Q.  Please advise on how to make weekly sales meetings “kick.”

Q.  Need some help in supercharging my boring sales meetings.  Can you lend some wisdom?

A.  As you can tell from the two inquires above from two different people, this is a common question.  Believe it or not, most sales managers don’t want to hold boring, unproductive sales meetings.  In fact, they want to do just the opposite.

Let’s start with just one idea.  I could write a book on this one.  (And maybe I will.)

First, don’t have a meeting for the sake of having a meeting.  There should always be a specific purpose for the meeting.  The purpose should be described in terms of the outcomes you want from the meeting.  And the outcomes should always be described in terms of specific behavior on the part of the sales people.

For example, in creating the agenda for a sales meeting, a lot of sales managers will say something like this:  “I’m going to present our new product.”   You envision yourself talking for an hour or so about your new product and then answering questions for a few moments.

The problem with that is that the focus is on you, not the sales people.  Don’t start there. Instead, start by thinking about what change you want to see in the sales people. Why are you going to present the new product?

You may say, “Because I want the sales people to be familiar with it.”

And why do you want that?  “Because I want them to sell it.”

Are your sales people ‘sharpening the sword’?

Sales people often become stuck in their comfort zones and allow their skills and disciplines to slide.  It’s human nature.  But, it’s not good for them or you.

Help them burst out of their routines with a short, weekly reminder.

Sharpening the sword couldn’t be easier with our Kahle Way® B2B Selling System program.

A few minutes a week, for less than the cost of lunch.

Other people can teach you to sell.  We empower you to sell better.

And if they are going to be able to sell it, what specifically do they need to know how to do?

“They need to know what applications the product fits, the features and benefits it brings to the customer, how to present it as a solution, how it fits with our other products, and how this product compares to the competition.”

OK, that is much more specific.  But, how will you know if they got it?  If that is the outcome you want, then, at the end of the meeting you ought to be able to measure that somehow, and determine whether or not you achieved your objective.

So, let’s break your objectives down and develop specific ways to measure them.

1.  They need to know what applications the product fits.  We’re talking about knowledge here.  And knowledge can be tested.  So, why not have a test they take at the end of the sales meeting that measures their knowledge of applications?

2.  The features and benefits it brings to the customer, how to present it as a solution.  Presenting it implies ...[Click Here To Read The Entire Article Online]