How To Run Successful Rural Sales Meetings
Same old, same old sales meetings…I know. Each and every Monday you’re going through the motions trying to manage and motivate your team the best way you can.
Here are the seven rules to make your rural sales meetings more meaningful:
1. It’s their meeting, not yours
The more you talk the less you learn.
Sales meetings are a dialogue, not a monologue.
This is your opportunity to listen and learn to your team. You should be talking 20% and listening 80%.
Don’t dominate proceedings or they will withdraw.
2. Knowledge more than information
Sales meetings are a high-leverage activity because if you have 15 people (say each @ $100) that’s $1500 of cash burning away in the background.
You wouldn’t let anyone get away with stealing a company laptop worth $1500. Don’t do the same with your meetings. Every meeting costs money.
Have an agreed agenda and stick to it and communicate all action points.
3. Rotate the chair
Get emerging talent or your LT (Leadership Team) to take turns running the sales meeting. That way they will have far more empathy because they will then have walked a mile in your shoes.
They will soon work out how hard it is to run sales meetings.
Share the load and keep their on their toes.
4. Share success stories
Often when I sit in client sales meetings there is too much weighting on the bad news rather than the good news. Sharing success stories inspires.
Rather than a public flogging, you can also do deal breakdowns, including wins and losses. Communicate that it’s not a blame game but a learning opportunity for everyone to become better.
The more you do this the more comfortable the team will become.
5. Use the group to solve problems
Many brains are better than one.
Better still, some of your rural sales team will have experience of a similar sales situation and can offer their own counsel and wisdom. This will get your group contributing.
You’ll be amazed by the power of group therapy because as they say “a problem shared is a problem halved.”
6. Seek feedback
Ask your team what they want from their sales meeting.
- What do they like?
- What should we stop doing?
- What should we start doing?
- What should we continue?
This approach gets much better buy-in to what really matters to them most. Attendance and energy levels will benefit.
7. Invite a guest speaker to mix things up
Sometimes you need to shake up the routine and break the monotony. Bring in an external speaker who can take the floor for 20 minutes talking about a relevant topic like energy management, negotiation, persuasion or influence techniques or how to make decisions (you could always invite me to talk : )
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So there you have it. Seven strategies to make your weekly sales meeting much more meaningful for everyone.
I hope this helps.
