Who thinks their sales meeting is a colossal waste of time? Most people across all industries, not just insurance, feel the same way as you. Why is that?

The Problem

They're too long
You're the best salesperson so you don't learn anything
You're the worst salesperson so you don't learn anything
They get derailed by someone's personal questions that should go offline
The updates have already been communicated
Your manager didn't adequately prepare
3 people on your team aren't on the call
You never get to share your opinion and you're frustrated
Larry has a bad attitude and brings us down
I could be pretending to make cold calls right now

The sales team is responsible for bringing in all of a company's revenues. Just like Customer Service is in place to help retain the revenue. I know a salesman that once said, "I'm the reason you people have jobs."

There is a lot of pressure on the sales team to constantly, not once in a while, hit "Their Number". It is a sales manager's job to help the sales people in any way they can to hit "Their Number." So why in the world would a sales manager waste his team's time & frustrate them further by holding a useless weekly sales meeting.

Why is this?

The answer is simple: That's what they were taught. Most sales managers were really good sales people. Really good sales people are normally only concerned about themselves. It's one of the perks of the job.

So when these sales people, who were indisputably the best at selling, are put in to leadership roles, they predictably fail. Being a top seller doesn't mean you're going to be a top teacher. All too often the lesson of the day is "I did it, why can't you?"

When it's time for the sales manager to move on they recommend their top sales person as the next manager. And the cycle continues.

Break the Cycle.

If you want to see revenues increase in your company, you need a weekly sales meeting and you need follow a new format. In the beginning it may require the insurance agency partners, the sales managers, and marketing. Over time you will understand who plays a valuable role in your sales strategy and whether or not you need to include them.

If you're looking for a good book, go to Amazon and buy The Sales Leaders Playbook, by Nathan Jamail. There's tons of great tips in this book. Chapter 10 is "Effective Sales Meetings".

The meeting agenda that I will share with you below is what I did when I managed 15 retail locations. Our Region was number 4 of 4 when I moved in. When I left we were #1 for 16 of 17 months in a row. Ask me how to make your sales team #1 sometime.

Here is how WE built our weekly Sales Meeting:

PLAN > AGENDA > REPEAT

Plan

Have a call with your sales leaders, top performers or mid-level managers
Pick the recurring day & time based on consensus
Identify key performers
Identify what each sales person's weakness is statistically
Identify company news to be shared

Agenda

Winners (10 minutes)
- Give out a trophy. We had a large Cup for Highest % to Goal location every month. The winning location got their names engraved on it and kept it for a month. Nathan's book describes a "King Pin" award.
- Recognize who is doing what you ask
- BE EXCITED
- Examples are: Most Cold Calls, Most Revenue, anything that has a goal associated with it
Role Play (35 minutes)
- Announce the topic of today's role play
- Review the reason it is important as well as the goal for each person
- YOU role play first with your top performer (take something scary and make it an opportunity for recognition). This also gives them an opportunity to see what you expect
- Pair up the team, a weak person with a stronger person, and have them practice
- Visit each pair, listen, provide feedback
Feedback (10 minutes)
- In front of the group, each pair will share what they learned and what they will do better that week
News (5 minutes)
- Review the updates
- Questions

Repeat

Do it all again next week

This was successful for many reasons. It motivated all of my sales people that cared. Their goals were very clear. Everyone walked away with best practices from the top sales people. They committed to doing better in front of their team.

In addition, I got to see who was worth putting my time in to helping outside of the sales meetings. Who had natural coaching skills themselves. Where the future leaders may come from.

You also make a lot of money when everyone is hitting "Their Number".

-R