The New Sales Kickoff (SKO)

FOUR ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SALES KICKOFF

Every successful sales kickoff should focus on four main elements: Inspiration, GTM, Self-Management and Learning.

Inspiring Vision

Inspirational elements help align your team around upcoming business goals. Skip minor organizational changes,  new product updates, or new sales strategies (share this electronically). Instead, focus inspirational components on the higher vision that these changes are to support. Typically, this is done via keynotes from company leaders, like the CEO or VP of Sales. But creative companies are using mobile gamification, and have rank and file participants present their plans and share their aspirations in large groups. 

Go to Market Strategy (GTM)

Every SKO should have a piece on strategy and opportunity. But the best don’t wait and translate that strategy into achievable action. One of our past clients created a placemat for each of their sales divisions (some might call it a dashboard). Each placemat had a theme, goals, metrics, and a support section that detailed areas of support to help everyone reach their goals. Each group then broke out into their respective areas to refine their GTM, bid for unique resources and articulate their individual commitments. 

Collaborative Accountability

SKOs are an important time for recognizing big wins, top performance, team-building activities, and fun. After all, the goal of an SKO is to energize as much as it is to educate sales team members. Celebrations often take the form of happy hours or team dinners, but don’t shy away from realizing the ROI from the SKO - execution. In every aspect of the SKO, provide a repository of ideas  - ensure the salesforce is heard. In turn, poll each participant's commitments as they experience every aspect of the SKO (i.e., new product placement, higher activity levels, more SME interaction, etc.).

Learning and Education

Educational sessions are paramount to any SKO. Reps want to be successful out of the gate. Let them know what lead gen support they can expect but teach them to be entrepreneurial prospectors. Use the SKO to define ideal markets, accounts, personas and the networks they'll need to tap into to find more prospects. Then give them the skill to engage on all platforms including phone and email. Capture prospecting goals that the group is willing to commit to and set a coaching cadence for the first quarter to ensure their attainment. Other focus areas can include Energy Management. We all work best in 90-minute burst of activity - teach your salespeople to harness that and create weekly cadences around it. 

For help with your upcoming SKO, contact Bill Walton at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com.