Sales meetings offer regular opportunities to benchmark performance against plan, provide additional skills development, update the team on new product development and “pump them up” to go out and exceed next week’s/month’s/quarter’s targets.

However, the responsibility for the success of the meeting, lies entirely with the manager. Here then are ten suggestions for more dynamic sessions.

Suggestion 1:
Insist on punctuality, for there is nothing which detracts from a meeting so much as people coming in late with lame excuses or returning late from a coffee break. Not only is this disruptive for the meeting but it is bad for group discipline as well and each time a manager allows this, they relinquish a little leadership capacity. Start the meeting on time to the minute. Do not wait for late arrivals and whatever you do, do not be late yourself.

Suggestion 2:
Begin the meeting in the way you plan to carry on throughout – with a friendly smile and a dynamic greeting, do not commence in a flat uninspired monotone. Be informal, relax and encourage team members to do likewise. Do remember that a sales meeting is one of those few occasions where you can provide “collective motivation” so you need to be at your inspiring best.

Suggestion 3:
Explain the objectives and always ‘sell’ the objectives by providing the team with good reasons why each item has been placed on the agenda. It is likely that you will want to discuss performance(s) since the last meeting and it is essential that you highlight success. Whatever you do never, ever, hand out criticism en bloc because that is the most morale sapping thing you can ever do. Rather deal with sub-standard performance one to one. However, do feel free to deliver collective praise in copious amounts whenever appropriate.

Suggestion 4:
Use some kind of visual aid during each session. The most common and easy to use visual aid is a PowerPoint presentation; closely followed by the flip chart which allows you to be spontaneous should you need to be – one picture really does paint a thousand words!

Suggestion 5:
Make quite sure that you achieve full agreement at the close of each session. You should aim to get full commitment from all present at the meeting, that they will definitely do what you have asked them to do. At the end of the meeting an action plan should be prepared and circulated to everyone present at the meeting. The previous meeting’s action plan should always be progressed at the meeting.

Suggestion 6:
Make sure that at least fifty per cent of the meeting is taken up with some kind of sales training. You can deliver this yourself or you might consider using specialists from outside of the company.

Suggestion 7:
Plan the amount of time you can afford to allocate to each session well before the meeting and be sure to stick to your schedule. One tip I always pass on, is to avoid the dreaded “Any other business” at the end of the meeting. In reality, if an item is worth discussing it should be a full agenda item, allowing for proper preparation.

Suggestion 8:
Encourage everyone to participate by asking for their views and opinions or by giving them presentation projects to prepare in advance of the meeting date.

Suggestion 9:
Do not do all the talking yourself. Salespeople (and most other people) hate to be lectured at. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Ask for opinions, and always question the reason for a particular opinion. Do remember generally people comprehend:

11% of what they hear.
32% of what they see.
73% of what they see & hear.
90% of what they see, hear & discuss.

Suggestion 10:
Finally, do set an example as the meeting leader. The manner in which you package yourself, your cheerfulness, your positive attitude and the way in which you have planned and conducted the meeting – all these things will be noticed by even the least perceptive of your team. Do all these things well and you will strengthen your position as the leader of the group. Do them badly and you can forget about training and developing your people, for they will take not the slightest notice of anyone who does not practice what they preach.

Summary:
As with all things in life, the success of your sales meetings will depend to a large degree on the amount of planning and preparation you are able to do, so do try to consider the following:

The Timing: Best day, time of the week/month/quarter, regularity.
Location: In relation to cost, facilities and transport.
The Room: Its lighting, ventilation, heating, degree of sound proofing, layout of table, comfort of chairs, seating plan, pencils and paper, flip chart, poster paper, markers, and of course, presentation equipment
Organisation: Arrange for breaks and refreshments.
The Meeting:
Prepare the whole meeting.
Prepare the visual side
Prepare the timing

REHEARSE!

Latest News: We have a very big week coming up: On Wednesday, your very own Jeb Blount is presenting a webinar - here are the details:

People Buy You Five Strategies For: Creating Loyal Customers, Increasing Sales, and Crushing Your Competition

What’s most important for your sales and business success?  Your price, collateral, marketing, response times, service guarantees, features and benefits, testimonials, the color of your business cards, job title, territory, or latest press write up?  What if I told you it was none of the above?

In this webinar Jeb Blount reveals five levers that are essential for increasing sales, creating customer loyalty, and crushing your competition.  Learn strategies that will help you:

Be Likable;
Connect;
Solve Problems;
Go the Extra Mile; and
Create Positive Emotional Experiences.

Wednesday October 22nd at 12 noon EDT

It’s FREE and you can register here

But before that, the Top Sales Experts are launching their latest ebook, 143 pages, packed with original material from fifty of the world’s top sales gurus, and it is FREE. You can reserve your copy by registering today, or simply go across to the site- Top Sales Experts on Tuesday.

A Ph.D Student Needs Your Help: If you are you a sales trainer, sales coach, sales manager, sales professional, or sales recruiter, Brian Lambert would love to get your input into a survey he is conducting with Capella University.

The free survey and analysis link is here:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB227YW7PAAT7

* At the end of the survey you can enter a drawing for a 32GB IPod Touch.
* You will also be able to see how your responses rate with everyone else’s.

Thank you for helping Brian in this aspect of the sales profession.

Finally, over on my personal blog this week, my guests are Greg Bautz and Daniel Adams, both fellow Top Sales Experts, so be sure to join us over at: The JF Blogit 

Oh, and if you missed JF Uncut this week, you will be kicking yourself, but there is still time to read: “More Bullshit – When Will It End”  and “Where There Is Life, There Is Hope”

That’s it, have a great week and good selling! – JF

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