According to Rich Casto, founder of The Real Estate Coaches, the first step to improving your sales meetings is finding out how you are currently doing in this area. An easy way to do that is to have someone videotape you. Casto's theory is that while watching yourself, you make mental notes on what you are doing that is good and what you are doing that is bad, and this helps you improve your presentation skills, which improves your sales meetings. Things to work on in your presentation include voice inflection, eye contact, and visuals.
2. Be positive.
One of the main goals of a sales meeting should be to get your sales team pumped up. People who are excited about something are able to come up with better ideas than those who are falling asleep or texting their friends on their cell phones. Keep the ideas flowing by filling the room with positive energy and by giving support and feedback for all ideas thrown onto the table, not just the ones you like. Employees need to feel that their ideas are appreciated and accepted if you want them to continue voicing them.
3. Let someone else lead.
Keep your sales meetings fresh by letting a member of your sales team lead every once in a while. Let your team members share their own ideas and opinions. Oftentimes they will bring new perspectives to meetings because they are the ones out there selling day-to-day and may see different areas that need to be addressed than you do. In addition, being asked to lead a sales meeting can boost someone's confidence and make him or her an even better salesperson, which will benefit the whole team.
4. Be specific.
In order to keep sales meetings relevant and keep your employees focused on the issues at hand, use specific examples from client situations that you have been in recently to illustrate points. You can even ask some of the salespeople to come up and tell stories about the situations they have been involved in lately. This will ensure that your sales meetings are more productive because your employees will be listening to and learning from actual situations instead of vague examples.
5. Have some fun.
Keep things rolling in your sales meetings by throwing in some fun stuff along the way. For example, try offering prizes and/or awards for various competitions. This will help get everyone involved and excited about meetings. In addition, try incorporating role-playing activities into your meetings. Have two people act out a scenario between a salesperson and a client. This will not only provide valid learning opportunities, but your employees can also have some fun with it.
