Quality Time Not getting what you want out of your sales meetings? Here are 5 tips to point you in the right direction.

For many sales pros, daily or weekly sales meetings rank just asliver above cold calling on the "dreadful work stuff todo" list. Sales meetings that are poorly run or too long canbecome more a source of grousing than of encouragement and teambuilding.

It's critical that managers are mindful of why they holdmeetings at all: "The purpose of a sales meeting is to createconsistency in an organization's message, cross-pollinateinformation and build confidence," explains Jerry Ervin,principal of Paragon Strategies, a consulting firm in San Franciscothat helps maximize organizational and individual performance.Ervin adds that another function for sales meetings is to"inspire a team to produce."

To turn sales meetings from squandered conference-room confabsinto dens of deal-making ideas, try the following steps: