Did you know that according to a study done by Harvard Business Review;
Employees of managers who don’t have 1:1 meetings are 4 times as likely to be disengaged.
And
Those who get twice the number of one-on-ones with their manager relative to their peers are 67% less likely to be disengaged.
Why are effective 1-2-1 meetings important?
The impact of not sticking to a consistent schedule of 1-2-1 meetings is that your reps are less likely to be engaged and to view leadership favourably.
Although 1-2-1 meetings between managers and their sales team members can’t solve all your problems, they can help to positively impact a variety of common problems:
- Poor communication
- Lack of feedback
- Career growth
- Unclear purpose of work
- Lack of trust and confidence in their manager
- Bottled up frustrations
- Interpersonal and inter-team conflicts
This is why understanding the value of 1-2-1 meetings is so important.
Find out what Tom and Shelley Lavery Love, Try and Avoid when conducting -1-2-1s with their teams at Jiminny.
Prioritize 1-2-1s as part of your working week
Tom describes how, during the final quarter in 2020, he realized he should start scheduling weekly 1-2-1s on a Monday so he and his team could focus on the week ahead together.
In the past he confesses to having a more ad-hoc schedule to these meetings and now finds his Mondays have a more meaningful and structured process that benefits him and his peers.
How to do 1-2-1s in a remote or hybrid working world
Leading a remote sales team is a whole different game compared to the office.
As a sales leader, you know that spending time with your team as individuals is essential to their growth and success. But for a remote sales team, 1-2-1s takes on another level of importance.
When you’re used to the day-to-day interaction that comes with working in an office, moving to remote work can take a significant emotional toll. This has often been the case for teams who moved remote due to COVID-19.
Remote sales leaders recognize that mental health factors such-as isolation and depression are potential issues when working remotely. As a sales leader, you need to take responsibility for the health of your team. That’s why 1-2-1s for your remote team is so vital.
6 Tips to start 1-2-1 meetings for your remote sales team
Make sure you have a clear agenda
The agenda should be worked on collaboratively if you want the meetings to be productive, effective and of value to both parties. You can create a general outline of what you both want to discuss in the meeting. This might include some call recordings to talk over, or a specific sales tactic you want to work on with them.
For more information about call recording and analytics visit our webpage here.
Implement two types of goals in 1-2-1s (Performance and Mastery)
This process is currently being trialled by Shelley, Co-Founder, CCO at Jiminny.
A. Performance Goals
B. Mastery Goals
Performance Goals - are usually target, metric-driven. They often include short-term objectives set for specific duties or tasks in your current job position. These goals are usually related to the overall company goals or specific department goals where you work.
For example, a sales rep needs to deliver 40 meetings this month and hit $24k in new business.
Mastery Goals - usually asks the individual, what am I going to master or get better at a certain aspect of their job. Mastery goals are aimed at attaining a standard of competence defined by self-improvement or skill development. Individuals who hold mastery goals either seek task-related self-improvement or strive to gain task mastery. Each person can define what their own mastery goal should be. The reason why Shelley gets especially excited when discussing mastery goals is that they make a difference to the outcome of the end result and they can be worked on every day.
For example, working on a person's character like resilience or determination is something that comes up in all aspects of daily life.
Align your sales coaching methods in your 1-2-1 meetings
When you’re aware of each rep’s individual goals, you’ll be better able to direct your coaching efforts. Kickoff a 1-2-1 session where you can talk about your rep’s short term and long term goals. Encourage them to make an action plan that can help them reach those goals. If their short term goals include improving their closing more deals skills, work with them to identify specific weaknesses and areas where they can improve. If their long term goal is to go into management, help them understand what they need to qualify for that promotion, and the steps they can take to get there.
By considering coaching around the rep’s performance and mastery goals, each session will be a powerful learning tool, and you’ll ultimately work toward building a productive and driven sales team.
Schedule time before the meeting to prepare and listen to proposed sales conversations or reports
Making sure that all calls and conversations are being recorded. Then, schedule a block of time each week to go over any relevant sources. Using the Jiminny software you can create playlists, pick out key themes in any meeting such as action items, wow moments, deal risks, next steps and more. You can also skip directly to the points of interest and get involved with the important parts of any deal to view how your reps handle conversations. You can ask each rep to select one or two calls from the week for you to listen to their best and their worst. Then you’ll have a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, meaning you can coach in your 1-2-1s more specifically on the skills they need to improve.
Finish each 1-2-1 session with a clear next action step
Each session should add value to both parties and help move the business forward toward specific goals. Making a clear call to action at the end of a meeting ensures all understand what needs to be done next and is agreed. If you need the rep to report on their progress before the next 1-2-1 make sure you let them know when and how to do this. If you need to help them improve a particular skill like demo presentations skills, decide together on a number of times they should repeat this task during the week so you can then discuss their progression next time. Allowing the rep to set their own targets and goals g=here in your meeting will help motivate them to take action and make improvements.
Finally, don’t make 1-2-1s all about you
The 1-2-1 meetings should be a collaborative process. Building a great relationship is key. If you want to work on improving the business together then demonstrating good listening skills, being open minded and showing respect for each other goes a long way.
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