How to have a
successful sales meeting
by john chapin
M
y friend Steve Lishanski has a saying that 80% of
life is common sense but only 20% of people are
using it. In my experience, a similar rule applies
to sales meetings: 80% are a complete waste of
time because simple common sense was never applied.
Follow these rules for effective sales meetings and you will
no longer find yourself in the 80%. Here are my three rules
for powerful sales meetings:
keep your meetings short,
positive and energized
Most of the sales meetings I’ve been to are too long and
when people leave them they are tired and deflated. In
fact, recently I ran into a company having sales meetings
on Friday afternoons because they felt it was a good way to
wind down at the end of a long week. Ouch! Sales meetings
should last for 60 to 90 minutes max and leave people
upbeat and ready to tackle the week. Here are some more
important components of this rule:
• The meeting starts and stops on time. No waiting for
people who are late and punishing those there on time.
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• Have an agenda and stick to it. People have 30 seconds,
5 minutes, or whatever time is appropriate, and at the end
of that time, they are done, whether they are or not.
• It’s fine to start by reviewing the numbers and
congratulating people for important wins, but this should
last no more than a few minutes. No getting bogged down
in details aided by boring PowerPoint slides.
• Everyone stays positive and upbeat. While constructive
conversation about problems is fine and encouraged, you
must focus on solutions. If the room turns “all negative with
no solutions,” it’s time to put the brakes on and get the
focus back on what you can do about the situation.
• No rambling or getting stuck in the weeds with details
on items that are best handled off-line after the meeting.
• No one highjacking the meeting and taking more than
their allotted time.
• No random vendors, who are not exclusive to your
company, talking about the flavor of the week.
• No boring heads from other departments droning on
about their problems and what they need from sales.
KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER |January-February 2015|