Calling all sales managers. Do your reps dread your sales meetings? Does everyone think they’re a joke? If so, you’re missing a great opportunity to help your reps. Check out the sales meeting tips shared by Tom Lavery recently on Saleshacker​.com.

Lavery first goes after the old-​school practice of chitchatting about account status. If your sales meetings are focused on this kind of activity, you’re wasting valuable time. You already have access to this information. It’s all in the CRM. The last thing your reps want to do is sit around and rehash what’s already happened.

Most sales reps are motivated by money – as in they want to earn more. Why not make your sales meetings all about helping them reach this goal? Lavery suggests encouraging team members to share their challenges. For example, you might want to have each member talk about the difficulties they are having connecting with a specific prospect. Maybe they’re having trouble making initial contact. In these cases, ask other team members for their suggestions or their successful strategies in finally getting through to an elusive prospect.

Another perennial meeting problem is failure to engage. If your reps think nothing in the meeting applies to them,  they’re going to look at their phones instead of paying attention to what’s going on. You can fix that problem by giving them some ownership in the meeting. On a regular basis, have your reps set the meeting agenda. Instead of leading the meeting as the manager, guide it. Let your reps talk about what’s bothering them and encourage them to brainstorm solutions.

If it’s been a while since you changed the format of your sales meeting, take a look at Lavery’s suggestions. Rolling out a new kind of sales meeting could energize your reps and their approach to prospects and clients.