Sales Team Meeting Troubleshooter – Problem: Non-Existent

Updated: October 24, 2010

• Use the technology available to you to proactively schedule your sales team meetings. Most find it's best to have the meeting at the same time each week and simply put a recurring appointment on the calendars of the sales team. (You may want to change quarterly just to keep things fresh.) That way, you can include an agenda, call-in information, etc right in the meeting notice. The sales team will plan around this meeting since it is part of their schedule already.
• This next one is the most frustrating thing for a salesperson. DON'T CANCEL THE MEETING! Too often, this cancellation goes out at the last minute or every week. The sales team begins to not believe you when you schedule this meeting. It is disrespectful to ask salespeople to plan around a meeting that you end up cancelling regularly. Don't treat their schedule any different than you want your schedule treated. It is better to just not schedule the meeting in the first place.
• Salespeople in particular can get very disconnected. Often they are out in the field by themselves all week taking care of customers. Give them an hour a week to stay connected with their teammates. This gives them a chance to feed off of the team's energy, share frustrations, brainstorm solutions and simply connect with those in their shoes. Don't deprive them of this motivational hour.