In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains the mistakes most Sales Managers make when running meetings for their sales team! Instead of being a motivational, uplifting boost to your team, most sales team meetings are boring, too product and information driven and insanely dull affairs for most salespeople. Read this article to help you avoid the common mistakes most Sales Managers make, and get your meetings back on track!….
Whenever I’m talking to (or working with) Sales Managers, they invariably ask me for some help in running the team sales meetings. They realise that running a compelling sales meeting is vitally important, but often fall into running meetings that don’t inspire, motivate or even engage their sales team.
Have a look at the common mistakes most Sales Managers make below, and make sure you don’t fall foul of them!….
Sales Management Mistake No 1 – Dragging Them On Too Long
Far too many sales team meetings drag on too long! I’ve known meetings that could have been done in 2-3 hours drag on all day. I’ve also known meetings that could have been done in 30 minutes last 2-3 hours.
The longer the time period, the more difficult it is to maintain interest and attention from the attendees. Lunch will go for longer than scheduled, people don’t make it back from breaks on time because they’re taking/making a call etc etc.
So think about what you want to cover in the meeting, and how long that would take. Just because you may have the field reps up to the office for the day, doesn’t mean that meeting has to take all day for example.
Sales Management Mistake No 2 – Too Much ‘Whinging’
This is mean to mean too much whinging from your team, but I’ve also known Sales Managers be guilty of this in sales meetings! Remember, your sales team are all together in one place (whether physically or virtually) and they’ll use that opportunity to ‘gang up’ on you if you’re not careful.
This can be a tactic used by the more experienced people, or the people whose figures aren’t where they should be this month – or both!
Some salespeople will also have their ‘favourite topics’ for this – ‘the company doesn’t do enough marketing’ is one example. Another is something like ‘our prices are not competitive compared to…..’ And the old favourite ‘well if we had done such-and-such back in 2005….’
You need to be aware of this, prepared for it and deal with it as soon as it comes up!
Sales Management Mistake No 3 – Lack Of Preparation
This again counts on two levels – both the salespeople and yourself. If the salespeople are unprepared, it’s normally because of a lack of communication or understanding between you, or a tactic to distract you from looking closely at their figures and activity – usually when they’re underperforming!
Lack of preparation on your own part normally happens when there’s pressure on other things – then suddenly the sales meeting creeps up on you and before you know it, it’s the night before and you haven’t planned the day properly.
Whether intentional or not, I’ve sat through many meetings that felt like this was the case!
If the meeting isn’t properly planned beforehand, the meeting can feel like a waste of time to all the participants. Before the meeting, think about your outcomes, what you want to cover (not just copying the agenda of the last meeting!) and how to get your message across in the most effective way.
Sales Management Mistake No 4 – Not Challenging The Team
Another common mistake Sales Managers make is not to challenge the team, particularly around their sales pipeline, or prospecting lists. Far too many salespeople are allowed to get away with just paying ‘lip service’ to these important activities.
I remember being sat in a sales meeting where one of the salespeople was reading out his sales pipeline and going through which businesses he thought he would convert before the month was out. When he said a certain name the rest of the team started sniggering. He’d mentioned the same company name 4 months in a row and didn’t appear to be any closer to converting them! Whether he was deluding himself, or genuinely felt he was going to convert them, I’m not sure!
Either way, he should have been challenged on it! The Sales Manager concerned unfortunately just nodded and moved onto the next salesperson. Therefore, none of the team to the exercise (or the sales team meeting in general) seriously, and just saw it as an excuse to get away from their normal work for a few hours – not the sort of outcome you want from a sales team meeting, is it?
Sales Management Mistake No 5 – Too Much About ‘Product’ Or ‘Information’
This is another common problem with most sales team meetings. Some Sales Managers think that the meeting is only about ‘information delivery’ to their team. I’ve even seen some managers get out ‘memos’ that they’ve sent to the team previously, and then go through them in the sales meeting! Seriously!
Another version of this is that valuable time at the sales meeting is taken up with ‘product’ discussions – some people even invite suppliers in to present their latest products to the team. Unfortunately, these ‘presentations’ often fall short of the mark – not tailored to the audience and appear to the supplier’s ‘stock’ presentation that they’d give to potential buyers (not resellers), forgetting the important fact that the team isn’t there to buy their product, they’re there to sell it for them!
The impact on the team therefore is usually is too technical. information overload, and boredom!
Think about the reasons you have the sales meetings with your team for a moment. Surely some part of these meetings should be motivational? Particularly if your team are based in the field and it’s your only opportunity to see them for the month? Doesn’t it make sense that part of the meeting should be about motivating the team and helping them deal with their current sales challenges, rather than boring them to death?!!
Oh and on that note, you do include some sales skills training and drills as part of the meetings, don’t you?
Got a question about this article, or want some specific ideas on running your team’s sales meetings? Drop me a line with any questions at www.andy-preston.com/ask-andy/
I’ve just written an article on tips for Sales Managers to run more effective team meetings. Request your free copy of the full article here – www.andy-preston.com/ask-andy/
Andy Preston is a leading Sales Expert, Trainer and Motivational Speaker. He runs the Ecademy ‘Sales And Cold Calling Tips Club’ as well as writing for magazines, newspapers and trade journals all around the world on anything related to sales and selling.
You can get Andy’s free cold calling and sales tips HERE
You can also see more about Andy’s training for small businesses at www.salesbreakfast.net
This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines. Media enquiries – details here
