It’s not just an event. And leadership teams know it. The annual sales kickoff is your opportunity to give your sales team the fuel and the fire they need to perform at their very best all year long. So this one moment in time is pivotal to the growth–and the future–of your organization.
When done right, your sales kickoff will leave your sales team with unforgettable moments of emotion, inspiration and motivation that arm them with the knowledge they need to sell to and care for customers in new and better ways. Most of all, it leaves them believing they can do anything they set out to do to be the team you need to drive the business forward.
To achieve this, you must have a strategic content discipline that wraps around your entire event. Because the right content will pump up the sales team to pursue your sales goals with passion and persistence…and stay with them long after your final day together.
Here are five steps to creating a five-star content agenda for your sales kickoff:
1. Become your audience
Before you do anything else, naturally, you need to set strategic goals for your event. So, as you decide what you want your sales kickoff to accomplish, take your seat in that event venue. Meaning, get inside the heads and hearts of your attendees. What do they need to take away from your event to perform at the highest level in the coming year? What should they know? How should they feel? And what should they be able to do as a result of the content (and the experience) you deliver? Don’t just trust your gut on this one. Give your sales team a voice through primary research that uses focus groups and one-on-ones to put their fingerprint on your kickoff. Run down feedback with your chief sales officer—and any other key executive stakeholders—and set your priorities with these insights in mind.
2. Nail your theme
This is both art and science. Here’s why: You want your sales kickoff theme to be creative and different—not only from your own sales kickoffs in years past, but from other events in general. You want it to be a real standout. And something that will serve as a strong foundation for your content and all the other elements upon which you build your kickoff. You’ll need to select your theme carefully and strategically. Start by asking yourself a few key questions:
Where are you as a company? Are you heading into a period of change, or just coming out of one? Are you gearing up to support a major strategy, product or customer shift? What does sales excellence look like given where your company is going from here?
What is the mindset and morale of your sales team? Are they feeling energized or deflated—or somewhere in between?
Has the business been strong, or has it been an uphill battle to land prospects and keep current customers happy?
What do you want your sales team to think, feel and do long after they leave the kickoff?
Answering these questions will help you decide what kind of theme will best frame your event content—from the main stage to breakout sessions and everything in between—in a way that will both educate and excite your sales team.
3. Sketch it out
Now that you’ve got your goals and your theme, it’s time to dig into your content agenda. But don’t dig too deeply (yet). We’ve found that creating a high-level story sketch that very briefly outlines each executive’s presentation content goes a long way. We’re talking about a paragraph for each executive—along with some early ideas on possible cool production values, creative elements, even a super-catchy presentation title. The key to getting this right is to know, and play on, each executive’s strengths and preferences. And of course, ensure that content for all presentations across the event are complementary. The key is getting your executive speakers on board with—and excited for—your content agenda early on in the process.
4. Take the “why” test
Just like anything else in life, when you know WHY you’re doing something, it gives you a stronger sense of purpose. When creating the content for your sales kickoff, ask yourself WHY you are including that content at every turn. For every message, every data point, every visual—across every inch of your content—ask yourself why it’s there. Why does your sales team need to know what you’re sharing with them?
Will it help them understand your organizational strategy and goals better, so they can execute against them?
Will it help them sell more? Sell smarter?
Will it show them the new products they’ll be selling in the coming year?
Will it help them provide more value to your customers?
Will it show them how to conquer challenges in new ways?
Will it make them happier and more productive members of your organization?
At every turn, ask WHY. If you don’t have a good answer, it’s time to show that content the door.
5. Let your content lead
We love big, arresting visuals and videos. It wouldn’t be a sales kickoff without them. They breathe memorable life into your story, help your sales team see things in different and unexpected ways and make your important messages stick. So, say goodbye to traditional PowerPoint slideware as much as humanly possible—and go the simple-yet-striking route.
One catch: It may be tempting to force-fit a bunch of your existing slides into this event or develop a cool new visual treatment and try to make the storyline fit into it. But don’t fall into that trap. Always let the content lead—and bring it to life on screen in ways that connect the sales team closely to your message, so it will stay with them long after they leave your event.
Together, these five steps will empower you to achieve that thing that lies at the heart of all you do when planning your sales kickoff: Making sure your kickoff experience—and messages—live on in the hearts and minds of your sales team long after your final day together.
Learn more about how to put these five steps into action to create your five-star content strategy. Reach out to us at info@cxocommunication.com today.
