Influence coaching
What is influence coaching?
Influence coaching is about moving every stakeholder on the buying committee in the direction of a winnable deal. It helps sellers earn each buyer's trust by understanding how they think, communicating with clarity and empathy, and leading with confidence.
It is ethical by design: the goal is to help buyers make a well-informed decision that's right for them, never to pressure, mislead or manipulate them.
AI already scaled expertise coaching. Influence is next.
Expertise coaching
Managers couldn’t join every deal to coach expertise. AI can.
Now every seller has:
- Product knowledge
- Technical skills
Gives sellers credibility.
Solved: now table stakes
Influence, not manipulation
Understand, never exploit
We read how a buyer prefers to communicate so sellers can be clearer, not to find pressure points.
The buyer's interest comes first
Coaching points sellers toward the right outcome for the buyer, including walking away when it isn't a fit.
Honest and transparent
No false urgency, no scripts that hide the truth. Trust built on a call has to survive the contract.
How Dextego coaches influence
- 1
Measure
Every call gets an Influence Score across Empathy, Gravitas, Probing questions and Objection handling.
- 2
Coach
Live prompts during the call, plus AI coaches before and after it, focused on the gaps that matter most.
- 3
Improve
Progress is tracked call over call, so sellers and managers can see influence grow.
Influence Intelligence
How Dextego reads every person in the room
Every buyer decides in their own way. Dextego builds a psychographic profile of each person on the buying committee, compares it with your seller, and coaches how to adapt, person by person.
Buyers want different things
- Task oriented buyer“Show me the evidence.”
- Relationship oriented buyer“Can I trust you?”
- Self oriented buyer“What's in it for me?”
Top sellers win by matching their influence approach to the buyer in front of them. One pitch for everyone loses.
McFarland, Challagalla & Shervani, Journal of Marketing (2006), 193 matched buyer and seller pairs.
Psychographic data: who they are
Psychographics describe how someone thinks, communicates and makes decisions, not just their job title. Before a meeting, Dextego analyses public professional information, such as a buyer’s LinkedIn profile and what they have written publicly, to estimate:
- How they prefer to communicate
- What motivates them and what worries them
- How they are likely to make a decision
Dextego expresses this with two established personality models, DISC and OCEAN, and profiles your seller the same way so the two can be compared.
- Need for autonomy
- Action orientedness
- Teamwork skills
DISC: how they communicate
- Dominance“Get to the point.”Lead with the outcome and a number. Keep it short.
- Influence“Who else is doing this?”Tell the story, share names and bring energy.
- Steadiness“What changes for my team?”Slow down, show the rollout and reduce disruption.
- Conscientiousness“Show me the data.”Bring the spec, name the limits and send detail after.
Most people blend two styles, so a buyer might be a “CI”: data first, but open to a story.
OCEAN: how they decide
- Openness“What's new here?”High: share the vision. Low: show the proven path.
- Conscientiousness“What's the plan?”High: give steps, dates and owners.
- Extraversion“Let's talk it through.”High: keep it conversational. Low: send it in writing first.
- Agreeableness“Is this good for everyone?”High: show how it helps the team. Low: be direct, expect challenge.
- Neuroticism“What could go wrong?”High: name the risks early and offer a safe first step.
OCEAN, also called the Big Five, is the most widely researched model of personality. Each trait runs from low to high.
Your seller vs. each buyer
Dextego compares your seller’s profile with each stakeholder’s and shows how naturally they connect:
- You naturally alignYour styles already fit. Be yourself.
- Mild communication compatibilitySmall adjustments make the conversation land.
- RiskYour default style works against theirs. Follow the guidance closely.
The weakest match is usually where a deal stalls. Often it is the person who signs, not the champion who already likes you.
Communication compatibility
Strong fit, handle with pace
A Captain meeting a Pioneer. Lead with conclusions, keep it short, let them steer.
Coaching, person by person
- Before the callA read on each person in the meeting and how to open with them.
- During the callLive prompts when a buyer signals they need something different.
- After the callFollow-up written for how each person likes to receive it.
Follow the guidance for each person and your influence rises across the whole buying committee.
Tone
Confident, challenging
Length
Very short
Formality
Low
Best practices
- Be respectful but crisp.
- Share objective proof points without over-analysing.
- Let them feel they’re calling the shots.
Avoid these
- Being too verbose.
- Dwelling on product tech or features.
- Slow, consensus-heavy next steps.
The Influence Institute
Keep the conversation going
Join sales and business leaders in the Influence Institute, where we discuss how to build trust, lead with influence and do it ethically.
Join the Influence InstituteInfluence coaching FAQ
Influence coaching is about moving every stakeholder on the buying committee in the direction of a winnable deal. It helps sellers earn each buyer's trust by understanding how they think, communicating with clarity and empathy, and leading with confidence. It is ethical by design: the goal is to help buyers make a well-informed decision that's right for them, never to pressure, mislead or manipulate them.
No. Manipulation works against the buyer’s interest. Influence coaching helps sellers listen better, explain more clearly and build real trust, so buyers can make a confident decision that’s right for them.
Sales training mostly builds expertise: product knowledge, process and technical skills. That makes sellers credible, but competitors are credible too. Influence coaching builds how sellers show up and how buyers feel, which is what moves a deal forward.
Yes. Empathy, gravitas and clear communication are skills. With specific feedback on real calls and practice before the next one, sellers improve them like any other skill.
Dextego gives every call an Influence Score out of 10, built from four levers: Empathy, Gravitas, Probing questions and Objection handling. It shows what went well, what to improve and how the score changes over time.
