23 Engaging Activities and Icebreakers for Sales Meetings
Here are the most effective icebreakers for sales meetings. Sales Keynote speakers may use different forms of icebreakers to engage the audience in sales meetings to create a memorable activity. It’s vital to jumpstart your meetings with the right tone. Icebreakers do more than ‘break the ice” and eliminate awkwardness with any meetings. Engaging sales team icebreakers can improve conversations, help build meaningful connections, and develop a culture of collaboration and can be geared around sharing best practices.
Research shows that employees are more productive and motivated when they have better relationships with their colleagues. Also, Gallup defines using activities that keep your employees engaged and involved as a great way to influence positive business outcomes. Hence, happy and fun sales team icebreakers help improve employee connections and make sales meetings even more successful.
So if You don’t have the budget to hire a sales speaker, or a facilitator for your sales workshop, here some of the best icebreakers for sales meetings, sales workshops and sales conventions.
This list includes:
- Name-based ice breakers
- Interactive sales icebreaker activities
- Real-life-based sales icebreaker sessions
- Sales meetings icebreaker questions
Let’s get started.
Name-based Icebreakers for sales meetings
Two truths and a lie
This classic icebreaker activity allows your team to get to know each other a lot more. Here they can share interesting facts about themselves, create connections with one another, and break the ice. In this game, every member shares three statements, and then the group tries to find which one is a lie. It’s also possible to choose a theme for what should be shared. For example, themes can be fun facts, personal interests, or random talents.
Human bingo
In this game, every member of your team matches up according to the criteria on their bingo cards. This helps improve familiarity and communication.
Name that adjective
Every person adds a unique adjective to their name when introducing themselves. In this game, everyone sits in a circle. Then the first person begins by using an adjective with the same letter as their first name, followed by their first name (for example Moody Martin). Then the next person repeats the first person’s adjective followed by their adjective and name. This icebreaker is not only fun, but it also drives more memorable interactions.
Desert Island scenario
Ask each team member to share which three items they’d bring to a desert and why. This tool not only breaks the ice but encourages creativity. It also demonstrated how quickly you can create connection in team members but also with simple questions to ask your customers.
Favorite anecdotes
Have your sales team come to the meeting with their favorite motivational quote. Everyone gets a turn reading their quote and why they like it. Then every team never votes on the best quote of the day, which will then be displayed somewhere for everyone to see.
Jenga
Jenga is a classic icebreaker and great fun for sales meetings. In this game, you take turns removing wooden blocks from the Jenga tower and then adding them to the top until everything comes toppling down.
Interactive sales icebreaker activities
The sales superpower
Let each team member talk about the superpower that makes them excel in sales. This sales icebreaker allows everyone to reflect on their strengths and leads to the most thought-provoking conversations.
Sell me this pen
Sell me this pen is a classic favorite among sales professionals. But you can extend this to your sales meetings, allowing your team to develop better ways to sell your products or services to your customers. Divide your sales team into pairs. And with the other sales team members watching, have the first salesperson choose an object, and then become the potential customer thinking of buying that stuff.
Then the second salesperson thinks of the pitch and ways to sell that object. Hence, the second salesperson considers the problems the buyer has and provides a solution to them. This exercise is a perfect way to help your team build better problem-solving skills. It can also foster their creativity.
“Sell yourself” icebreaker
Practicing selling themselves by describing their strongest features to their teammates is also a great icebreaker for sales meetings. This game can help your sales team sharpen their essential sales skills, such as persuasion and storytelling.
Establish common ground
Develop different cards simulating the personas of your potential customers at different stages of purchasing goods or services from your brand. Then, have each team member try to find a commonality that will break the ice when talking to that customer. This activity can help your sales team be more focused on making meaningful connections with potential customers. This also helps build a sense of rapport and engagement.
Product pitch practice
The perfect sales pitch is vital to achieving more wins. But a lot of salespeople struggle with getting it right from the first time, especially those first 1 to 2-minute interactions with customers. Divide your team into smaller groups. Let each team brainstorm sentences to sell your products clearly and fully with as few words as ever.
Real-life-based sales icebreaker sessions
Swot analysis session
Analyze the unique selling points of at least two or three top competitors alongside their product or service offerings. Think of areas where you are stronger or weaker. Have each team member come up with the pros and cons of each competitor (including your business). Ensure everyone is honest about the companies they analyze. Next, divide them into pairs, so one person is the salesperson and the other person is the customer loyal to one of those competitors. Next, have your team role-play what they can do to change that prospect’s mind.
Active listening
When on a call with prospects, potential customers give up tidbits of personal information that can become hooks to persuade them. But then using this information begins with actually listening. Consider playing a recording or reading aloud a call transcript where a customer shares their specific situation. Then have your team reallocate those useful personal data points that could help in a sales situation, all without writing anything on paper.
Sales objection handling
Objection is a natural aspect of sales. But knowing how to transform those hesitations by potential customers to win them is an enormous skill. So in this sales icebreaker activity, have your team think of common statements customers make that make them resist a purchase. They should write it on Post-it Notes and then attach it to a whiteboard or write it on a flipchart. Next, your team should pair up in twos and then have each team brainstorm strategies to overcome those objections. Practicing how they handle objections can help your sales team think like buyers, thereby helping them build a better understanding of your potential customers’ problems and how to solve them.
Tricky challenges
Let every salesperson on your team think of the trickiest question they’ve been asked by potential prospects in the last month. Examples of such questions include: Why would I buy your product when competitor XXX has a cheaper solution? Then have each team member present their question to the group, and others find ways to answer them. This sales icebreaker activity can help your sales team learn how to address future customer pain points better.
Mystery shopper simulation
Mystery shopper simulation isn’t the only activity you can use during sales training. You can also create a shorter version for your sales meetings. In this game, you simulate how customers would interact with your business. Next, have your sales team bring up solutions on where and how they interact with those potential customers.
Success stories and case studies
Sharing customer sales studies is also a powerful icebreaker because it compels your salespeople to see how your products or services are solving real-world problems. It also reminds them about the tangible benefits of your products and helps them reconnect with your company’s values. Hearing about these successful outcomes will also inspire them to learn how to win more customers for your brand.
Icebreakers for Virtual sales meetings
Product knowledge trivia
Share short and straight-to-the-point quizzes with the sales team to test and enhance knowledge about your product or service.
Competitor analysis challenge
Quiz your sales team on their knowledge about your competitors. This helps them remain aware of the changes in your market. It also improves and reinforces their knowledge about your products and services.
Movie Pitch
This virtual icebreaker game for sales meetings will get your teams’ creative juices flowing without necessarily making it about sales. Here, you divide your team into quads and give them 10 minutes to devise a plot for the next award-winning film. You should make it more challenging by constraining them to a specific genre such as thriller, comedy, action, or horror. Then each group takes turns sharing their ideas and even acting out the plot if possible.
The silent interview
In this activity, your sales team would pair up and interview each other. Each pair would carry out this interview without saying a word. They would only use facial expressions and gestures. This activity is geared towards improving non-verbal communication, a vital skill for remote teams.
Sales meetings’ Icebreaker questions
“Would you rather be?” questions
“Would you rather be?” questions are known for not only sparking fun but also creating an air of debate. This helps your sales team think outside the box in all kinds of situations. In this game, your first step is to come up with 10 or more “Would you rather be?” questions. These questions have two options and everyone can choose and provide reasons why their choice is better. Afterward based on their answers, divide people into two groups, and then they pick the ultimate answer among themselves. Finally, vote and the group with the most people wins.
Our favorite “would you rather be questions include”:
- Would you rather be Batman or Superman?
- Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always 20 minutes early?
- Would you rather be too hot or too cold?
- Would you rather live in a cave or treehouse?
- Would you rather have ice cream or a cold drink?
Random Questions/Quiz
Random questions also help build better connections within teams because these questions allow everyone to find similarities with one another. Some examples include:
- Are you always cold or always hot?
- If you had 10,000 dollars and an hour to spend it, what would you buy?
- What is your favorite ice cream flavor? What do you think about chocolate or mint ice cream?
- If you could have any job, what would it be?
- What is your go-to comfort food?
Tips for using each sales icebreaker activity effectively
- Match sales icebreaker activities to the agenda of the meeting and the learning outcomes. This helps to add continuity to the meeting.
- No matter the icebreaker activities you select, keep things simple. That way, they can be done quickly without getting too deep.
- Ensure your sales team icebreaker activities don’t require more than 5 or 10 minutes, regardless of the size of your group.
- Mix up your icebreaker activities regularly to avoid making these activities tedious over time.
- Be structured about how you use ice breakers by making sure the host takes the lead to guide every aspect, beginning with setting questions or activities ahead of time, structuring who answers first, and prompting who goes next to speak.
Final thoughts: building a collaborative sales team
Adding icebreakers to your sales meetings will transform them into dynamic and productive sessions. There are many exceptional benefits, such as improving team cohesion and enhancing problem-solving skills. That said, you should keep your icebreaker activities simple, fun, and straightforward.
Again, switch things regularly. As you continue these sales meetings’ icebreakers, you will discover that your sales team becomes more collaborative and successful. This, in turn, leads to increased sales and client satisfaction. So, don’t hesitate to make sales teams’ icebreakers a regular event and watch your team thrive.
