Managers/Leaders: What does it take to run a successful sales rep 1:1 meeting?
Ten bucks says you and your rep have different definitions of “success” here.
As a Rep, we want:
Some solid “atta-boys” – show me the love!
To feel “seen” by management – time and access is a big deal
To gain some insight into the team – department and company
An understanding of where we stand on the team
Development on how to do even better
Insight into career options and how to get there
A clear understanding of our next goals and how to reach them
To leave feeling important and pumped up to perform
As a Manager, we want:
To be sure our Rep knows where they stand against goal
To be sure our Rep knows how they’ll make their number this month
Clear up any behavioral or skill issues
Be sure they’re cool
Mostly, we need to be done with this meeting and get on with the next one right? Maybe during this time we could also look at the pipeline, the call coaching scores, review company announcements, and check off all vacation requests? Like really, can we just check them completely off the “to-do” list for at LEAST a month?
If I’m reading your mind right now, it’s because these are the questions I get when teaching managers the ropes. Things like…
“Why do I need a separate deal strategy, pipeline, and 1:1?”
“Do these need to be monthly or is quarterly OK?”
“I can do all this in less than 30 minutes, is that OK?”
And the fundamental difference here is that we have 8-15 of these to do a month and our reps have one. We need the team to perform and cause fewer issues, and they need to feel connected to their boss, their team, their career growth, and their company. And you guessed it, their 1:1 time is where it happens.
A recent Forbes article taught us that today’s hiring generations care most about 3 things:
Career development
Skill development
Access to leadership (that’s you, baby!)
Ready for a perspective bomb? Imagine you have kids (if you do, imagine you have easier kids 😉). Yeah, you could probably keep them alive with 60 total minutes/day of feeding, maybe some basic hygiene and transport, but keeping them alive is very different than ensuring their happiness and development as human beings. We’re all trying to spend MORE than a few hours/day with our families right?
I know, your reps are not your children.
Or, are they?
Learn more about what GREAT managers cover in their monthly rep 1:1 meetings, plus how monthly performance meetings fit into the greater picture of management meetings (and how we’ll ultimately save you time) at our upcoming Sales Management 101 and Sales Management 201 Boot Camps!
Ready to improve your sales rep 1:1 meetings?
Join one of our upcoming Virtual Sales Management Boot Camps! We offer 3 different classes for new, aspiring, and seasoned Sales Managers. Our Boot Camps cover the most important aspects of a sales management position, like running a successful 1:1, time management and productivity, having difficult conversations, call coaching, and more!
Fact: Sales management is the busiest job in the world. Okay, maybe that’s not a real fact, but if you’re a sales manager, you probably feel like it is. Chances are, you’ve got a pretty tremendous and stressful workload. According to the American Institute of Stress, 39% of stress reported amongst employees in the US is caused by an overwhelming amount of work.
So, what happens when you can’t get it all done? For starters: you go home later, you feel less satisfied with your accomplishments, and you add an extra level of anxiety to your plate. Let’s get some of that time back in your day.
Here are our top 8 sales management productivity tips:
1. Make Proactivity the Goal
Start by leaving your reactive self in the past. How? First, we need to identify your priorities. I get it, you received 100 emails just in the time you are reading this blog. But you were not hired to write emails. So, let’s take a closer look at what you were hired to do and what your priority should be. Next, set your daily goal to hit that priority. Setting (and hitting) that goal will make you feel a lot more productive and will make it easier for you to stay on track. Finally, we need to learn how to recognize whether the new things that come our way each day are proactive versus reactive. This will help you say “no” at the right times and help you prioritize the things that you really NEED to get accomplished.
Hint: Reading emails = Reactive. Helping reps with questions that pop up = Reactive. Calling a strategy meeting to help a rep hit their goal = Proactive! Creating a new KPI report = Proactive!
2. Rethink Meetings
Your meeting cadence is the process that organizes your team’s regular interactions. When scheduled properly, the cadence will prevent you from handling a series of reactive “fires” every day. Create the cadence that works best for you and your team. We’ve taken a bit of time to dive into the 8 essential sales manager meetings. Check out this deep dive and learn which meetings are short, which are long, which are 1:1, and which should be done in a group. Read more here: 8 Essential Manager Meetings. While you’re working on your meeting cadence you can also perfect your 1:1 meetings.
