How Much Did That (#@*!) Meeting Cost Me?

Do the Math on Meetings… and then help your Teams get better at conducting them!

Hey, Sales Leader!

Thanks for being here! I'm really grateful. Here’s why —

You’re wicked smart & demanding… I LOVE that!?

Over my almost 40 years of working with Sales Leaders & teams, I’ve felt lucky, blessed, incredibly grateful. While my clients always hoped to learn something from me, I quickly understood that I was learning a great deal from them, as well.?

Your demographic is smart, focused, can-do… and many of you don’t suffer fools (in the nicest way)!

You demand the best in yourself and others… and let others know quickly (allbeit kindly) when they're not making the grade!

In this, my inaugural edition of Hey, Sales Leaders! The Newsletter! – I commit to bring it.?

Here we go...

How Much Did That (#@*!) Meeting Cost Me?

Do the Math on Meetings… and then help your Teams get better at conducting them!

You know this... but for giggles, let’s make it obvious — For most corporate professionals, attending meetings is a necessity. Certainly, this is true for Sales Leaders & client-facing teams. So it’s a problem that one of the chief complaints Leaders hear from their employees — including your Trusted Advisors & Teams – is that meetings waste their time and feel unproductive.??

I was with a pharmaceutical exec a while ago when this topic came up. I asked him and his team: “Okay. Well, why’s that a problem?”?

The answer came with a “duh…!” attached to it, as in “Duh… they waste time and money.”?

Remembering that this is a crowd that doesn’t suffer fools (nor silly questions, apparently), I chose to remain unperturbed by their tone… I persisted, “Well, how much time and how much money?”

They didn’t know. They just knew it was “A LOT!” (all caps intentional).

Most Leaders know that meetings cost them time and money. Meetings are necessary, but getting a handle on costs often seems elusive.?

But what if it’s NOT? And ever better, what if knowing (approximately) the cost of meetings opened a door for saving money? A LOT of money!

Putting a price on your meetings may be a great first step for helping your teams conduct better meetings. Knowing the numbers helps you and your teams better appreciate the importance of when to call a meeting, whom to invite, and how to run them .?

Here’s why it helps… and how to calculate that cost… ?

HOW MUCH TIME?!

According to 2022 Surveys from Harvard Business Review and Microsoft, meeting attendance in companies looks like this:??

• Middle Managers spend about 40% of their weeks in meetings (16 hrs.)
• Senior Leaders and Execs spend over 70% of their time in meetings (28 hrs.)
• The average among employees is 50% of time in meetings (20+ hrs. a week)

That’s a lot of time… and MONEY.

HOW MUCH MONEY?!

Not only is a poorly run meeting (or completely unnecessary one) a waste of a lot of people’s time, another reason to be concerned about how (and how often) meetings are conducted by your teams is that they’re expensive.?

AN INVISIBLE COST

Most Managers & Leaders don’t have a real understanding of what their meetings cost them. This might account for why so few Leaders demand a more rigorous approach to when meetings are called, whom they include, and how their Team Members lead and participate in those meetings.?

And by the way, I’m not saying that meetings are a BAD investment; but BAD meetings are a BAD investment.? And it’s an investment that too often smuggles an invisible cost.?

Instead of allowing meetings to run willy-nilly, pay attention to what they cost you — especially the hidden costs.?

DO THE MATH ON MEETINGS

Here’s a fun (errr… interesting…) exercise I conduct with Sales Leaders and Teams to give them a sense of what’s at stake financially when meetings are poorly run. [SPOILER ALERT: it’s usually sobering news that surfaces!]

• Figure out how much money you’re spending on each meeting your Team Members engage in.?
• Really bring that number into focus by adding up a month of meetings to find the total amount of money spent to support those meetings.?

Use the Do the Math on Meetings Calculator Steps below to estimate the cost of your Team meetings.

CALCULATOR STEPS:

STEP 1: List the attendees for a recent (or upcoming) meeting. For each person on that list, calculate the following:

Hourly Rate

• How much is their annual package (salary, benefits, commissions, other compensation).
• Divide the annual total by 2000 days (total workdays minus weekends and holidays).
• Divide the daily total by 8 (approximate for a 40 hour week).

Hours Needed to Participate?

• Calculate the number of hours that Team Member had to allocate in order to attend (fielding and responding to invitations and emails, commuting, rearranging other assignments that could not be done in those hours, actual meeting time, debrief of meeting time)?

Cost of Participation for One Team Member?

