Sales Meeting

Introduce speakers properly. Few emcees take the trouble to do this. Invariably a good introduction answers three questions – “What’s it about? Why should I listen? Who says so?”

Write the introduction in advance. Put down every word of it. Then practice giving it until you’ve virtually memorized it. You weaken the introduction if you are obviously reading it.
 
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION

“What’s it about?”

The next talk is on objections. There’ll be demonstrations on how to overcome all the common objections: price, not interested, all of them.

“Why should I listen?”

This information will help you with every prospect. You can use it to close more sales and make more money.

“Who says so?”    

One of the best salespersons on the staff will handle this subject. She won last year’s Distinguished Sales Award – a real go-getter – Julie McBride!

For formal occasions, an introduction can be more lengthy. But 30 seconds should be a maximum. Let the speaker do the speech making.

“We present Julie McBride!” sounds better than “I give you Julie McBride!”

Another tip: Save the speaker’s name until last. Then when stating his or her name, really bear down! Example: “Hailing from Fresno, California, here’s JOHN KENWORTH!”

It’s usually a good idea to check with the speaker beforehand to get his approval of the introduction. A misstatement in the introduction may upset the speaker, get him off to a bad start.

Sales Meeting Ideas

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It may seem silly to consider a timing device, but for any meeting longer than an hour you should use one.  Too many participants get carried away with themselves. Sometimes it’s a member of the audience who seems determined to bog things down with unscheduled discussion. A timer takes care of these situations in an impersonal inoffensive way.

Use any system you like, as long as you use one. There are several methods of “blowing the whistle” on participants.  An electric device can be obtained from companies that rent public address systems. It consists of three small lights: white for all clear, orange for a two minute warning, and red for over-time. This gadget is attached to the rostrum, where it can be seen only by the speaker. It’s a most effective tool for upholding your schedule.

Some have a buzzer on them. When the red light comes on it starts buzzing. Thereafter, the speaker finds it almost impossible to continue because of the buzzing noise.

When booking a meeting room at a hotel you often find such a gadget available. Hotels tired of overtime meetings long ago. Thus, many hotels provide a timer as part of the p.a. system.  A less ingenious method involves a simple noisemaker, operated by someone seated in the first row. A cricket chirper is often used, although any squeaky toy will do. While amateurish, a noisemaker is none the less effective.

In the absence of a better system, the person responsible for timing stands in the rear of the room. When overtime, he waves his arms like a mad man or holds up a sign. It usually works, too. Before long he’s bound to be noticed! “I’ve done this a couple of times,” said a hardware executive. “You feel like a fool when you do it, but you certainly keep the meeting on schedule.” The smaller the meeting, the more effective you’ll find this to be. The greatest objection to it, however, is that most of us get “cold feet” at the last minute.

It is somewhat extreme! So the timekeeper is reluctant to go through with it and waits until the proceedings are several minutes behind schedule. Then it’s too late, and his wildest arm-waving cannot turn back the clock. The point is this: hand signals will work if they are used with the same precision as other timing devices.  Using signs showing “10 minutes” and “5 minutes” and “Time” can work also.

You can interrupt by stating something like: “So that we won’t get behind schedule, Mary, will you try to finish in the next couple of minutes?” This is distracting to the audience, but it’s better than letting Mary throw you twenty minutes late.

Use judgment, however. If Mary appears to be in the final steps, wait a minute or two. She should close on a high note – not on an interruption by the timekeeper. Risk a minute or so if she seems about to conclude. Then if she doesn’t stop you can stop her.

Sales Meeting

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Here is a summary of the things you need to do to make good physical arrangements for your sales meeting.

- Look for the Best Meeting Room

- Arrange Conventional Meals

- Inspect the Room Yourself

- Decide on the Best Seating Arrangement

- Guard Against Alien Noises

- Anticipate All Physical Needs

- Request the Mic That Fits Your Needs

- Check Last Minute Details

Sales Meeting

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Before booking a room for your sales meeting, be sure to check the acoustics. If voices of your participants bounce around, you’re in for trouble. A speaker can’t be understood when acoustics are bad. He or she can be heard, but not clearly heard. It’s exasperating!

Sound engineering has made rapid strides in the last few years. But in the past there have been many instances when new ceilings had to be installed in new buildings. Why? The acoustics were poor.