3. Live in the Matrix
Have you used the Eisenhower Matrix before? If not, it all starts by asking yourself 2 critical questions. Is it urgent? Is it important? From there we break things down into 4 groups.
Is this a Fire Drill?
An item to Schedule?
An item to Delegate?
Or an item to Trash?
Let’s dive in a little deeper to see how these questions help us categorize each task. First are the urgent items. Urgent means time-sensitive and goal-related. Maybe the customer is on the phone and needs an answer to close the deal, or maybe the contract department is reviewing your deal in 1 hour and you need to tie up a few loose ends first.
Next are the important items. Important means it is critical to the mission but it is not time-sensitive. These important things can be scheduled out. This might be mapping out a strategy for a certain campaign, or reviewing the team\’s numbers to ensure they will hit goal.
Now, let’s see how the two questions help us categorize our tasks
Important + Urgent = Fire Drill – do it ASAP
Important + Not Urgent = Schedule – put some time on your calendar to complete the task
Not Important + Urgent = Delegate – find the right member of your team to handle this task
Not Important + Not Urgent = Trash – remove it from your plate
4. Start Saying “No.” A LOT
Spoiler alert: You’re about to find out that 3 out of 4 requests aren’t urgent OR important. Oftentimes, they’re actually something your rep can figure out on their own. So, we need to get REALLY good at pushing pop-up requests to meetings, delegating to others, and taking them off your plate!
Here’s how we’ll do it:
Identify the proactive tasks
Categorize tasks according to urgency and importance
Properly respond to requests. It looks something like this…
“Hey, (Rep) this sounds AWESOME! But I’m late on a deadline right now, could you bring the story and the call recording to our call coaching session next week?”
OR
“Whoa, (Rep), I need to stop you a moment. This sounds important and I want to give it the time it deserves. Please put it on the agenda for our 1:1 next week?”
If you’re on Slack, it could sound like this…
Manager: What’s up?
Rep: Got a minute?
Manager: I have 30 seconds right now, or 15 minutes at 2pm. Hit me back then if you still need help?
Here we are putting the action item back on them. You’re not saying you will call them at 2pm, you’re saying call me if you can’t figure out a solution to your problem.
OR
Rep: Got a minute?
Manager: Sorry, in a meeting. Can you reach out to Bob, please?
Here we are delegating to someone else to help the rep.
5. Get COACHN℠
I probably spent 3 hours preparing for my first team meeting. From the scheduling, to figuring out what to say, to deciding what I needed, to realizing I forgot really important things, it was draining, to say the least. What I realized is that if I streamlined the process and prepared for each meeting the same way, I could save myself HOURS of previously wasted time (I only say wasted because those hours were not helping my team reach goal).
Through that painful process, we developed the COACHN Model™. This acronym is about to make your meeting preparation SO MUCH EASIER!
COACHN℠ stands for:
C: Clarify Expectations – This sets the tone for the meeting. “Last time you decided to work on your intros and I know we have a few calls scored. Let’s see how you’re improving.”
O: Observed Behavior – You start first, lay out facts, and list your observations before you…
A: Ask Questions – Great leaders talk in questions. Have them prepared before your meeting.
C: Commit to Actions – Your number of action items should be 0-1, their action items can be anywhere from 1-4
H: How Can I Help – This helps the rep learn to trust you. Growth is good, but we cannot grow unless we can admit that we need help!
N: Next Steps – We are agreeing at the end. “You own this, I own that, we’re going to meet again ______. Will you (rep) please send the invite!”
6. Have One Source of Truth Within the Organization
Use a standard coaching form. Define what “good” is across the company. If people move or shift, you don’t need to retrain or redefine these elements. If you need a place to start, you can grab our Call Coaching Activities here to help you prioritize and plan your coaching sessions.
7. Stop Proving, Start Delegating
It’s time to put your reps in charge. I get it, you want to help them. But you need to stop giving the fish away. Stop solving all of the problems and owning all of the actions. It’s time to teach those reps to fish instead!
