The Key to a Successful Sales Kickoff (SKO): Tips + Tricks

Every year, at some point (usually around January), sales teams all over the globe host sales kickoffs. Getting together with your reps, stakeholders, managers, and organization leaders can do wonders for setting the pace for the rest of the year. 

Our how-to guide will explain everything you need to know about hosting a successful sales kickoff (SKO), including what it is, why it’s important, and how you can host one for your sales team.  

What Is a Sales Kickoff (SKO)? 

A sales kickoff (SKO) is an annual meeting for sales teams to discuss the upcoming year’s strategy and any wins of the past year. Usually, an organization will lay out the company objectives for the next 12 months with the intention of motivating sales teams to action.

What’s the purpose of a sales kickoff?

A sales kickoff is meant to motivate your sales team for the next year’s endeavors. Some common goals for SKOs include: 

• Building organization morale 
• Inspiring your sales reps
• Boosting your sales team’s rapport and trust
• Discussing the next year’s strategy and objectives
• Celebrating any outstanding wins from the past year

Notable companies who do sales kickoffs well

There are definitely some notable companies known for doing sales kickoffs well. For example, Databricks and Salesforce are both recognized brands that host successful SKOs.

Before Databricks’ SKO, the company organized a massive pitch contest called the Databricks Cup. At the beginning of the year, each account executive and front line manager records themself delivering a data intelligence platform pitch, along with generative AI recommendations, an account plan, and a few other deliverables. Using the Kirkpatrick model, leaders at Databricks evaluate and share the best pitches.

Salesforce is similar, with its SKO Community Kickoff, and Google is also known for hosting pitch contests during its kickoffs. 

What Might a Sales Kickoff Look Like?

In the past, sales kickoffs were almost always in-person events for teams. For example, conference centers are a popular venue choice for in-person SKOs, and that might be what most people envision when thinking about this kind of event.

Today, however, virtual sales kickoffs are even more common.

Virtual sales kickoff

One of the lasting results of the COVID-19 pandemic is virtual sales kickoffs — SKOs that take place online instead of in person. Virtual sales kickoffs have much to offer, despite being 100% online.

For example, companies have the opportunity to send attendees “swag bags” beforehand to get them excited for the SKO.

Whether or not you’re planning for a virtual sales kickoff, there are plenty of tools you can use to your advantage.

How to Use AI to for a Successful Sales Kickoff Pitch Contest

Even though artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging field, there are plenty of AI-powered tools you can use for your upcoming sales kickoff. For example, Yoodli is a great option for teams looking to plan a successful SKO, especially when it comes to pitch contests.

Learn more about Yoodli below:

If you have a pitch contest leading up to your SKO, make sure you use Yoodli. It can easily be leveraged as an AI assessment to see how folks are doing in terms of the pitch. Using Yoodli can also help companies select the winner. 

It can be used as an AI assessment to see how folks are doing on your pitch and that way you can select the winner.

Other ways to use Yoodli for sales kickoffs

Yoodli uses generative AI technology to act as a sales coach (and so much more) for folks looking for a little extra help. It’s a trusted resource — used by leading Fortune 500 sales companies like Google and Korn Ferry — and can be leveraged at multiple points in your planning, organization, and delivery of an SKO.

Yoodli can be used to facilitate sales kickoffs during every stage: the pre-planning and prep, during the event, and for post-SKO information. 

In terms of preparation, Yoodli can analyze a team’s pitch when they practice. Not only that, but this AI sales coach provides individualized, actionable feedback for improvement.

During the pre-SKO phase, Yoodi can also help guests and keynote speakers prepare for their respective presentations in the same way: providing feedback on their overall delivery, coupled with personalized sales coaching tips. Depending on the organization’s goals, a team can also use Yoodli to test out various talking points and key messages, as Yoodli can make data-backed suggestions to make sure the delivery is as good as it can be.

Depending on your sales kickoff format, Yoodli can even offer an interactive element by allowing attendees to experience real-time, interactive workshops where they can work on sales pitching or even just crafting a good elevator pitch.

Of course, teams can also use Yoodli post-sales kickoff — especially when it comes to things like performance evals and continued skills reinforcement. 

Depending on your organization’s goals, attendees can take advantage of Yoodli after the fact to ensure they’re on the right track to meeting those objectives.

You and your team can start exploring Yoodli today (for free) at https://yoodli.ai/.

Why Does a Sales Kickoff Matter?

Although it might be tempting for some firms to overlook its importance, sales kickoffs can make the difference between a successful or an unsuccessful year of sales. In a world of quiet quitting and burnout, boosting your team’s morale at the beginning of a new cycle is crucial. 

The impact of fostering a positive work environment and a sense of camaraderie shouldn’t be underestimated. 

A sales kickoff meeting is also a great time to emphasize the company’s mission, values, vision, and annual goals. If there are any new or up-and-coming services or products, an SKO is a great stage to introduce those offerings. It’s also the perfect opportunity to emphasize best practices for sales strategies. 

How to Plan a Sales Kickoff

Planning an SKO can definitely feel overwhelming, especially if you don’t have past experience preparing and hosting them. Here are four simple tips for preparing a successful sales kickoff event. 

1. Pick a good venue.

If you’re planning to host the event in person, as many orgs do, choosing an appropriate venue should be high on your list of priorities. There are a handful of things to consider before you decide on a location. 

First and foremost, start by getting an eye of where your team (or the majority of your team) is located. That’ll help you narrow down an area for the SKO venue. Your organization’s overall SKO budget can also give you some additional context as to what’s realistic. 

You should also consider factors like: 

• Accessibility, to make sure everyone who needs to attend can do so
• Capacity and size, especially if you have a particularly large group or organization
• Facilities and amenities, such as wifi access, meeting rooms, audio and visual technology, etc.

For sales kickoffs, some of the most commonly used venue types include settings like hotels and conference centers. However, depending on your budget and organization, you could also explore some more unique options, such as art galleries, restaurants, museums, or other creative spaces. 

2. Choose an event theme.

Although it’s not required, choosing a theme for your org’s sales kickoff is becoming an increasingly popular choice. There are a few benefits to hosting a themed SKO, namely, making it more memorable and boosting the enthusiasm for your sales team. A common theme is also a great way to unify your sales kickoff. 

Some sales kickoff theme ideas include things like: 

• “Stepping up to the plate” 
• “The future is now”
• “Unleashing your potential”
• “Achieving new heights” 
• “Sowing seeds for the future”
• “Expanding your horizons”

For example, some of the 2020 sales kickoff themes from top companies include: 

• Royal Caribbean’s “Charting the Course” (2020)
• Microsoft’s “Ignite the Possible” (2020)
• Salesforce’s “Unstoppable” (2020)
• Procter & Gamble’s “Winning Together” (2020)
• Siemens’ “Innovate for Growth” (2021)
• Accenture’s “Together Forward” (2021)
• Verizon’s “Innovate to Elevate” (2021)

3. Set attainable goals and objectives.

Setting some clear objectives and goals for the SKO should also be high up on your priority list. Having some attainable goals for the event can help you plan and navigate the sales kickoff easier. 

Answering some questions might help you and your organization narrow down the goals and objectives for the event. For example, think about what outcomes you want to see from the SKO. For some teams, the obvious goal might be to increase sales. Maybe you have a new line of product you’d like to introduce. Or, after a tough year, perhaps morale is a concern. Whatever it may be, deciding on some attainable goals is a must.

4. Organize the sales kickoff’s schedule.

You’ll also want to plan and organize an agenda for your sales kickoff event. This could include ideating and creating an official SKO schedule. Although the schedule will totally depend on your organization and goals, there are some commonalities among kickoff events that you should consider. 

For example, team-building activities are often baked into the agenda. These could include social events, like happy hours or team dinners. However, your schedule should also include educational sessions or trainings.

Don’t forget to include breaks in the schedule. Including a few breaks can keep folks engaged and fend off boredom. 

