Most internal sales meetings suck. I’ve observed them, participated in them, and even led them. Multi-tasking, day-dreaming, and intentionally scheduling other meetings over the top of them are common occurrences.
Some meetings are so bad that organizations stop holding them altogether. How has such a key and critical meeting become so ineffective?
In this blog post, I’m going to share a framework to help turn one of your most dreaded meetings into one of your most valuable.
A well-structured meeting is the cornerstone of effective sales leadership, providing a clear roadmap for success. The best framework I’ve found comes from Traction (Level 10 Weekly Meeting). Since discovering Traction/EOS in 2014, I’ve seen sales meetings significantly improve across various industries by adopting this (slightly modified) approach:
By adhering to this agenda, you can ensure that every meeting is focused, purposeful, and results-driven.
It's essential to keep the main thing the main thing.
The best scorecard framework I’ve found comes from The 4 Disciplines of Execution. The key is selecting one Wildly Important Goal (WIG) to narrow your focus amidst competing priorities. Identify and zero in on the lead measures—high-leverage sales activities driving the right behaviors toward your WIG.
Too often, organizations realize they are off-track to achieve their Wildly Important Goal too late. By measuring and monitoring your performance weekly, you have the visibility to identify and act on your lead measures that have fallen off-track.
Often, these off-track lead measure become the focus of your team and individual training & development.
Similarly, it’s critical to identify your most important quarterly objective(s) and break it down into smaller, incremental, specific actions and work through them week-over-week.
Again, you have the visibility to act on off-track goals and course correct before it’s too late.
At the heart of our business development strategy is retaining and growing our “Blue Chip” clients.
In this portion of the sales meeting, the goal is to identify the trigger events within our Blue Chip clients. Trigger events are the significant changes in the business that create new opportunities or threats. For example, a key stakeholder leaving the company and being replaced by someone who has an established relationship with your competitor. Or your client winning (or losing) a key piece of business that could significantly impact your scope of work.
In any scenario, it’s so important to be early, rather than late, to this conversation.
Just makes sure you don’t waste your valuable time talking about insignificant events and/or misaligned clients.
Effective pipeline management is crucial for guiding salespeople towards meaningful actions that drive results.
Too many CRM deal pipelines are crowded with outdated prospects that will never close. Making matters worse, executive leaders often make strategic decisions based on these inflated and inaccurate forecasts.
This section is about focusing your time and energy to advance and close deals. It’s where you maintain rigor and discipline in your “Blue Chip” strategy and process — not just projecting close dates that often get pushed & pushed.
Clean up your funnel by kicking out stalled deals. Start with opportunities closest to closing instead of talking about the shiny new prospect that has all the potential in the world but hasn’t even confirmed a discovery meeting.
We create a culture of performance and accountability by doing what we say we are going to do. We write them down and follow up on them. That’s it.
This approach is brilliant. Instead of diving into every issue big or small, we gather all the issues, power rank/prioritize them, and focus on our biggest and most important issues.
Additionally, this is a wonderful place for training and development. It could be role-playing a key moment in your sales process, breaking down a recorded meeting for feedback, or sharing insights from a quarterly book club.
Too often, I see looming issues and obstacles standing in the way of overall team performance. They are grumbled about among the team, draining morale. Maybe they are worked on individually or in silos, but not in a uniform fashion.
By aligning your weekly sales meetings with your Blue Chip strategy and process, you can drive sustainable growth, foster a culture of success, and cultivate a team of top performers.
So, as you prepare for your next sales meeting, remember to keep the main thing the main thing, invest time discussing your Blue Chip clients and strategies to advance & close your Blue Chip prospects, identify and address your most important challenges, and above all, do what you say you are going to do.
Too often I hear leaders complaining about accountability, or lack thereof. This is how you build a performance-based culture. So get your weekly sales meeting back on your recurring schedule.
Carver Peterson helps growth-minded leaders and organizations achieve predictable and sustainable revenue growth through a refined strategy, defined process and aligned structure.
We are systematic and process-driven.
We value unique strengths.
We communicate openly and directly.
