Account Executive and SDR One-on-One Template

Related Templates

• Quarterly Business Review Agenda
• Sales Team Meeting Agenda
• Sales Stand Up Meeting

One-on-One Meetings for Sales Teams

One-on-one meetings are extraordinarily important for keeping sales goals aligned and sales initiatives cohesive. The more effective your one-on-one meetings are, the more effective your team will be. Let’s take a look at how to improve upon one-on-one meetings for sales teams, both from the perspectives of senior account executives and junior sales development representatives.

Sales One-On-Ones

The goal of a sales one-on-one is for the Senior Account Executive to get updates from Sales Development Representatives regarding any critical developments. This includes how accounts are developing, any complications arising, complaints that potential clients might have, or opportunities that have come down the pipeline. The SDR is on the ground and knows what the situation is — meanwhile, the AE understands the “big picture” and can provide guidance.

During a 1-on-1 meeting with manager or executive staff, SDRs may be inclined to provide positive information rather than negative information — but negative information is just as critical, if not more so. Check-in meeting questions, a one-on-one meeting template, and general sales coaching models and strategies can encourage SDRs to share more information with executives and encourage executives to take information constructively.

Also known as a 1-2-1 meeting (one-to-one), 1-on-1 meetings are often the fastest, most effective ways to get things done. While many sales teams shy away from 1-on-1 meetings because of the perception of lost time (why not meet with 12 people at once?), 1-on-1 meetings are more agile, more focused, and more impactful.

Sales Coaching Models

When building an employee one-on-one meeting template, executives need to consider their sales coaching models. There are dozens of popular sales coaching models out there, but they share a lot in common. The goal of a sales coaching model is to help SDRs achieve results.

It’s important to note that a one-on-one meeting isn’t just about numbers, however. During a sales coaching meeting, the goal is to ensure that the SDR remains motivated and positive. Executives should celebrate wins, encourage improvement, and make sales professionals feel seen and valued. This is what improves productivity and gets SDRs working for the benefit of the organization.

A common coaching framework is GROW: Goals, Reality, Options, Will. Under the GROW coaching model, the most important thing to develop first is goals — how will the SDR define success? At the same time, the SDR needs to consider reality. During one-on-one sales coaching, the executive may discuss the current situation regarding the organization’s goals and what the SDR needs to do to move forward.

An example: During a 1-on-1 with manager, a sales professional may note that a high-value customer is balking at the cost of services. They appear to be ready to commit, but they need a 20 percent discount. The executive will have options: they may say that the 20 percent discount is suitable, for instance. But they may also say that the 20 percent is unfeasible and that a better solution would be to offer the customer additional services.

The sales professional understands the situation that is occurring with the customer. Still, the executive has the final authority to make large deals and the big picture information regarding what the company can or cannot do. This is an important component of the one-on-one sales meeting agenda.

Good One-On-One Meeting Template for Sales

What’s the best way to hold a one-on-one meeting with manager and SDR? Having a one-on-one meeting template can keep the meeting on track, make sure there aren’t any gaps in knowledge, and ensure that everything necessary is addressed. A 1:1 meeting template serves as essentially an agenda, outlining what needs to be discussed and what has to be accomplished.

You can begin your one-on-one meeting agenda template with an outline of the most critical topics that have to be discussed. A good one-on-one meeting template will also include discussing prior issues, which would have been raised at the previous meeting. For example, the one-on-one sales coaching template can include the business’s basic metrics for success, such as customer connections, customer conversions, revenue, and total sales.

Every business will have its own sales coaching template. A sales call coaching template will also differ from an in-person meeting. There may be preliminary sales one-on-ones to get teams into gear and more in-depth sales one-on-ones, with a dedicated one-on-one meetings questions format, to dig deeper. Regardless, the central focus of sales one-on-ones is to get actionable data and deliver on this data quickly.

One-on-one conversation is incredibly important when it comes to sales teams. Too often, the bulk of any meetings occur en masse; sales professionals aren’t given the time to discuss any challenges they might encounter, and they aren’t given the time to report the developments they see on the ground.

Sales 1:1s improve communication throughout the sales team. For the SDR, 1:1 meetings allow them to air potential issues, get advice, and improve their sales strategies. For the sales manager, the 1 on 1 allows them to touch base with their key talent, find out more about their challenges, and reconsider their strategies.