coachability. In other words, leadership paid off by way of reps who were open to it. Competitive reps also performed better, partly because they tended to be coachable.
The manager matters too. In a study of 1,246 pharmaceutical sales reps across 136 teams, Dahling et al. (2016) found that managers' coaching skill predicted how well reps hit their annual sales goals. But frequent coaching from low-skill managers actually hurt goal attainment. A coachable rep paired with a manager who can't coach won't get far.
And there's a mirror image. Managers who believe ability is fixed are less inclined to coach their people (Heslin et al., 2006). If you're hiring a sales manager, their own view of whether people can improve is worth exploring.
Can I just test for a growth mindset?
We wouldn't rely on it. Growth mindset, the belief that ability can be developed, gets talked about a lot in hiring. But the evidence is mostly about students, and it's mixed.
Two meta-analyses by Sisk et al. (2018) found "weak" overall links between growth mindset and academic achievement. A 2023 meta-analysis of 63 growth mindset intervention studies by Macnamara and Burgoyne found a tiny effect that was no longer significant after correcting for publication bias. Other researchers, including Burnette et al. (2023), argue the effects vary a lot by setting and person, so the debate continues.
We found no evidence that a growth mindset score predicts sales performance. That doesn't mean it's irrelevant. It means a questionnaire won't do the work for you.
What about candidates who say they love feedback? A 30-year meta-analysis found the link between feedback seeking and job performance was small (Anseel et al., 2015). Asking for feedback isn't the same as using it.
How do I find out if a sales candidate is coachable?
Look for evidence, not claims. Structured interviews and work samples are among the stronger predictors of job performance, at .42 and .33 in a 2022 re-analysis (Sackett et al., 2022, as summarized by O'Shea & Fox Luscombe, n.d.). In our view, both lend themselves to testing coachability.
- Ask for a specific change. "Tell me about a time a manager or customer told you to sell differently. What exactly did you change, and what happened?" Listen for detail. A vague answer, or one where the feedback turned out to be wrong, tells you something.
- Ask what they've stopped doing. "What's something you used to do in sales that you've stopped doing? Why?" Coachable people can name a habit they dropped.
- Ask about being wrong. "Tell me about a deal where you had it wrong. When did you realize, and what did you do?" In our experience, candidates who can say "I had that wrong" without a long justification are easier to coach.
- Push back in the interview. In our practice, we find it useful to question one of a candidate's answers and see what happens. Do they ask a clarifying question, consider it and adjust? Or do they repeat the same point louder? This isn't a validated test. It's one more piece of evidence, and it should be scored the same way for every candidate.
- Use a work sample with a second round. Give them a short task, like a mock discovery call, offer one piece of feedback, then have them run it again. Did the second try change?
- Ask references directly. "When you gave them feedback, what did they do with it? Give me an example." Ask people who managed them, not just peers.
Why does coachability matter more now?
Because what buyers need from a salesperson is changing. In our experience, buyers now research most things on their own before they ever talk to a rep. What they still need is help judging what that information means for them, and a decision they can defend.
Salespeople who do that well listen before they advise, change their recommendation when the buyer corrects them, and admit what they don't know. Those are the same habits that make someone coachable. In our experience, a rep who can't take correction from their manager rarely takes it well from a customer.
Work with us. Ashley Wesley, MA, CHRL, CIM, and our team are based in Guelph, Ontario. Our Final Candidate Review looks for the evidence that's hard to fake in a standard interview, including how your finalist responds to being challenged, and compares them with your own best people before you commit. Our handshake guarantee: if the report and process don't help, you don't pay.
In short
Coachable salespeople are open to seeking, receiving and using feedback to improve (Shannahan et al., 2013). In a study of 271 B2B sales reps, leadership improved performance through the rep's coachability (Shannahan et al., 2013). In a study of 1,246 pharma sales reps, managers' coaching skill predicted goal attainment, but frequent coaching from low-skill managers hurt it (Dahling et al., 2016). There's no validated coachability test, and growth mindset research is mostly about students and mixed (Burnette et al., 2023; Macnamara & Burgoyne, 2023; Sisk et al., 2018). Ask for specific changes a candidate has made, push back in the interview, use a work sample with a second round and ask references what the candidate did with feedback.
