What should a retail sales meeting cover?

What Lora Sigesmund says

Sigesmund and her husband own Perlora and Perlora Leather, two retail furniture stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Twenty-six years in.

We would always have a sales meeting, but it was never as structured as it is now. So they gave you a format for your sales meeting. They're running the numbers, and they're looking to see, are we beating them, and how are we doing?

Note what changed. Not whether they met. They always met. What changed is that the meeting had a shape and the crew could see where they stood.

Selling is a system. No one teaches you sales.

An owner of 26 years arriving at that on her own is worth more than me saying it.

What belongs in the meeting

Four parts, and they fit in half an hour.

The numbers, where the crew can see them. Conversion, units per transaction, average sale. Not a lecture about the numbers, the numbers themselves, so people can tell whether they are beating last week.

One behavior for the week. Name it, say when you expect it, and say what it looks like when it is done right. Walk the floor with the customer instead of pointing from the desk. Follow up within forty-eight hours of every visit that did not close.

Practice of that behavior, out loud, with each other. Days of practice away from customers until they cannot get it wrong, rather than having gotten it right once on a quiz.

And recognition that is specific. Who did the behavior, with which customer, and what happened.

What does not belong in it

A shop report nobody has been coached on yet. Leadership sees a mystery shop first, then the people who were on the floor hear it privately, then the store sees it with identifying details removed.

Announcements that could have been a text. Payroll is in the room. Spend it on selling.

What should a retail sales meeting cover?

The numbers the crew can see, one named selling behavior for the week, practice at that behavior out loud, and specific recognition. The format matters more than the content of any one meeting. Lora Sigesmund had held sales meetings for 26 years, and what changed her floor was being given a format for them.

Why do store meetings stop happening?

Because the owner is wearing every hat and the meeting is the one appointment with no customer attached to it. In Sigesmund's words, you have to make the time, set it as a priority and discipline yourself to do it, and the same goes for the crew you are training.

How do you make a sales meeting change behavior?

Name one behavior, say when you expect it, practice it in the room, then measure whether it shows up on the floor. Knowing doesn't equal doing. A meeting that only informs people changes nothing by Tuesday.

What changes it

SalesRX+ online retail sales training is the format underneath the meeting. Short lessons the crew does on their own, practice against an AI customer before they face a real one, a manager trainer track so somebody can coach it, and an unannounced shop before and at six months so you can see whether the meetings are working.

More on the subject: retail sales training.

Full transcript

We would always have a sales meeting, but it was never as structured as it is now. So they gave you a format for your sales meeting. Everybody feels this, some more camaraderie, some sort of transformation, I think, that they wanna do better. They're running the numbers, and they're looking to see, are we beating them, and how are we doing?

Hi, my name is Lora Sigesmund. My husband and I own two retail furniture stores called Perlora and Perlora Leather in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We've had these stores for 26 years.

I have to say, I am a person who wears very many hats. It is challenging, but you have to make the time to do it. You have to set it as a priority and sort of discipline yourself to do what you need to do.

And it's the same with your staff that you're training. You have to discipline them to not wait till the last minute to do it, to be able to be successful and to be able to use it from week to week.

One of the team members over at the store we're working sent me a text, it was off hours, saying that he was really excited about the culture that I'm creating over there, and how we're moving forward, and he's really enjoying working. So that was kind of nice.

Absolutely. In a heartbeat I would recommend it to small stores, big stores. It's nice to have a system. Selling is a system. No one teaches you sales. There may be a few universities that are starting to have a sales department.

But everything we do is sales. Whether you're in sales or not, you're still selling all the time. So the things that you can learn are things that will really help you in all areas of your life.