How to Conduct an Effective Sales Meeting

The purpose of a sales meeting is to prepare your sales staff to sell. Yet all too often sales meetings turn into boring lectures and redundant wastes of time.

Meetings without an apparent purpose or agenda are tedious and often fruitless for everyone involved. When no new information is shared, valuable time is squandered. It?s important that you don?t waste your salespeoples? time, but you also need to avoid overloading them with information. Create a balance between planned productivity and comfortable flow. The key to almost any successful meeting is to make it interesting, useful, and positive.

Before you rally the troops for another sales meeting, consider some of the following ways to get the most out of your sales meetings:

Get the meeting off to a good start. If your salespeople come in at 7:30 a.m. specifically for a meeting, these people appreciate and deserve fresh coffee, orange juice, and warm bagels. Good food sets the tone for a great meeting.

Recognize your sales team?s efforts. Take a few minutes every meeting to congratulate and thank your salespeople for any and all completed goals, closed deals, and profits. Praise reinforces positive behavior and encourages everyone to do well.

Share stories from the trenches. At least one positive war story should be shared in every meeting. These stories are engaging and fun, and they reinforce your goals.