Sales kickoff: Can you celebrate and motivate at the same time?
Many sales and marketing managers want to use their annual sales kickoff meeting to celebrate wins from the previous twelve months, while motivating their teams to reach even greater heights in the year to come.
Is there an ideal event format for accomplishing both objectives at the same time?
Brainshark’s State of Sales Kickoff Meetings survey found that, not only would most kickoff attendees (74%) not give their company’s annual meeting an “A” grade, almost one-third (29%) would give theirs a “C” grade or less.
So, while sales consultants and other event experts agree your kickoff should be engaging, energizing and heavy in take-away value—they don’t always agree on how to make sure that happens.
According to Richard Harris, founder of The Harris Consulting Group, using your sales kickoff meeting to overcome practical hurdles (like training reps to close more deals) is key.
“What really sets the best sales kickoff meetings apart from the mediocre ones is making sure you provide your sales team with something more valuable than they had before they walked into the sales kickoff.”
Research from The Brevet Group, however, shows that while almost two-thirds (63%) of sales meeting attendees remember stories after a presentation, only 5% remember more practical information like statistics. Such findings suggest that incorporating more storytelling into your meeting agenda could help you motivate team members more effectively.
What’s the most crucial element to include in a sales kickoff event, and what format do you find works best?