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In my recent video, I shared how many salespeople expressed concerns that their daily, weekly, and monthly sales meetings add little value in helping them achieve their goals. Some shared that their weekly meetings are more like an autopsy than a focused discussion to drive future revenue.

Poorly facilitated sales meetings are nothing new. Our data shows less than 50% of sales teams have received formal sales skills training, and an even more significant percentage of sales managers have never received sales manager skills training.

We often find sales leaders were once top performing salespeople themselves.

Sales manager skills include…

1. Leadership
2. Coaching
3. Effective communication
4. Deal strategy
5. Moving opportunities in the pipeline to close
6. Time management
7. Training and coaching
8. Recruiting
9. Creating sales plans and processes
10. Forecasting sales and creating reports
11. Data analysis
12. Meeting design, cadence, and facilitation

However, with so few sales managers and sales leaders, for that matter, being trained on how to facilitate a sales meeting, we must fix this sales problem.

Have your sales managers received skills training?

Do your sales managers facilitate sales meetings that move the revenue needle or waste valuable selling time?

After posting my video about poorly facilitated sales meetings on LinkedIn, I received a comment from Alan Hale, who suggested I launch a poll on this topic, so I did.

38% of participants said their weekly meeting discusses what matters and adds value.

(Awesome!)

38% said their weekly meeting adds no value and feels like an autopsy.

23% said, “what weekly meeting?”

For those facilitating and delivering meetings that move the revenue needle, great job!

Some disturbing statistics are bubbling to the surface.

Salespeople achieving quota is at an all-time low since they started measuring it in 2016.

In 2021 more salespeople failed to achieve sales objectives than those that hit or surpassed their goals.

Depending on the study, the average salesperson only spends 22% of their sellable time selling their clients and prospects.

When we investigated where salespeople spend time if they are not selling, we found the following….

Researching industry trends
Building prospecting lists
Transportation/ travel
Reporting
Reviewing reports
Building presentations
Administration and CRM updates
Assisting other departments, like Accounts Receivables and Quality
Meetings, unproductive sales meetings

Sales meetings and sales manager coaching add tremendous value to goal attainment if properly facilitated.

Training sales managers on coaching skills is one of the most scalable things companies can do today.

Unproductive meetings not only waste time but they become a cost. Think about all the salaries paid for employees to sit in a meeting that isn’t getting anything done. Consider the opportunity cost of what those salespeople and sales leaders, for that matter, could be doing.

Unproductive sales meetings can also lead to lost opportunities if the meetings are not structured and facilitated correctly. The cost of unproductive sales meetings can add up quickly, and from what I have observed, the sessions are more frequent and last much longer than we train our sales leaders to facilitate.

What are some of the sales meeting problems we fix with training and coaching?

1. Expectations of Sales Meetings: Sales leaders and salespeople review their KPIs, focus for the week, and share where they may be stuck or need help. I recommend 2 minutes per person for daily huddles and weekly meetings, no more than 5 minutes per person.
2. Sales meeting organization and clear objectives: Meetings without a meeting framework lack a clear agenda, objectives, or goals, leading to attendees feeling confused and often disengaged.
3. Time management: Have you ever been in a never-ending sales meeting? You planned for one hour, and the next thing you know, 2 ½ hours have passed, and you are scratching your head, frustrated, wondering what you learned or how you might apply what was discussed to achieve your goals.
4. Sales meeting participation and engagement design: Does every meeting participant have an opportunity to speak, or does one or two team members (or even the sales leader) dominate the discussion? Do you know if the facilitation includes interaction and planned engagement?
5. Follow-up and action items, critical next steps: Sales meetings can sometimes end without clear action items or follow-up, making it difficult to measure progress or hold participants accountable. When we train and coach sales leaders to facilitate daily huddles and weekly meetings, we teach them to listen and take notes that become one–on–one coaching moments. Do your salespeople know what to do and how their activities align with the overall sales plan?

Are you one of the 38% where salespeople attend your meetings, understand the objectives, and receive value to move the revenue needle?

Or
Is your team going through the motions of a sales meeting, and they often feel like a never-ending meeting, leaving your salespeople scratching their heads about what was achieved and feeling the meetings are a tremendous waste of time and money?

Have you attended one of your sales teams’ daily huddles or weekly meetings lately?

Do you think this is a meeting you would look forward to or dread?

Do your salespeople know what to present at your meetings?

Do your sales meetings improve accountability or create disengaged salespeople?

One of the most significant constraints on salespeople today is time.

How they spend their time and the activities they execute must support the objective of goal attainment.

Sales meetings, from quick daily huddles and weekly meetings to monthly, quarterly, and annual sales kick-off meetings, play an essential role in your sales managers have been trained to design and facilitate sales meetings.

If you would like me to attend one of your sales meetings and provide some insights on how to get a greater return from your meetings, please reach out to me.

I do not charge for the first meeting I attend.