coaching-prep

name	coaching-prep
description	Structured coaching brief before a 1:1 — rep pipeline health, activity, call patterns. Trigger: 'coaching prep', '1:1 prep', 'prep me to coach <rep>'. Strengths cited alongside gaps.
origin	ESCC

Coaching Prep

Prepares a manager for a structured 1:1 or coaching session with a rep. The coaching-analyst agent pulls and synthesises the rep's pipeline, activity log, and call patterns into a coaching brief; this skill defines what that brief contains, how it is framed, and what the manager should do with it.

Governing rules: rules/targets.md (quota, ramp, and activity targets as coaching inputs -- not surveillance), rules/common/meeting-standards.md (every coaching session ends with an agreed next step).

Targets are coaching inputs, not surveillance. Quota attainment, activity rate, and pipeline-coverage ratio are signals that focus the conversation -- they do not replace judgment, and they are not performance verdicts. Frame numbers as evidence for a coaching question, never as a score on the rep as a person.

No writes from this skill. Coaching prep is a read/analyse/prep workflow. Any CRM update that results from a coaching conversation routes through the crm-operator agent (sole writer). This skill does not update HubSpot records and does not claim any record was updated without a tool-result.

When to Activate

Activate this skill when:

• A manager says "prep for my 1:1 with [rep name]" or "coaching prep for [rep]".
• A manager wants a brief on a rep's pipeline health, activity trends, or call patterns before a scheduled coaching session.
• A manager is running a pipeline review with a rep and needs a structured starting point.
• A skip-level or peer coaching session needs a rep-level data brief.

Do not activate to produce performance improvement plans or formal HR documentation -- those require HR process, not a coaching brief. Do not activate for territory or quota-setting (that is territory-planning and capacity-planning). Do not conflate a coaching brief with a forecast submission -- forecasting is forecast-rollup.

Workflow

1. Identify rep and coaching context

Accept from the manager:

• Rep name (or HubSpot user ID).
• Coaching focus if stated: "focus on pipeline hygiene", "I want to work on her call quality", "he's struggling to get second meetings". If no focus is stated, derive one from the data in step 2.
• Time window: default is the current quarter-to-date plus trailing 30 days of activity. Adjust if the manager specifies a period.

2. Dispatch coaching-analyst to build the rep brief

The coaching-analyst agent (read-only, sonnet) retrieves and structures:

• Pipeline health: open opportunities by stage, MEDDPICC completion rates per deal, deals with no next step, deals at risk per deal-review rubric. Cite deal-review skill for the MEDDPICC gap analysis -- do not re-derive scoring here.
• Quota and pipeline-coverage ratio: rep's current attainment vs. period quota, pipeline-coverage ratio vs. target. Targets come from rules/targets.md -- defer to those figures; do not invent a local target.
• Activity: cadence and logging compliance vs. segment targets from rules/targets.md. Cite activity-audit for cadence analysis -- this skill consumes the output, not the raw logs.
• Call patterns: summary of recent call scores from call-review outputs (if any exist for this rep). Call scores use call-review's own scale -- do not re-score or re-label calls here; reference the scored output.
• Stakeholder mapping depth: for key deals, whether the buying committee is mapped. Cite stakeholder-mapping.

The coaching-analyst returns a structured data brief. This skill then frames it.

3. Frame strengths first

Before surfacing gaps, identify at least one genuine strength to anchor. Strengths must be evidence-backed -- a quote, a closed deal, an activity metric that is green, a call score that is above baseline. Do not fabricate positive evidence.

Examples of evidence-backed strengths:

• "Jordan's discovery call scores have improved -- 3 of last 4 calls scored 'strong' on needs-identification per call-review."
• "Pipeline-coverage ratio is 3.8x quota, above the 3x target (rules/targets.md)."
• "Every deal in Stage 3+ has a documented next step -- meeting-standards compliance is 100% this month."

One to two genuine strengths are enough. The goal is accurate framing, not empty praise.

4. Identify 1-2 focus areas with evidence

Limit coaching focus to one or two areas per session. A list of ten things to improve is not a coaching session; it is noise.

