Collaborate. Motivate. Accelerate.

Archive for the ‘best practice’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

10 Things You Don’t Know

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

(This week’s Meeting to Win sales team meeting agenda is called 10 Things You Don’t Know.  To join us and get new sales team meeting agendas weekly, visit us at Meeting to Win.)

Salespeople are wise to focus on their existing customer base to impact success during economic recovery.  Competitors are getting creative and aggressive and existing relationships could be up for grabs … unless…you treat your existing clients like new customers.  Think about how you treat new customers. 

During economic recovery, treat your customers like new customers by trying the following things:

  • Conduct a thorough needs-analysis with them to make sure your solutions still are solutions. Their business has likely changed like the rest of the world.
  • Find out where they need help and deliver.
  • Figure out how your company can better service them – clear billing, better response on customer service issues, etc.
  • Bring senior leaders to face-to-face meetings to thank them for their business and show how valuable they are to your company.
  • Sincerely thank them for their business.
  • Share new ways to solve old and new problems.
  • Share industry expertise.  Help them be innovative.
  • Help them help their customers succeed.
  • Learn everything you can about their business – you’ll recognize ways to help them the more you know their business.
  • Be attentive, present and part of the team.
  • Commit to quarterly business reviews to hold yourself accountable to the results you promised.
  • Make sure they know all that you can do for them.  (Exercise: Think of 10 things your top customers may not know about your offering that may help them.)  Figure out how to share all your services without giving a sales pitch.  Your competitors are sharing this information.  It’s best to share this information in response to a business need they have.
  • Be someone they can’t live without.

Competitors are gunning for your clients.  Treat your existing customers like the gold that they are.

(To get sales team meeting agendas with exercises and role plays on topics like 10 Things You Don’t Know and other great selling topics, join the Meeting to Win community by subscribing today.)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in CRM, agenda ideas, agendas, best practice, communication, customer meeting, down economy, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, meetings, new managers, performance, recession, sales activity, sales meetings, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas, team meeting, tough economy | No Comments »

When is it OK to Micromanage?

Friday, March 19th, 2010

“Micromanagement” is a 4-letter word to most sales professionals.  Most sales reps strive to get to the point where their bosses “leave them alone as long as they get the job done”.  There are times when micromanagement is actually helpful. Two of those times are (1) during the first month on the job or (2) when a sales rep is underperforming. 

During these two time periods, Sales Managers have the responsibility to help their team members succeed.  One “micromanagement” activity that I have seen work over and over during these two time periods in a sales career is the AM/PM Check-In Meeting. 

Each morning and afternoon for one month at the beginning of the sales day and at the end of the sales day, set a time for the sales rep to call the sales manager.  This should a 5-10 minute call with a set agenda.  This is less than an hour a week a Sales Manager and sales rep can invest in the success of a territory.  The AM Agenda should include the rep’s plan for the day and the PM Agenda should include an update on the activity they planned and executed.  This AM/PM Meeting provides needed, regular guidance and accountability as a rep is building their business.

Invest in success with the AM/PM Check-In Meeting and watch the territory grow!

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win.  Subscribe and get a new sales team meeting agenda packed with skill-building, sales-producing topics every week.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in CRM, agenda ideas, best practice, communication, discipline, free sales team meeting topics, meetings, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meeting agenda, sales meetings, sales team, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas | No Comments »

Maximize Customer Meetings, Part 3: After the Meeting (Sales Team Meeting Idea Included)

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

This is Part 3 in our Maximize Customer Meetings Series.  This Friday, March 19th, the third agenda in the series goes out to subscribers.  The 3 part series will soon be available on our store, also.  To get weekly sales team meeting exercises that cover this and many more selling topics, subscribe to Meeting to Win today. 

You’ve followed the steps to prepare and execute a productive customer meeting.  You’re not done yet!  To maximize the work done on this customer meeting so far, it is helpful to send comprehensive and organized Meeting Notes after the meeting.  This is where many sales professionals quit.  Following up thoroughly is a great way to gain a competitive edge in a sales cycle.