Here are 6 easy things you can delegate TODAY:
Grading their own call recordings and creating a list of skills to improve
Sales huddles – Not all of them, but maybe 1 per week
Notes from all meetings (actions, decisions, and deliverables)
Their PIP actions and check-ins
Scheduling follow-up meetings
Team meeting training
This one will require a bit more guidance, but instead of running every training session, let\’s open up a few for peer training. You will need to double-check their work beforehand (no one wants a 2-hour “look at me” session). But if you have a top rep that is CRUSHING prospecting or brush-offs, let them show the rest of the team how they do it.
8. You Cannot Control How Much Other People Care
This was a tough one for me to really wrap my head around in the beginning. But the truth is that there is a reason that you were promoted to manager. There is a reason that other people will remain as a rep. You cannot control how much other people care. When you care more about their job than they do, it will cause numerous problems.
Let me tell you a little story. Back at the beginning of my sales career, I had a rep, let’s call him “George.” Well, George just could not seem to get himself to work on time. I got one excuse after another. There was a part of me that felt guilty that I didn’t have car trouble and that I could afford a new alarm clock, etc. One Thursday during lunch I left work to go across the street to buy George a new alarm clock (I know, I know). That was when it hit me. What the hell was I doing? If George didn’t care enough to figure out how to get an alarm clock on his phone or borrow a buddy’s clock, or heck, go to Goodwill and buy a used one, then why did I care so much? That was my “ah-ha” moment. I was caring more than George and no amount of new alarm clocks was going to force him to care more.
You need to stay within your span of control. You can control your schedule, your reactions to things, and your time. You don’t control your team, you can’t control a pricing increase, you don’t control what the customer’s going to say, you just don’t. You can influence your team’s skill level, activity, and focus, but you can’t control it. There are a lot of things under your concern, but that you can’t control. There is very little you can actually control. So, stop spinning your wheels and stressing out about it. You can provide coaching and help when appropriate, but “George” is either going to make it or he’s not.
BONUS!
Kill all of your notifications! All of those Instagram posts and text messages can wait until your lunch break. These notifications will only distract you and make completing your tasks take much longer.
Time block goal actions on your calendar. Block out checking your email, your phone messages, etc.
Keep tasks in the same place. Your meetings and your time-blocked tasks are on your calendar. But I’m betting you also have a bunch of other things to do. Compile all of those to-dos into one list. Whether it’s an app or a paper list, keep everything in the same place so nothing slips through the cracks.
Set a time for similar actions and tasks. If you have 3 tasks on your to-do list that require emails, complete those tasks during your time block to check emails. If you need to go pick something up, do it at the same time you need to go to the post office. By grouping similar tasks together, your mind will be able to focus more efficiently and complete those tasks faster.
I know this was A LOT of information and your inbox has probably increased by 200 emails now, but if you take the time to start implementing at least some of these sales management productivity hacks that we talked about here, it will make a difference: in both your success and your happiness! You will feel and be more productive. It will just take a little practice!
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Whether you’re a current sales manager craving more training, a sales rep who aspires to lead, or a leader who wants to know the secret to turning their best reps into great managers, watch this informative workshop to learn:
Best practices for call coaching sales calls
How to run pipeline meetings
Tips for conducting successful 1:1s
How to drive sales performance
Top time management tricks
How to get started with sales management training
Plus, many more tips straight out of our Sales Bar. There’s a management tip or two for everyone!
Watch the video replay!
Ready to Become a Great Sales Manager?
Whether you’re a current sales manager craving more training, a sales rep who aspires to lead, or a leader who wants to know the secret to turning their best reps into great managers, watch this informative workshop to learn:
Best practices for call coaching sales calls
How to run pipeline meetings
Tips for conducting successful 1:1s
How to drive sales performance
Top time management tricks
How to get started with sales management training
Plus, many more tips straight out of our Sales Bar. There’s a management tip or two for everyone!
At my very first management job, I managed a little retail pop-up at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Funny how that experience was SO cool in my twenties, cringy in my thirties, and now just a sweet memory.
In that job, I learned the hard way how important it is to teach yourself (or your team) what a successful meeting should look like. I learned that if you don’t have a plan, agenda, or at least a list, then what you will have is a train wreck. Your meetings will be too long, too short, too impersonal, or too casual. However, with a little pre-planning and strategy, your sales manager meetings can be both impactful and efficient!
