Or at least tolerable Every sales team has a weekly meeting. Most salespeople think they re a waste of business time. Mostly because the meetings are boring, or chastising, or threatening, or lacking inspiration, or all the above. Managers feel as though they have to have them, yet struggle with the content and ow. Well, now, that sounds like a positive way to get the week started, doesn t it? An improved meeting What s a sales team to do? Here s what to do. . . . Start with a set (printed) agenda for the meeting. All meetings should have one. Im portant items you want to cover and exercises for the team. Start out positive, end upbeat and have great content in the middle. Here s a sample agenda that will make your Jeffrey Gitomer is the au-meetings more fun and pro table for all: thor of The Sales Bible 1. Morning mirth. Someone on the staff and Customer Satisfaction tells a funny story. This acts as a kickoff, and is Worthless, Customer also gives someone storytelling practice in Loyalty is Priceless. Presi-front of a group. Pre-assign it so they can dent of Charlotte-based prepare. Not a joke, a story. This makes it Buy Gitomer Inc., he gives more real, and more personal. seminars, runs annual sales 2. Success announcements. Give every meetings and conducts one a chance to brag about their current training programs on selling accomplishments. Sales and personal events and customer service.He are acceptable. Successful big deals, goals ex can be reached at (704) ceeded, achievements made. Talking about 333-1112 or, via email, at success makes people feel successful. salesman@gitomer.com. 3. Frustrations shared. One or two min utes of bloodletting. Don t react immedi ately. Let solutions be offered later in the meeting. Get the crap off your chest, and let everyone help create solutions and answers as the meeting progresses. 4. Two minute administrative-details talk. No more. The rest can be emailed. Salespeople hate details. 5. Five to ten minutes of product knowledge. No more. Important transferable bits of information that customers can use, bene t, pro duce and pro t from. Idea: Test or challenge salespeople to come up with an idea on how to present the knowledge, and reward the best idea with lunch for two. 6. Best of (examples). How someone succeeded. Secured a tough ap pointment, successfully followed-up, completed a sale. Sales meetings should emphasize sales. Hello! 16 PRINTWEAR JANUARY 2008 7. Sales subject/lesson of the week. Sales training. Someone on the team prepares and delivers a 15-minute presentation of an important aspect of your selling process. You can even invite customers to par ticipate. 8. Solutions to frustrations. Ten minutes of ideas to address present frustrations and barriers. Get it out in the open so that answers can create better understanding. 9. Networking opportunities discussed. Prepared by someone weekly. Where you can go to meet new people and prospects. Assign people to important events. Report on last week s events. 10. Top-ten prospect review for each salesperson. Rapid- re talk that names the prospect, the status and the expected result this week. Require each person to verbalize his or her goals and expectations. 11. Expectations of the week. Each person af rms what he or she seeks to accomplish this week with respect to their sales effort to build their pipeline. 12. Generate an idea for one major prospect of each salesperson. As the sales leader, you offer the rst idea. This shows the team that you have prepared as well. Give them something creative to take or say to their appointment that separates them from the competition, gets them in the door, helps them complete a sale. 12.5 End Upbeat. Two minutes of something motivational and in spirational a recording, a reading, a story shared, a video clip. Some thing that will energize each salesperson to leave through the wall, not the door. You should be pumped This agenda will win and create winners. It involves everyone and cre ates a positive anticipation for a week of success. It also challenges each salesperson to learn, participate, communicate, present and make sales. The object of any sales meeting is to have a favorable outcome. One where the team of individuals is somewhere between inspired and pumped. This responsibility falls on the shoulders of the sales leader: the sales manager or owner of the company. Oh, Yeah: Serve great food. Make the sales team feel rst-class by providing rst-class eats. I promise, it s worth every ounce of caffeine, every gram of carb. The best sales-meeting idea: Make an appointment with a hot prospect for one-minute after the sales meeting ends. You should be pumped . . . why not take it out on the prospect? You should close that sale 110 percent of the time. GitBit: I have also posted this agenda on my site to share it with your manager, or teammates. Go to gitomer.com register if you re a rst time visitor and enter the word AGENDA in the GitBit box. Use FAST #16 PW_UICI_0801AB.indd 1 12/10/07 2:22:05 PM