I observe and help to facilitate many of our companies Sales Team Meetings, it has recently struck me how boring they are, little thought is given to the content and the following is a typical agenda:-
Individual Sales Figures - 15 mins each
Target Month to date - 20 mins
Guest speaker (normally a Product Mgr) talking about a new solution.
Lunch
Forecasts for next month
Have to say they aren't exactly inspiring or exciting, and the feedback I receive is that it is a wasted day off the road for a Sales Engineer.
My question is can anyone send me/share any fun, exciting exercises, formats, suggestions ho to spice these, potentially, useful meetings up. I do have many, many books/articles etc.. with varying warm-ups, exercises, however I'm looking for some further suggestions for format, content.
Your help is greatly appreciated,
many thanks Buffy Sparks
Buffy Sparks
5 Responses
at the risk of sounding trite….
Hi Buffy
You say that the feedback from the sales engineers is that it is a wasted day not on the road….
Ask them what might be better…if the answer is “send an email and leave me to get back on the road”, you might want to offer some suggestions.
for example
ask a sales person to describe their most difficult sale or their most successful sale, or the occasion where they thought they had a sale but it fell through.
Get them to discuss these histories to see what they could get out of the experience.
Hope that helps
Rus
Sales Meetings
Buffy
If you make the meetings more interactive people are more likely to want to attend.
You could ask them what they want out of the meeting and/or
Include a discussion forum of a problem they are having that needs solving, etc.
Sandra Beale
Thank you
Thanks to everyone for replying, and your great suggestions…here’s to more fun-filled sales meetings
Be Positive
I meant to comment earlier, but have now managed to find spare 5 mins.
Get one or two of them to tell a success story – that’s one way of letting them show off in front of peers, but also it may be that others can learn from that to solve a problem.
The trick is to ensure that it is not a boasting session, and that it does not make the less successful feel vunerable.
Maybe give them a list of things to cover in their success story.
1. Why did the sales engineer say it was successful
2. Maybe get the manager to say what went well from their perspective
3. Have the sales person say what was the stickiest part of the sale, and how they overcame it
4. What was the oddest thing that happened (either from client or sales person perspective) – end on a light note
I am sure there are lots more ideas in my head, but tired after driving 400 miles today.
Be interested to know what the outcomes for the meetings are by using suggestions.
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Don’t just talk numbers
As per previous commentators, let the sales people (perhaps in rota) talk about success stories from the field. Also, agree with everyone who says involve the sales people in the redesign, allthough they may not know exactly what they want from the meetings – so best to have some ideas.
Then, before you redesign the meetings, get clarity on why the meetings are being held. Is this a development time as well as a reporting time? If so yuo might get the reporting bit largely done ahead of the meeting (as the salepeople suggest by-mail) and then give yourself time to do the development part justice. Just a thought.
My main point though: don’t make it all about the numbers. If your sales folks are putting together great engineering solutions that are really helping your clients then usually the numbers will follow.
So don’t just celebrate the “numbers” around deals, get your sales people to share how they really helped a client, when they got someone in delivery to go an extra mile etc.
Be really radical and bring a customer into part of if not all your sales meeting (once the format is peppier). So many people are scared of this (don’t want to admit they have to “sell” their services) – but that really breaks the ice. It’s great having the sales people discuss their problems closing deals and getting a client perspective. How does the client want to be sold to. Involving a very warm client in this process can also make them feel a part of the family.
You might not want to discuss margins, but your client will no doubt realise you have competitors and may help your sales people see how they are perceived in the market, what doors they should try and open and what benefits to push in the selling process.
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