I will never forget my first “team meeting” at the retail store. I prepared for DAYS and my 45-minute meeting went TWO HOURS long. The patient, part-time adults working there were DYING of boredom. Every new manager has felt this pain, right? (Please, tell me I’m not alone). That experience stayed with me as I left retail and went into the bright shiny world of sales.
In the sales world, there are so many important sales manager meetings. As a fledgling manager, it was hard for me to understand the nuances of each separate type of meeting.
This meeting should be standing room only. The point is to get in, get pumped, and get out (and on the phones!) This meeting starts the day with focus and gets everyone on the same page. It’s also a good place to set the day’s goal – “Today we’re all going to get 5 touches.” And every once in a while, this is a great opportunity to do a quick skill reminder or overview of a new skill!
How Often:
Newbie team – Every day
Tenured team – 2-3 per week
How Long:
Short – 15 minutes or less
Insider Tip:
Keep this meeting interesting, mix it up. Don’t run the meeting every time. This is a great opportunity to give those up-and-coming managers a chance to start practicing their leadership skills.
2. Performance 1:1
Goal:
The performance 1:1 meeting should be a private meeting with just you and your rep. You will go through all of their metrics, talk about team ranking, discuss performance, set goals for the next month, and address performance issues (if necessary).
How Often:
Once per month, I recommend doing them the first week of the month.
How Long:
30 – 60 minutes
Insider Tip:
Resist the urge to make this a 15-minute meeting, even if they’re hitting all of their numbers and you don’t think you have anything to address. If that’s the case, then use this time to build your relationship. Go beyond the numbers. Most Millennials and Gen Z crave connection to their leaders. This is a perfect chance to do just that!
3. Call Coaching
Goal:
This meeting is all about skill-building. Coaching is not about performance or discipline. We are discussing and building new skills. If you’re coaching regularly, then you’re not waiting to find something wrong. You’re either encouraging already stellar behavior or getting ahead of those areas of opportunity. This usually works best if you and your rep listen to the recorded call and score separately before your meeting. Then you come together to compare notes. Using this structure not only builds their sales skills; it helps them learn how to self-reflect. This meeting can be 1:1 or you can do a group meeting up to 3:1. Just be careful, in a group meeting it’s important that each rep still receives individual feedback on their call.
How Often:
Newer or Underperforming Reps – Once per week
Tenured or High-Performing Reps – Once per month
How Long:
15 – 60 minutes
Insider Tips:
You don’t have to find something wrong! Coaching sessions are a great time to boost your rep’s confidence by sharing positive feedback on their calls. You can even dive deeper into their strategies and share them with new reps! (Use our COACHN℠ model to help you in your coaching sessions!)
Be sure you chart their progress and present a visual representation of it at least twice per year. Seeing a visualization of their progress (or lack thereof) can increase engagement, both in top-performing reps and in reps that might be underperforming.
4. Pipeline
Goal:
This is a full team meeting. We are talking big picture only in pipeline (forecasting, wins and losses, clarifying needs to meet goal, adjusting expectations, and sharing strategies). To keep yourselves on track, stick to the facts – no stories. If a particular deal or client needs to be drilled into more, book a 1:1 or group strategy meeting only for the people who need to be involved.
How Often:
Newbie Team – Once per week
Tenured Team – Once per month
How Long:
Varies based on team size
Insider Tip:
Individual pipeline meetings kill your day and don’t do anything to motivate your newer or underperforming reps. It’s going to be easier for Rob to tell you 1:1 that he’s not going to hit goal. Announcing this to the whole team will be a bit more intimidating and can provide a little extra motivation.
5. Sales Strategy
Goal:
This is where we look at how deals and performance are trending. We also talk about getting deals unstuck, strategizing how to penetrate accounts, etc.
How Often:
Newbie & Mid-Level Reps – Monthly
Top Reps – Quarterly or Bi-annually
How Long:
15 – 60 minutes
Insider Tip:
These meetings work really well in a slightly larger group 3:1. If you are struggling with a particular rep, try pulling in your top reps to help with this brainstorming session!
It’s important to have your top reps present their book of business to you twice per year, even if they are continuously hitting quota without issue. Give them love!
