Sales Kickoff Reinforcement: 5 tips for year-long success

Sales Kickoff Reinforcement is perhaps the most important component of having a successful year after kickoff. To help, we’ve put together 5 tips you can use to help ensure success.

Track team engagement

All sessions and decks from kickoff should be made readily available after the event. Easy, right? Go just one step further and this can become a valuable post-event tool to help you demonstrate real ROI. Make your sessions content available as an online resource tool that can track team engagement. Gauge what content is most useful for your team throughout the year and use that data to mold future SKO success.

Roll with your theme, all year long

Treating your SKO as a catalyst for the entire fiscal year rather than a point in time event will bring your theme to life in the minds of attendees. People forget 80% of what they have learned within the first 90 days. That means without a reinforced theme your SKO message could fall by the wayside when attendees move on to the next shiny pretty thing. Use your theme as a wrapper throughout the fiscal year to keep goals and efforts in alignment.

Make content easy and efficient to access

Break up content into short and useful learning segments (20 minutes or less) so sales teams can refer to it while on the go. Resources that integrate easily into a sales team’s already full schedules are a must. Be concise and hit on only the most important messaging you want them to take away. Short video segments, quick-read infographics, incentivizing games and team building posts are all ways to keep your crew focused and enthused.

Utilize the data gathered

Did you gather valuable data before and during your SKO? Data collection and reporting are crucial elements in gauging takeaways and retention after SKO. Pre-event surveys, in-event polling and follow-up polls can provide a much needed view into the minds of attendees and can serve as the road map for continued success efforts. Use those learnings to drive top-of-mind content throughout the year ahead.

Keep everyone accountable

Accountability is important for both you and the team. Use the opportunity after kickoff to write out your team’s goals and post them prominently in both print and digital platforms. Create a flag with the theme and have everyone sign it. Create a giant goal puzzle that reinforces how everyone works together for the common goal. Make it fun and personalized for your unique situation and they will rally behind a common team goal.

A Brainshark survey found that 62% of SKO attendees said reinforcement and follow through after the event was the most important component to sales kickoff meeting effectiveness and ROI.

*State of Sales Kickoff Meetings A survey by Brainshark