Aiming to increase revenue and boost productivity in sales processes, sales managers and company CEOs are constantly searching for effective strategies to streamline their operations and ensure optimal results. One such strategy involves conducting sales meetings for educational purposes. These meetings focus on enhancing knowledge and skills, and this is where the real game begins.
Imagine a sales meeting where, instead of a mundane round-up of weekly activities, there’s an engaging discussion about a new book that can potentially revolutionize the sales process. Picture a team of four or five salespeople, including you, each reading two chapters of a book overnight. The next day, everyone shares the high-level takeaways from their assigned chapters. This practice allows the team to consume an entire book’s content in a day and empowers each member to become an authority on the subject matter because they’re teaching others. The exercise is educational, promotes team collaboration, and enhances communication skills.
This approach can be extended beyond books to other areas, such as market research. For instance, if a company is looking to enter a new vertical, different aspects of the industry, like market influencers, challenges, and political, economic, and legal factors, can be assigned to team members for research. Each member returns their findings to the team, comprehensively understanding the new market. This practice is not merely busy work; it’s sales-driving work that benefits the entire team and accelerates learning about the new market.
However, it’s not enough to impart knowledge in these meetings. It’s crucial to ensure that the knowledge is assimilated and applied effectively. This can be achieved through a strategy of repetition and reinforcement. For example, team members can be asked to explain how they would apply the new knowledge to their accounts after a discussion about a new feature or technique. Additionally, they can be encouraged to list the accounts where they plan to use the new knowledge. This list can be reviewed in subsequent meetings to assess the new knowledge’s application and provide constructive feedback.
Another effective way to reinforce learning is to conduct role plays. These provide a practical demonstration of how the new knowledge can be applied and help identify gaps in understanding.
Furthermore, the learning process should not be limited to imparting and receiving knowledge. It should also involve questioning. The quality of questions asked can significantly enhance the learning process. Salespeople can extract more useful answers and insights by asking the right questions.
Lastly, it’s essential to consider your sales team as your customers. As a sales leader, your role is to tell your team what to do and to sell them how to succeed. This approach fosters a culture of learning and growth, ultimately driving sales and business success.
Educational sales meetings can be a powerful tool for increasing revenue and productivity. By incorporating strategies such as collaborative learning, reinforcement, role-playing, and questioning, these meetings can become a platform for continuous learning and improvement. Remember, the goal is not just to meet but to educate, innovate, and excel.
Here are a few immediate steps a sales leader can implement today to revolutionize their sales strategy:
- Kickstart Collaborative Learning: Choose a topic relevant to your sales process. Assign each team member different portions of the topic or a related book for study. Set a meeting where everyone shares their takeaways, thus empowering each member to become an authority on their assigned subject matter.
- Initiate a Research Project: If your company plans to enter a new market, assign each team member different aspects of the market research. This could include studying market influencers, understanding challenges, or investigating the industry’s political, economic, and legal factors. This approach will ensure a comprehensive understanding of the new market.
- Repetition and Reinforcement: After each educational meeting, ask team members to explain how they would apply the new knowledge to their accounts. Encourage them to list the accounts where they plan to use the new knowledge. Review this list in subsequent meetings to assess the proper application of the knowledge.
- Conduct Role Plays: This practical demonstration of the newly acquired knowledge can help identify gaps in understanding. By acting out scenarios, team members can refine their sales techniques and increase their confidence in handling real-life sales situations.
Remember, the goal is to impart knowledge and ensure it is assimilated and applied effectively. By taking these immediate steps, you can turn your sales meetings into a continuous learning and improvement platform.
