Trust Deficit and Coaching Breakdown: Insight from a B2B Sales Team Intervention

Abstract

This study aims to explore how trust deficits influence the effectiveness of coaching interventions within a B2B sales organization in Indonesia. The coaching program was initially designed to enhance team performance, but it unexpectedly revealed deeper systemic issues related to organizational trust, structural ambiguity, and leadership behavior. Employing a qualitative exploratory case study, the research involved six sales team members and one observer, using data collected through in-depth interviews, field observations, reflective notes, and internal documents. The results show that coaching functioned less as a performance accelerator and more as a diagnostic tool that uncovered hidden dysfunctions, including client reassignments without communication, unclear performance benchmarks, and reluctance to share customer data. These trust-related barriers significantly reduced the impact of the coaching process. Nevertheless, the intervention prompted participants to request a trust-building session and spurred the company to initiate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). A conceptual model was developed to illustrate how trust, leadership behavior, and psychological safety are interrelated in shaping coaching outcomes. This study underscores that for coaching to succeed, organizations must first establish relational and structural readiness.