Key takeaways
- Coachable salespeople are "open to seeking, receiving, and using external resources to increase their sales performance" (Shannahan et al., 2013).
- In a survey of 271 outside B2B sales reps, leadership style improved performance through the rep's coachability (Shannahan et al., 2013).
- Managers' coaching skill predicted sales goal attainment across 1,246 pharma reps; frequent coaching from low-skill managers hurt it (Dahling et al., 2016).
- A 2023 meta-analysis found growth mindset interventions had a tiny effect on students that was no longer significant after correcting for publication bias (Macnamara & Burgoyne, 2023).
- The link between feedback seeking and job performance is small (Anseel et al., 2015).
Frequently asked questions
How do you know if a salesperson is coachable?
Look for evidence of changes they've made because of feedback. Ask for specific examples, push back on an answer in the interview to see whether they adjust, and ask references what the candidate did after receiving feedback.
What are good interview questions for coachability?
Ask about a time they changed how they sell because of feedback, something they've stopped doing in sales and why, and a deal where they got it wrong. Score the answers on how specific they are and whether the change stuck.
Is there a test for coachability?
We found no validated coachability test. Structured interviews and work samples are among the stronger predictors of job performance (Sackett et al., 2022), and both can be designed to show how a candidate responds to feedback.
Does growth mindset predict sales performance?
We found no evidence that it does. Most growth mindset research is about students, and recent meta-analyses found weak or very small effects (Macnamara & Burgoyne, 2023; Sisk et al., 2018).
References
Anseel, F., Beatty, A. S., Shen, W., Lievens, F., & Sackett, P. R. (2015). How are we doing after 30 years? A meta-analytic review of the antecedents and outcomes of feedback-seeking behavior. Journal of Management, 41(1), 318-348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313484521
Burnette, J. L., Billingsley, J., Banks, G. C., Knouse, L. E., Hoyt, C. L., Pollack, J. M., & Simon, S. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of growth mindset interventions: For whom, how, and why might such interventions work? Psychological Bulletin, 149(3-4), 174-205. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000368
Dahling, J. J., Taylor, S. R., Chau, S. L., & Dwight, S. A. (2016). Does coaching matter? A multilevel model linking managerial coaching skill and frequency to sales goal attainment. Personnel Psychology, 69(4), 863-894. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12123
Heslin, P. A., VandeWalle, D., & Latham, G. P. (2006). Keen to help? Managers' implicit person theories and their subsequent employee coaching. Personnel Psychology, 59(4), 871-902. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2006.00057.x
Linderbaum, B. A., & Levy, P. E. (2010). The development and validation of the Feedback Orientation Scale (FOS). Journal of Management, 36(6), 1372-1405. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310373145
London, M., & Smither, J. W. (2002). Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the longitudinal performance management process. Human Resource Management Review, 12(1), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(01)00043-2
Macnamara, B. N., & Burgoyne, A. P. (2023). Do growth mindset interventions impact students' academic achievement? A systematic review and meta-analysis with recommendations for best practices. Psychological Bulletin, 149(3-4), 133-173. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000352
O'Shea, P. G., & Fox Luscombe, A. (n.d.). Is cognitive ability the best predictor of job performance? New research says it's time to think again. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 60(3). https://www.siop.org/tip-article/is-cognitive-ability-the-best-predictor-of-job-performance
Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M., & Lievens, F. (2022). Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection: Addressing systematic overcorrection for restriction of range. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040-2068. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000994
Shannahan, K. L. J., Bush, A. J., & Shannahan, R. J. (2013). Are your salespeople coachable? How salesperson coachability, trait competitiveness, and transformational leadership enhance sales performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(1), 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-012-0302-9
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549-571. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617739704
Disclaimer: This article provides general HR and business information, not professional advice for your situation. Hiring practices should fit your role, your business and the law where you operate. For legal questions, consult an Ontario employment lawyer.
