In the corporate world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and sales kickoffs. (Apologies to Benjamin Franklin for butchering his famous quotation!)

As long as we at Mindshare Advisors have been in the workforce, the sales kickoff or “SKO” – among other names – has been a key activity among technology companies (and other industries) for readying not just the sales team but, nearly, all facets of the organization to go-to-market in the upcoming year.

SKOs at large, global organizations can often resemble a trade show or conference in scale and grandeur. Other companies may pull out the stops with a special location, activities, and other production components. Alternatively, some companies choose a more budget conscious approach hosted in their conference room or a meeting room at a nearby hotel or coworking space. Of course, over the last couple of years due to travel restrictions and health concerns, physical SKOs were substituted with virtual events having varying degrees of production slickness.

Regardless of how they manifest, SKOs require a significant investment which includes expenses such as meeting space (or a virtual platform), airfare, transportation, hotel accommodations and catering as well as perhaps guest speaker and activity fees or swag. There’s also the opportunity cost of not only taking the sales team out of the active field for multiple days but, also, other stakeholders which likely include company executives. Not to mention the preparation work required by multiple departments.

Which begs the question: are SKOs worth it or are they a relic from an outdated playbook?

If you’re in a leadership role – specifically, CEO, President or Chief Revenue Officer (or some variation of a role responsible for revenue generation) – that has accountability for achieving corporate goals and objectives, you probably ponder and query others inside and outside of your organization to determine whether or not an SKO has value. Chances are, the answer is, “It depends.”

We at Mindshare Advisors have orchestrated entire SKOs, conceived the marketing track of SKOs, presented as part of the agenda at SKOs, and developed content behind the scenes to be presented by others at SKOs. And we’ve seen wildly successful SKOs, spectacular SKO flops, and a lot in-between. Here’s some rational for doing (or not doing) an SKO plus a list of best practices, and a roster of watchouts.

 Why Host a SKO

• Focus and align the organization on the strategy for the upcoming year
• Energize the sale team and other departments
• Train on product or service offerings
• Educate on the evolving market, technology, and competitive trends
• Celebrate past successes
• Foster teambuilding
• Equip the sales team with tools and skills to close more deals
• Define behaviors to change

Best Practices

• Identify what the organization needs the team to know and do
• Establish the focus for the event (e.g., Education, Motivation, Technology, Products, Etc.)
• Determine how to measure whether the SKO was successful
• Consider how to maintain the energy and focus after the meeting

Watchouts

• Wrong length (diminishing returns)
• Wrong purpose (keep it relevant)
• Wrong agenda (single focus or too much to cover)
• Wrong communication (death by PPT)
• Wrong location & facility (long travel; poor accommodations)
• Wrong acknowledgement (give kudos often and openly)
• Wrong follow up (have a plan to maintain momentum & reinforce)

Need help? We’ll dial-in your agenda, identify your thematic rallying cry or orchestrate your event to achieve maximum impact.