If you manage a sales team, experience will tell you that most of your direct reports would rather be anywhere but in your weekly sales update meeting. They’d prefer to be setting appointments, doing presentations to prospects and closing business. But to be able to do these things effectively, it is critical that they have frequent reminders of overall targets and milestones, gain insights into new processes or product developments and stay on top of market trends so they can continue to sell in the right ways to the right people.

The sales meeting is traditionally where a lot of this knowledge sharing and goal-setting has been done, but is there a better way of running the meeting and disseminating sales information so that face-to-face time is used most efficiently?

Absolutely. Increasingly, sales managers are finding that video technologies can greatly enhance their ability to connect with their teams – even when reps are on the road. Video can be used to reinvent and reinvigorate the traditional sales meeting in three key ways – by creating video ‘pep talks’, by flipping parts of the sales meeting, and by promoting a culture of social learning amongst the sales team.

Rallying Sales Teams with a Video Pep Talk

One of the main reasons for holding a sales meeting is for managers to outline headline targets, to galvanize action amongst their team and to inspire them for their coming week. With so many sales staff out on the road, however, sometimes getting all of your team in the same room can prove a challenge.

Recording a short 5 – 10-minute video which highlights key goals and expectations can be a great way to energize and engage with salespeople who can’t physically attend a meeting as they are out in the field. They can watch the recording at a time that works for them, using their device of choice. Just as CEOs are exploring how video broadcasts can help them connect with their employees, so sales managers are starting to use recordings to ensure a more consistent level of contact with all of their team, wherever they are.

Making the Most of Face-to-Face Time in the Sales Meeting

The ‘flipped meeting’ trend has taken off in a big way over the past few years and has obvious applications for the sales meeting.

Pioneered by leading companies like Amazon and LinkedIn, by sending out certain information via video to be watched in advance, the physical sales meeting can be more focused and discussion-based. For instance, getting salespeople to watch a short clip about a new sales process before the session means that they can come to the meeting with their feedback on the process already formed. This can foster more in-depth, meaningful conversations about the topics that matter most to the sales team.

Promoting a Culture of Knowledge Sharing Amongst Sales Reps

Sales reps are constantly picking up insights into what’s going on in a particular market, what pitching techniques are working well and which upcoming trends might affect the future sales pipeline.

The sales meeting is a great place to share this knowledge, but there are two issues.

• First, sometimes when a rep is on the road a lot, these real-time sales insights are easily lost.
• Second, a team member needs to be able to share these insights in the team meeting even if they can’t physically attend.

Video can help on both fronts. Using Panopto’s free video screen recorder, it’s easy to record a bite-sized clip and send it to the team, either to be played at a meeting in their absence or to be accessed on-demand by other salespeople on the move. Clips can be recorded in the moment so knowledge isn’t lost or forgotten.

Using video in this way ensures that information can be captured in a timely manner and shared whether or not a face-to-face meeting with all team members can take place.

Find out more about using video for sales enablement!

If you want to see how video could enhance your sales meetings and help your sales staff to excel, contact us to request a demo today.