VP sales coaching in 2026 is the work of coaching the leader who coaches the team. Most companies invest in rep training and ignore the VP. The result is a team that gets coached on whatever the VP knew when she got promoted. The VP gets no coach. The VP is the cap on the team's number.

I have run this work for 30 years as an enterprise sales leader and 8 years as a Fractional CRO. The pattern is consistent. A VP who gets coached well closes a meaningful performance gap inside two quarters. A VP who runs alone hits a ceiling and the team hits it with her.

What VP sales coaching actually covers

VP sales coaching looks different from a leadership development workshop. It runs as weekly working sessions on the VP's real situations.

Deal review. The VP brings 3 deals that are stuck. We work through what is stuck, what the rep should do this week, and how the VP should coach the rep without taking the deal away from her.

Coaching the manager. The VP has 4 to 8 first-line managers reporting in. We work through how to coach them. Most VPs were promoted from being top reps. They know how to sell. They have never been taught how to coach a manager who is coaching a rep.

Forecast confidence. The VP walks into a board meeting once a quarter. The confidence in the number determines how much capital and headcount the team gets next quarter. We work the forecast cadence backward so the VP walks in with a number she can defend.

Hiring and ramp. Bad hires cost the team a quarter or two. We work through scorecards, interview process, and the ramp plan for new hires. The VP stops hiring people who interview well and sell poorly.

Where AI fits in

AI is the multiplier for the VP just like it is for the rep. A VP running deal review with an AI-prepped brief covers twice the ground in half the time. A VP running 1:1s with AI-prepped coaching briefs catches patterns three weeks earlier than a VP working from memory. A VP looking at AI-summarized forecast variance walks into the board meeting with a confidence band, not a guess.

The work is still human. The VP still sits across from the rep, still reads the room, still makes the call. AI does the prep so the VP shows up sharper. That is the right framing.

The credential anchor

I built the Google and Apple accounts at Celestica from zero to hundreds of millions in revenue. I have run sales organizations through bull markets and through the 2009 recession. I have been the VP. I know what the VP needs.

The certification path I built into the CASL program is the systemized version of this work. Open enrollment cohorts are running this year. The about page covers the longer story. The 12 Silent Killers framework is the diagnostic I run with every VP at the start of an engagement.

What to do next

If you are a VP and your last coach was your first manager, you are due. The teams that put real coaching in front of their leaders in 2026 will compound a year of advantage over the teams still running the old playbook.

Pick one of the four areas above. Run it for 90 days with a coach who has carried a number. Track the change. The work is straightforward when the cadence is right.

The path through certification runs through CASL. The workshops page has the booking path if a private session is the right fit.