The next time your sales team gathers for the weekly or bi-weekly group sales meeting, think of the investment sitting in that room. Each person represents not only their payroll but also an opportunity cost—the time they could be spending connecting with prospects or clients.
The question every self-aware sales leader must ask is: Does my group sales meeting provide enough ROI to justify this investment? If you are hesitating to answer this question, it’s time to rethink your approach.
Too many sales meetings fall short, leading to frustration—instead of inspiration.
Why Are So Many Sales Meetings Unproductive?
1. Lack of a Clear Agenda. There is no defined agenda sent ahead of the meeting. As a result, it’s easy for meetings to drift into unproductive rabbit holes—disjointed conversations that feel like a game of whack-a-mole. Aimless topics pop up unexpectedly: “Let’s talk about this… or maybe that?” Avoid this by creating an agenda with prioritized topics, time allotted for topics, that align with current sales goals.
2. Undefined Purpose and Objectives. Sales leaders preach to their sales teams the importance of having a defined purpose and objective when meeting with prospects or customers. Take that preaching and apply it to your group sales meetings.
Every group sales meeting should have a specific purpose, whether that’s improving close ratios, reviewing recent wins and losses, or practicing a new technique. Stop focusing on endless CRM, number reviews. Your salespeople can read reports. What they need help with is actionable insights that will change the numbers!
3. No Tailored Skill Development. The reason we use a tailor is to custom fit a garment so we wear clothing that isn’t too tight, too loose, too short or too long.
Be a tailor and stop creating generic agendas that “don’t fit” the unique needs of your team. Evaluate what your team needs most right now. Is it consultative selling skills? Role-plays that help overcome common objections? Emotional intelligence skill training? Mindset and attitude coaching? Identify skill gaps and then customize your training approach to fit your team’s needs.
What Your Sales Team Truly Needs
Salespeople not only need to learn new and relevant approaches to sales; they need to learn how to master such skills. In today’s competitive environment, average isn’t going to cut it. As a sales leader, it’s your responsibility to bring the right content to the table AND help your team master the content.
Practice, practice, practice. Incorporate role-plays that allow your team to work on the hard skills of sales, consultative selling skills. Don’t cave to excuses from your team such as, “I don’t like to role play. It’s not real.”
Your response should be: neither is basketball practice. There is no shortcut to mastery and as a leader, it’s your responsibility to instill the habit of practice in order for your team to achieve sales mastery.
Focus on Emotional Intelligence (EQ). It will always be important to teach the hard skills of sales such as prospecting, discovery, or negotiation. However, in today’s sales environment, it’s equally important to teach EQ skills like resiliency, empathy, and adaptability. Equip your team with tools to handle risk-averse clients and extended sales cycles. When your team can read a client’s “emotional temperature,” they’re better positioned to close deals.
Effective Sales Meetings Require Planning and Precision
It takes discipline and foresight to run an inspiring, result-driven sales meeting. Start by defining the purpose and objectives. If your goal is to boost prospecting skills, plan activities that develop exactly that. If your team needs a mental reset, consider mindset or resilience training.
Each meeting should leave your team better equipped, inspired, and focused. My latest book, Emotional Intelligence For Sales Leadership, explores skills and techniques that you can incorporate into your meetings to drive engagement and improve performance.
Don’t let your sales team fall into the trap of “just another meeting.” Make each session a time for skill-building, mindset development, and shared insights. A well-planned meeting will transform your sales team’s energy, focus and results.
Good Selling and Leading!