The only three sales meetings you need

Every sales organization has meetings. But are most of them worth the time? Too many sales meetings happen on a regular rhythm but without a purpose, without an objective, without an explicit need or outcome in mind.

Regular sales meetings are fine, but they should follow a strategy. Here’s a three-meeting rhythm that works for many sales organizations.

Daily huddles
Typically 10 minutes long, 15 at the most. First-thing in the morning so it sets the tone for the day. Everybody stands up. Rapid-fire updates from the previous day – highlights from the floor, quick sales promotion updates, sharing of any industry news or competitive moves. Review your key metrics, the previous day’s performance, month (or quarter) to date, and today’s goal. High energy, in and out.

Bi-weekly trainings
Every other week, take an hour (90 minutes at the most) to train the team. Have a calendar prepared in advance of topics for future meetings, so the team knows what to expect and so that presenters have plenty of time to make the training worth everyone’s while. Training will focus on product updates, competitive reviews, consultative selling best practices, role-playing, the occasional book review, etc.

Monthly huddles
Once a month (towards the beginning of the month), do an hour-long huddle. Detail the month (or quarter) just past – what was good, not good, needs improvement. Celebrate the wins, as a group and individually. Launch the new sales promotion and explain how it’ll work. Get a business update from the CEO.

You can use a sales meeting system like this with two per-requisites.

One, you have an effective, non-email communication tool to disseminate information more regularly without interrupting everyone’s time, at the same time, with meetings. This can mean Yammer, Salesforce.com’s Chatter or similar internal collaboration tools.

Two, if you’re a larger sales team, you need an effective system of front-line sales managers to help distribute information and answer questions on a daily basis.