The Monday morning sales meeting
Matt Lynch is national sales director of LYNKA Promotional Products. John Lynch is president of LYNKA.
It's Monday morning, about 8:55, and you are scrambling to finish the agenda for your 9 a.m. meeting with the sales team. It shouldn't be a problem because they all come late anyway - and some not at all. After all, clients are more important, and "sales superstar" Tomek just got a call from a very important client who wants to meet him first thing Monday morning. He will get the details of the meeting from someone else later.
Does this happen at your company? We hope not, but we're willing to bet that sometimes it does. In this article we will discuss how to run a proper sales staff meeting.
A successful sales meeting should accomplish several goals:
1. Discuss results
2. Share ideas and resources
3. Introduce new information: product knowledge, marketing initiatives and administrative issues
4. Motivate and inspire the sales force
If you asked your sales force for honest feedback about what they thought of your meetings, you might hear "we talk about the same stuff every meeting" or, even worse, "the meetings are a waste of time; I have work to do."
We know, we've attended these meetings, and we even ran a few of them ourselves. Now is the time to make a change, to make your meetings more productive and more inspiring, right at the top of the week. Here are some ways to get the most out of your sales meetings:
1. Prepare an agenda
In our company, we use a standard agenda, and then slightly modify it each week. Try to distribute it at least a day before the meeting - this gives the sales force an opportunity to prepare for the topics that you will discuss.
2. Sales results
Start the meeting by telling sales reps how we are doing. Where are the strengths and weaknesses in the results, who is doing well, and if things are not so great, what are the problems? If you don't already share sales numbers with your reps, it's time to start.
3. Achievements, accomplishments and recognition
This gives everyone a chance to participate and share their successes. It wakes them up and gets them talking. Keep this short and simple and focus on their key achievements. In this section you can include recently signed big orders, hot new prospects or a unique selling situation that the rest of the group can benefit from. If you do this every week, sales people will gradually improve their own story-telling ability - an important tool for every sales person.
4. What's new
We like to invite "guests" from different departments to discuss relevant issues. It is important to keep this under 10 minutes. If it takes more than that, have them schedule a separate meeting. During this time they can give an overview of new policies, new products and discuss some of the problems they are having. Invited guests should only attend their segment.
5. Announcements of upcoming events and dates
We like to assign one of the sales reps to this topic. Using the help of our secretary, their job is to announce upcoming events such as WBJ Business Mixers, trade shows and conferences.
6. Share ideas and resources
Sales people often don't have time to share their ideas and experiences with each other. We like to assign one rep to share with the group a particular project or case history that the rest can benefit from. Last week, we had a rep describe her experiences in targeting the automotive industry in Poland - why she chose that industry, what her strategy was and how the process is going. Other reps can add ideas of their own, as well as use the information in their own situations.
7. Problems and issues
Here is where you want to address any internal and external problems. It is vital to make sure this does not turn into a complaint fest. Sales people love to complain and once one of them starts, they all jump on the bandwagon. The best way to do this is to keep notes from previous meetings, list the problems, and then discuss the solutions and cross them off the list. Some sales people have short memories, and need to be reminded that their problems are being resolved.
8. Positive ending
We always like to end with good news. Like a Hollywood film, it leaves the audience with a good feeling and sends them off with fresh energy. You can also use this section to announce a sales contest or focus on a new sales technique. We like sales contests, including smaller contests for the upcoming week. A promise of a free lunch or movie for two goes a long way. Recognizing them in front of the group the following week takes it one step further.
Finally, you never want to go over the scheduled time without notifying the sales force well in advance. There is no better way to start off the week than to leave a good sales meeting and then take that positive energy to your first appointment Monday morning.
Sales meetings should be fun and informative; sales reps should look forward to them instead of seeing them as a mandatory waste of time. It will set the tone for the entire week and, if done in an organized and fun way, they will contribute to boosting sales performance.
