The Dos and Don’ts Followed by Effective Sales Managers
Follow these important tips in order to maximize the effectiveness of your office’s sales meetings!
Dos
Send a Teaser Email
The day before your meeting, send a message to give your agents a preview of some of the excellent information you will present and discuss. Your message should be positive and inviting, and only give the topic without giving away the content. Whatever you are going to cover—market information, productivity tools or new incentives—let them know why they should be sure to attend!
Prepare an Agenda
This is so important! An agenda maintains your control and helps you stay on track, and more importantly, allows you to share whatever activity and goals will help you drive more activity, reinforce branding for your brokerage and any affiliated services, and promote whatever other specific information that is important for your agents to know.
Make Them Weekly
I speak with so many managers that avoid or apologize for having sales meetings—don’t be one of them! Weekly meetings, driven by your energy and valuable content, should be an invaluable part of your agents’ week. Agents will want to attend if you create a positive, educational and productive experience for them while enabling networking and sales opportunities.
Don’ts
Fail to Plan
Your agents will know if you phone it in. Plan your topics and the information to share purposefully so that your agents can use them to increase their production and productivity, and see that you are actively engaged in their success.
Rely on Outside Speakers
Just because the local flooring person wants to speak to your agents doesn’t mean that you have to give them a podium at your premier weekly event. Your sales meetings are for driving sales, camaraderie and loyalty. Be sure that any outside speakers are used for those purposes, and not simply as time-fillers.
Let Anyone Hijack Your Agenda
Every now and then, a discussion gets derailed by a complaint or unplanned topic. Learn to skillfully and diplomatically steer the meeting back to your agenda when things start to go awry.
Using these tips to guide your sales meetings will not only increase your team’s production; it will remind your agents of your value to their businesses. This is your weekly commercial to your agents. Use it well!
For a free copy of my exclusive Sales Meeting Questionnaire for Managers, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
