Meeting to Win subscribers have just begun the Summer Deal Makers Series. (Join us by subscribing and get a new agenda every week.)  We thought we’d share the idea with our blog readers, also.  As we’ve mentioned about once a week leading up to the summer, we all know that it can be more difficult to move deals forward in the summer months.  Decision makers are on vacation and, therefore, sales process steps take longer to complete.  Before you know it, sales cycles have doubled and sales reps don’t have much more than a tan and some frustration to show for the summer. 

There is an alternative, though.  As a team, choose two deals per rep and get in each other’s business.  Each deal owner should share their summer strategy on those deals with the team. The team should provide input and ideas to keep the deal moving and, hopefully, closing during the summer.  Each week, each rep should share what was accomplished on those 2 deals the previous week, the planned accomplishments for the upcoming week and, again, get input from the team. This can be done in rapid-fire format.  Do it every week on the same deals.  Stay focused and close those deals this summer.

The benefits of this are increased summer momentum, accountability to keep things moving in the summer and laser focus on sales and customers.  The side benefits include increased morale, better team work and sales lessons galore. 

To get structured sales team meeting agendas on this topic and many others, join as a subscriber and get in on the Summer of Momentum from Meeting to Win. We don’t want you to miss a minute of the fun.  Join us or create your own fun.  Best wishes for a great summer!

Each quarter, Meeting to Win encourages our subscribers to invite a Guest Speaker to their weekly sales team meeting.  We’ve updated the list we published in February with more ideas on Guest Speaker options.  Invite a Guest Speaker to your next sales meeting and see your team light up.

Wake Up Monday Sales Meetings with Guest Speakers

Subscribe to Meeting to Win weekly sales team meeting agendas and enjoy upcoming topics such as:

Price vs. Value, Deal Makers (Series), Masters of Communication, 13 Critical Success Factors for Salespeople (Series) and many others to keep your team fired up, equipped and winning all year long.

I had the privilege (I can say that now) of inheriting a toxic, dysfunctional, under-performing, miserable inside sales team a few years ago.  I mean this group was bad off!  Everyone was too busy to stop and actually do anything about this small group so the problems just got worse and worse until they were a sales AND HR nightmare.  It was time to do something.  So, lucky me, I was the chosen one to take this team and it’s troubles on.  This team was turned around within 30-60 days and became a model for other teams like it around the country.  I thought it might be nice to share how we made this u-turn in case their are other managers struggling with the quicksand of a team with low morale and low performance.

First, I met with the Sales Manager to hear her side of the story.  The problems were blatantly obviously and I quickly realized that her team ruled the roost and she had little control.  It was like my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Jackson (I won’t even go there!).  She had no control and the team took advantage of her weakness.

I worked with this dedicated (most would have run screaming from this mess by now) Manager to help her gain some control and respect and quickly realized this was beyond her abilities and definitely beyond her comfort.  I was able to work with my leadership and find her another more suitable role in the company where she thrives today.

I replaced her with a lady from another territory who wasn’t even currently in management.  She was in a sales role and demonstrated amazing leadership skills with her customers and internal team.  She was process oriented, genuinely cared about her team and customers and made smart decisions about creating solutions that were good for everyone.  And – she never got run over by her team mates or customers.  In fact, she had successful run and sold a business during her lifetime.  I had a gut feeling about her and, man, was I right!  The rest of the credit goes to her.

The rest of this success story belongs to this new manager.  She immediately did the following things:

• First, this Manager just spent a week observing and getting to know the team.
• At the end of her first week, she met with the team and acknowledged what everyone already knew.  It maybe hadn’t been said out loud, but this new manager said it. No one had confidence in this group, no one respected this group and they didn’t operate like a successful team. 
• She didn’t necessarily make it personal. There are characteristics of successful teams across organizations and this team did not have most of those characteristics – sales process, goals, work time expectations, etc.  She simply pointed this out.
• She regularly spent one-on-one time with each team member to find out their frustrations, personal goals, skills and motivations.
• She partnered with me and HR along the way as she began to enforce company policies (tardiness, dress code, etc) and implement performance plans.
• She quickly identified a troublemaker on the team, gave her a chance to turn things around and, in the end, fired her.  That was the only loss on her team. (A good example for the rest, too!)
• She very clearly communicated her own performance and conduct expectations as the Manager of this team.
• She stood up for her team when needed.  This team had done so many things wrong that even when something wasn’t necessarily their fault, the blame still landed there.  This Manager put a stop to that right away.
• She started a communication plan with the departments her team regularly worked with.  They all became great partners with their extended teams instead of a thorn in one anothers’ sides as they had been.
• She had confidence in her team’s ability to contribute positive sales results to the organization.  She had charts and posters posted all over the office showing them on the way to or at goals they had never come close to achieving.  They were becoming confident and proud of their contributions.
• She shared these reports with me so I could “brag” on this team to senior leadership, also.  It was a PR campaign and everyone began to see this team in a different light.  They actually began to figure out ways to utilize their services more because it meant success to them.
• She stayed very close to the quality and workload of the team and added to the team as they got busier and busier.  She made this a place to work and she had the pick of candidates from an internal pool.  NO ONE wanted to work there even 6 months prior.
• We paraded senior leaders through there when they came to town to visit and asked our local senior leaders to make this department a regular stop. We realized this was highly motivating for them as they had been ignored and, quite honestly, avoided during the troubled times.  They were really proud of their environment and loved showing it off.
• In the end, there were a successful team with clear sales activity and professional expectations, they were accountable to activity and sales goals, followed a repeatable sales process, executed a consistent internal and external communication plan, celebrated wins, examined losses and are enjoying successful careers today.

