Friday Rant – Sales Meetings and C&C Music Factory

There was a song in the 90’s entitled – “Things that Make You Go Hmmmmm” which was basically a series of stories about people telling unbelievable stories that made the recipients of those stories go “Hummmm?” So a few mornings back I was taking with a colleague from another organization. This sales professional was speaking candidly about things and mentioned that they missed having sales meetings. “I’m hearing things,” I said to myself. Must still be cobwebs, since hadn’t had my coffee yet. I was floored on 2 levels: 1. I HATE sales meetings – This is the time where you as the sales professional are held responsible for your work, asked to discuss the “low hanging fruit” and discuss your prior week’s work. 2. What Sales Manager WOULDN’T have sales meetings – This is the time where the sales manager can arm himself with up to date information as to what is likely to close, what roadblocks your rep is experiencing, and heps focus their efforts Since you can see that I have a love / hate relationship with Sales Meetings, let me give you a short primer to sales meetings: A. Keep it Simple – I’m a little scatter-brained, so it’s critical that I have an outline that I cover every time. Things to discuss: (a) Sales Goals such as quota, number of calls, etc… (b) Noteworthy Opportunities that are likely to close between now and the next sales meeting & new opportunities, and (c) Challenges faced / overcame during the prior week B. Keep it Consistent – It should be at the “Same Bat Time and Same Bat Channel” every week, and should not be skipped except for the most dire of circumstances (OK, OK – You’re off the hook for your vacation to Honolulu, but nothing else). It should become an important part of your week. C. Keep it Positive – Remember what your parents taught you – “Every gray cloud has a silver lining”. If you have the right rep, they’re competitive and loyal, meaning that if they’re underperforming, they already know it. Address this underperformance as something that you are now both aware of, however try to find something positive for them to take away from the meeting. D. Keep it Helpful – Always provide the oppportunity to brainstorm with your sales rep. Remember – You’ve got experience that you’ll need to impart to them. Ask how you can help them with regard to strategy, and then follow up during the next meeting to see how your suggestion helped. Once you work through a couple of these, you’ll begin to see value and hopefully improvement. Now let’s get to work!