Creatinga memorable sales meeting requires careful planning and execution. We aren’t talking about a sales meeting where the attendees walk away unchanged. The type of sales meeting we want to plan is one that will inspire and leave each attendee with a fresh feeling of passion for their roles. Now, to reach that end goal, some additionalattention is required. Here are some key planning tips to make your sales meeting anobvious driver of future success.
Define Clear Objectives
It is crucial to determine the purpose and goals of your sales meeting. Clarity within the objectives ensures that all attendees understand why they are there and what is expected of them within their roles. Having a mutual agreement between everyone involved is important in creating an attainable way to reach the desired goals. It is not enough to say, “We want to increase sales.” Believe it or not, all companies want to increase sales. Having specific ways in which you plan to increase sales is key. Here is a KM&A (Klipsch Marketing & Advisors) tip for forming sales goals: always make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T.E.R – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound, evaluate and revise.
Example of a SMARTER goal: To increase sales by 5% before the end of the third quarter. When it is the end of the third quarter, we will evaluate our success based on the increase in sales and revise the goal for the future based on what we achieved.
Prepare an Engaging Agenda
Developing a well-structured agenda that includes a mixture of informative, interactive and motivating elements is a sure way to keep attendees engaged. Most people don’t enjoy sitting through a meeting with no call to action. Sales meetings do not have to be boring. With the right agenda and plan, you can utilize your sales meeting to avoid a monotonous conference that no one wants to attend. It is also important to include time for presentations, discussions, interactive activities and Q&A sessions within your agenda to maximize your attendees’ experience. Specifically, a panel discussion can create an environment in which attendees feel as though they play a direct role in the decision-making process. With an engaging and interactive agenda, attendees will walk away looking forward to future sales meetings.
Choose the Right Venue & Setup
It seems obvious to include that you should find the best venue to fit your capacity needs. However, an element that is not so obvious is finding a venue that aligns with your meetings’ purpose. If you want your attendees to find value in connecting with one another, it is important to utilize a venue that offers spaces where that can happen. Ensuring the setup supports communication and engagement increases your ability to foster your message. Additionally, you should consider factors such as lighting, seating arrangements, audio-visual equipment and any additional materials and props to actively drive your message. Utilizing non-traditional spaces does wonders for creative freedom.
If you want to go above and beyond, here at KM&A we love turning a non-traditional space into an event space. Recently, our director of events attended a conference that did just that. This event utilized a non-traditional space in a way that allowed the attendees to form a deeper connection to the overall mission of the event. With this connection, the attendees walked away with a call to action that went beyond the conference itself.
Use Visual Aids & Multimedia
Visuals, visuals and more visuals. We said it three times to hopefully convince you of its importance! Incorporating visual aids such as slide decks, videos and product demonstrations will enhance understanding and engagement. This also acts as an opportunity to show off your branding – we love a good, branded presentation! Sometimes the information from a sales meeting can seem monotonous but with the right visual aids and multimedia, you can break up the messaging in a way that makes it more appealing to your attendees. While visuals are incredibly important, we want to note that they should not be used as the sole piece of content for your attendees.
Encourage Participation & Interaction
A tried-and-true way to keep attendees engaged in your presentation is to encourage participation. Incorporating activities like group discussions, role-playing, case studies and team-building activities will offer your attendees an interactive way to gain more takeaways from the meeting. Shared experiences are a fantastic way to learn more about yourself and those on your team. Encouraging attendees to talk about a problem, ask questions and provide input not only allows them to walk away with more knowledge, but it also gives them more tools to utilize within their sales positions.
Include Success Stories & Testimonials
Individuals in the sales world are often highly motivated, and most of their motivation stems from seeing their peers succeed. Sharing success stories and testimonials from high-performing sales team members can spark inspiration in those who are listening. Hearing real-world examples of success can lead to a high level of motivation across the board. Let’s face it, we all want to be successful and hearing directly from someone who has that success acts as a boost to get us on that same path.
Incorporate Training & Skills-Building
Using your sales meeting as an opportunity to train and build skills is a key factor in utilizing your attendees’ time to the fullest. You can use this meeting to offer workshops or breakout sessions where attendees can enhance their sales techniques, learn about new products or improve their knowledge in specific areas.
Foster Teamwork & Collaboration
An important aspect of any sales meeting is making sure your attendees feel like they are in a collaborative environment. A way to facilitate teamwork is to assign group activities or brainstorming sessions where attendees can share ideas and insights. The coming together of intelligent salespeople can provide your organization with important insights that lead to success. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration and relationship-building within the sales team will increase cohesiveness between your employees.
Provide Recognition & Rewards
Who doesn’t love being noticed and rewarded for all the hard work they do? Providing recognition and rewards to those who are exceeding expectations is something that people value. This can include awards, certificates, incentives or public recognition during the meeting. Find out what top performers value and utilize that to reward them while also giving the rest of the team something to aspire towards. Taking the time to show your sales team that their hard work is not going unnoticed will encourage them to keep doing what they’re doing!
Close with Action Items
End the meeting by summarizing the key takeaways and action items. Provide your attendees with clear instructions on what their next steps are and any follow-up tasks or deadlines. You could also send everyone a meeting recap with the action items to reinforce the meeting’s outcomes. You can follow up in many ways, but it is important to highlight the main points that made the meeting successful!
Remember, a memorable sales meeting goes beyond just conveying information. It creates an experience that engages, motivates and empowers the sales team to achieve their goals. Does this sound like the kind of meeting your sales team needs? Let KM&A do the heavy lifting and create a sales meeting that will go beyond your expectations.
