Five strategies to maximize your sales kickoff

The sales kickoff this year will be considerably different — not only will they mostly take place in online or hybrid environments, but you’ll also need to adapt your goals for virtual selling. However, these new types of kickoffs also give sales teams an opportunity to truly prepare for the year ahead and strategize. 

Amy Franko, the founder and CEO of her own sales consulting firm and a LinkedIn Top Sales Voice, used Prezi Video to share five strategies that will help you get the most out of sales kickoffs. Watch her video here, or read on for more tips.

Commit to develop a strategy 

If sales kickoffs seem to sneak up on you, you’re not alone. Amy explains that adopting a more “intentional” mindset can help — start by building out a 30-day strategy, and then go from there. You’ll want to consider what you hope to accomplish, and what steps you’ll need to succeed (including which sessions to attend during the sales kickoff itself). 

Create personal growth goals 

Sales kickoffs are not one-size-fits-all affairs. Amy recommends identifying the most important thing you hope to take away from your kickoff sessions, and how those apply to your personal growth areas. This will also help you find opportunities to stretch and further develop your skills, and better shape your personal development plan. 

Build your centers of influence 

For many sellers, the sales kickoff is the only time they get to really interact with colleagues in other regions or other areas in the business. Even in virtual settings, you can still follow some video conferencing best practices to better connect and engage with your team. But it’s not feasible to build meaningful relationships with everyone in the span of a sales kickoff, so Amy advises focusing on key relationships and then proactively reaching out to them sooner than later. 

Plan ahead for customer growth 

While exceeding quota is the number one goal for most sellers, Amy also looks at the need to create additional goals for customer growth. Are you developing a new territory? Or are you planning to go deeper into a specific vertical? Be sure to assess both customer growth opportunities and risks, and then find the right sessions to attend at your kickoff.

Keep yourself accountable 

Even with a detailed plan that you’re excited to execute, sales life and day-to-day tasks can make it difficult to follow through. Amy shares some tips to help you set accountability so that you avoid letting your plans develop “digital dust.” In particular, she recommends finding an accountability partner, keeping up momentum on execution, and turning to leadership for support. 

Being more intentional with your planning, strategy, and goals will be vital for productive sales kickoffs, especially if they’re virtual or hybrid. Have your own tips to share? Create a Prezi video and tag it with #SalesKickoff or #Sales for a chance to be featured in our Video Gallery.