How to Throw an Amazing Sales Kickoff Meeting

Your sales team is the driving force behind your business, determining whether you'll have a strong revenue-generating year. As each new fiscal year approaches, organizations typically plan their sales kickoff (SKO) meeting to inspire their sales team, align them on the coming year's goals, and educate them on improving their conversion rates. Plan a strong SKO to set your sales team up for success for the rest of the year. In this guide, we look at the top five ways to make a sales kickoff meeting incredible:

  • Choose a theme

  • Recognize and award employees

  • Offer team-building opportunities

  • Educate and inspire

  • Open discussions

If you can execute all five of these SKO elements, you'll have a successful meeting that excites your sales team to go out and sell, sell, sell!


Your Sales Kickoff Deserves a Space That Shines

Your SKO can only be the influential event you want it to be if you choose the right event space. Modern Moments hosts corporate events in our charming and versatile space, which comfortably accommodates 100-300 guests. We offer affordable rates and professional event planning services.


Choose a Theme

It's not uncommon for major conferences to have a theme each year. A theme serves two purposes:

  • It allows the most important message to come through

  • It aligns all the speakers, presentations, and messages under one cohesive umbrella

Decide what you want the theme for your sales kickoff meeting to be. It should represent what you hope the year ahead will entail. Some great examples of SKO themes are:

  • Rise to the challenge

  • Unlock your potential

  • Lead the way

  • Make it happen

  • Conquer every day

  • Accelerate

  • Believe

  • We're in this together

Recognize and Award Employees

The employees on your sales team who crushed their goals and exceeded their targets also helped your business see a successful year. In order to retain your top sales talent, recognize and award them. These top performers should be celebrated in ways such as:

  • Receiving physical awards

  • Being sent on a President's Club trip

  • Being publicly acknowledged on the stage

Not only will this allow you to keep your best salespeople happy, but it can also motivate everyone else. People may push themselves to work harder because they want to be recognized next year.

Offer Team Building Opportunities

You didn't bring everyone together for this big event just to have them sit next to each other and listen to presentations all day. SKO is a fantastic opportunity to use team-building activities so connections can be made.

A team that feels connected tends to perform better. They'll feel comfortable asking each other for help, learning from one another, and supporting each other for the sake of overall sales success.

Set up fun team-building exercises that combine people from different departments. Some ideas for team-building activities include:

  • Scavenger hunts

  • Blind drawing

  • Charades

  • Achievement sharing

Educate and Inspire

Ultimately, you get everyone in the same room because you want to inspire them for the next year and give them the tools they need to accomplish their goals. So, a big part of a successful SKO will be to educate and inspire.

You can educate the sales team by telling them:

  • How the company and the sales team performed last year compared to the goals set out

  • About the sales goals for the upcoming year

  • What changes and improvements are planned for the products or services offered

You can inspire the team by talking about the following:

  • Where the company will be in the next five years

  • How the business compares to the competition

  • What awards or prizes will be handed out to those who meet their goals

Make sure you have engaging, enthusiastic people presenting your education and inspiration topics to get the audience excited about the year to come.

Open Discussions

If your organization wants to grow and improve, it must be open to accepting feedback. Your sales kickoff isn't just an opportunity for you to talk to the sales team; it's also a chance for them to speak to you and each other.

Throughout your presentation, have the speakers encourage audience members to ask questions. Make it a priority to be transparent, and say no question is off-limits.

Ideally, take this one step further and put some time on the agenda for an open discussion forum. Questions you may want to ask your sales team during this forum include:

  • Do you think the goals for next year are achievable?

  • In what ways were you not supported last year?

  • What was the biggest roadblock you experienced last year in closing deals?

  • What was your biggest loss, and why did it happen?

  • What was your biggest win, and what did you learn from it?

Sales kickoff is the event that gets your sales team excited about chasing after leads for your business. Make sure you give them the best event possible by working with the right event partner.


Your Sales Kickoff Starts Here.

Sales kickoff simply won't be the inspiring, amazing event it needs to be if it's in the same old office your employees go to every day. Book our indoor conference facility to give your SKO the fun, collaborative space to start the new fiscal year with a bang!

Modern Moments provides everything for a successful gathering, from complimentary tables and chairs to modern restrooms and a day-of-event venue coordinator. All you have to do is show up and get your corporate event started.