Looking for tips and ideas to create the perfect sales meeting agenda? We’ve got you covered! In this post, you’ll learn how to prepare sales meetings that drive great results.

. . .

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “time is money.” For salespeople, it’s even more important. 

A typical salesperson’s income relies heavily on commissions, so every second spent away from tasks related to closing deals can create stress and frustration. As a result, salespeople can be reluctant to adopt a weekly sales meeting, because they feel like it’s a waste of their time. 

This can be problematic because effective sales meetings are crucial to the success of a sales team. In an article for BDC, Chris O’Shea outlines the importance of sales meetings:

“Businesses need data and intelligence to succeed and your sales force has it from talking with your customers every day. The feedback from that team is key to take actions and make your business better.”

In short, it’s important that the money-making engine of your company is communicating what they know to each other and the rest of the company. Everyone—especially your sales team—needs to be on the same page so you can accurately assess the risks and opportunities your company is faced with. 

With that in mind…

How can you make sure your sales staff find value in your weekly sales meeting? 

Salespeople are highly motivated to succeed and their time is valuable to them, so your weekly sales meeting agenda needs to: 

• Be efficient, focused, and timely
• Keep them up-to-date on metrics, goals, and progress  
• Help them identify and assess new opportunities
• Provide useful insights and tactics for improvement
• Outline actionable next steps

What should you include in your weekly sales meeting agenda to meet these requirements?

We crafted a list of 5 sales meeting topics, based on expert research and advice.

Use this sales meeting template to run weekly sales meetings that motivate your team and drive strategic results:

We’ll go into detail about each section of the weekly sales meeting template below:

1 Metrics review

Salespeople tend to be results-oriented, so this is a good place to start your meeting. It gives everyone a clear idea of how the team is doing, and how sales objectives are being met or not.

By starting with an overview of metrics and KPIs, your weekly sales meeting immediately provides value to your staff. It shows the team where they are and where they need to set their objectives.  

2 Pipeline updates

It’s important to keep your team up-to-date on opportunities on the horizon because it helps them define their upcoming priorities—arguably as much as metrics. Metrics help you assess your previous or current performance; your pipeline helps you look at possible futures.

Have you made contact with a big potential client? Is marketing bringing in any new qualified leads? Are there any existing clients with high potential to re-convert or purchase something new? Where are these customers in the sales cycle?

This part of the sales meeting agenda template should be used to discuss these types of questions.

3 Wins

Salesmanship requires high energy and morale, so it’s crucial to keep your salespeople motivated by celebrating successes—beyond just commission and compensation. 

In his TED Talk in 2009, Daniel Pink, the author of Drive and To Sell Is Human talks about the power of autonomy, mastery, and purpose as key motivators for performance:

“The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive—the drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter.”

This is your opportunity to show them the value of their work, and how it contributes to the company’s overall success. Helping your sales team take ownership of what’s been going well will keep morale and motivation high. 

If you’re looking for sales meeting ideas and tips to make your weekly meetings a bit more fun – adding a highlights/wins section to your sales meeting agenda is a great way to start!

4 Roadblocks

As much as celebrating successes is great, it’s not always easy to close deals. 

Depending on the product or service your company sells the sales cycle length or a large number of other factors—your sales team may struggle sometimes. This part of your sales meeting agenda is the key to understanding the problems and supporting your team to overcome them.

Scott Edinger says this support is crucial to keeping your sales team motivated:

“Work with the sales team to understand where they need leadership help. This may include discussing creative approaches to gain access to key decision-makers, planning sales call strategies around critical issues and investing in SMEs to support the sales process and demonstrate capabilities.”

For this to be effective, your team needs to feel comfortable sharing their pain points. In a piece in the Harvard Business Review, Paul Axtell says:

“The quest for better meetings ultimately lies in leading with mutual respectful, inclusivity, and establishing a space that is safe enough for people to speak their minds.”

If your team feels like you care about their success, and that they can speak freely about their challenges, your weekly team meetings will become an amazing opportunity for shared learning.

5 Action Items

A meeting is only as valuable as its outcomes, so it’s important to set goals based on the insights from previous items on the agenda. Without action items, you’ll just be having the same conversation week-over-week.

What were the key takeaways from your meeting? Who will be responsible for what? What are some measurable goals to work towards for next week? Make sure to be specific and clear so everyone knows the next steps.

This ensures that next week’s meeting is productive. You can track the action items for all your meetings in Fellow.app.

On culture

Sales is sometimes seen as very individualistic but sales affect everyone in a company, and a good weekly sales meeting can bring your team together. In her April 2019 TED Talk, Priya Parker talks about creating meaningful gatherings with good controversy:

“The best gatherings learn to cultivate good controversy by creating the conditions for it, because human connection is as threatened by unhealthy peace as by unhealthy conflict.”

It’s important that your sales team feel supported by one another. Friendly competitions, interactive elements, and sharing successes and pain points in your meetings will help encourage a positive, collaborative culture. 

If you can foster this type of environment on your team and in your meetings, you’ll position your sales team to consistently meet and exceed their goals.