Get started the day of your customer meeting.

  • Typically, sales representatives will send a quick thank you note via email to the customer. 
  • In that short thank you e-mail, let the customer know you will send them more comprehensive Meeting Notes to outline everything discussed and agreed upon along with a timeline of next steps.

 This action gives the customer some ownership in this process immediately following the meeting and sets you both up to accomplish something, therefore, maximizing your meeting. 

Within 48 hours send your Meeting Notes.  Meeting Notes should include:

  1. A bulleted list of the information the sales representative learned about the customer’s needs.
  2. A list of action items for both the sales rep and the customer along with time lines.
  3. A couple of bullets with high-level ideas on possible solutions you discussed while meeting.
  4. Possible pricing scenarios (if discussed in meeting).
  5. Call to action. At this point, let the customer know what to expect next.  For example, “we will contact your administrative assistant to set up a time for you to tour our plant”.

 Benefits of using Meeting Notes after a customer meeting:

  • By outlining this in writing post-meeting the customer has the opportunity to correct any wrong or missing information. This is critically important for the sales representative who is formulating a solution.
  • This demonstrates to the customer that the sales representative has a clear understanding of the needs which builds confidence and trust and ultimately rapport.
  • Customer is agreeing to next steps and is sharing in the ownership of finding a solution.
  • Often customers use these Meeting Notes internally to share progress on finding a solution or to report to senior leaders.  This builds your good reputation with more of your customer’s leadership, saves them work and demonstrates that you have their best interests in mind.
  • Clear communication along the way is critically important when problems or misunderstandings arise in sales cycles.  The relationship built along the way can make or break a sales as it gets closer to closing.

Sales Team Meeting Idea:

  • Ask the team to come prepared to discuss a recent customer meeting that resulted in next steps.
  • As a team, write your Meeting Notes and share them with the group.
  • Provide feedback for each other on appearance, communication style and ease of use.
  • To get more in depth sales training exercises and practice on this topic, subscribe for Meeting to Win sales team meeting agendas here.

 

(To get this blog’s new posts emailed to you every Monday morning , Subscribe to our blog.)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, best practice, communication, discipline, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, maximize tools, sales activity, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meetings, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas, sales tips, team meeting, tips for meetings | No Comments »

What is one selling activity your team could do more effectively that …

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

We write this blog to help improve the sales performance of our readers and subscribers.  Answer this one question to keep us focused on your needs: 

Tags: ,
Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, apprentice, best practice, performance, sales activity, sales meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas | No Comments »

Sales Team Meeting Assessment: Sales Managers, Is There Room for Improvement in Your Weekly Sales Team Meeting?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Great weekly sales team meetings can be powerful Sales Performance Engines.  Is yours?  If not, there might be a quick fix to take your team to higher and higher heights. 

Take the assessment to determine if there is room to improve your weekly sales team meeting. 

Sales Team Meeting Assessment:  Is There Room for Improvement in Your Weekly Sales Team Meetings?

1.  My team would join my weekly sales team meeting if attendance was optional.

(A)  Yes

(B)   No

2.  I, the Sales Manager, am talking more than 50% of the meeting time.

(A)  Less than 50% – Others are talking the other 50%

(B)   Yes, I do most of the talking.

3.  We set a clear goal for our sales team meetings and leave knowing if we accomplished that goal or not?

(A) Yes, our meetings have a purpose and a clear goal.

(B)  No, our meetings do not have a clear objective.

4.  In our sales team meetings, everyone is expected to contribute and actively participate?

(A) Yes.  Our sales team meetings are a team effort.  We see it as everyone’s resposibility to use this time wisely.

(B)  No, sometimes I think people are checking email during the meeting.

5.  Everyone leaves each meeting with a new idea to try or a new skill to practice in the field that week.

(A) Yes, our meetings equip our teams to sell more that very week.

