How to Avoid Sales Meeting Headaches

At my last estimate I have attended, produced and suffered in over 300 sales meetings, from over 100 different companies. I have been wined, dined and "PowerPointed" to death. I consider myself a Sales Meeting Veteran with a Ph.D. from the School of Hard Knocks.

Sales meetings are a massive

expense in both time and money. They take every salesperson out of the field along with many of the inside support and management staff. Even if you are a small woodworking shop with only a couple of people that sell or even greet customers, the percentage of time not selling is the same as with a large company team. Sales meetings can involve expenses for food, hotels, flights, room rentals, car rentals and even entertainment. So here is a checklist of the dos and don'ts of sales meetings.

THE DOs

1. Have a true goal.

The stated goal of most sales meetings is to educate the sales staff on new products and remotivate them to increase their sales. Though the goal is important, it is not memorable. Try to distill your goal into one easy-to-remember sentence. That sentence guides the whole meeting and becomes the reference point and rallying cry of your sales team. Keep it in the forefront of every activity and speaker you have planned for your sales meeting. Political historians discuss the first Bill Clinton campaign and how the James Carville's phrase "It's the Economy, Stupid." kept the campaign and Clinton on track. Your goal needs to be as easy to remember and as focused. For example, if more sales volume is the goal, then "Volume is our Vision" is the focus of your meeting. Any discussions you lead and questions you receive can be channeled to that phrase.