Monday mornings at 9, Brad McCrum, sales manager at Maine Window & Sunroom, in Kennebunk, gathers the company's dozen salespeople for a one-hour meeting. At a typical meeting, he reviews monthly sales goals and asks each salesperson what they expect to produce that week.
“Asking them in front of everybody means more. They're more accountable,” McCrum says. The Monday morning time slot gets everyone “pumped” for the week.
Leads and Sales Sales meetings can be a powerful tool for managers. But every home improvement company has its own way of scheduling and conducting them. Clark Brockman, owner of Lasting Exteriors in Savannah, Ga., holds a 9:30 a.m. meeting Monday through Saturday. His purpose is to hand out leads and find out what happened to those he handed out the day before.
Lead disposition is a hot topic at many sales meetings. Brad Pompili, owner and sales manager at Tri-State Home Improvement in Branford, Conn., has every salesperson stand up and describe his most recent sale. That can be stressful for those who haven't brought in a deal for a few days. But, Pompili says, “if you're having a bad week, the guys are going to try to help you out.” He also hands out commission checks at the Friday meetings. Latecomers don't get theirs until Monday.
Stick to the Agenda Jack Chapman, sales manager at the Four Seasons corporate store in Holbrook, N.Y., says his company's hour-and-a-half-long breakfast meetings have “a major agenda and a minor agenda.” Major, for instance, might involve explaining the company's new financing program through G.E. “Keep it concise and keep it focused,” he advises.
Most managers avoid using the group setting to embarrass or intimidate salespeople, a tactic that could damage morale. “I don't call people on the carpet,” Chapman says. McCrum says he saves individual problem situations for 15-minute one-on-one sessions immediately after the sales meetings.
But accountability remains key. “If there was a reason the lead didn't demo, I want to know why,” Brockman says. “If it was a demo/no sale, I want an explanation. If it's a sale, I'll look over their paperwork and catch 75% of their mistakes.” Daily meetings “fix problems in the early stages, before it's too late.”
