One of the areas that most of the startups we work with need to improve is around meetings with the sale reps and those sales meeting topics. Companies often have too many sales team meetings and not enough individual meetings. The individual meetings are very important as part of the sales reps communication plan. This blog provides some tips and sales meeting topics.
Set an Agenda
Set an agenda before each meeting. It is better if the agenda is similar between the meetings. The salesperson will be prepared for the meeting and it will be more efficient use of time for both of you.
Have them Own It
There should be points in the meeting where they are leading the meeting. They can review their goal progress and own the pipeline overview. The sales leader can ask questions along the way, but the more the rep owns the meeting the better they will know the information being shared.
Review Goals
Goals for the salesperson should be easy to measure and report on. The salesperson can review where they are versus their goals. Using a CRM is easy to measure calls, emails, meetings and opportunities by pipeline stage. The salesperson will know if they are doing well or need some improvement.
Pipeline
Management through the sales pipeline review is an important part of the individual meeting. You can dig into opportunities, measure progress, and it can also highlight opportunities for personal development. The salesperson may be having some issues converting demos to proposals. Focus on what may be holding them up. Put more focus on the opportunities that are bigger, strategic, and that will be closing sooner. Ask what has changed since the last meeting to get a good view on how things are progressing.
Accountability
There are built in expectation for individual meetings. You are measuring goals and opportunities. There should also be accountability for the sales leader. If there are things the sales rep needs help with, it is on you to get them taken care of. This could relate to blockers with an account or other things the salesperson does not have control over. The sales leader needs to be accountable, just as you expect the salesperson to be accountable.
Anything Else
It is good to leave some time for the sales rep to bring up anything on their mind. It could be a specific sales solution, an issue they are having, a challenge, an idea for professional development, or even something personal. Make sure you give them the freedom and confidence to bring up things of their choosing that fall outside of your agenda.
If you are interested in talking about how VA Partners can help with sales meeting topics, contact me.
