Wait a minute. Why are we talking about a first-quarter national sales meetings when we’re still focused on hitting this year’s revenue goal?
Because a well-planned sales meeting doesn’t happen with one month of planning.
The key words: well-planned.
Your national sales meeting is one of your best opportunities to build community, provide education, create motivation, and reconnect your sales team to the mission of the company.
When I was running national sales meetings, there were key areas I made sure we covered to kick off the new selling year.
1. Have a theme—and reinforce it before, during and after the meeting.
Depending on the size and location of your sales team, send a promotional item connected to the theme ahead of the meeting to build excitement. Depending on the item, have your team to bring it or wear it to the opening session.
Here are a few themes to consider with desired goals:
- Whatever It Takes – Reinforces persistence, resourcefulness, and the willingness to find a way around obstacles rather than making excuses. Give your team a “Whatever It Takes” survival kit.
- Go the Extra Mile – Creates good conversations and trainings around exceeding expectations for prospects, customers, and teammates by doing the little things competitors aren’t willing to do. Provide a pedometer or step tracker to “track those extra miles.”
- New Attitude – This theme challenges the team to let go of old thinking, embrace change, and bring renewed energy, optimism, and confidence to the year ahead. Give away sunglasses with an attached message saying, “See things differently.”
- Better Together — Perfect if your goal is to reinforce collaboration, mentoring and the idea that individual success contributes to team success. Handout puzzle pieces and have a central table where the sales team puts together the big puzzle.
- Raise the Bar — Great if you are starting to see complacency in your team. Have every session focus on how your sales team can elevate their selling skills, mindset and accountability. Hand out snack bars wrapped in the words RAISE THE BAR.
- Own the Outcome — In a world where blame and excuses run rampant, focus content around accountability, resilience and controlling what you can control. Give a notebook for salespeople to record what they are going to own in the upcoming year. Or, give a set of keys with a note: you own your future.
Make the theme more than a slogan on a PowerPoint slide. Weave it throughout the meeting.
2. Kick off the meeting with high octane.
Don’t just do the usual welcome, glad you could make it in, sorry for your travel delays. STOP. How you open the meeting sets the tone for the meeting. I always viewed the opening session like an opening show.
At one of my national sales meetings, I hired a local high school band to come blaring through the doors after the reps were seated. The reps were in “shock and awe,” and that set the tone for a “shock and awe” meeting.
At another meeting, I had one of my talented reps kick-off the meeting by impersonating singer Patti LaBelle. She was belting out “New Attitude” while our regional sales managers, dressed in disguise, acted like her backup singers. (One sales manager was always on the wrong foot and the sales team loved it.)
My reps went crazy singing and clapping. It was a high octane way to begin the sales conference. (Oh—the theme of the meeting was ATTITUDE.)
3. Combine new product and service introductions with sales training.
When introducing new products and services, make sure the team running the session includes:
- Different value propositions for various buyers and industries.
- Clarity around the ideal client for the new product or service.
- Ways to unseat an incumbent who may have a similar offering.
- Objections your salespeople might hear and how to preempt or handle them.
Don’t just introduce the new “stuff.” Help your sales team sell the new stuff.
4. Hit the fun quota.
Sometimes in our adult world, we need to be reminded of the importance of recess.
Yes, I was one of those sales managers who included games during meetings.
Here’s what I’ve learned. Everyone will initially complain, “This is kind of dumb. Do we really have to do this?”
Don’t buckle.
Get your salespeople playing, and they will rediscover their “inner child.” Here are a few ideas I’ve observed while attending national sales meetings as a speaker:
Hold a scavenger hunt. Yup, the competitive juices get flowing, and it is “game on.” And it requires teamwork to get the hunt done.
Engage in crazy team-building activities. One company I worked with sold tangible products. At its sales meeting, the company held a contest to see who could build the tallest tower using the very products they sold. I was amazed at the creativity—and the height of those towers.
Host a talent show. I fell into this idea when I was a vice president of sales. We got snowed in and iced in so we had to cancel the external activity planned for the evening.
I divided the sales team into groups, and they were given 45 minutes to design an act for an impromptu talent show. Their creative juices got flowing. We had sales teams singing, impersonating popular bands, and conducting skits. There were even a few backflips and splits. It remains one of the funniest evenings I’ve ever experienced.
Sales leader, you’ve got two goals to hit: the sales goal and the fun goal.
5. Recognize the invisible talent.
Salespeople are the visible talent, bringing in the business. But remember those silent warriors supporting your sales team and providing great service to your clients. These are the individuals working in accounting, customer support, the warehouse, or IT.
Invite the leaders of those departments and at your awards dinner, give them recognition for the important work they do behind the scenes.
Remind your sales team: It takes a sales village to win and retain business.
6. Add one more award to the awards dinner.
If you’ve been following me, you know I’m a big fan of mentorship because of the impact it has made in my life. (Check out my latest book Be The Mentor Who Mattered.)
Create a new award: The Mentor Award.
Have members of your sales team nominate someone at the company who has helped them grow personally or professionally. Mentorship adds to the top and bottom line, however, it’s often not captured on the profit and loss statement.
If you want a sales culture where people help one another succeed, recognize the people demonstrating this behavior.
7. Show gratitude.
You may have to get creative with how you implement this idea that I observed at a national sales meeting.
The vice president of sales gave each region of the country and its associated office an assignment: Select a nonprofit and engage in some kind of work.
At the national sales meeting, each region got up and shared the project it had taken on.
And let me tell you, I’ve never seen so much pride and joy.
It was a great reminder that true happiness often comes from helping others.
Plan and Prepare
I love national sales meetings because of the camaraderie, the friendships formed and the renewed sense of commitment to sales, customers, and the company.
But those outcomes don’t happen because you booked a pleasant hotel, ordered tasty food, and created a packed agenda.
They happen because someone thoughtfully planned an experience that people will remember long after they fly home.
Start planning your national sales meeting now.
Make it educational. Make it meaningful. Make it fun.
Make it rock.
Good Selling and Leading!