The Representor - Fall 2007

Sa1eswise
Put an end to boring rep firm sales meetings
by Nicki Weiss
Recognized internationally as a Certified Professional Sales Management Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader, since 1992 Nicki has trained, certified, and/or coached more than 6,000 business executives, manufacturers’ reps, corporate sales executives, small- to medium-size entrepreneurial business leaders, and sales teams of all shapes and sizes. Nicki guarantees increased sales performance when rep firm sales managers become better sales coaches and manufacturers’ reps become more customer focused. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, Sa1esWiseTM, at www.saleswise.ca for powerful tips and techniques. You can call Nicki at 416-778-4145 or send e-mail to nicki@saleswise.ca.

In the past few months, I have sat through a series of unbelievably boring sales meetings at a number of rep firms. Even though they were held in different organizations, they all followed a similar pattern:

• The owner/sales manager stood in front of the room and yakked about numbers, internal policies, his/her latest ideas to improve sales, and ended with an exhortation to “go get ’em.”
  
  
• The attendees were either mute or asked some type of administrative question, such as, “How can we get quicker responses to our orders?”
  
  
• After the ordeal was over, the attendees muttered to each other about “useless meetings,” and management complained about the lack of enthusiasm among the troops.

No wonder everyone was dissatisfied! Nobody had interacted during the meeting, and more to the point, no meaningful conversation had taken place.

Excuse me, was I snoring too loudly? Whatever happened to engaging everyone in a little reflection about what we do and how we do it? In our hurry to produce, produce, produce, we seldom stop to reflect on what’s worked, what hasn’t and what we’ve learned.

How can we get smarter if we don’t build on our past experience? I suggest incorporating time into each of your sales meeting for some serious reflection and dialogue. You just might stifle the yawns, engage your team in some worthwhile discussion, and find ways to work smarter and faster. Here are some hints on how to inject reflection.

Shake up the brain links
Pose a typical sales question to the team, e.g., how can we grow by 20 percent every year? How can we uncover new opportunities within our current account base?

Then, open up the discussion with a “whack on the side of the head” follow-up question. That’s the kind that shakes them out of their assumptions and clears the brain for new answers. I use two resources for “whack” questions: The Creative Whack Pack by Roger von Oech, (available in bookstores), and Michael Bungay Stanier’s Get Unstuck and Get Going (available at www.boxofcrayons.biz/cmd.php?af=305915).

Here’s an example from Get Unstuck and Get Going. Read this short poem: “Barn’s burnt down. Now I can see the moon.” Then ask the group: “What’s the ‘barn’ or ‘big obstacle’ that’s in your way? What can you see behind it?”

Talk about the team’s hopes and nightmares
Alternatively, you could lead the team through a reflective thinking exercise. Ask about each individual’s best hope for solving a work situation and what factors support this optimistic outcome. Then ask about their worst nightmare scenario around the situation and the factors that support pessimism. You’ll find that people’s insights are quite profound.

Start the meeting with silence
I’ve attended meetings that started with two minutes of silent contemplation and observed how powerful silence can be. I’ve also seen facilitators ask people to stop talking and just be silent for a minute when a meeting gets heated. It’s amazing how a few moments for pause and reflection can set a thoughtful tone.

Pose a “take-away” reflection
At the end of the meeting, ask the participants to ponder a question, and report their thoughts at the next meeting. Here are a few of my favorites:

• What does the concept of “being powerful” mean to you?
• How do you give away your power? To whom? When?
• Where do we “take our feet off the gas?”
• Why would you do that?
• What is present when we are great?

When we add reflection into our daily work, we become more resilient, flexible and creative. Please stop hosting boring meetings. Or, if you are a captive in such a meeting, politely pose a reflective question and see what happens.

Talk back: I’d love to hear how you prevent boredom in your meetings, and how you think reflection could be incorporated into your team practices. Please write me at nicki@saleswise.ca

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2007 Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), Chicago, IL 60611
Originally printed in the Fall 2007 issue of The Representor
Cannot be reprinted without the permission of the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA)