Of all the errors a manager might commit in a sales meeting, one stands out as absolutely inexcusable, says an acquiring-industry executive.
“Wasting the staff’s time is the worst mistake you can make in a sales meeting,” says Greg Leos, vice president of payment-partner programs for Trustwave, a Chicago based data-security and compliance-services provider. “Make sure it’s valuable, or don’t have it all.”
ISOs that avoid that misstep find sales meetings provide information on new forms, marketing materials, the company and the industry. Moreover, productive sales meetings can motivate and even inspire a staff to achieve or even surpass sales goals.
Meetings have become more motivational in recent years because the reporting on sales figures that used to take much of the meeting time has become computerized, says Drew Freeman, president of Miami Beach, Fla.-based Merchant Data Systems Inc.
Today’s sales meetings hinge on accountability, motivation, goals and information-sharing, Freeman says.
Instead of reviewing numbers, sales managers now spend meeting time coaxing the staff to become more consultative in their approach to merchants, says Freeman. That includes training or reminding agents to offer prospects services that may include third-party payroll assistance; heavy-equipment financing, such as restaurant refrigerators; help with the new IRS reporting rules; merchant cash advances; or other loans that are not tied receivables.
At the same time, the age-old job of overcoming prospects’ objections remains an important part of any series of sales meetings, Freeman says. Managers also would do well to emphasize the old standbys of positive mental attitude and respect for customers, he notes.
Emphasizing what has succeeded for members of the sales staff also makes good fodder for sales meetings, says Steve Eazell, director of national sales and marketing for San Diego-based Secure Payment Systems Inc. Anecdotes can provide tips in an entertaining way, he notes.
Mangers also should use meetings to keep the “numbers” in front of the sales staff so everyone knows how many deals the top achievers are closing and whether the deals include gift cards, check cards or other value-added services, says Eazell.
Meetings have their practical side, providing information on texting, downloading, commissions, funding and just about any other relevant topic that emerges, Eazell says.
Besides the many obvious advantages of meetings, the hard-to-describe relationship-building opportunities they offer can count for a great deal, says Eazell.
Motivational Methods
To Trustwave’s Greg Leos, the methods to motivate staff at sales meetings fall into five categories. Leos, who brings passion to sales and sales meetings, worked on the ISO side of the business for 15 years before taking his current position two years ago.
First, Leos makes judicious use of competition as a tool. As keen competitors, salespeople enjoy finding out how they stack up against their peers by sharing stories about successes. For some sales agents–but not all–praise in a sales meeting can mean a great deal.
Others, Leos cautions, find monetary compensation the great motivator, which represents the second of Leos’ categories. The sales meeting offers an opportunity to make sure everyone understands the compensation plan, he says.
“Salespeople are money-driven and sales-driven,” Leos says. “There’s no substitute for a good, solid comp plan.”
Third, sales meetings provide a chance to emphasize opportunities to advance in the company, says Leos. Salespeople, especially those on salaries, may find themselves attracted to the chance of becoming a senior salesperson or a sales manger, he says.
Numbers can provide the fourth motivating tool, but sometimes other types of goals work effectively, too, Leos says. A “laser-focus list” of three to five targets to hit within a week can create feelings of achievement and provide a way to work in the short term for longer-term goals, he notes.
Unrealistic targets, such as “call Microsoft and get Bill Gates on the phone,” just drag down the idea of the weekly short list, Leos says. Contacting everyone on a 20-person call list as a task for the week makes more sense, he notes.
Fifth, Leos admits to believing in a bit of “touchy-feely” work with sales teams where he goes beyond the numbers to enter the realm of the emotional. Sales managers sometimes forget their power to persuade their teams through leading by example, he notes.
“Behave as we want the team to behave–motivate them,” Leos says.
At the same time, however, information should flow up the organization chart as well as down it, says Freeman. The salespeople hit the streets and often know best what is happening in the market, he says.
Besides, listening to employees empowers them to work on their own and accomplish more, Freeman says. “Remember that there are no dumb ideas,” he says of the process.
Loose Guidance
Sales managers also should remember to guide their staff somewhat loosely, says Leos.
When Leos first became a sales manager, he says he made the mistake of trying to make agents conform too closely with his own techniques.
“It can be de-motivating when you insist they be exactly like you,” Leos says. “There are a variety of ways to get to that goal. They may not be on the same road you choose.”
To guard against imposing strict methods, managers should expect salespeople to achieve their goals but remember to allow them freedom in pursuit of those goals, he says.
To ensure sales meetings progress at a reasonable pace, managers should consider writing an agenda of points to cover and perhaps make the agenda available to the sales staff in advance, ISOs agree. “Its’ a lot of work,” Eazell says of writing agendas.
How often to meet varies based on a number of factors, ISOs say. Weekly meetings keep agents focused, says Freeman.
Merchant Data has 300 independent agents, 100 of whom work full-time. It has purchased six portfolios of merchant accounts in the last year and is close to closing on three more, he says.
Meeting Frequency
Secure Payment Systems has found that every other week works well for sales meetings, Eazell says. More-frequent meetings were not paying off in more deals, he notes.
The company has about 1,000 independent agents spread across the nation, with 300 of them accounting for most of the business. It uses Web seminars for sales meetings, Eazell says.
Weekly meetings should last less than half an hour, but quarterly or annual sales meetings can run longer, says Leos.
“Don’t fill an hour just because the schedule says so,” advises Eazell.
And remember the power of meeting individually with salespeople, advises Leos, who suggests limiting such meetings to half an hour or less.
One-on-one meetings can save a salesperson embarrassment when counseling comes into play, notes Freeman.
For smaller ISOs, those two-person encounters may even take the place of more formal sales meetings. Seabrook, Texas-based American Card Service gave up sales meetings six or seven years ago, according to Frank Grabowski, the company’s president and CEO.
Instead, he talks to each of the company’s three ISOs on the phone about every other day. Email or the U.S. Postal Service can deliver any materials the agents need, he says.
However ISOs approach holding sales meetings–or not holding them–the goal remains the same, says Leos. Sales agents should come out of the meetings “stronger” and with a better sense of the ISO as an “ally,” he says.
