Sales meetings get a bad rap. Why? Because too often, salespeople view them as a complete waste of time.
That’s where a well-crafted sales meeting agenda steps in. An organized agenda will keep your team on track and engaged, and help you avoid the tangents and distractions that can derail an otherwise productive meeting.
First, let’s review the benefits of creating a sales meeting agenda template. A structured agenda will help:
- Keep your team hyper-focused on the most important priorities
- Increase individual and team accountability for the things you’ve committed to
- Uncover underlying issues that are holding your sales team back—and help you organize discussion to find actionable solutions
Now that we’re clear on why it’s a good idea to spend some time creating an agenda, let’s go into what topics should be included, and what the agenda format should look like.
Key Items to Include on Your Sales Meeting Agenda:
1. An Introduction
Before jumping right into the meat of the meeting, it’s a good idea to start out with a little ice breaker. This should take no more than 5 minutes and is a helpful way to begin on a positive note (and remind everyone that the people they work with are human).
At The Brooks Group, we start out with one personal headline and one professional headline meeting attendees. If we’re lucky, we get a few laughs in before we jump into the numbers.
2. Metrics Review
This section should serve as a quick overview of your core weekly metrics. It shouldn’t be about scrutinizing, but keeping a pulse on the sales team’s performance.
Be sure to include at least 4 leading indicators and try to keep your scorecard to 5-7 metrics total. The most valuable measurements will be watered down if you have too much data to analyze.
If a metric is off, determine what countermeasure is necessary—and decide who is responsible for taking action. (This may require scheduling an additional one-on-one meeting with a member of your sales team.)
3. Quarterly Initiatives Check-In
At the beginning of each quarter, you should develop a list of high-priority initiatives that will help move your sales team towards strategic business objectives and goals.
Whether it’s trade shows, key events, or new training, include these priority items on your sales meeting agenda. Run through them quickly each week and see if they are progressing as expected. If not, determine if you need to assign a specific to-do item to one or more team members.
4. A Training Component
The bottom line is, your salespeople will dread your weekly meeting unless it provides them with immediate value.
Find out which areas are the most challenging for your reps, and designate one topic per meeting to work on. It can be really effective to assign the topic to one or two of your reps that have developed best practices in that area. The rest of the team will give credence to a lesson or presentation that comes from their peers.
5. Housekeeping Updates
Carve out a few minutes to share any policy changes, process updates, announcements, feedback for other departments, etc. sure your alignment with the marketing team is on track.
6. Win/Loss Story Sharing
Numbers don’t tell the whole story. It’s important for your salespeople to assess what went right with wins and what went wrong with losses—and then share that information with the rest of the sales team.
Take turns rotating through the team and assign each salesperson a week to present what they’ve learned through the experience of a win or loss. You can also use this time to review key opportunities that your team is working.
7. Competitor News
Competitive Intelligence helps keep your sales team agile and intentional with the strategic direction you take.
Assign 1-2 competitors to each salesperson and have them give a quick update each week on any news or developments that have surfaced.
8. Closing/Action Items
Close out the sales meeting by recapping any notable takeaways from the Win/Loss Story Sharing section. Doing this will reinforce the behaviors and habits you want your sales team working towards in the coming week.
Make sure that everyone is clear on their action items and end the meeting on time. If you want your salespeople to respect the importance of the team meeting, you should be respectful of their time.
Conclusion
Taking some time upfront to plan your sales team meeting agenda will save you time and energy in the long run. Plus, a repeatable structure gives everyone an idea of what to expect and what’s expected of them.
Remember, this post is meant to serve as a guideline. Feel free to adjust your meeting structure to fit the unique needs of your sales team.
