Meeting

Videoconferencing has the potential to lead us into a serious, rapport-killing selling mistake that a whole lot of us are, unfortunately, already strongly predisposed to make.

Every one-on-one meeting with someone who reports to you is unique. Each will have its own priorities and its own dynamic, based on the personalities, experiences, and professional roles of the participants. That said, there are some important topics for sales leaders to cover during each weekly one-on-one meeting with any salesperson.

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 12 Minutes

Justin Stephens, Sandler trainer, shows you how to succeed at following up with prospects with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful in sales. Get the best practices collected from around the world for following up.

Listen Time: 20 Minutes

Rule number 29, don't chase purple squirrels. Stay focused and stick to the agenda during sales meetings. People are pretty predictable and purple squirrels are defined as things that they throw onto a meeting that has nothing to do with the topic. 

Rule 28. A sales meeting is your sales presentation. Master the skills that support a great sales meeting. Here's the bottom line, we want our sales meetings to be great, and we know they're not. And sometimes they're not because we're running from one meeting, we thought we had about a 30-minute window to get ourselves ready for a sales meeting which turns into a three-minute window and so we show up unprepared.

A key element for maintaining efficiency in the business development process is to keep the process moving forward. Opportunities that become stalled can drain resources, of which time is the most precious. Therefore, each sales interaction, whether face to face or via the phone, needs to be focused on a mutually-agreed-to objective, with both you and your prospect working toward a clear, mutually beneficial outcome that drives the process forward.

Sales meetings can help you win more business, but if not handled well they can cost you time in front of prospects.

In the modern world, we spend lots of time in front of a computer screen or looking at a cell phone or an iPad. To meet new people face-to-face, we have to get out of the house, the office, or the car and look people in the eye. When you are looking for meeting new people, you can use this list to see where you will find new people. Even if you are uncomfortable, go anyway and begin practicing your skills at getting to know new people. Remember: It's not about you; it's always about them! Get to know their hopes, dreams, passions, and even fears.

1. Go to a ball game with a friend
2. Talk to someone in the cafeteria line
3. Attend a networking meeting
4. Talk to someone while you are waiting for a ticket in a movie line
5. Go to a trade show and meet people in the aisles
6. Attend a conference
7. Go to a concert
8. Get to know the person sitting next to you waiting for an airplane
9. Introduce yourself to the person sitting alone at the next table at Starbucks
10. Join a club like Rotary
11. Participate in a service project and get to know the leaders
12. Join a non-profit board
13. Take public transportation 
14. Volunteer your time
15. Take a class
16. Go to church
17. Talk to strangers (the 3-foot "bump rule" requires you to speak with anyone who comes within 3 feet of you)
18. Join a sports team
19. Find a hobby and join a hobby group
20. Join a book club
21. Have a party for your friends and invite a few people who you are coming to know
22. Join a sports fan team club
23. Attend the county fair
24. Join a public speaking club (like Toastmasters)
25. Take an improv class
26. When you take a walk for exercise around your neighborhood, take your earbuds out of your ears and start a conversation with the neighbors you meet along the way
27. Talk to people who work out with you at the gym
28. Take a wine tasting class
29. Go to restaurants new to you and compare your experience with others in the restaurant
30. When you go to a bookstore, start a conversation with fellow readers
31. Go on a retreat to learn meditation, yoga, or even self-exploration
32. Take a cooking class
33. Attend a play
34. Take sports lessons
35. Learn how to surf
36. Take dance lessons
37. Learn to play an instrument
38. Join a chorus
39. Feed the homeless
40. Join the Sierra Club
41. Join a language class
42. Join a local hiking club
43. Take a photography class
44. Go to the flea market and find out what people are looking for
45. Work the phone bank for a political campaign
46. Attend an art walk
47. Talk to people in line for tacos at a food truck festival

Learn more about how to get to know people easier. Use some simple tools and techniques to break down the barriers and get to know other people.