Being part of this team could have been a huge setback in the young careers of these inside sales people.  Instead it was an experience that launched many great careers.  The key throughout each of our steps was communication.  We communicated daily and sometimes hourly in the first 30 days.  It was so bad we actually considered shutting the doors and starting over.  It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my career.  If you are faced with a toxic team, partner with your boss and HR team and get them turned around this month.  It takes a lot of energy, heart and even tears, but it is so worth it.  That team isn’t happy being miserable either – they just don’t know how to fix it.  Step in and improve the lives of each and every one of them – including you.

Good luck!

This post brought to you by Meeting to Win.  Have positive weekly sales team meetings by subscribing to Meeting to Win Sales Team Meeting Agendas.  Coming soon – The Summer of Momentum.

I received this article today from my Salesopedia subscription.  Two terrifying truths jumped out at me immediately.

1. “Weekly sales meetings have killed more manager authority and respect than probably any other activity a manager engages in with the possible exception of the ride along.” 
2. “They have also driven a great number of high performers to the competition, one of which may be my client Richard who is one of the top 5 sellers in his company’s 300 member sales force.”

Read more about the importance of executing effective sales team meetings in Paul McCord’s article, 

4 Steps to Creating Powerful, Effective Sales Meetings.

Enjoy Paul’s insights and direction and start having better meetings this Monday.    It is critically important.

It seems that when some make the transition from revenue-producing sales rep to sales leader, they forget some very important realities.  They no longer want to hear about the realities of the field.  They want to call those “excuses”.  I admit, I like to look at everything and determine the worst case scenario.  This does not bum me out, it actually makes me feel better to have a game plan should the worst case scenario play out.  It never does and it still feels good to be prepared.

The reality is that things happen that are disruptive.  Some of these things the reps’ own companies do to them, some are economy driven, some are customer driven.  Yet, leadership still expects the reps to turn in 8% revenue growth.  If you kick a marathon runner in the knee at mile 13, that runner may not beat his previous finishing time.  That’s a reality.  I don’t believe that sales reps like to “make excuses”.  I believe they really want to explain their performance, good or bad.  Being able to explain why something happens is a key ingredient in duplicating the good results and avoiding the poor results.

So, I challenge sales leaders to face reality. Among other things, the following is a list of things that ARE disruptive:

• Moving territory lines.
• Adding or taking away accounts.
• Pulling them out of the field for training.
• Asking them to complete a whole new set of reports.
• Introducing a new CRM.
• Giving them a new product to sell.
• Reorganizing your sales team.
• Changing compensation.

And the list goes on.  I challenge sales leaders to face the reality of disruptions instead of pretending like they won’t be disruptions.  It’s delusional to think the sales team won’t be distracted.  They are human beings, not machines. 

Instead, look 30-90 days out and figure out what is coming down the line that could possibly cause distraction for your sales team.  Figure out the worst case scenario in terms of how this disruption may impact your sales results.  You can’t see everything coming so at least get out in front of what you can see.  Get your team together and face reality together.  Expect to be distracted and proactively figure out how to sell through it.  You’ll reduce distraction and your team will have fewer “excuses”.

Face reality and your reality will be much brighter.

I am getting ready to play my first tennis match in over a year and a half.  As I look forward to the match, I am reminded of something my father said to me during one of our matches years ago.  Something that I have thought about during every match since when I feel like I am on defense more than I’d like to be.  He looked frustrated and said “You’re not playing to win.  You’re playing to NOT lose.”  He described exactly what I was doing.  I was back running down shots, going right where he wanted me to go, just getting the ball in play to live for another point.  He was in charge, setting the pace and … having more fun than me.  During that match and countless others since then, I have had to change my mindset mid-match and play to win instead of play to NOT lose.  For me that means, charge the net, put some shots away, get on the offense, control the pace of the game and, in many of those cases (still not against my Dad…), win.  Even when I didn’t win, I walked away knowing I did everything I could and was proud of my game, effort and attitude.  There was no risk I hadn’t taken and, therefore, no “what ifs”. 

I took my Dad’s insightful observation into my sales life, too, and, man, did life get more fun.  Instead of sitting back following the process, chasing the RFP, settling for meeting with non-decision makers, wondering what the competitors were doing, giving discounts and sounding like 80% of other reps out there, I made a clear effort to “charge the net”. 

How do you know if you are playing to win or playing to not lose?

Are you:

• Following the buying process blindly without challenging steps that don’t help your cusotmers make good decisions?
• Meeting with people who can’t make decisions?
• More worried about your activity report volume than the quality of your activities?
• Spending time on RFPs that restrict your ability to sell by limiting your ability to diagnose and share solutions?
• Constantly running off to fetch the next thing your prospective customer needs with no commitments from them (”send me a proposal”, “do an assessment”, “send me a brochure”, “come do a demo”, etc)?
• Coming in second or third place?
• Getting surprised late in sales cycles?

Or are you:

• Creating opportunities by shining light on problems prospective customers didn’t know they had?
• Challenging dysfunctional buying processes that hinder your customer from getting the best possible solution?
• Sharing solutions your clients didn’t know existed to problems they didn’t know they had?
• Bringing new ideas, industry expertise and innovative solutions to the table?
• Getting full price for the value of service you provide?
• Getting creative on negotiations?
• Risking offending non-decision makers to get to the actual decision makers?
• Addressing sales cycle slow downs head-on and honestly?
• Not afraid to walk away?
• Not afraid to say and do the right thing no matter the outcome?

It is so much more exciting to play to win.  It takes more energy and guts, but it is so worth it.  Charge the net this week!

Sales team meeting idea:

• At your next sales team meeting, ask each team member to bring their current pipeline.
• Ask each person to examine their pipeline for opportunities to “charge the net”.
• Each rep should pick one deal and take a well-planned risk.  Get to decision makers, challenge a bad decision, ask about the competition, exit an RFP opportunity, etc.  As long as the risk will ultimately help you help your customer make a better decision (even if it’s not you), then take the risk.
• Each rep should walk away with one risk to take within the next week. 
• Plan to report back on the outcomes of the team’s risk-taking.  Not all will go well – that’s why we call it a “risk”.  So be it…

Play to win. Charge the net.  Have more fun.

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win.  Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas for Sales Managers who want to take their team to the next level.  Play to Win, Not to NOT Lose is the April 2, 2010 Agenda Topic.  To get a new sales team meeting topic each week, visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/ to subscribe.)

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.)

(We are continuing with our Meeting to Win 3-week sales team meeting agenda series, Maxmize Customer Meetings.  We invited a friend of Meeting to Win, Kathleen Steffey, CEO and Founder of Naviga Business Services  to share some great advice for the before the meeting in Don’t Wing It.)

Don’t Wing It

by Kathleen Steffey, CEO/Founder of Naviga Business Services

Quiz time:  What are the five biggest challenges your prospects and clients are dealing with and how does your solution address them?

 If you can’t answer that question, you need to hit the books. How can you possibly position your solution as a way to relieve your prospect’s pain if you don’t understand the source of their discomfort?

A solid working knowledge of industry issues lets you anticipate the most common objections and develop standard responses that overcome them. It lets you develop a standard list of leading questions that shift the focus from the prospect’s concern about spending money to the return they will realize from their investment into your solution.

 It keeps you in control of the sales process and helps you establish a rapport and build a foundation of trust.

 Is your client’s industry faced with a talent shortage? If so, how does your solution help the prospect function effectively with fewer people, or raise their profile so they can better-compete for top professionals?

 Is the economic downturn causing belt-tightening? If so, how does your solution help lower production costs, reduce overhead or improve productivity?

 Top sales professionals make time to keep up on the industries they serve. They read the top trade journals, find the blogs and online sites that cover their business and industry. They listen to what their clients are saying.

 Follow their lead. Use the information you glean from these sources to develop a library of standard responses and questions. Practice them until you know them cold.

 Now you’re ready to respond to whatever objection your prospects throw at you so you can lead them down the path to a value-based sale.

(Meeting to Win thanks Kathleen for her insights in Don’t Wing It.  To get weekly sales team meeting agendas on Maxmizing Customer Meetings and many other sales performance topics, subscribe to Meeting to Win weekly sales team meeting agendas today.  We look forward to working with you.)

We at Meeting to Win are big fans of Paul Castain and his work.  During our 3-week Sales Team Meeting Agenda series on Maximizing Customer Meetings we thought you may enjoy Paul’s thougths on starting your meetings with impact. 

Starting Your Meetings with Impact

by Paul Castain of Sales Playbook

OK, pop quiz. How long does it take to make an impression on someone? 30 seconds? 10? Less? …
Here’s something that you can do in your very next client/prospect meeting …

Read the rest here.

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.