Running a Killer Sales Meeting

Is your agency currently running sales meetings? If not, why not? Did you try them for a while and give up because they fell flat? Or do you currently run them and it’s the best part of your week? Remember, nothing happens until something is sold in an agency. Sales needs to be at the center of everything that the agency does. Sales meetings are a great way to rally the troops and get psyched to sell insurance.

Let’s first start with who should be in your sales meeting. If you have producers, they should be included. If you also have people who service and sell, I recommend having two sales meetings: one for producers and one for your service and sales team. Since their roles are different, the content of the meetings should be, too. Don’t worry, our sales meetings are not 10 hours long, so you will be able to fit it in.

Next, when and how often should you have sales meetings? We recommend bi-weekly. You need at least two meetings per month. Why? If things are off track, waiting until the next month should not be an option. You need to rally the troops and get everyone back on track as soon as possible. Waiting too long means it will impact this month and next month. Why wait? Meeting twice a month for 45 minutes is necessary for success.

So many owners stress about the content of the meeting. You’ll have no worries if you use our format and your prep time should be minimal. You want a sales meeting to be encouraging and interactive. Resist the idea that lecturing the team is the way to go. True salespeople will check out and you won’t get them back. Here is our recommended format:

• Everyone shares one success. (If they haven’t had any success in two weeks, do you think they really should be there? I don’t–move on.)
• Everyone shares one lesson. Lessons are things you learn. It could be a failure, carrier update, something you tried. Learning from each other allows for greater team building.
• Yes you need to share sales numbers and you need to figure out how to track it and make it accurate. News flash—it’s not optional for producers to not update a sales tracker. How are they going to manage their X dates if they don’t?
  • Number of prospects added
  • Number of quotes
  • Number of sales (revenue, premium, policy)
  • Closing ratio
  • Pipeline for the month
• Everyone then shares any bottlenecks. This is something that someone is struggling with. The group can then help with feedback.
• Share a video, strategy or script. This should be about 15 minutes to review and discuss.
• One word close. How is everyone doing right now?

Now the key to successful sales meetings is consistency. Meaning no matter what, the sales meeting happens. If you are on vacation, then elect a second-in-command. No excuses! Your team needs to know you are serious about having these meetings and that their participation is not optional. Sales meetings work when you work them.

You can expect some pushback when you first launch your sales meetings. There may be one or two people who say they are too busy for this. They most likely are your least producing. The reality is they don’t want to face their numbers in a group setting. It’s okay. Once the crew gets a bit more comfortable with the process, they should look forward to going and sharing their progress. It’s all about being better than the month before.

A big key to success is you making sure you have the metrics ready to review. The numbers are the meat of the meeting. If you get too busy, forget or have a soft spot for your least producing producer, you may shy away from the numbers. Identify who is the best person to run these reports. Really, once they are perfect anyone can run the numbers. Your goal is to have them ready for review and distribution as you walk into the meeting. Remember, no excuses!

Take the time and book your first of many sales meetings. Your team will benefit by having structure and access to all the great knowledge of the team. You will find small problems faster before they become big problems. Also, hopefully your team will develop a healthy sense of competition…Remember, iron sharpens iron!