Jul '19 Selling.2.YES

July 2019

The Meeting from Hell (aka, why does my mgr waste my time?)

Eons ago, when current Googler-AllStar and best bud Frank Thom and I shared a manager, we laughed about how good our golf game developed because of that manager’s group meetings. The meetings were so lame we had no choice but to check-out and day-dream. So, we did. A lot.

During those horrible experiences with a manager who didn’t know how to run a meeting, we perfected our putting, back-swing, chipping and just about every other part of our golf games. There’s nothing like boredom to encourage visualization techniques! (At best, four of my limbs and a few organs were physically in those meeting.)

I was reminded of the need to teach meeting management recently during an IAB workshop I ran for sales managers. I was incredibly proud of my robust two-day curriculum that included everything from how to successfully recruit and ramp a new seller (complete with goal creation and milestone measurement) to learning how to be a skill developer and effective teacher. We also hit business intelligence (CRM mining and other data-driven management methods), successful and efficient account management protocol, and how to create a motivating sales culture.

But there was one basic need those managers had: they wanted to know how to run a meeting, and what kinds of meetings to run.

“Simple,” I replied, “for the most part there are four meeting types…team meetings, sales calls you go on with your sellers, skill development sessions, and 1:1s.” I continued, “it’s not just the types of meetings you’ll be running, but the key is learning that meeting management is about how to maximize accountability during your time together”.

...there was one basic need those managers had: they wanted to know how to run a meeting, and what kinds of meetings to run.

Since the sales managers in my workshop were requesting insight to meeting management, odds are that you too could use some tips. OR, you can slip this post in front of your manager and seek guidance on your golf swing another way.

Tip 1: you don’t have to go on every sales call with every one of your sellers. (WHAT?) Team selling is definitely a common practice in the B2B arena – for a good reason - but managers need to prioritize time and that means deciding which meetings they attend with their front-liners. Managing and coaching is one thing, enabling and doing the work for your sellers is quite another. Your seller has a comp plan with incentives to produce, right? Then let them earn it while you elevate and work on strategic issues.

Tip 2: not all of your 1:1s should be the same – senior sellers may only need a 1:1 with their manager every other week, while junior (or struggling) sellers may need intimate attention once a week or more. Time is the most important element needing consideration by the manager: you can get a lot accomplished in 15 minutes if your agenda is tight…each 1:1 with a seller should follow a clock dictated by agenda and need. Fifteen minutes feels good to start, thirty is probably too much. Decide with your seller on how much time makes sense, and stick to your agenda.

Tip 3: use your skill dev sessions for dedicated teaching time. It’s natural to embrace an opportunity to coach skills when you’re in team meetings and/or 1:1s – and that’s fine because often times skill issues come up. As long as you assure me you’ll be running weekly skill dev meetings with your entire team, do your teaching in your skill dev meetings, and keep your agendas for the other types of meetings tight and clean. Running skill dev meetings is an art unto itself (CALL ME), but one of the keys of meeting management is sticking to a single purpose and focusing your time.

Tip 4: team meetings need to be democratic and short. Sure, you’re the one hosting the team meetings, but that doesn’t mean the burden is on you entirely to make them productive. Team meetings are about the socialization and learning of company, product, and industry news and developments…so assign segments and tasks to others for maximum engagement and benefit. It’s better when others get to contribute and present! (And by all means, keep your individual pipeline dialogues with individual sellers OUT of your team meetings…nobody but you two care. Pipeline reviews should be handled in your 1:1s!)

There are many nuances to this meeting management subject requiring much more dialogue than what’s covered here (…so call me…er better yet, HIRE ME). Following some of the above suggestions will help make your meetings more accountable, but each meeting type has its own set of parameters that yield effectiveness. A simple rule of thumb is to establish goals and an agenda before every meeting, and check on progress throughout and at the end.

Again, tons here to talk about and tons more for you to learn…so either drop by one of the IAB leadership courses I teach, or call me and get me on board with your team! Tune in next month as we talk about techniques to make ALL types of your meetings motivating and inspiring!

best,
Michael
917 207 5183

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Selling.2.YES

July 2019

The Meeting from Hell (aka, why does my mgr waste my time?)

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