Go To Meeting = Go To Sleep

Lately, I've had to participate in a number of Go To Meeting Webinars and I have to say I am very impressed with the technology and not at all impressed with the content.  This is a great tool for managers to completely bore the shit out of their field reps and to waste everyone's time by requiring you to be in front of a computer when we should be in front of a customer.  It is a wonderful tool to get your message across but it is overused by managers.

Here is a perfect example, I am on a Go To Meeting Webinar as I am writing this post.  That's right!  I am so damn bored with the content that I decided why not post something since I have the time and I am completely disinterested.  This is supposed to be a 2 hour meeting!  I don't know about you, but I can't sit for 2 hours in front of a computer, and I have the attention span of a 6 year old.  This is why I'm in sales.  Hello?  So I plan to do the dishes, clean up the bathroom, write a post, and watch some television while killing 2 hours of time listening to "blah, blah, blah, act with a sense of urgency, blah , blah, blah, we need to hit our quota." 

Last Friday,  I had to participate in three of these meetings.  Three!  I wasted a whole day in my home office attending meetings which gave me some information but not enough to justify me running around trying to meet with customers and then running home to attend a meeting.  A question you may have is "Why do you need to be at home?"  The answer is simple.  My phone dies during the meetings since it is functioning as a hotspot and working as a cell phone for the audio portions of the meeting.  The battery is drained in no time due to this dual function.  So home is the best way to keep the phone charged and utilize my home Internet connection to make sure I don't miss a thing.  Why?  Because these meetings and the content are so riveting!

One thing I learned early on in my sales and management career is not to lose the audience.  I try to feel out the people I'm speaking with, to make sure I have their attention, otherwise it's just a waste of my time and their time.  So my meetings are short and sweet.  I get my message across, interact with the audience, and try to keep the meeting moving swiftly.  In fact, I open the meeting by stating, "Please try not to fall asleep during the meeting."  Unfortunately other presenters are not as conscious of losing people's interest and so their meeting drone on until the participants want to smash their cell phones and kick in the monitor of their computers. 

I think my dog is more interested in these types of meetings then I am. And I'm sure that the rest of you would agree.  No one is paying attention during these meetings because they are intrusive and TOO LONG!  Most people are drinking coffee, cleaning their house, taking care of their kids, and getting ready for the day.  Some of them might even be having sex who knows.  I would love for everyone in "attendance" at these online meetings to turn on their webcams all at once, just to see what people are really doing.  I guarantee more than half, are not paying attention!  Why?  Boring, boring, boring.

I don't know about you but for me Go To Meeting = Go Do Something Else.

Have a good day selling and I hope you don't have too many meetings!

-M