Every salesperson has attended sales meetings and left thinking “Why do I have to go to these meetings? They are a waste of time and are not helping me get better at selling.” Sales leaders and managers must own and address this problem. Attendees to sales meetings should leave the meeting thinking:
- I never want to miss these sales meetings
- I am more motivated to go sell now
- I learned something today that will help me be more successful
Effective sales meeting strategies begin with understanding what it takes to be a motivational leader. We partner with Objective Management Group, the pioneer and leader in sales evaluations who has identified these 4 strengths in top performing, motivational leaders: they know what motivates their people, they have a strong self-image, they give recognition regularly, and they do not accept mediocrity. Another strength of motivational leaders is the ability to understand how their people are motivated, whether that is intrinsically or extrinsically. Tied very closely to understanding motivation is the ability to drive successful goal setting efforts to uncover both personal and professional goals that will motivate and drive the necessary activities to achieve established goals and results. Too many sales leaders do not understand how and why their salespeople are motivated. While there is no pixie dust to motivating people; if there was, it would be understanding what makes salespeople tick, whether it is college education for their 3 kids or recognition and status of being a top performer. Sales leaders must know this about their people.
All that said, what then specifically can help sales managers be more effective with their sales meetings? Ideally, leaders have two different kinds of meetings regularly with their teams: Huddles and Sales Meetings. Huddles focus on burning platform issues, they are brief (15 minutes typically) and urgent on a consistent time/day & agenda and involve reporting on smart numbers/predictive indicators that drive success for the organization. Sales Huddles are a communication process that helps managers gain real-time information for real-time coaching and always include an action plan and follow-up. Huddles help managers identify who needs coaching for future one on one coaching sessions. They also typically include a scorecard that stack ranks their people on the smart numbers, adding transparency and competitiveness to the Huddle. Here is an example of a Huddle Scorecard:
For longer, usually monthly meetings, here are 4 effective sales meeting strategies:
- They must have a Purpose: Recognition, important sales information, interaction, learning, skill development
- They must have appropriate Frequency & Duration: Driven by the “sales cycle”, monthly recognition for success, long enough to cover sales but short enough to hold attention
- They must have a compelling Structure: CEO message (high-level production), results (stack ranking)
- They must share Great Content: Sales idea/concept, stories of success and failure, including examples outside of the company including Ted Talks and other motivational resources
If sales leaders deliver these 4 strategies above, they will likely have sales meetings that have their salespeople thinking “I never want to miss these.” Their salespeople will learn something, leave the meeting feeling motivated and with something that will help them TODAY.
Much like a salesperson who should “never leave home” without a pre-call plan, sales managers must own the responsibility to plan, develop and deliver motivational sales meetings. Put your sales meetings to the test today by implementing these 4 effective sales meeting strategies above.
