Once design decisions are made, planning is the next step. Though vital, the need for planning is often overlooked, and poor planning is the most common cause of unproductive meetings.

Ideally, planning is done by both the meeting leader and the participants. The planning process, however, is the responsibility of the leader. Here are five tips that can help you more easily plan and run the best sales (or other!) meetings:

1. Conduct appropriate research so as to be capable of effectively organizing an agenda and leading the group
   
   
2. It's often easier to create each week's agenda "on the go." In other words, make notes during the course of each week (possibly when reading, speaking with customers, in the field with Reps, or during one-on-one strategy sessions with Reps, etc.) whenever relevant issues arise. To further simplify this process, you might consider working with an "agenda template."
   
   If this approach sounds good, you can download a free sample from our website.
   
   
3. The agenda should be distributed to participants prior to the meeting, and the leader should encourage the group to not only become familiar with the agenda but also to prepare themselves for a meaningful discussion of the issues therein.
   
   
4. As part of the planning process, meeting leaders should also compile handouts and visual-aid materials, anticipate how material will be presented as well as how it will be received by the group, and develop an interaction plan (questions to involve participants...)
   
   
5. When necessary, the most effective meeting leaders also familiarize themselves with the room and with any props that will be used during the meeting, such as a microphone, projector, or computer system. It is also the leader’s responsibility to verify the availability of such props.

It was noted in our previous two posts that  the best sales or team meetings must be value-added for both  management and the team. 

Picking-up from the list of benefits (WIIFY!), it's important to recognize that meetings are not destinations, but rather vehicles for reaching strategic objectives. There are four key elements involved: 

1. Design

2. Planning

3. Process

4. Follow-through

Design is a function of purpose, and involves participant selection, location, and scheduling. It is a simple yet often ignored step, which begins with defining your meeting's specific purpose and goals. 

Then some consideration should be given to the participant list. In addition to the team, others who might be crucial to to goal achievement should also be invited, either to present a component of the agenda or share meeting leadership roles. Care should be given to this practice, as there is an impact on the normal day-to-day responsibilities of "guest" attendees. 

While site or location decisions are normally straight-forward, there are times when running an off-site meeting might have advantages. Also, an increasing number of sales or team meetings are not held in any one place, but instead are conducted via conference call. This will be the subject of an upcoming post...

Finally comes scheduling, which is also more important than many people realize. Team or sales meetings are most effective if they are scheduled at the same time each week (i.e., every Monday at 8am). This makes it easier for all involved, as participants are aware of the standard meeting time and can more easily keep their schedules open, and sales managers or leaders are keenly aware of the deadline associated with preparation, which is the topic of our next post.  

Sales managers and executives often ask about the value of running sales or team meetings, and we've found quite a bit of variation with respect to frequency, structure and effectiveness. Thus a short series on the value and best practices associated with sales team meetings.

From a ROI perspective, it only stands to reason that an organization must run effective team or sales meetings in order to experience gains. If these meetings are poorly executed, it's only a matter of time before they are pronounced non-productive and unnecessary; in which case, many opportunities are forever lost!

So, the first step is to assess the quality of your organization's sales meetings... here are five key areas to consider:

1. Preparation - do you have a strategic plan, identified purpose, goals and objectives for your organization's meetings? Does someone (Sales Manager, VP of Sales, etc.) take the responsibility seriously and allocate the necessary time for planning each meeting? Is an agenda created? If so, is it shared?
2. Scheduling - are meetings held on a regular basis... either weekly or bi-weekly? Are meetings held on the same day and at the same time each week or every two weeks? Are meetings conducted at least twice per month?  Are meetings run out of "habit" versus value-added need?
3. Value - the best meetings must be value-added for both management and the team, so protocols for exchanging relevant information must be incorporated in each agenda; each meeting should include an educational component that is based on the organization's current situation, and that educates both management and the sales team on issues that are pertinent to each (more on this in future posts)
4. Measurement - do you measure the effectiveness of each meeting? Are action items a component of each agenda and, if so, is there consistent follow-through? Are sales people held accountable? Does management hold themselves accountable? 
5. Continuous Improvement - how can you make your organization's meetings better? How can you leverage the time spent in preparation and execution to enhance your competitive edge?

Next post: the value proposition; or, WIIFY?

As each new year arrives, people in all walks of life will make New Year’s resolutions.

In the business world, many of us will resolve to pursue revenue growth in one way or another, and our hearts will tell us that this year we’ll succeed; our intentions will be good!

However, it is commonly said that the road to “you know where” is paved with these good intentions!

While we recognize the long-term importance of developing new business, it is very easy to spend our time responding to urgent demands and fire-fighting, often at the expense of allocating time to the oh-so-important process of developing new business...

If you’d like to take measures to avoid this oh-so-typical situation  that is, to avoid sacrificing the important in favor of the urgent, here are five ideas for keeping this year’s new business development resolutions alive and well:

1. Set both “result” and “activity” goals. Many of us will plan on increasing sales by X%, but fail to also set the activity goals that will generate the desired result. These may include making an extra number of sales contacts each day, attending a certain number of networking events each week or planning more customer retention meetings each month.
2. Schedule the activities identified in step #1. Research indicates that things entered into calendars are less likely to be “postponed” or procrastinated due to other demands on our time.
3. Keep score. Goal achievement will require documentation and consistent implementation.
4. Measure both progress and results; hold yourself and the team accountable for not only completing action steps, but also for assessing the effectiveness of each step. Make improvements or refine the approach as necessary; and be careful to avoid the usually-inaccurate conclusion that, “if the activities don’t produce the desired gains, then these activities are a waste of time!” Instead, if outcomes fall short, it’s better to reexamine execution.
5. Hold yourself personally accountable for steps 1 through 4; lead the way!