5 Tips to Improve Your Next Zoom Sales Meeting

You may have attended a few Zoom sales meetings over the past few years. I am one of those people who love Zoom for its productivity. However, there are some people who do not appreciate Zoom and do not understand the dos and don'ts of Zoom meetings.

The following tips can help make your next Zoom sales meeting run more smoothly and be more productive.

Here are 5 ways to improve your sales meetings using Zoom: 

#1. Join your Zoom sales meetings on time.

Zoom meetings are a way to talk to people on the internet. If you sign in late, it's like being late for a meeting with a client. You wouldn't do that, so don't do it for Zoom meetings.

Instead, sign in earlier than the meeting is supposed to start. For the most important meetings, I sign in 15 minutes before the start time. But 10 minutes is okay for most meetings. If there's any casual conversation going on before the meeting starts, feel free to join in.

One way to make sure you're able to attend a meeting is to add the meeting link to your calendar. This will ensure that you don't forget about the meeting and that you can easily join without having to search through your emails for the invite.

#2. Pay attention to your camera

If you're joining the meeting by phone, you need to have a stand for your phone so that the whole of your face is captured on video and it doesn't shake. Recently, I was part of a team interviewing a job candidate and we had to dismiss her because during the interview, we could only see half her face (the bottom half). And then her phone started shaking so badly that it was difficult to see her at all. The other interviewer finally had to ask the candidate to please stabilize her phone.

I thought this job interview showed how the candidate would prepare for her sales calls. If she came to a job interview this unprepared—not good! She lost my vote for a job.

There are a few things to consider when setting up your camera for a video meeting. The stability of your camera is important, as is the background behind you. Make sure that your surroundings are neat and tidy, as messy surroundings can make you look less competent. If you can't create a good background, you can use one of Zoom's virtual backgrounds or blur your background.

#3. Try not to be a distraction 

If you're going to be walking around, close your camera. I've seen too many ceilings and people walking around instead of people sitting at their desks. And if you're in a noisy area, mute your microphone.

#4. Do not ignore the people who attend the meeting.

If you are the host of a combination face-to-face and Zoom meeting, please repeat any questions or comments from the in-person participants in your room. This will help the remote participants who cannot hear what is being said in the room.

Also, advise remote participants to speak up when they have questions or comments. Make a point of regularly checking the participant screen(s) so you will know if someone has something to say when they raise their hand or put a comment in the chat.

#5. Be prepared for a Zoom meeting by knowing how it works 

Some hosts will tell people who want to speak when they will get a chance. This way, people are encouraged to listen to each other. Sometimes two people try to speak at the same time. If this happens to you, be polite and let the other person go first. Then you can say what you want to say.

Here's to a better experience when having sales meetings on Zoom

There may be some disadvantages to Zoom meetings, but with your new awareness, you won't let them ruin the meeting experience for everyone else.

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