Making Sales Meetings Memorable.
Okay, Tolerable.

Every sales team has a weekly meeting.

Most salespeople think they’re a waste of business time. Mostly because the meetings are boring, chastising, threatening, or lacking inspiration – or all of the above.

Managers feel as though they “have to” have them; yet struggle with the content and flow.

Well now, that sounds like a positive way to get the week started. What’s a sales team to do? Here’s what to do

Have a set (printed) agenda for the meeting. All meetings should have one. Important items you want to cover, and exercises for the team. Start out positive, end upbeat, and have great content in the middle.

Here’s a sample agenda that will make your meetings more fun and profitable for all:

1. Morning mirth. Someone on the staff tells a funny story. This acts as a kickoff, and also gives someone storytelling practice in front of a group. Pre-assign it so they can prepare. Not a joke, a story. This makes it more real, and more personal.

2. Success announcements. Give everyone a chance to brag about his or her current accomplishments. Sales and personal events are acceptable. Successful big deals, goals exceeded, achievements made. Talking about success makes people feel successful.

3. Frustrations shared. One or two minutes of bloodletting. Don’t react immediately. Let solutions be offered later in the meeting. Get the crap off your chest, and let everyone help create solutions and answers as the meeting progresses.

4. Two minute administrative details talk. No more. The rest can be emailed. Salespeople hate details.

5. Five to ten minutes of product knowledge. No more. Important transferable bits of information that customers can use, benefit, produce, and profit from.

Idea: Test or challenge salespeople to come up with an idea on how to present the knowledge, and reward the best idea with lunch for two.

6. Best of (examples). How someone succeeded. Made a tough appointment, provided successful follow-up, completed a sale. Sales meetings should emphasize sales. Hello!

7. Sales subject/lesson of the week. Sales training. Someone on the team prepares and delivers a 15-minute presentation of an important aspect of your selling process. You can even invite customers to participate.

8. Solutions to frustrations. Ten minutes of ideas to present frustrations and barriers. Get it out in the open so that answers can create better understanding.

9. Networking opportunities discussed. Prepared by someone weekly. Where you can go to meet new people and prospects. Assign people to important events. Report on last week’s events.

10. Top ten prospect review of each salesperson. Rapid-fire talk that names the prospect, the status, and the expected result this week. Make each person verbalize his or her goals and expectations.

11. Expectations of the week. Each person affirms what he or she seeks to accomplish this week with respect to their sales effort to build their pipeline.

12. Generate an idea for one major prospect of each salesperson. As the sales leader, you offer the first idea. This shows the team that you have prepared as well. Give them something creative to take or say to their appointment that separates them from the competition, gets them in the door, or helps them complete a sale.

12.5 END UPBEAT. Two minutes of something motivational and inspirational — a recording, a reading, a story shared, a video clip. Something that will energize each salesperson to leave through the wall, not the door.

This agenda will win, and create winners. It involves everyone, and creates a positive anticipation for a week of success. It also challenges each salesperson to learn, participate, communicate, present, and make sales.

The object of any sales meeting is to have a favorable outcome. One where the team of individuals is somewhere between inspired and pumped. This responsibility falls on the shoulders of the sales leader — the sales manager or owner of the company.

OH YEAH Serve great food. Make the sales team feel first class by providing first class eats. I promise, it’s worth every ounce of caffeine, and every gram of carb.

The Best Sales Meeting Idea Make an appointment with a hot prospect that starts one-minute following the sales meeting. You should be pumped. Why not take it out on a prospect?

You should close that sale 110% of the time.

I have posted this agenda on my site to share with your manager, or teammates. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the word AGENDA in the GitBit box.