Sales kickoff events effectively get your sales team on the same page and enthused about the year ahead. They offer an opportunity for sales leaders to inspire their teams, set goals, establish best practices, and layout plans for achieving these goals.
An excellent way to make sure that everyone at your company is on board with how you want them to sell is by hosting a memorable sales kickoff event. These remote events can be as straightforward or elaborate as you want them to be.
Sales events should get your team excited about what’s ahead. However, they can be challenging to plan, especially if you’re new to this responsibility. We’ve compiled some tips and tricks for hosting an unforgettable sales kickoff event of your own.
What’s a Sales Kickoff Event?
A sales kickoff event refers to a meeting held by a company before they start selling their product or service. A sales event aims to motivate, educate, and train your employees on how they should be selling your product or service.
You’ll usually have training sessions with your employees at a sales kickoff event. You can give them specific tips on how they should be selling your product or service.
Select Your Preferred Virtual Event Hosting Platform
Virtual sales events allow you to build professional relationships remotely. With a virtual event platform, you can broadcast with high-quality video capabilities from any location.
Research your options before deciding on one, as each has its strengths and weaknesses. Some platforms are better at the sound quality, while others are better for sharing documents or videos.
Determine what will work best for your audience based on their preferences in technology. Many platforms offer free trials or special introductory pricing that make it easy to test them out before committing.
It’s also essential to select a platform that offers an option for recording your event so attendees can watch it later if they miss anything. You won’t have missed opportunities because people couldn’t make it to an in-person meeting.
Figure Out Your Objectives and Create an Agenda
The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out what you want to accomplish with your event. Consider what outcomes you expect and if there are specific behaviors, you need your sales team members to adopt.
Whatever your objectives, try to be as straightforward as possible. To ensure that people aren’t left confused after the event, create a schedule or make it available before it starts.
This way, attendees know what’s going on during each portion of the day. It can also help you build a more cohesive presentation if you know how long each section should take ahead of time.
If you have any special activities planned, such as breakout sessions, include those in your agenda. That way, they won’t get lost or frustrated by any surprises that might pop up.
Keep It Interactive
If you’re holding a sales training session for your team, it’s essential to keep it interactive. To create an engaging event that keeps everyone excited about learning new skills, including activities throughout.
Fun exercises will help you get through your content while keeping people engaged in what they’re learning. It also helps to incorporate some fun breaks into your schedule.
Team-building games are also a great way to break up content and provide valuable takeaways that the team can apply outside training sessions. This is especially helpful if you’re working with large groups or need extra time to cover everything on your agenda.
Whatever you choose should be related to what you’re teaching to ensure it’s meaningful.
Use Engaging & Inspirational Keynote Speakers
A good keynote speaker can make or break your event. Find a speaker who can motivate your team, inspire your audience, and leave them with takeaways that they can use in their everyday lives.
Find an interesting person who has experience in a field relevant to what you do (e.g., author, scientist). Don’t limit yourself to just one speaker at an event like this.
You can get multiple speakers for various topics to keep things fresh and engaging for everyone involved. The more unique you are with your keynote speaker choice, the more memorable it will be for everyone involved.
Wrap Up
Successful sales events require hard work, proper planning, and good timing. The event should inspire participants to raise their game by challenging them to new levels of sales performance. Follow-up and allow your team to share their thoughts about what they learned at your event, ask questions, and provide feedback.
As a sales leader, you can help set team members up for success by learning from your own experiences and using these best practices to guide your subsequent event planning efforts. This will help you create unforgettable kickoffs that leave a lasting impact on your entire organization.
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