Calendly

How do YOU really feel about meetings? In our annual State of Meetings Report—out today—we asked 1.2k business professionals this very question and more to understand what they love about meetings, dislike, and how they believe meetings can be improved. What we found might surprise you. 👀 81% of respondents said more meetings would actually help them in some way. You read that right. But, here’s the catch: That’s only if they’re productive meetings. Here's what else we found: - The time we spend just scheduling meetings has increased this year compared to 2023—no wonder we found there’s a growing appetite for AI in smart scheduling assistance. 🤖 - Most of us are multitasking during virtual meetings—a sign that we need to make that time more engaging and purposeful. ⚡ - Different age groups experience meetings differently—from establishing boundaries (which we found Gen Z does a great job of!) to keeping agendas on track. 📅 The bottom line—meetings themselves are not the problem. It’s all about how we approach them. This is just the tip of the data iceberg. Want to dive into ALL the findings and create #BetterMeetings ahead of 2025? Check out the report in the comments. ⤵

Want to be more engaging during discovery calls? Try Jen Allen-Knuth’s 3 quick tips that helped her secure those crucial second calls with prospects: 1. Don’t rely too much on your slides — be prepared to lead the conversation and adjust on the fly. 2. Keep your expectations flexible so you can adjust if the conversation shifts unexpectedly! 3. Be ready to pivot with "if/then" questions and answers to guide the dialogue. While you prep for the call, ask yourself: “If the prospect says this or if they object to that, then where do I route the conversation?” Jen, founder of DemandJen, shares her secrets for sales success during the first episode of our new YouTube series, hosted by Morgan J Ingram! Catch the full first episode of “Meeting Momentum: Winning Strategies for Sales” for more tips like these—full episode below. 🎥 ⤵ And keep an eye on our channel for episode two, coming VERY soon! 👀

How many meetings do you think most people have daily? Take a guess—no cheating!—then find the answer below. ⤵️ We found that 54% of workers have 1-2 meetings each day, according to The State of Meetings Report—does that sound like your schedule, or are you in always-on meeting mode? ✋ Of course, some roles—like sales or enterprise employees—spend more time in meetings. But let's dive deeper... We also found a nearly 50/50 split when we asked people if the number of meetings they attend each week impacts their work-life balance. If you feel like you need a more balanced schedule, try these tips: ➡️ Block focus time on your calendar. We found that Gen Z is leading the way here. (Pro tip: use our Availability settings to protect your time!) ➡️ Make sure meetings are purposeful. And if they lack clear roles for attendees (including you!), agendas, or follow-ups, something needs to change. ➡️ Leave buffer time between meetings to avoid burnout. What are your top time management tips? Let us know! And check out the full report here for more tips: https://bit.ly/3Yrh5HJ

Sales pros, what’s the best lesson you’ve learned in your career? Drop your insights in the comments. ⤵ Jen Allen-Knuth—founder of DemandJen—recently shared some of her own learnings and tips in our new YouTube series, hosted by Morgan J Ingram! Here’s a tip sales pros can use in almost every call: ❌ Don’t come to a discovery call without already doing your research. ✅ Do your research before the call to better understand the prospect’s challenges, and how you might be able to help by using “if/then” statements. You can find more tips in the full first episode of “Meeting Momentum: Winning Strategies for Sales”—check it out: https://lnkd.in/g3XUPg-Q

Here's how to enrich your calendar bookings for any data point, then send the data to Slack (or wherever you want): I walked through this flow a while back during a webinar with Jeff Hardison of Calendly and Bethany Stachenfeld of Sendspark, and thought it was worth posting here as well. The flow is super simple: - Create a Zapier flow routing Calendly bookings into Clay - Enrich the leads in Clay for whatever data you want - Send the data back to Zapier, which routes it into Slack (or wherever else you want to send it). If you want the template for this, just let me know!

More ghost decorations, less getting ghosted for meetings this Halloween! 👻 (See what we did there?) Getting ghosted happens to the best of us, but it doesn’t have to haunt your schedule. Here are some tips that Brittany Rutherford, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Calendly, shared during our #BetterMeetings event that will help: ➡️ Send reminders: Set up email reminders for the day before and a quick text an hour before the meeting. It’s a friendly nudge that keeps everyone on track. ➡️ Remind yourself, too: A reminder for the host prevents ghosting on both sides. ➡️ Automate it all: Use Calendly Workflows to automatically send those reminders, so you don’t have to lift a finger. For more tips and tricks, check out the link in our bio to catch Brittany’s full session—find the recording below. ⤵️

Let's play a game of "hot or not", B2B sales edition. Eating chicken fingers on a sales call. Find out the answer in this 20 min show with my buddy, Morgan J Ingram. No, we don't spend 20 mins talking about chicken finger etiquette. But, we do talk about the tactical changes I made to my virtual sales calls in order to go from boring presentation --> memorable two-way discussion. Watch it here on Calendly's YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gcK9mWdv

Quick check: do you typically multitask during meetings? ✋ If you said “yes,” you’re not alone. Over half of workers report multitasking during meetings, according to our new State of Meetings Report. If you notice people multitasking during your meetings, that’s a warning that they might not feel the meeting is productive. “Multitasking in meetings can be a coping mechanism for attendees,” says lead meetings expert Steven Rogelberg. “When you attend a meeting, you’re relinquishing your time to someone else. If that time’s not being used well, attendees will often try to reclaim it by multitasking.” 💡 When you host a meeting, ask yourself: ➡️ What’s happening (or not happening) that’s causing people to lose focus? ➡️ Can roles be assigned so everyone is actively involved during the meeting? ➡️ How can you make the next meeting more productive and valuable?  For more tips like this, check out the State of Meetings Report—find it below! ⤵ #BetterMeetings

The biggest mistake I see sales reps making right now? (Me included) Rushing to the solution. Look, I get it. Because I've been there: • The faster I show the service. • The faster I complete the demo.. • The faster I list out the features... • The faster I send over the pricing.... The faster they'll see all of this and buy it, Right?! Wrong. I sat down with Jen Allen-Knuth the other day, And she helped paint the picture of what solving for the solution SHOULD be. We are competing for BUDGET against every other priority your prospect has. Not just against the other rep. So, focus on what you can control. What's outside your control: Their budget decisions What's in your control: The quality of your discovery Stop rushing the prospect. Start validating them instead. If you want to see the full interview about what Jen is working on with reps to close more deals, Watch it here on Calendly's YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/gXuscb-a

What separates top-performing sales reps from the rest? They've perfected every stage of their sales meetings. 💪 Jen Allen-Knuth, founder of DemandJen, knows a thing or two about this. 😉 With 18+ years of experience under her belt, she’s trained over 1,000 sales professionals on the art of running successful meetings from start to finish. Now she’s sharing all her best-kept secrets with YOU in the first episode of our new “Meeting Momentum: Winning Strategies for Sales” Youtube series hosted by Morgan J Ingram. ➡ Watch it now: https://lnkd.in/g3XUPg-Q Here's what you'll learn: • Common meeting mistakes sales reps make and how to avoid them • Best techniques for asking powerful questions to uncover buyer pain points • Smart strategies for follow-ups that actually get responses • Creative ways to keep buyers engaged from discovery to closing call If you're a sales rep, sales manager, or a business professional looking to stop average meetings once and for all — this series is for you. Stay tuned for future episodes featuring other top leaders in the sales world. Any guesses on our next guest? 👀 #BetterMeetings