What kind of sales meetings are you having?

There is an old business proverb that says; “Nothing happens in a business until a sale is made.”   This is particular true in the home performance business.  To successfully help homeowners buy home energy retrofits, sales people must be able to communicate complex information about why a home is losing and wasting energy, and what needs to be done to fix it in a compelling way.  A sales person has to learn building science, know how to run a blower door and use an infrared camera, use sales scripts and closing techniques – and do all of this while building value for the homeowners.  Clearly, the knowledge, skill set and performance of your sales team is critical to the overall success of your home performance operations.

In addition to having a repeatable, predictable sales process that a sales person can follow, we’ve found it vital to hold regular (weekly) sales meetings with our team to instill a “continuous improvement” mentality with our sales people.  Every week (more often if you’re new to home performance) you should be gathering your sales team for regular meetings. 

Here are four examples of types of sales meetings as they would compare to a type of boat.  Take a look at these and ask yourself if your meetings are helping or hurting your efforts to improve overall sales results

Are your meetings like spending a day on luxury yacht?  If everyone comes in to relax, laugh and tell jokes while enjoying great food and beverages then your meetings are probably very well attended.  But are they actually accomplishing anything?

Are your meetings like taking a long trip on a submarine?   If your team comes in and tries to remain silent to avoid detection, and they move slowly so they don’t create any waves, holding their breath till the meeting is over, you have to wonder who your meetings are really for, your managers, or your sales people?

Are your sales meetings like being on a life boat?  Are your sales people just holding on trying to survive day to day and waiting for some other boat (job) to come along and rescue them?  Are you rationing supplies and limiting activity so you don’t ‘rock the boat’ and end up with your best sales people falling overboard?   If you are on the boat with them, will they even listen to your rescue plans and advice?

We believe you will get the best results if you make your sales meeting more like an aircraft carrier.  Your sales team should land just long enough to get fuel, update them on their mission, provide critical weapons and skills needed to accomplish their mission, and encouragement to go back out there and help your team win. 

What is your agenda? Here’s one to use for an hour long meeting:

5 minutes – announcements and news

15 minutes – positive sales experiences from the previous week shared

35 minutes – role playing parts of the sales process

5 – minutes – wrap up and assignments for next week.

For your next meeting, take a look at your plan.  Is there fuel?  Is there a clear mission?  Will your flyers be motivated or discouraged?  Are they taking off with the will to win and the conviction to fight for what is right?   How you plan and execute your sales meetings will have dramatic impact on the overall success of your home performance business.