Think about what your typical sales meeting looks like. Chances are, they could use a jolt of excitement. Sales meetings aren’t typically the most enjoyable way to spend a portion of your day. Just because most sales meetings end up being unhelpful or boring doesn’t mean you can’t break out of the rut.

Mike Weinberg, a speaker, consultant and coach, has put together some topic ideas to energize sales meetings. Keep reading this issue of Promotional Consultant Today for Weinberg’s agenda topics to add some zing to the traditional sales meeting.

1. Success stories. Everyone loves to hear good news, especially during these challenging times. Talk to your sales reps about their recent wins. Did they land a big account they had been trying to close? Did a salesperson acquire a big cross-sell or upsell victory? Open the floor during your sales meeting to celebrate successes.

2. Best practice sharing. Every sales rep on your team has their own unique strengths. During your next sales meeting, invite a different rep to share their best practices. For example, if someone is highly skilled in landing C-suite meetings, ask that rep to share how they do it.

3. Book or blog review. To mix up the usual sales meeting conversation, choose a book for your sales team to read. Before each meeting, Weinberg suggests assigning a chapter to read and discuss. You can also nominate a sales rep to lead the discussion. Can’t decide on the best book? Ask sales reps to share a blog post they found particularly helpful.

4. Practice. Weinberg stays away from the words “role play,” but that’s essentially what practicing is. In a sales meeting, brainstorm a real-life scenario that can happen on prospecting calls and have your sales reps practice what to do on the spot.

5. Non-sales inspiration. Not every topic in your sales meeting needs to focus on sales or business. You can help build camaraderie and a create a family-like culture by inviting your sales reps to share a bit of their personal lives. Perhaps you have a war veteran or cancer survivor on your team. These individuals can share how they battled through these challenges. Another idea is to ask your sales reps to talk about a real hero who inspires them. Share video clips from movies or interviews, when possible.

Sometimes all you need is a little variety to spice up your sales meetings. If you find that your team is falling into the same predictable patterns in meetings, try mixing things up with one of the topic ideas listed above. It could be just the way to inject some flavor into a bland meeting.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Mike Weinberg is a speaker, consultant and coach. He was the top-producing salesperson in three different companies and spent five years consulting and five years leading sales organizations before launching his current practice in late 2010.