• Multiply this individual’s number of Hours Needed by their Hourly Rate

STEP 2: Now calculate overall meeting costs:

Cost of Participation for One Meeting of Entire Team

• Add up the Cost of Participation amount for all members of your Team

Cost of Participation for a Month of Meetings

• Multiply the Cost of One Meeting by the average number of meetings per month

LOOSE CALCULATION

No need to go overboard here. The goal is to recognize that meetings cost money and time. This leads to a commitment to do what you can to make meeting better. Your loose calculation might look like this…

MEETING PROCESS RIGOR

Once you put a lens on the investment being made every time your people gather their teammates and colleagues together, you’ll start looking for ways to get more from those sessions. You don’t need to micro-manage these sessions, but there is a level of meeting process rigor that can increase productivity.?

Oh, and your people will notice the difference, too… and they’ll appreciate the quality of their meeting discussions and the renewed sense of purpose for bothering to take time to get together.?

TAKE AWAY #1: NOTICE the Nuance…?

You and your team have gotta attend meetings. No gettin’ around it. That said, you might want to assess how much these meetings are costing your company before you or your people bringing everyone together.?

For starters, ask these questions before sending invitations —

• Is an email sufficient?
• Does the meeting improve the work or the work environment?
• If you do decide to run the meeting, what can you do in advance to make sure we’ve gotten the MOST out of each and every gathering?

TAKE AWAY #2: What’s a Sales Leader to do?

• Decide to improve standards for when meetings are called and how meetings are conducted;
• Make them better with a touch of structure and rigor;
• Eliminate the ones that aren’t needed!

Speaking of Running Meetings That Get Results...

This really matters when it comes to meetings your Trusted Advisors conduct with clients!

Precisely because running excellent meetings is key to your Sales Success, I’m running a webinar on this topic. I hope you’ll join us…?

It’s on March 12 at 2 pm ET…? and it’s on How to Coach Your Team to Run Client Meetings That Drive Sales.

The fact is, there’s nothing neutral in a client-facing interaction.?

For that reason alone, your Sales Teams cannot afford to wing it when it comes to any client interaction… every client interaction either adds to — or takes away from — how clients feel about working with you. And there’s always a competitor waiting in the wings for some off-handed comment, mishandled objection, misaligned presentation, or poorly worded question to send a relationship south… and send a client on the search for new talent and new ideas.?

Not only that, it costs you too much time, money, and energy to get in the door and at the table with your clients. Yup… Client Face Time is precious.?

Your people in front can benefit by applying meeting rigor…?

Do your teams run truly effective sales meetings that build client trust while also driving results?

Every client interaction can make or break a relationship (and a deal). Strong meeting management makes the difference.

This webinar is for sales and revenue leaders who want to coach their teams to make the most of every meeting.

We’ll share practical, no-nonsense ways to coach your team to stick to a proven process that keeps the relationship, and the discussion, on track.

If you’re looking to elevate your team’s game and deliver real results, this is the session for you! Grab a seat!

~Molly

P.S. 1 - If someone shared this with you… I invite you to do two things:

1.) Thank them. 2.) Click below to get signed up so you don’t miss the next one!

https://www.dhirubhai.net/newsletters/hey-sales-leader-7270488306734247937

P.S.2 - Who are you, Molly?!

Hi. My name is Molly Sargent. I partner with Sales Leaders to train their Teams on nuanced skills & reliable habits that consistently (and authentically) earn client trust… and win business!?

I’m a long-time Speaker, Sales Success Coach, and Developer of the Mastering Authentic Influence? MasterClass & Head-to-Habit Practice Club.

Since 1985, I’ve trained, coached, and delivered keynotes to over 60,000 Sales Leaders, Trusted Advisors and client-facing team members. I’ve had the privilege to serve in classrooms, boardrooms & ballrooms at Bank of America, Citi, Deloitte, PwC, Epic Insurance, Aetna, Pfizer, HBO, Hyatt and more!?

What they all have in common is a desire to cultivate strong relationships with clients and colleagues… with bosses, boards, buyers, colleagues, clients, constituents and communities. For them (perhaps like you?) relationship-building is fundamental to sales success… and to business success.??

My particular brand of sales training and coaching focuses on helping you build authentic connections and deliver relevant solutions… this sets you apart in competitive, commoditized markets. My team specializes in finding uncommon ways to apply common skills — leveraging the hidden power of a well-formed question, deep listening, productive responses to objections, and a meeting management method that’s not controlling!????

P.S.3 - You might be asking, “Why am I getting this newsletter?”

You’re getting this newsletter because… at some point… you took one of my assessments, grabbed a free resource from my website, downloaded a tool while you were in one of my audiences OR you signed up for this newsletter.

I'm honored and excited to have you here! But hey… I also know that inboxes can get full sometimes… I'd love for you to stick around with the many Sales Leaders & Trusted Advisors who read this weekly. But if you need to say goodbye, I understand.

Either way… I wish you happy connecting & closing!

Signing off again!

~Molly Sargent, CEO/Founder Sales Success Speaker & Coach

Mastering Authentic Influence? MasterClass & Head-to-Habit Practice Club