Running Effective Sales Meetings –?3 Easily-Overlooked Keys To Success

Staging effective meetings is one of the key responsibilities of a sales manager. And it’s a frequent source of problems.

Most salespeople who succeed do so because they’re good at prospecting, closing and managing accounts. One day they get a tap on the shoulder and get told: “Congratulations. You’re now a sales manager.”

Suddenly their old skills become increasingly redundant as they find themselves responsible for:

• Forecasting
• Managing & leading a team
• Monitoring performance
• Reporting to senior leadership
• Delivering appraisals
• Resolving conflict
• Coaching
• Training
• Mentoring
• Holding people accountable
• Liaising with other departments
• Managing budgets
• And, last but very much not least, running meetings!

Is it any wonder so many salespeople struggle to make the leap to successful managers?

The two roles are wildly different in their demands.

In the same way that Martin Johnson and Maradona failed as coaches and managers, being a great salesperson is not a reliable predictor of sales management success.

Running successful meetings is an essential skill for sales managers to master. Here are three frequently overlooked tips:

1). Don’t neglect the preparation & follow-up

This is one of those tips that seems so obvious it's typically forgotten. Just as a salesperson should plan and prepare prior to a discovery meeting rather than winging it if they want the best possible results, sales managers should do the same.

Before a meeting, people need to be made aware of the purpose, any necessary preparation, and agree to whatever role the manager would like them to play during the meeting; anything from taking notes to presenting on a particular topic.

After a meeting, the manager and the team should be actively involved in completing whatever actions were agreed to.

2). Get clear on your why

A good sales meeting moves everyone involved closer to achieving something important to them. A bad one chews up hours of time with no clear benefit.

Unfortunately, too many meetings fall into the latter category. Many meetings are little more than a death march where every salesperson takes it in turn to explain to every other salesperson what they’re doing during the week ahead.

Why anyone needs to know this is rarely, or ever, addressed.

In many cases, a sales meeting is confused with a pipeline meeting. The two are different things and need to be handled differently. You can learn more about running effective pipeline meetings in last week’s Sales Leadership Success newsletter >>> here.

Good sales managers are clear on why they're holding the meeting. Of course, "because we should have a meeting" is a terrible reason. Reasons for holding a sales meeting include:

• Training
• Team building
• Motivation
• Interdepartmental issues
• Learning from a guest speaker
• Brainstorming & generating ideas
• Conveying policy issues
• Solving problems
• Managing crises
• Reporting performance
• Establishing targets & objectives
• Delegating tasks & responsibilities
• Discussing & taking team decisions

Once you’re clear on the purpose, you can plan the agenda appropriately. Without clarity on the purpose of the meeting, they quickly degenerate into boring and pointless snooze-fests where people robotically recite what they've got 'coming up' . . . information that rarely benefits other people from knowing.

3). Understand how to deal with disruptive behaviour

There are four common ways salespeople will disrupt and interfere with the smooth running of sales meetings. Good managers know how to deal with each type and prevent them from derailing the meeting.

Hostages –?These people do NOT want to be at the meeting . . . and they want you and the rest of the team to know it. They will take any opportunity to let everyone know they consider it a waste of their time.

Vacationers –?These team members love meetings because they’re a chance to kick back, zone out and do nothing. Vacationers will happily check their phones throughout the meeting and use it as an opportunity to check Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.

Good sales managers engage with hostages and vacationers beforehand and give them roles during the meeting so they are actively involved in making it a productive endeavour.

Devil’s Advocates –?You say it’s black, devil’s advocates will say it’s white. You say one plus one equals two, they’ll insist it adds up to three. Devil’s advocates want to argue - even if there's no reason to.

Grandstanders –?You might think a sales team meeting is about the team. Grandstanders know differently. The meeting is about them! If there's an opportunity to seize control of the meeting away from the manager or team, they'll take it.

At the heart of the devil's advocate's or grandstander's behaviour is a desire for attention. Good managers understand this and make sure they are given positive attention while simultaneously making sure there are strong ground rules for appropriate behaviour in place.

In summary

The ability to run effective meetings is a crucial part of a sales managers role and one that is frequently overlooked. Good meetings help energise, inspire and propel teams towards greater levels of success. Bad meeting chew up precious time and keep people stuck where they are.

For details of our Strategic Sales Management & Leadership training programmes, get in touch using the details below...

Tom Mallens is training director at Birmingham-based Sandler Training, Heart of England*.

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*He's also somewhat obsessed with exercise. You can get his book 'The Lean & Mean for Life Formula' on how middle-aged men can lose 10kg and within 90 days >>>?here.