Often unplanned, an integral component of a successful sales team and achieving company targets is regular sales meetings. If carefully and strategically scheduled, they can become an essential tool to keep your team on track and increase your team’s close rate.
The elements that constitute a perfect sales meeting in 2018 are:
Purpose
It is imperative for the team leader to identify the objectives of the meeting. If the team leader is not clear on the aims and objectives, it is easy for him or her to veer off-track; this could then defeat the purpose of the meeting and reduce your team’s attention span. Therefore, a good habit to get into is to state the objectives of the meeting at the very beginning so that items that are going to be covered are understood by all those in the room. This will ensure that everyone stays focused and that the meeting is productive.
Agenda
The agenda is a schedule designed to inform everyone of the relevant topics and times so that they are dealt with in good order. It informs the participants of the purpose and the flow of the meeting. This helps them prepare for the session and enables them to make reasonable contributions. If you still feel that the meeting is going off the set course, add 2-3 minutes breaks at the end of each segment allowing contributions from your members.
Tips to avoid digression:
Ask members who may “over” contribute to keep their comments concise and minimal;
Avoid topics that might give people the opportunity to digress, unless necessary; and if a topic that interests only a few attendees comes up, keep it for a latter segment.
Energiser and Check-Ins
An energiser could be an activity or any anecdote that inspires and pumps the members. It will also help the team leader grab the members’ attention and set the atmosphere for the meeting.
Check-ins are another way to capture the attention of attendees. It’s a way of registering one’s presence and can help express the mood or state-of-mind of the attendees. This will help the leader or chair understand the mood at the table and can then choose to move forward accordingly.
Work Updates
Updates are an important way of tracking the team’s and individual member’s progress in terms of targets. This will give members a fair idea of their performance as well as their team’s performance. It is based only on these whether the team will be driven by urgency and/or focus in the days to come. Updates are not necessarily limited to targets. Individual updates can and should also involve themes such as key learnings and future points of focus.The team can then analyze their priorities and risks.
Priorities: Tasks that need to be focused upon.
Risks: What could be the possible obstacles in the completion of these tasks? What can be done to avoid them?
Rewards and Recognition
Psychological studies have shown that reward and recognition can stimulate positive behaviour. Do not miss an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of your members and make them feel appreciated. Rewarding individuals for meeting targets with corresponding incentives can fuel the team’s competitive drive. This will also induce a sense of excitement in your members and motivate them to push the boundaries and go the extra mile. Tubular’s Leaderboard allows your team to set targets, and encourage healthy competition. he best salespersons are highly motivated and goal-oriented.
Coaching
Having taken the updates and evaluated the performances, it becomes easier for the team leader or the chair to identify issues and develop appropriate training strategies for the members.
It could also be that another department in the company has developed a new strategy that could directly or indirectly affect sales. In this case it becomes important for the team members to made aware of this so they can extract the maximum benefit. There’s always room for some improvement. Even if you feel that the team is on the right track, look for newer skills that the team members could learn. Do a recce for the next time your members go on-field. It could also involve role-playing. You could also choose a well-performing member to walk the team through their sales pitch.
The Way Forward
Last but not least, the way forward. This should include a brainstorming session where each member contributes what they think can and should be done in the days to come in order to achieve the targets.
By the end of the meeting, your team should have a list of tasks to work through. Each member should be clear on what tasks need to be done and a deadline. The team should have clarity on their way forward and everyone should be on the same page. You can utilize this space to run everyone through the decisions taken and address any queries or concerns.
To ensure that the meeting results in fuelling your team members’ spirits, make sure that you end it on a positive note. Motivate them through a personal experience. Lastly, ensure that the minutes of the meeting reach your members so that the action items are fresh in people’s minds.
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