(B)  No.  We usually just go over numbers and hear what everyone accomplished last week.

6.  My sales team meeting agenda is sent in advance so everyone can prepare for a great meeting.

(A)  Yes.

(B)  We do not have an agenda and, if we do, it is not sent in advance.

7.  My sales team meeting topics

(A) Are relevant to our current selling environment – challenges, initiatives and goals.

(B) Are the same every week.

8.  My sales team would say our weekly sales team meeting is a great use of their time.

(A) Yes!

(B)  Probably not.  I’d be afraid to ask.

9.  My team ties successes in the field to something they learned during a sales team meeting.

(A)  Yes, often.

(B)  Rarely if ever.

If you find yourself marking (B) to any of the above questions, there is probably room for improvement in the way you execute your sales team meetings.  This blog lists many resources -articles and tools – to improve your sales team meetings.   Of course, Meeting to Win is happy to help, also.  Contact us to set up a consultation.  We’ll be happy to provide some guidance and point you to the tools available to begin using your sales meetings as sales engines.

(This post brought to you by sales team meeting expert, Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win.  Meeting to Win provides weekly sales team meeting agendas and best practices to turn your sales team meetings into sales performance engines. Join us by subscribing here.)

We are packaging our posts and sending them once per week to subscribers each Monday morning.  To get your Meeting to Win Posts every Monday, subscribe now.



Get our Blog Posts by Email Every Monday

* indicates required


Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, best practice, blog, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, meetings, new managers, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meetings, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas, team meeting, tips for meetings | No Comments »

Underperforming Sales Reps, Put Yourself on a Performance Plan

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

In most cases, we see an official “performance plan” as the beginning of the end for some poor sales rep.  The performance plan seems to be more of a termination plan as the evidence suggests that the goal is often not better performance, but instead a way to begin documentation to justify termination.  In every case where I’ve seen someone put on a performance plan, that was their cue to start a full court press job search before they were fired.   

So, it’s safe to say that no sales rep wants to be put on a performance plan, right?  Right!

If you are a sales rep facing underperformance, my guess is that you are worried about your job.  You might be hoping no one has noticed, you might spend your time sharing the positive news while keeping everyone’s focus off the negative performance, you might be explaining away your bad sales (customer budget cuts, etc) or.. you might even be job hunting.

Here is something to try instead.  Put yourself on a Performance Plan.   This is a Turnaround Boot Camp style Performance Plan by the way. 

We know that we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. That really is the premise of a Performance Plan. 

To get started:

  • Look at what you have been doing and critically analyze exactly how you are spending your time to determine what is producing results and what is not. 
  • Consult with team members who are exceeding goals for advice on what you could be doing differently. 
  • Once you determine which of your sales activities are producing positive sales results, triple your output of those activities.
  • Figure out where you are investing time in non-selling activities (learning a new CRM, sitting on an internal committee, etc) and eliminate those activities from your week. You can politely request to be excused – if you get fired, none of those things will really matter anyway.
  • Start your day earlier and end your day later.
  • Look the part. 
  • Exercise, eat right and get enough sleep.
  • Write out your 30 day plan.  This should include day by day what you will be doing and with which customers or prospects.  For example, maybe every day starts with 50 cold calls, maybe Sundays are research days, Tues-Thurs is for 15 face-to-face appointments, etc. 
  • Have an accountability plan in place – a report, updates in your CRM or something to monitor your progress.
  • Have a clear goal for the end of 30 days and a way to monitor progress along the way.

Now, here’s key element:

Request a meeting with your Sales Manager – NOT during selling hours (you need those).  Have an early coffee or after hours meeting with your Sales Manager to let them know you have put yourself on a Performance Plan, walk them through it and get their input to fine tune it and gain agreement on your course of action. 

By proactively addressing your underperformance with your Sales Manager you will open the doors of communication regarding expectations and possible outcomes of underperformance.  You will show the initiative to address the problem proactively giving your Sales Manager an opportunity to help you succeed instead of look for a way to manage you out.  

