sales meetingEvery business day, thousands of U.S. companies gather their sales team together for a meeting. The purpose might be the rollout of a product launching event, to share confidential company information, or to provide quota challenges or accolades to members of the team. 

If you are responsible for gathering the sales professionals together — whether it be monthly, quarterly, or yearly — you may be wondering:

"What are the essential elements of a successful sales meeting?"

Here are 6 tips to keep your team energized, motivated and on track:  

Tip #1: Define the Purpose of the Meeting.

What exactly are you going to be talking about and how long will it take? Having a well-thought out agenda, with defined outcomes, will help employees stay focused. 

In addition, make certain you actually need to have this meeting. Is interactivity, brainstorming, and/or confidentiality the reason for the meeting? If the answer is yes, forge on. If it is no, you may want to deliver the message through a different forum. 

Tip #2: Have Your Timing Worked Out. 

Start and end your meeting on time. If people arrive late, have some sort of "fun" penalty for them (such as bringing in the bagels at next month's meeting). Once employees come to 1 or 2 of these meetings late, they will get the picture and arrive on time. 

Tip #3: If presentations are planned, consider Pecha Kucha or TED style talks. 

Limiting the presentation to minutes instead of hours, sets the tone for the presenters that they need to "cut to the chase." In the case of multiple presentations, you can pre-load them on the Powerpoint presentation equipment well in advance. This will give employees more time to discuss the material presented.  

Tip #4: Consider Holding a Stand-Up Meeting. 

Have a meeting with no chairs, requires employees to stand the entire time. According to one research study, this method cut the meeting time by 40 percent. If time is of the essence or you have meetings on a frequent basis, try this method and determine if it works for you. 

Tip #5: Have One Person Designated as a Scribe.

Creating a list of action items, including who is responsible for what by a defined time-line, sets in motion the feeling that employees are being heard and their questions, issues, or concerns are being followed up on. 

Tip #6: Summarize the Next Steps. 

Taking the last 5 minutes and summarizing the action plan, shows the sales team there was a legitimate reason to get together. It brings clarity to the group as to why they took this time to meet in the first place. 

AV Event Solutions can provide corporate audio visual equipment across the entire State of California! Check out their express quote form to determine how they can help bring your next sales meeting to life!