Acoustics cannot be checked in the absence of an audience. The bodies of the people attending will alter the travel and effect of sound. To do this you will need to Visit the room while a meeting is in progress. If this isn’t practical, contact someone who booked a recent meeting there. If acoustics were bad, he will still be complaining about it!

You will also need to protect yourself from outside noise.  Few rooms are soundproof. Inquire about activities to take place nearby. Will barbershop quartets or rock bands turn up in the next room? Will an orchestra rehearse across the hall? Is noisy remodeling scheduled?

How about noises from the outside? Is the street only a few stories below? Is it heavily traveled? Will there be open windows on warm days, or air conditioning?

Meeting Sample

Sales Meeting

The best room is one in which you can arrange the best seating. Therefore, your selection of a room should be based, in part, on seating arrangements.

There are four basic types of seating:

1.    Auditorium style. This arrangement is most widely used. It consists simply of one row of chairs behind another, as in a movie theater. “We’ve always favored the auditorium style,” said a Denver retailer. “It enables us to get the greatest number of people in the room. You see, tables take up space – more space than people.”

Auditorium style is okay for meetings lasting a couple of hours or less. For longer meetings, however, this arrangement is tiring.  People want tables on which to lean and to take notes. Be
sure to stagger the chairs. The guy in front may not be thick¬headed, but . . .

2.    Conference style. Each person is seated at a table. The table is shaped like an I, a T, or a U. This is ideal for note taking, water pouring, elbow resting, and the like. It’s comfortable. “Conference style is best for creating informality,” said a building supply executive. “To get group discussion, you can’t beat it.”

Tables consume so much space that conference style is used only for smaller meetings. However, it’s the smaller meeting that’s best for group discussion.

3.    Spotted Tables. Small tables are spotted at certain places in the room. From two to eight people are seated at each table. This requires extra floor space. In fact, it’s a good means of trimming a large room to the size needed. It’s also practical when the audience is to be divided into small groups, as in buzz sessions.

An educational leader said, “In some of our meetings we assign different projects to different groups of people. Each group works on its project then and there – right in the meeting room. Spotted tables are ideal for this. A different project can be assigned to the people at each table. A natural division of the audience is provided.”

4.    Theater in the round. You’ve seen this seating arrangement at boxing and wrestling matches. The stage is surrounded by seats. The average spectator is closer to the action. Some seats are a third nearer the stage. There’s more realism, too – a better 3-D effect. But it’s a poor arrangement for the average sales meeting.

A speaker’s stand cannot be used since it would face only a small part of the audience. Participants feel naked. Speakers must turn constantly to make eye contact with all the audience. If the crowd is so large that a p.a. system is used, a portable mike is necessary.

It’s difficult to use visuals. Videos are out of the question. Generated charts and boards, too. A visual must be used in such a way that everyone can see it. Either it has four faces, or it’s turned completely around by the speaker. Both are clumsy.

“I’ll never forget the first time I spoke at a meeting arranged like a theater in the round. It was very confusing. I couldn’t decide on which part of the audience to concentrate. I was never so uncomfortable before people. I felt that I was on public display.” Who told this sad story? A talented public speaker. So beware of theater in the round.

Be sure to select a room that permits the seating arrangement you consider best.

Meeting Sample

Sales Meeting

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Physical arrangements are a “snap” for those who can use the same room all the time. But when a different room will be used, you must be sure to inspect it. Even if it’s in the next county, inspect it.

See it before publicizing the meeting because after inspecting the room you may want to change rooms.

Perhaps you’ve used the room before. If you haven’t seen it in the past year, inspect it anyway.

This especially applies to hotel rooms, which are remodeled continually. The Sierra Room may be half the size this year, or it may be three times as large.

Names are changed, too. This year’s Sierra Room may be what you remember as the Keystone Room.

“I learned my lesson the hard way,” said a Las Vegas business man. “They had remodeled an adjacent room for a dance studio. Had I inspected the facilities, I would have known that their music would interfere with our sales meeting.”

The moral here is don’t take anything for granted.

meeting sample

Sales Meeting Information

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If you need a large room for your sales meeting you will want to check out the possible venues carefully.  The best room is a little longer than wide and has no columns to block vision and segregate the audience. The architects who design columns in meeting rooms should have to sit behind them.

The ceiling should be high enough that visuals can be seen by all in attendance. If a chandelier is in the way, perhaps it can be removed. Simply ask and see.

