Making your 2021 Sales Kickoff a great one
This article will appear in the next edition of SaaSSales.io
The countdown hit zero and everyone screamed "happy new year!" For companies on a calendar based fiscal it signals the coming of another thrilling Sales Kickoff (SKO). Large companies are known to rent entire ballrooms in convention centers. Others will rent out modestly sized venues but pack the room with high hopes and dreams.
As a sales rep the relief of closing out one year signals that a new leaf has indeed turned. The scoreboard is wiped away and everyone is zero-zero. This is the year of that ramp is over. It's the year of the rebound. It's the year of another consecutive year of home runs.
But this year will be different. The global pandemic will no doubt bring the traditional SKO into a markedly different experience. Shifting to an online space is no doubt throwing fits for all of leadership, enablement and operations. Companies will be faced with putting on a virtual event for the first time for what should be an in person event.
After all, when hot coals are brought together the hearth of a fire is sustained. When coals are removed they cool and lose their heat. So too does a sales organization. It's hard to describe what a room filled with dozens or hundreds of highly energetic sales people is like. You have to be there.
2021. It is what it is. So let's find some ways to make this a winning year. Starting with Virtual SKO: the 2021 edition.
Acknowledge the team
Start off with recognizing the extraordinary circumstances of last year. Uncertainty reigned supreme. Leadership can only move forward if it first acknowledges the extraordinary changes the team had to make. A few examples:
Field teams selling inside
Buying decisions put on pause
Customer budgets
Team outings reduced to virtual meetings
Change is never easy. Forced change is even harder. Recognize it to set the tone that this year is one built on honesty and positivity.
Set a theme
Every great SKO starts off with a theme. The theme usually encompasses many, if not all, of the themes leadership wants to imbue. 2021 should be no different. A rallying cry is much needed for another year sure to face uncertainty. Perhaps the business made adjustments and found a new normal. This year could be a doubling down of those new silver linings. Plan ahead to send out this year’s swag. No one wants to be a part of an SKO only to find out the company gear will arrive after the fact.
Doubling down on interactivity
Rather than sessions with talking heads, a few sessions with games built in can make it fun. A few ideas to kick around:
Buzzword bingo: set cards with key phrases you’re bound to hear such as “Platform”, “Disrupt”, “Lean”, “Scale”, “Unicorn”. This game should be played throughout the entire kickoff. Only presenters and room breakouts count.
Pitch perfect tournament: set three rounds with groups broken up. The goal is to wow the judges the highest scores. Several rounds that could be set up: 1) the cold call, 2) discovery meeting, 3) presentation deck
Objection gauntlet: crank up the heat with PhD level objections. The individual able to rattle off as many objection handles without fumbling wins.
Interactive whiteboards:try out tools like Miro or Mural to create collaborative whiteboards. Instead of the butcher paper idea boards how about turning these virtual.
Build your own Jeopardy: create your own jeopardy game using your own ideas
Send everyone a small kit of wine and do a virtual wine tasting: hire a sommelier to walk the group through a series of delightful wines
Take breaks
Zoom fatigue is real. Make sure the team takes a few breaks. Create an intermission playlist. Perhaps set a live poll during sessions to get ideas for the songs.
Guest speakers
Because everyone’s gone virtual it might be easier to snag that vaunted guest speaker you’ve wanted to bring to your SKO. There are plenty of agencies to work with but here are a few:
Premier Speakers Bureau
Washington Speakers Bureau
BigSpeak
Leading Authorities
Cameo
If not a full blown speaking engagement how about a quick one minute intro before each session from a well known celebrity. These clips won’t set you back as much as a formal guest speaker.
2021 will shape up to be like no other year before it
However you set yourselves up for your Sales Kickoff this year. Come at it with compassion, energy, and hope. Make it as fun as you possibly can. Know that the connections forged through in-person camaraderie will not be there this year, but that you can shape it in other ways. My personal favorite event last year was a virtually hosted wine tasting. We shared great stories and had some great wine to boot. So cheers to that and to your sales kickoff this year.