6. Team Meetings
Goal:
This is a chance to get everyone on the same page about general items. It could be reviewing training skills, making team or company announcements, discussing customer success stories, answering product questions, or simply doing team-building exercises.
How Often:
Newbie Team – Monthly
Tenured Team – Quarterly
How Long:
60 – 90 minutes
Insider Tips:
Try to frame company policies, product roll-outs, etc. in terms that are going to be important to your specific team. At least one team member is bored 75% of the time… most of the time it’s because they think that the issue doesn’t pertain to their job.
Also, this is another meeting you don’t have to run every time. Have an up-and-coming leader? Let them run with one meeting. Have another department you work closely with? Bring in one of their leaders to provide a new perspective.
7. Rep Career Reviews
Goal:
Talk about career goals and make a plan on the skills needed to get them there. Career advancement and development are continuously two of the top elements Millennials and Gen Z are looking for from their employer. This is the perfect opportunity to provide them with the feedback they desire!
How Often:
Once per quarter
Instead of creating an additional meeting, use one of your monthly 1:1s each quarter for this meeting.
How Long:
60 minutes
Insider Tip:
Strive for equal talking time during this meeting. The best way to understand where they want to be is by letting them tell you.
If your company has a standardized annual review doc, use that during these meetings. It’s a great tool to help you track progress.
8. Team Training
Goal:
Different from a team meeting, this is the place where we answer the “how do I…” questions in greater detail. Track your top skill needs, watch for industry trends, survey your team, and then work with your enablement department. This is a great place to bring in a professional sales training provider (ahem, that’s what we do here at Factor 8)
How Long:
Depends on the skill being taught. Consult with your trainer and decide together how much time works best for that particular skill.
How Often:
Monthly or Quarterly
Insider Tip:
Do not do this all alone! If you have to do the hiring, training, coaching, firing, AND the rest of your job, you will never go home. If you have an enablement team, use them. If you don’t perhaps a training partner is the right move for you.
Have the team do pre-work and homework if you can. The more you can get pre and post-engagement, the higher the retention rate for the training will be.
Applaud improvement, any improvement. The goal here is to build a growth mindset within your organization. If you have a performance-based culture that is only celebrating the “winner” of the staff ranking, then that means that some of your team is “losing,” even if they’re hitting their numbers. People stay in jobs where they feel successful and there is more than one measurement for success.
Now, is this a list of all the sales manager meetings you will be a part of? No, but it’s a good place to start if you need to either begin setting up your schedule or if you need to take back control of it. As a manager, sometimes your day can get away from you while you are working hard to help each member of your team. If that’s the case, use this list to find the right meeting to address the question. How would you spend the extra time you’ll get back each day?
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Call Coaching: 5 Things Reps + Managers Need to Prepare [Workshop]
Call Coaching Session Prep for Reps and Managers
We all know that we need more and better call coaching – that it can lead to big leaps in quota attainment, improve rep engagement AND leap tall buildings in single bounds. So why don’t we hear any real-life success stories? Why can’t your team find the time? Why are your top managers still avoiding it? And why are our teams still averaging 60% to quota? Because call coaching is HARD!
In this session, we’re breaking down the top 5 things both reps and managers need to prepare before each coaching session and how to ensure every coaching session is productive and efficient.
Bonus: You’ll also gain access to 2 helpful worksheets to help improve call coaching session prep!
Watch the video replay!
Call Coaching Session Prep for Reps and Managers
We all know that we need more and better call coaching – that it can lead to big leaps in quota attainment, improve rep engagement AND leap tall buildings in single bounds. So why don’t we hear any real-life success stories? Why can’t your team find the time? Why are your top managers still avoiding it? And why are our teams still averaging 60% to quota? Because call coaching is HARD!
In this session, we’re breaking down the top 5 things both reps and managers need to prepare before each coaching session and how to ensure every coaching session is productive and efficient.
Bonus: You’ll also gain access to 2 helpful worksheets to help improve call coaching session prep!
Effective sales managers must tame what often seems like the world’s busiest job. In this session, we consider tips and tactics that help sales managers achieve optimal productivity. This session is intended for both new and seasoned sales managers.
In this webcast, Lauren Bailey joins the Sales Management Association to provide you with tactical time-saving and productivity tips for sales managers to get more done in less time.