Low ceilings are also to be avoided since they tend to depress an audience. “I feel boxed in,” is the way one person expressed it. “It’s not so bad at first, but it gets ‘old’ real quick! As the day progresses you get a worried feeling. There’s no relief until you leave the room. It’s as bad as being on a crowded elevator.”

Use a room that has entrances and exits in the rear so that late arrivals and early departures will be less distracting.

Naturally, the room should be large enough. But it should also be small enough—small enough that it’s comfortably filled. Vacant space and empty chairs are deadly.

Screens can be used to reduce the meeting area. It’s better, though, to select a room of the right size in the first place. “I’d rather have a few people standing than a lot of empty chairs’ said an advertising account executive. “It leaves the impression the meeting is so important that everyone wants to get in on it.”

Meeting Sample

Sale Meeting

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It is usually best to Plan conventional meals and avoid exotic dishes for a sales meeting. This way you’ll please nearly everybody. Never cater to the gourmets. Strive to satisfy Mr. Average Salesperson. “The last time we had a ‘blow¬out’ we arranged for Cornish game-hens,” said a Newark man. “We later learned that most wanted steaks even though the steaks were less expensive. And even though they’d been eating steaks at nearly every meal.” So give them what they want, not what they should want.
 
Is your meeting on Friday? If so, some will want fish. How about ham—anyone object?
You must pay for the number of plates guaranteed or the number of plates served—whichever is greater. This is standard procedure. Experience has shown that a few people miss organized meals. There’s always someone who can’t kick himself out of bed in time for breakfast. Another can’t tear himself loose from the bar at noon.

Two more excuse themselves before dinner so they can “do the town.” One gets sick. Still another is called home by an emergency. Why guarantee that everyone will show for every meal? Reduce the guarantee figure by 8 or 10 percent. You’ll save money. You won’t have to pay for food that “goes begging.”  If everyone does happen to show, there’s no harm done. The hotel will be prepared to serve 10 percent more than the number guaranteed. This also is standard procedure.

Meeting sample

Sale Meeting

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The best public meeting rooms are booked a year or more in advance, especially in the case of large auditoriums and ballrooms. So you will need to do some long range planning.

“I represent a group of fashion exhibitors” said a New York man. “We do shows all over the country. The competition for the best ballrooms is so great that I’ve booked five years ahead in several cities. It’s the only way I can be sure of getting the hotel I want.”

You may need help in finding a desirable downtown meeting place. Contact the Chamber of Commerce, their staff will know of many suitable rooms.

A United States Chamber of Commerce official reports, “Most Chambers keep a roster of available meeting rooms. In addition to the location of each room, the local Chamber can tell you the capacity, the cost and the name of the person to contact. You can obtain this information whether your company belongs to the local Chamber or not.”
Gratis rooms can be booked in some cities.

In addition to the Chamber, check the public library, Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., public utility auditoriums, and public school facilities, where a clean-up fee is often the only change. Another means of getting a free meeting room is to schedule a meal. Most hotels charge only for food-breakfast, lunch or dinner. Nothing is actually free. In paying for the food, you also pay for the room.

This hidden cost is usually quite reasonable, however. It’s most economical when food activities include a meal other than dinner. The trend is to charge heavily for dinner. “They’ll really soak you for an evening meal,” said a vending-machine operator. “Ask whether a less expensive meal is available. Usually they push the higher priced meal, but most hotels will serve a substantial lunch for a buck or two less.”

Meeting Sample

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Meeting Sample Agenda

Sample Objective: To help the salespeople become better at closing sales.

1st subject (4 minutes) – Review of last quarters sales trends showing an increase in appointments but a drop in sales.

2nd subject    (4 minutes) – Steps in the sales process covering attention, interest,
desire, call to action.

3rd subject    (10 minutes) – The final step — how to test close, or prompt to action.

4th subject    (10 minutes) – A video presentation on showing sample closes.

5th subject    (5 minutes) – Inspirational plea for application of closing principles in the field, inspirational close.

In the meeting sample subject matter that is shown above there is a logical sequence. The need or reason for the objective of the meeting is developed before emphasis is placed on the subject. This helps those in attendace gain a greater desire to learn more about the objectives of your meeting.

Then the steps required to accomplish the objective of the meeting are covered briefly. This helps to show the relationship of the main point to all of the other steps in the process, pointing to up its overall importance.  After this point in the meeting, all emphasis is placed on the main point itself.

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