'Tis the season to be...planning your Sales Kick Off!
If, like many, you run to a calendar sales year then you’ll be knee deep in the craziest period of the year right now. Not only are your sales teams working like hell to close Q4 out strong, you’ve also got to plan for next year… sales enablement strategies, budgets, the big sales kick off...
If we look at the Sales Kick Off (SKO) alone, I know from experience that sometimes it feels a little like Groundhog Day. Repeating the same steps as last year >> company update, sales results, product roadmap, training refresher... Be honest, have you ever actually stopped to measure the impact? I’m not talking about post event questionnaires; I mean real impact? And if you haven’t, is that because you didn’t set out the goal to begin with?
No matter whether it was a room full of hundreds or a snug meeting room for 20, if you think back: What did you cover?; What sales training did you provide?; What guidance, motivation and inspiration did you give your sales teams? What change or transformation were you hoping to achieve?
SKO investments can be costly, especially if you are weaving in external sales training. But often, there’s little or no measurement of the impact - it’s just what we do right? The sales teams love it!
But when you think about the cost Vs benefit, at times like this it is important to reflect and consider the payoff. When you factor in the venue, food, activities, entertainment, external training and taking your salespeople away from selling for a few days, the costs can be in the hundreds if not thousands per head.
So this year, to avoid another Groundhog Day, follow e4enable’s top 10 tips to drive the value from your SKO:
Create an agenda that drives change – challenge every item to the ‘so what?’ test.
Communicate the event purpose before, during and after – it’s not just a once a year jolly (although we all love that element of it!), it’s there to add value and to tackle issue a, b & c.
Align the content of your SKO to the sales competencies that define your teams. For example, if “C-Level communication” is an essential competency for your sales teams, run a c-level speed dating event so your teams can hone their skills. If it’s “product knowledge”, have them updated with the latest releases and practice their pitch. Be sure to publicise the alignment so attendees can see how each session will impact them personally. (If you are still not sure about which competencies to focus on for maximum results then remember our e4enable Zero solution can help you to analyse your data to discover the skills gaps that are having the biggest impact without the need for reps to adopt another platform, at a price to suit all budgets)
Split some of the content into breakout sessions and give your sales team the choice of which ones to attend. If you’ve aligned each session to a competency and publicised it, they can select where they need extra help against specific competencies and attend accordingly.
Have a call to action at the end of every session – a takeaway you want your sales teams to adopt, then track it.
Define the expected value-based outcome for each session. For example, if we are going to run a workshop on negotiation skills, the expected outcomes would be increased win rates and decreased discounting.
FOLLOW UP! – Back to point 5, if you’ve given a call to action after each session, make sure it’s followed up and reinforced. It also worth setting-up follow up sessions or bite-size online refresher training throughout the rest of the year.
Make sure Sales Leaders are briefed and clear about their post event expectations. Hold them accountable for the follow up and reinforcement.
Measure – measure the hard KPI metrics, measure the improvement in competencies, heck measure everything!.
Have fun - all work and no play makes jack a dull boy!
Fast forward 9 months and instead of Groundhog Day, you’ll have clarity on what worked, what didn’t work and what was missing. You’ll be able to see the long-term impact your SKO investment has had and bask in the glory of a job well done and an improved, engaged sales team. Plus you’ll be able to design the content for the next one with all that knowledge to hand.