Bonus: You’ll also gain access to 4 helpful worksheets to help boost sales manager productivity!
Watch the video replay!
Essential Sales Manager Productivity Tips
Effective sales managers must tame what often seems like the world’s busiest job. In this session, we consider tips and tactics that help sales managers achieve optimal productivity. This session is intended for both new and seasoned sales managers.
In this webcast, Lauren Bailey joins the Sales Management Association to provide you with tactical time-saving and productivity tips for sales managers to get more done in less time.
Bonus: You’ll also gain access to 4 helpful worksheets to help boost sales manager productivity!
Sales Team Pipeline Foundation: What Sales Managers Need to Know
Managing a sales team pipeline is new for most inside sales managers. We may have used it as a Rep to varying degrees, but the majority of Managers struggle with keeping pipelines clean, accurately forecasting their business, and aligning pipelines with their sales process and team management. This cheat sheet introduces those fundamentals along with standard definitions, processes, and gates.
You’ll learn how to forecast deals with ease, empower reps to take ownership of their own pipeline, and more!
Download Cheat Sheet
Sales Team Pipeline Foundation: What Sales Managers Need to Know
Managing a sales team pipeline is new for most inside sales managers. We may have used it as a Rep to varying degrees, but the majority of Managers struggle with keeping pipelines clean, accurately forecasting their business, and aligning pipelines with their sales process and team management. This cheat sheet introduces those fundamentals along with standard definitions, processes, and gates.
You’ll learn how to forecast deals with ease, empower reps to take ownership of their own pipeline, and more!
Sales meetings are expensive investments in sales organization time. When effective, they are value multipliers, returning many times their cost in the form of improved sales force focus and productivity.
In this webcast, Lauren Bailey joins the Sales Management Association to review how, when, and where sales managers should organize sales meetings, and offer practical tips for optimal meeting cadence and content.
Watch the video replay!
READY TO RUN MORE EFFICIENT SALES MEETINGS?
Sales meetings are expensive investments in sales organization time. When effective, they are value multipliers, returning many times their cost in the form of improved sales force focus and productivity.
In this webcast, Lauren Bailey joins the Sales Management Association to review how, when, and where sales managers should organize sales meetings, and offer practical tips for optimal meeting cadence and content.
As a Sales Manager, it’s our job to understand the important meetings and how to best run them, so we can be better time stewards and better managers. The key to a great meeting is preparation! That’s why we created our Successful Sales Manager Worksheet. Use it before every meeting to list your meeting objectives ahead of time and identify which rep topics might derail the conversation.
You’re on your way to running the most efficient meetings ever!
Download Cheat Sheet
How to Deliver Successful Manager Meetings
Everyone loves a sales meeting, right? RIGHT?
As a Sales Manager, it’s our job to understand the important meetings and how to best run them, so we can be better time stewards and better managers. The key to a great meeting is preparation! That’s why we created our Successful Sales Manager Worksheet. Use it before every meeting to list your meeting objectives ahead of time and identify which rep topics might derail the conversation.
You’re on your way to running the most efficient meetings ever!
Raise your hand if you’ve promoted the wrong Rep to Manager. It’s a mistake we’ve ALL made at least once. The truth is, top-performing reps are actually hard-wired NOT to succeed as Managers. Find out why, how you can tell who WILL be successful, plus the five key skills all high-performing sales managers have learned.
If you are ready to help your managers raise their games or you’re adding leaders this year, you won’t want to miss award-winning leadership trainer and Factor 8/#GirlsClub Founder, Lauren Bailey, share her insights, fails, and tactical tips you can apply right away. Download the video today!
Watch the video replay!
How to Hire Sales Managers Who Will Thrive
Raise your hand if you’ve promoted the wrong Rep to Manager. It’s a mistake we’ve ALL made at least once. The truth is, top-performing reps are actually hard-wired NOT to succeed as Managers. Find out why, how you can tell who WILL be successful, plus the five key skills all high-performing sales managers have learned.
If you are ready to help your managers raise their games or you’re adding leaders this year, you won’t want to miss award-winning leadership trainer and Factor 8/#GirlsClub Founder, Lauren Bailey, share her insights, fails, and tactical tips you can apply right away. Download the video today!