Select focus areas from:

• Pipeline gaps: deals with red MEDDPICC elements that the rep can close with coaching (e.g. economic buyer not engaged, no champion tested). Cite the specific deal and gap from the deal-review output.
• Activity pattern: cadence below target, or a pattern in WHAT activities are being logged (e.g. many emails, few calls) that suggests a skill gap. Cite activity-audit output and compare to segment targets from rules/targets.md.
• Follow-through pattern (v1.8.0): escc outcome summary reports the promised-vs-logged follow-up gap folded from recent sessions and corroborated against the live promise ledger. Cite it as a coaching input only when corroborated — and always alongside strengths, never as surveillance.
• Call quality pattern: if call-review scores show a consistent gap (e.g. low discovery depth, talk-to-listen ratio off), name the pattern with quoted evidence.
• Qualification depth: if MEDDPICC fields are consistently thin or unverified, that is a skill gap to coach -- not a data-entry problem.

For each focus area, the brief includes:

• The evidence (deal name, call date, activity metric -- specific, not vague).
• The coaching question to open the conversation (open-ended, not accusatory).
• A suggested next action the manager and rep can agree on in the session.

5. Produce the coaching brief

Return a structured brief the manager can use in the 1:1:

COACHING BRIEF: [Rep name] -- [Date]
Prepared for: [Manager name]
Window: [e.g. Q2 2026 QTD + trailing 30 days activity]

STRENGTHS (evidence-backed)
- [Strength 1 with source]
- [Strength 2 with source -- optional]

PIPELINE SNAPSHOT
- Open pipeline: $[X] across [N] deals | Stage breakdown: [...]
- Pipeline-coverage ratio: [X]x vs. [target]x target (rules/targets.md)
- Attainment QTD: [X]% of period quota (rules/targets.md)
- Deals at risk: [list deals with deal-review risk flags]
- Deals missing next step: [list -- meeting-standards gap]

ACTIVITY SNAPSHOT (trailing 30 days)
- Meetings booked: [N] vs. [target] target (rules/targets.md, segment: [X])
- Calls logged: [N] | Emails: [N] | Opportunities created: [N]
- Cadence pattern note: [cite activity-audit output]

CALL QUALITY SNAPSHOT
- Calls reviewed (call-review): [N] in window
- Pattern: [summary of call-review scores -- cite call-review scale, not MEDDPICC]

FOCUS AREA 1: [e.g. Economic buyer access]
  Evidence: [specific deal(s), MEDDPICC gap, source]
  Coaching question: "[open-ended question for 1:1]"
  Suggested next action: [who does what by when]

FOCUS AREA 2: [e.g. Discovery depth on new opps]  -- omit if not needed
  Evidence: [specific pattern with source]
  Coaching question: "[open-ended question]"
  Suggested next action: [who does what by when]

SESSION CLOSE (per rules/common/meeting-standards.md)
  Every coaching session ends with an agreed, dated next step between
  manager and rep. Capture it before the call ends.

6. Return the brief to the manager

Deliver the brief before the scheduled 1:1. Flag if the coaching-analyst could not retrieve sufficient data (e.g. rep has no logged activities this month -- that itself is a coaching signal to address).

Examples

Standard 1:1 coaching prep:

manager: "prep for my 1:1 with Sarah on Thursday"

coaching-analyst returns brief data for Sarah Chen, Mid-market AE, Q2 QTD.

COACHING BRIEF: Sarah Chen -- 2026-06-19
Window: Q2 2026 QTD + trailing 30 days activity

STRENGTHS
- Pipeline-coverage ratio: 4.1x quota (above 3x target -- rules/targets.md)
- GlobalBank deal (Stage 4): full MEDDPICC mapped, champion tested (per deal-review)

PIPELINE SNAPSHOT
- Open pipeline: $620k across 9 deals
- Coverage ratio: 4.1x vs. 3x target
- Attainment QTD: 38% of $360k period quota (on pace for shortfall)
- Deals at risk: BetaCo ($75k) -- E is red; no economic buyer access in 45 days
- Missing next step: RetailCo ($55k) -- last activity 12 days ago, no next step logged

ACTIVITY SNAPSHOT (trailing 30 days)
- Meetings booked: 7 vs. 10 target (mid-market, rules/targets.md) -- 70%
- Calls logged: 42 | Emails: 118 | Opportunities created: 2
- Pattern: high email volume, below-target meeting rate -- possible avoidance of
  cold outreach channel (cite activity-audit: email-heavy cadence flagged)

