Do people like your sales meetings? Are you sure? If your team members joke around about dreading the meetings, or if they seem to miss them too often, these could be subtle clues that something’s off track. Maybe it’s time to brush up on your team-building techniques. Here are some ways leaders at top companies keep people pumped up about sales meetings.
If tardiness is a problem, make the first five minutes essential to the meeting. Give away a small prize immediately, or give a verbal code they’ll need later in the month to vie for a bigger bonus. Some companies even start meetings at odd times, like 8:48 a.m., because it tends to make people watch the clock more closely
Starting on time isn’t just about being a control freak. It shows your employees that you and your company value time - and that being on time to their sales calls is important. It also shows that you’re paying attention to the small stuff.
A surefire way to lose momentum is to make a meeting too long. With so many forms of high-tech communication today, do you really need an hour-long session? Consider 20 or 30-minute meetings, maximum. Your team will be excited about the novelty of a short, action-packed sales meeting.
After you institute short meetings, it is essential to keep the promise. If it’s 20 minutes, make it 20 minutes every time. Don’t allow blowhards to dominate the meeting; interrupt to suggest that they send their thoughts to everyone in an email.
Stop using meetings as a place to talk about company policies, general ideas, and overall sales stats. Focus on very specific things you want your salespeople to be doing. Ahead of time, decide on a focal point for each meeting. You can even send a teaser email beforehand. If your morning meeting is at 8:48 a.m., send an email out at 4 p.m. the previous day with a quick question each person should be prepared to answer in the morning.
This approach allows you highlight specific goals and behaviors that lead to success. Your job is to help your team focus. So start a meeting by saying, “Today’s goal is to win back two clients you lost last year. Name your two clients. Go.” Suddenly, everyone is engaged in the meeting.
Some companies do sales meetings standing up for added impact. Standing brings urgency and keeps the blood flowing. If it doesn’t seem reasonable to stand for the whole meeting, start a policy of standing for the first or last five minutes, and make something exciting always happen during that time, like kudos or a prize.
Enforce the new meeting boundaries with goofy penalties for non-compliance. Make anyone who’s late to the meeting put a dollar in a jar, and use the money for sales prizes. Set a rule that anyone who misses a meeting must sing-song everything they say at the next meeting.
Silly rules show you’re not cold-hearted, but you are firm. They also add a bit of camaraderie. If a few grumps aren’t thrilled about the silliness, so what? Grumps shouldn’t dominate the mood of sales meetings. Your salespeople deal with rejection all day long. They need a break in the tension.
Every person on your team wants to be the top salesperson. But the math means everyone can’t be number one. So acknowledge a small group of superstar salespeople at each meeting, for a variety of accomplishments. For example, on Fridays, mention a “weird sale of the week,” to highlight an unexpected or difficult sale. Keep your team guessing about who you’ll highlight, and try to mention each person during the course of a month or so.
It can be hard for salespeople to envision what success means for the month or year. They aren’t privy to all the company data you see. So keep them excited about today and tomorrow. As you end the meeting, spell out in one or two sentences what success means for today.
Together, these techniques can give your sales meetings a burst of energy. For even more help, reach out to Option Technologies, which has innovative solutions for ongoing learning, retention, and team participation. Take your sales meetings to the next level by contacting Option Technologies today.