I often have conversations with sales managers who lament their teams' lack of accountability, implementation, and follow-through. They talk about struggling to get new initiatives or processes adopted consistently.
In these situations, my typical response is: "Let's talk about your weekly one-on-one meetings and how you use them to drive accountability."
One-on-one meetings between managers and their salespeople are critical for staying aligned, removing blockers, and driving performance. However, many managers fail to run these meetings effectively. Here is a proven guide to great one-on-one meetings that drive real accountability.
The primary purposes are clear two-way communication, accountability for commitments, and continuous coaching.
One-on-one meetings allow the manager to understand each rep's current priorities, challenges, and needs for support. They also enable the manager to provide targeted coaching, remove obstacles, and ensure commitments are met.
Have a consistent agenda that covers key topics like:
Both parties should come prepared to discuss these standing items. The rep should lead by providing updates and raising issues. The manager should listen, ask questions, provide perspective, and agree on the next steps.
Schedule recurring weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings and protect that time ruthlessly. Consistency and preparation are critical - these shouldn't be ad-hoc check-ins.
At the end of each meeting, clearly summarize commitments made by both the rep and the manager. These form the accountability loop to re-visit at the next meeting. Lack of follow-through should have consequences.
Great one-on-one meetings provide the critical cadence, focus, and accountabilities to ensure field execution doesn't falter. As leaders, we must make them a religious priority.
As the adage goes: "What gets monitored, gets managed." Consistent, high-quality one-on-ones are the best tool for driving activity, results, and professional development on a sales team.
*Editor's Note: This blog has been updated since its original post date.