How to Run Great Sales Meetings

Eight Best Practices to Follow

“So now they are back in the meeting.

The chairman is up on her feet.

And she’s quoting those dusty old clichés.

All sung from the same hymnal sheet.”

from The Business Meeting by Padraig

A few years ago, I attended what I still think of as the best sales meeting of my career. The sales leader who organized it found the right mix between novel and customary, top-down and peer-to-peer, challenging and rewarding, and team building and knowledge transfer. Three days and not a minute felt boring or wasted!

I felt admiration and envy and vowed to do a better job with my next sales meeting.

With this and many other sales meetings in mind, here are eight best practices to follow:

Be Specific

There should never be a sales meeting for the sake of a sales meeting. It is the “annual kick-off,” or the “new product launch,” or “bringing teams together after an M&A.” If you do not have a specific reason, don’t have a meeting. Likewise, be specific on the agenda. Two or three topics or items are enough for most meetings.

As Short as Possible

Great meetings are as long as they need to be and no longer. Avoid either planning downtime or coming up with irrelevant topics just to fill the time. If your meetings run too long, make them just a little shorter than they need to be. Talk expands (or shrinks) to the amount of time allotted.

As Small as Possible

The larger and diverse the group is, the more you encounter (1) individuals for whom a topic is not relevant, (2) individuals purposely hiding in the group, and (3) a discussion that highlights differences, not commonalities. And passive observers don’t belong at the table.

Allow Conversations Before the Meeting

Start with a dinner or a breakfast, give room for chit chat before the meeting. Pre-meeting conversations like these set a tone for effective meetings.

Include Team Building

Especially in sales, individuals, as they work from home and are isolated from the rest of the company, need the team-building opportunity a sales meeting provides. It strengthens connections. Make a team-building session part of every sales meeting.

What Happens in Vegas …

Provide a safe environment to define challenges, truly identify root causes, explore unexpected solutions, and evaluate results—all without the risk of repercussion.

Achieve Objectives

Your sales meeting has a specific objective or objectives. Ensure that you achieve those objectives, provide a summary at the end that focuses on those accomplishments that serve teams and organizations.

Leverage the Talent

As a sales leader, you are ideally surrounded by a great team. Leverage that talent, assign them agenda items to lead during the sales meeting.

Now, have great sales meetings.

Contact us to find out how a fractional or interim sales leader can support you and your team.

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 Photo by Anne Gosewehr