Too often we keep moving along hoping no one will bring up the issue everyone knows exists (we do this with customers, too).  If you know you are underperforming, your sales manager knows it, too.  His boss will ask him about it and it will eventually be dealt with.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could change the story by being brave enough to call it out and proactively do something about it? 

So, if you find yourself falling short, stop worrying and start acting.  Build you plan ASAP and start executing with your Sales Manager’s support.

Put yourself on a Performance Plan today.

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, CEO of Meeting to Win.   Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting topics for Sales Managers who want to run sales team meetings that aren’t a bore.  Inspire your team with Meeting to Win.  Subscribe here.)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in best practice, communication, discipline, down economy, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, performance, sales activity, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meetings | No Comments »

Maximize Customer Meetings, Part 1: Before the Meeting

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

(This Friday Meeting to Win begins a 3-week series called Maximize Customer Meetings – Before, During and After.  To join us, subscribe here.)

 As sales professionals we spend a lot of time talking about, reporting on and pursuing … customer meetings.  It makes sense to spend considerable time preparing for these somewhat rare opportunities.  One bad meeting with a client and it may be the last time you ever see them – or at the very least you may get delegated to someone without as much authority.  A good meeting and it could be the beginning of a great relationship.  So, life or death?  Close!

Now, you’ve got the meeting – Congratulations.  What next? 

Today, we will focus on one aspect of meeting preparation to maximize your customer meeting - involve your customer in meeting preparation.  Too often sales professionals don’t include their customers in building the agenda or working toward the meeting goal. What happens instead is that the salesperson shows up with the same slides or brochure they use on every first meeting and the customer sits back waiting for the show.  Years and years of sales meetings have taught sales reps to perform and customers to spectate.  As a customer, I have actually enjoyed some of these shows.  Salespeople can really dazzle.  The problem is that I am allowed to be lazy, watch the show and see if anything intrigues me enough to move forward.  I am not prepared to act or prompted to action.  Before I learned how to be a better buyer I saw some amazing shows, with many performers.  One of those performances was from a company who wanted to build our sales team’s intranet.  They never got a dime of business, but I got a lot of great shows.  If I had been asked to get involved in the process at any point, they would have wasted a lot less of everyone’s time.  That experience taught me to be a better customer and get involved even when I wasn’t asked.  As a salesperson, it taught me to get the buyer in on the work.

Here is something I began to do with great success.  Not only did I have productive meetings, I also consolidated sales cycle steps, met more decision makers and built trust and rapport.  You can try it and see if you get the same results. 

At your next customer meeting, ask the customer to share the responsibility for a productive meeting.   Send them an agenda is advance with the goal for the meeting along with an agenda to follow.  Ask them for their input on the goal and agenda for the meeting.  Once you both agree upon how you will spend your time together it is both parties responsibility to bring the data, people or anything else that will help get the meeting goal accomplished. 

Now, you are sharing responsibility for a great meeting that uses everyone’s time wisely and gets everyone working toward the same goal – helping that company.  You are a partner instead of a vendor.

Sales Team Meeting Agenda Idea:

  • Ask each rep to bring information about all upcoming customer meetings.
  • For each meeting, ask each rep to share the desired outcome or goal of that meeting.
  • Ask each rep to share how they plan to accomplish this outcome (this will be the agenda).
  • Determine what responsibility the customer has in meeting the goal of the meeting.
  • Ask each rep to choose one meeting and write an e-mail script for sharing the meeting goal and agenda and asking for the customer’s agreement and/or input on the goal and agenda.
  • Share the script with the team for feedback.
  • Revise the scripts based on feedback and try this before the customer meeting.
  • Plan to report back on the outcome of using the e-mail scripts before customer meetings
  • (To get more in-depth sales team meeting exercises along with full agendas, sample scripts, field work assignments and sales tips, visit Meeting to Win and subscribe for weekly sales team meeting agendas and exercises.)

Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, best practice, down economy, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, sales management, sales meetings, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas | No Comments »

Sales Managers, Trade Teams for a Week

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

(I posted this article, Sales Managers, Trade Team for a Week in February.  Today, my HBR Management Tip of the Day came across my e- mail on the same topic.  I thought it would be nice to update this post with a link to the HBR Tip, Need New Ideas? Trade Places.)

I had the opportunity to work for a company that created a culture of sharing best practices.  Due to that culture, Sales Managers really developed relationships across territories and had the neatest (seriously, that’s the only word that really described it) flow of best practices.  These managers would even ask to be put on each other’s team distribution lists so they could have visibility into each other’s communication style and content (can you imagine requesting more e-mails!).

From this culture comes a sales meeting idea that should wake up Monday mornings and fit right in with our Guest Speaker spotlight this week.  Why don’t you and another Sales Manager trade teams for a week?  Lead each other’s sales team meeting, conduct one-on-ones and get out in the field with each other’s team.  Get together the next week and share observations, lessons you learned and ideas to improve.  Then, discuss those lessons with your team on your next sales team conference call.

This is fun, enlightening and energizing for both teams and both Sales Managers.  Keep it interesting – trade teams next week.

(Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas and sales team meeting topics for Sales Managers who like to provide sales training and development weekly.  Visit us here:  http://www.meetingtowin.com/)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in CRM, best practice, communication, culture, down economy, management tips | No Comments »

Wake Up Monday Sales Meetings with Guest Speakers (Plus: Sales Team Meeting Idea)

Monday, February 15th, 2010

This post brought to you by Meeting to Win. 

Subscribe and get a NEW sales team meeting topic every week or visit our STORE for 90+ sales team meeting topics across 21 different categories (see CATALOG HERE). 

Wake Up Monday Sales Meetings with Guest Speakers

Sales team meetings are a great time to learn new skills, exchange ideas and share best practices. They are also a great time to dig deeper on topics relevant to the sales team. This could be a product the team would like to sell more of, an upcoming marketing campaign or pricing issues.  When digging deeper on a certain topic, it is very helpful to invite a guest expert to your meeting.  This could be the Product Manager for a new product, your Marketing expert or your financial analyst. 

At Meeting to Win we recommend commiting to inviting guest speakers at least once per quarter. This adds a fresh voice and perspective and really adds some variety and interest to the weekly sales team meeting.  Choose the topic in advance, ask the team to choose and invite the guest speaker, make sure the topic is relevant to helping the team sell more and enjoy a nice twist on your weekly sales team meetings.

Sales Team Meeting Idea:

  • Look at your next few sales team meeting agenda topics. 
  • Determine if there is a relevant guest speaker that you could invite to support and provide expertise on one of the topics.   
  • Invite them to your upcoming meeting and enjoy the fresh perspective and voice. 

Guest Speaker Ideas:

  • A top performer from another sales team.
  • A customer to share their experience with your company.
  • Your CFO to discuss pricing, margins, company performance.
  • Your Marketing Manager to share marketing information that can help you target and sell more effectively.
  • Your Sales VP to discuss the company’s top initiatives and the sales team’s role in those.
  • Another entire sales team (choose a peer Sales Manager and join the teams together for a sales team meeting/call) to share best practices across teams. Choose two or three topic areas – getting appointments, reduce discounting, etc – and ask the participants to bring ideas and best practices where they have them.
  • If your company has Sales Trainers on staff, invite them to teach and practice a module that could benefit the team.
  • A top performer from another company.
  • A customer of a competitor. By sharing why they work with your competitor, they help further the industry as a whole and educate you at the same time.
  • A sales consultant who has visibility into other companies.
  • A C-Level person in your own company who can share their impression of sales reps who call on them.

Go forth and invite!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, best practice, communication, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, sales management | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »