Most district meetings I have sat in had plenty of numbers.
Far fewer had decisions.
The report goes on the screen, someone reads it aloud, and an hour later everyone leaves knowing what happened last month and nothing about what to do next.
What changed it for me was reading the report the evening before with five questions.
- Where are we against plan? By territory, not only as a district total.
- What has changed? The trend over several months, not one month alone.
- Which accounts moved? The key doctors and accounts behind the change.
- Is effort in the right place? Coverage and frequency on the priority doctors.
- What will we do? One action per territory, owned by the rep.
The first four take ten minutes with a coffee. The fifth is what the meeting is for.
Two habits keep it honest.
Every rep gets the same report before the meeting. No surprises, no numbers only the manager has seen.
And each rep explains their own territory first. They know things the report cannot show: a doctor on leave, a hospital committee, a stock gap at a pharmacy.
“A report tells you what happened. Your questions decide what happens next.”
Lesson 4 of 13 in Step 2: Targets, forecasts and numbers, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.