The Sales Kick-Off (SKO) is a critical event. It’s your big moment to get everyone on the same page and moving toward exciting performance goals. The event is also a huge investment of money and time — it’s worth getting right. But if you’ve been in sales leadership for a while, the SKO can start to feel a little copy-and-paste. You do the same thing every year, the talking points don’t change much, and it’s mostly business as usual.

This year, what if you shake things up? We think the Sales Kick-Off is one of the most important moments of the business year. Especially after a tumultuous and uncertain 2020 and 2021, 2022 could be your chance to regroup, invest in your people, motivate the team, and set shared expectations.

We follow 6 key steps to plan a Sales Kick-Off that works.

1. Set your goals.

What is the purpose of the SKO? What do you want people to know, feel, and do after the event ends and the work year begins?

Usually, our goals are simple. They’re about alignment and motivation.

We want everyone to leave with energy, ideas, processes, and tools to get a fast start on the year.

We want attendees to be:

• Informed: I know our strategies and priorities. I know how I contribute.

• Inspired: I am excited and energized about our company/org/team's vision, direction, and purpose.

• Enlightened: I have at least one new skill/nugget of info to put into practice.

• Aligned: We are all working toward the same goals.

• Enabled: I have the tools to do my job well.

• Exhilarated: I’m excited to get to work on Monday

• Committed: I’m ready to follow through with actions. My commitment won’t fade after the SKO.

2. Define a theme.

Your SKO theme is a huge opportunity to shape the event and the rest of the year. It should be reinforced in all written and verbal communications, in posters around the office, in every All-Hands call, in email signatures, in every coffee talk, etc. The theme should be intuitive and set the tone for the year’s objectives. Annual themes don't have to be a cliche. Instead, they can set the tone and tempo.

Your theme could be about your key priority, like:

• Growth.

• Change.

• People Focus.

• Collaboration.

• Innovation.

Some examples of powerful themes we’ve used are:

• Innovate 2022: Set the tone to innovate and challenge the status quo.

• Ignite 2022: Ignite all your assets, energies, passions, and commitments against a shared set of goals and objectives.

• Building a Gold Medal Team: Establish that it’s all about the team, the team, the team.

3. Expand the theme with a few “Red Threads.”

Your theme is simple. Flowing from the theme, your “Red Threads” are your chance to get specific and drive action. 

For example, if your theme is focused on Growth, your Red Threads might be:

• Customer Acquisition. Net New Logos!

• Land and Expand. You are in the account, now broaden your footprint and offerings.

• Attack the competition. Your competition’s customers are really yours, just on loan to the competition.

The main theme and red threads also guide how you select guest speakers and their topics. If your theme is Resilience, then your keynote speaker should weave Resilience into her talk track. If you're talking about Simplification, your customer panel should reinforce and reiterate Simplification. Show the connection between the speaker and the overarching strategies. 

Every single speaker should weave the Red Threads into their talk track. Ask for speakers’ presentations well ahead of time to make sure they include the Red Threads. 

Repetition, repetition, repetition is imperative. You want each audience member to leave knowing the big-picture strategy and how they contribute to it. In fact, after the SKO, you should be able to call any employee to ask them what the strategies are, and they should all be able to reiterate them accurately.

But your Red Threads shouldn’t just be guidance for sales performers. Leaders should step up and show how they will apply the red threads to their work, their actions, and their leadership. It’s especially important for leaders to demonstrate mutual empathy. Leaders say: Here’s what WE will deliver, commit, and invest in. And here’s what we’re asking of YOU.

4. Plan “Big Bang” announcements.

Every great event has a little drama. We always plan “Big Bang” announcements — new, huge, exciting, game-changing announcements that are unveiled at the SKO.

We want Big Bang announcements that are so exciting that the audience will spontaneously applaud. Each speaker should have at least one huge announcement. 

Your Big Bang announcements might unveil:

• New, game-changing products.

• Massive simplification efforts for employees or customers.

• New demand-gen activities.

• New technology.

• An employee advisory council.

• Huge people investments.

• A winners’ circle. And other incentives

• New sales enablement investments.

• A major pipeline commitment.

5. Share calendar proof points.

What will happen when the SKO is over? How will you monitor progress and performance?

During the SKO, share a calendar for the year with important dates and milestones. 

Define the year by pinning down:

• Quarterly reviews.

• All-hands calls.

• Performance goals and deadlines.

• Enablement and training agendas for each quarter.

• Customer experience goals for each quarter.

• Partner experience goals for each quarter.

Each quarter, plan to reiterate the core proof points. You’ll review what was delivered last quarter and what will be delivered the next quarter.

6. End with clear action steps.

The SKO should lay out specific actions required from the audience. What actions and follow-ups are required by sellers, support teams, and supervisors?

Your action steps could be both prescriptive and inspirational. Your main goal: Make sure your team leaves the SKO with skills, tools, energy, and a plan for "the Monday after."

Review your plan by asking yourself:

• What’s the theme? 

• How will you put the theme into action? 

• What are the key messages or “Red Threads”? 

• What do you want people to walk away with? 

• Are the keynotes on-message? 

• How will you make this SKO stand out so people walk away saying it’s the best SKO they’ve ever attended? 

• How will you guarantee behaviors change? 

• How will you stop the fade factor and keep the motivation going after the SKO is over?

When you can answer these questions, your plan for the year is more likely to come to fruition. SKOs are a chance to motivate, celebrate, and challenge each other.

Let’s get to work!