Whether your organization has one large national convention per year or several smaller meetings throughout the year, the purpose of bringing sales professionals together is to train, motivate and reward them for their hard work. However, due to the nature of sales theses days (larger territories, quotas and remote support staff), many sales meetings are suffering from dwindling attendance.
The key to a successful sales meeting is to create an agenda and environment where reps WANT to attend it. Here are 6 tips to help you create a buzz worthy environment for your staff:
Technique #1: Get the stakeholders involved.
By asking the sales personnel, managers and C-Suite what they desire out of the meeting and the good, bad and ugly of your previous meeting, you will create an environment where they know you care about their input. Using wireless Audience Response Systems (ARS) is one way you can easily poll attendees about the meeting content, speakers and test their knowledge about the subject matter.
Technique #2: Create compelling content.
Salespeople are all about learning from the “best of the best” in the company, the industry and the world. Providing them with access to motivating presenters and creating an interactive process, is the best way to drive attendance at your event. All sales reps are hungry for knowledge and if you give them the right topics, speakers and interactive technology tool rentals to make the meeting interesting, they will show up.
Technique #3: Keep focused on your messaging.
What is the purpose of your meeting? Is it to train your reps on a new product prior to the product launching event? Is it all about motivating the troops? Whatever the goal, keep focused on creative and compelling ways to deliver the message. Provide the theme on both printed and digital materials as they will help visually reinforce the message.
Technique #4: Consider whether or not a hybrid event makes sense.
If your sales team is global and your live meeting is large enough, it may make sense to offer a virtual component of your meeting. Remote attendees will be able to communicate with you, your staff and the presenters via social channels or texting, making them feel part of the action. Hybrid meetings take planning and will have an impact on your budget, so take enough time to plan accordingly. A Wi-Fi network array rental system may be needed if bandwidth will be taxed due to local and remote usage.
Technique #5: If you are doing a recognition event, figure out a way to involve everyone.
The last thing sales people want, is to sit in the audience and watch 5-10% of attendees get recognized for their achievements. While it is great for those in the spotlight, it is deflating for the rest of the sales force as a line of individuals stream up front to get their award. The bottom line: figure out a way to make everyone feel like a winner while recognizing the achievements of those at the top.
Technique #6: Use technology to garner a “wow” effect.
Especially for an awards event, using Plasma displays instead of screen rentals, installing digital signage instead of posters and providing videos, photos and gamification on mobile devices are ways to create a HD environment for your attendees.
