Sales Meetings. Good Luck With That!

I had the problem as a Sales Manager and as a Team Leader. I have heard the problem from other Sales Managers and other Team Leaders. I just recently got a phone call this week from a Broker/Owner stating the problem.

I can’t get enough of my agents to my Sales Meetings.

I hear the problem all the time and I get asked for the solution.

How can I get more agents to my Sales Meetings?

Well, I am going to make a couple of suggestions. Maybe a few. And I don’t know if you will like any of them.

First, stop calling them meetings. Meetings are boring. Meetings waste time. Meetings suck the life out of you. Especially in this market. Your agents probably figure they have better things to do. Find buyers. Find Sellers. Find part-time jobs. Try calling them, Team Party’s, Weekly Mastermind, anything but a meeting.

Second, maybe you should stop running them. I’m sure you are well intentioned and put a ton of effort and thought in to the meeting. I’m guessing though if I sat in on your meeting it’s a lot about you and your brokerage, not about the agent. Let the agents shine. Let them run it or at least have a very big say in what takes place.

Lastly, stop having sales meetings. Yes, I said it. Stop having them. If you can’t get your real estate sales agents to come, take a hint. Best Buydoesn’t keep tabs on their employees, why should you try to control your sales team. Best Buy has implemented a program called ROWE. (Results Only Work Environment)

According to a recent article on ROWE in Business Week (“Smashing the Clock“), the goal of the program is to judge performance on output instead of hours spent at the office or in meetings.

In practical terms, ROWE lets Best Buy employees get up and leave in the middle of the workday to attend a matinee or Little League game. Workers pulling into the company’s headquarters at 2 p.m. aren’t considered late. Nor are those pulling out at 2 p.m. seen as leaving early. There are no schedules. No mandatory meetings. In short, work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do. As long as the work gets done and get’s done well, it’s okay to take conference calls while you hunt, collaborate from your lakeside cabin, or log on after dinner so you can spend the afternoon with your kid.

The reason why majority of your agents became real estate sales agents was for their freedom. Don’t try to take that away from them. You might lose your best to corporate world, if the corporate world starts following Best Buy’s trend.

If you insist on holding sales meetings, contact me for some ideas on getting your sales team engaged. DarinPersinger@gmail.com or 608-333-5915