Other things you could include in your sales kickoff schedule include: 

• Guest or keynote speaker presentations
• Dedicated networking opportunities
• Service and product demos
• Group activities

Considerations for virtual sales kickoffs

If your sales kickoff is virtual, there are some other considerations to keep in mind. Some of the best tips for online SKOs include: 

• Using interactive elements to keep folks engaged
• Purposely calling out and rewarding team members for the past year’s accomplishments
• Creating an engaging presentation to share wins and strategy insights
• Baking in purposeful breaks for attendees to avoid Zoom fatigue
• Hosting special guests and keynote speakers 

How to Measure a Sales Kickoff’s Success

It’s always a good idea to plan to measure your sales kickoff’s success in some way or another. Here are a few ways you can measure your event’s accomplishments. 

Take advantage of feedback and post-SKO surveys

One of the easiest ways to measure how successful your org’s sales kickoff was is to get direct feedback from attendees. To do so, consider sending on online, post-SKO surveys with a healthy amount of questions (and room for free-form comments from participants). If you can make the survey anonymous, that’s even better. Folks are more likely to give you their true, honest feedback if they feel there’s little risk in doing so.

Evaluate your post-kickoff sales performance

Although it might sound obvious, one of the indicators of a successful sales kickoff is the resulting boost in sales performance. Analyzing the upcoming year’s sales performance is a great way to judge whether or not your SKO was a hit. 

Even though it’s not a one-and-done metric, evaluating the year’s performance after your sales kickoff event is definitely worthwhile. 

Check out key performance indicators (KPI)

Examining some of the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the sales kickoff event is another worthy idea to help measure the event’s success. There are many KPIs that can help paint a clearer picture of how the SKO event went. 

For example, one of the more immediate KPIs your organization can use to gauge the event’s success include attendance rates. Comparing the number of folks invited to the event with the number of attendees can shed a little light on the participation rate. You could also take a look at engagement (through real time or post-SKO surveys) and even information retention through quizzes to see how much your attendees remember. 

Other more long-term KPIs to consider include:

• How long the sales cycle is after the sales kickoff
• Sales win rate and pipeline growth, post-SKO
• Employee satisfaction rates
• Overall revenue growth 

Sales Kickoff FAQs

As long as you have an agenda for SKO prep, organization, and a plan for post-SKO measurement, you and your team should be in good shape. Here are some sales kickoff FAQs to clear up any lingering confusion.

1. What should you wear for a sales kickoff?

Knowing what to wear for a sales kickoff can be tricky. However, it’s usually a safe bet to wear business professional or even business casual. The exception is if your SKO includes a unique activity that might require a dress change.

2. How long is a sales kickoff?

The length of a SKO can depend on the organization. However, in general, sales kickoffs usually last at least a day. Some larger companies even host multi-day events. It totally depends on the number of attendees and the SKO agenda. 

3. How much does a sales kickoff cost?

The amount of money a sales kickoff costs can also vary pretty wildly. It depends on the company’s budget, workforce, event location, and other factors. However, SKO events usually aren’t cheap. 

For example, Sales Benchmark Index put the average cost per participant from $2,500 to $5,000 in 2021. A budget of around $2,000 or less per attendee was more common according to an in-house poll by SetSail.

The Main Takeaway 

A sales kickoff is an exciting, engaging way to get your sales team pumped for the upcoming year while also hammering in the company’s objectives. If you and your team are considering hosting a SKO, Yoodli can facilitate the process, especially when it comes to sales pitches and presentation skills.

Sources

• Hubspot: “The Ultimate Guide to Successful Sales Kickoffs [Agenda Included].”
• Hi-Q Group: “The Ultimate 2024 Guide to Sales Kickoff Themes & National Sales Meeting Themes.”
• SBI: “Accelerate Growth at Sales Kickoff (SKO) – Avoid These 5 Mistakes.”
• SetSail: “The Essential Sales Kick-Off Survival Guide: 10 Tips for Running an SKO That Drives Revenue.”