CALL QUALITY SNAPSHOT
- 4 calls reviewed via call-review in window
- Pattern: discovery depth strong (avg 7/10 on call-review scale); talk-to-listen
  ratio improving; weak on economic buyer access -- champion not probed in 3 of 4 calls

FOCUS AREA 1: Economic buyer access on BetaCo
  Evidence: BetaCo MEDDPICC E = red; last EB contact 45 days ago; deal-review risk flag
  Coaching question: "What's your read on why the CFO has gone quiet, and what
    options do you see to re-engage without going around Marcus?"
  Suggested next action: [Sarah] to draft a business-case email to CFO; manager
    reviews -- by 2026-06-21

FOCUS AREA 2: Meeting booking cadence
  Evidence: 7/10 meetings booked vs. target (rules/targets.md); email-heavy cadence
    vs. calls flagged by activity-audit
  Coaching question: "When you look at where those 3 meetings didn't happen, what
    got in the way of the call?"
  Suggested next action: [Sarah + manager] agree on a 2-week calling block trial;
    review together at next 1:1 -- 2026-07-03

SESSION CLOSE: Book the follow-up 1:1 before ending this call (meeting-standards).

Rep with no recent call-review data:

manager: "coaching prep for Tom -- he's new, 60 days in"

Note: Tom is in ramp month 2 (60-day ramp month). Quota is ramped per
rules/targets.md; compare activity to ramped targets, not full-quota targets.
No call-review outputs exist yet for Tom this quarter -- flag this.

COACHING BRIEF: Tom Nguyen -- 2026-06-19
Ramp month 2 of 3 (rules/targets.md ramp schedule)

STRENGTHS
- 3 new opportunities created in ramp month 2 -- on pace for ramp target

CALL QUALITY SNAPSHOT
- No call-review outputs for Tom this quarter yet.
  Suggested action: schedule a call-review session with Tom this week to
  establish a baseline and identify early coaching patterns.

[remainder of brief follows standard structure with ramped targets]

Anti-patterns

• Using activity targets to score or rank the rep as a person. Numbers are coaching inputs per rules/targets.md. "Your call volume is 60% of target" opens a coaching question; "you are a low performer" is not what this skill produces. Frame accordingly.
• Fabricating a strength. If the data does not support a genuine strength, do not invent one. Anchor on what IS working even if the bar is low ("logging is consistent, even if volume is below target").
• Listing more than two focus areas. A manager who tries to address seven things in a 30-minute 1:1 will address none of them. Choose the two highest-leverage items; park the rest.
• Re-scoring MEDDPICC. The deal-review skill owns red/amber/green. This skill consumes that output and references the gaps -- it does not introduce a new scoring scale or override the deal-review rubric.
• Re-scoring call quality with a MEDDPICC or ICP scale. Call scores come from call-review, which defines its own explicit scale. Reference that output; do not re-label call quality as red/amber/green (that is MEDDPICC territory) or 0-100 (that is ICP territory).
• Skipping the session-close step. Per rules/common/meeting-standards.md, every coaching session ends with an agreed, dated next step. Flag this in the brief so the manager remembers to close it.
• Claiming a CRM record was updated. Coaching prep is read-only. Any update routes through crm-operator after the session, not during prep.

Related

• coaching-analyst (agent, read-only, sonnet) -- builds the rep-level data brief this skill frames. Always dispatched in step 2.
• deal-review -- owns MEDDPICC red/amber/green; coaching-prep cites its output, does not re-derive the rubric.
• activity-audit -- owns cadence and logging compliance scoring; coaching-prep cites its output.
• call-review -- owns call scores; coaching-prep references scored output without re-scoring.
• stakeholder-mapping -- committee depth on key deals surfaces as a pipeline-health input.
• rules/targets.md -- quota, ramp, and activity targets; the authoritative source for all numeric benchmarks used in the brief.
• rules/common/meeting-standards.md -- every coaching session ends with an agreed, dated next step.
• crm-operator (agent) -- sole writer; any deal updates resulting from a coaching conversation route here post-session.
• /coach command -- thin shim that delegates to this skill.