MightyRecruiterDo you see forced smiles on the faces of your employees whenever you mention an upcoming sales meeting If so, chances are good that your team would probably rather endure a root canal than sit through a boring sales meeting. Whether this is true or not, there are five things in particular you can do to make your sales meetings more exciting and effective.
1. Start With a Zinger
Show your employees you mean business by starting meetings off on the right foot. Specifically, it’s a good idea to give prizes to those who show up on time as a way to encourage everyone to arrive early to sales meetings from now on. You can also create a trivia game out of material that needs to be discussed in the meeting. If your team is up to it, you can also have someone (or yourself) start things with a joke or a humorous anecdote.
2. Focus on the Success of Your Customers and Your Sales Force
Another way to avoid a potentially boring sales meeting is to put more of the focus on your overall sales and customers and less on business goals. What this does is let your sales team know how much their efforts have paid off and how well they’ve done. One great thing about this suggestion is that it doesn’t take much effort at all. For instance, rather than say, ïwe closed 314 sales,ï you can instead say, ïwe helped 314 customers.ï Instead of ïour revenue for the month was this much,ï try ïwe drove this much revenue for the company.ï Don’t give your team the impression they’re just there to oil the wheels of the company, let them know they’re true assets to the overall success of the business and make a difference in the lives of the people they help.
3. Strip the Fat From Your Meetings
As you’re planning your meetings, take a long and honest look at the material that needs to be covered and anything that might lead to another boring sales meeting. Are there items that could be covered outside of the meeting or before the workday If so, strike them out from the meeting agenda. Slimming meetings down to the necessities makes them go faster, adds true value and makes meetings more enjoyable for everyone.
If you find you have extra time at the ends of meetings, let your sales team have the floor and share a recent success story with their peers. Doing so can give other members insight into how they can perform their jobs better. This is also a great way to avoid a boring sales meeting, build a community and break down the walls of the cubicles that can sometimes unintentionally divide and separate team members. Trading war stories can also help demonstrate and reinforce the philosophy and end goal of your company.
4. Combine New Products and Services With Customer Goals
If you plan on unveiling a new product or service at the sales meeting, it’s a good idea to tie it in with how it can help customers. Because products and services should be designed around specific customer and client needs, it’s best to lead their introductions with how they are intended to address those needs. The way this helps avoid a boring sales meeting is it better informs your team of how they should present new services and products. After all, you can’t expect customers to get as much use as possible out of the product or service if your team doesn’t even know its core purpose.
5. Motivate and Reward Your Team
While you’re focusing on revenue and customers, make sure you don’t forget to properly motivate and reward the members of your sales team during the sales meeting. Let your team know the goal they’re aiming for, what they can do to reach it, and the impact their hard work and dedication has on the company. When your team does succeed in achieving goals, you should reward them accordingly. This doesn’t mean watches, game tickets or trips to island resorts, a simple thank you and an act of recognition is sometimes all your employees want and need.
These are just a few ways to sidestep a potentially boring sales meeting and keep your team from feeling as if their time is being wasted. For more professional tips on how you can make your business better and operate more efficiently, check out the rest of what Mighty Recruiter has to offer.