As we gaze ahead to 2025, revenue leaders are looking to launch 2025 after facing steady headwinds for the last two years. The tension is palpable as ramping revenue rapidly often is predicated on more “boots on the ground,” but CEOs, CFOs and boards / investors are keen on growing revenue through a more efficient approach — where AI is viewed as the “secret weapon.”
What’s a revenue executive to do? And what role can revenue kickoff play?
New approaches, tools and processes for revenue kickoffs have been gaining popularity in this past year. And we at Mereo want to help guide you to three revenue kickoff trends that we believe will support your best kickoff program yet — and three things to go ahead and ignore.
KICKOFF TREND 1: REVENUE IS KING
The shift from sales-only kickoffs to revenue kickoffs started in 2023 and the “concrete is drying,” as the saying goes, on this go-to-market transformation for most leading selling organizations. More chief revenue officers are overseeing the full customer lifecycle — a cyclical process replacing the linear sales operations of days past. Selling no longer concerns salespeople alone. With the full customer lifecycle, organizations need marketers, pre-sale teams and customer success teams as informed, enabled and activated as their top sales professionals.
If you have not already, be prepared to expand your annual kickoff program’s guest list, and plan for wider-reaching content and more-focused breakout sessions for your different segments.
BUT IGNORE THIS:
Revenue growth as the only measurement of success for training is a slippery slope. Growth may be the primary measurement but not the only one. Profitability, customer acquisition cost (CAC), sales cycle velocity, win-rate, lifetime customer value and plenty more all contribute to revenue performance. Growth is absolutely critical, but be careful about making it the sole metric you consider.
KICKOFF TREND 2: AI PLAYS A ROLE IN SCALING
Artificial intelligence has infiltrated most selling organizations this past year and should be addressed at your next revenue kickoff. AI is not magic but it can help your organization scale. Encourage your teams to use AI for what it is meant to be: a tool in their toolbox. Integrate these tools into processes and operations that make sense. Streamline account research. Be smart about tactical prospecting. Reduce the overall cost of sale. But do not forget the power of the human element as you integrate AI into your organization. And after tapping into this tool, keep critical thinking as part of your processes to achieve successful value selling and sustainable revenue performance.
BUT IGNORE THIS:
Many continue shouting about the demise of the sales professional as AI hits organizations’ servers. AI should never replace salespeople — maybe certain activities but not the people. AI can help your organization work more efficiently so that you do not need as many sales experts on the team anymore, but the salesperson always has and always will be a vital part to the sales process.
KICKOFF TREND 3: THEORY WITHOUT ACTIVATION IS JUST HOPE
Most revenue kickoff programs focus on educating their workforce. They then pivot to enabling their teams with the right skills and tools. But for any knowledge-transfer and behavior-change to actually stick and make an impact on your revenue performance, your leadership needs to activate the professionals.
As Paul Stansik of Parker Gale Capital once shared with us: “For a sales kickoff to be successful, you have to sign up for the work that comes after. If training is not reinforced, it is not actually training — it is just intellectual tourism. It’s an expensive TED Talk.”
A kickoff activation plan gives leadership a guidepost for performance: Did your kickoff messages land? Were new skills acquired? Are the new solutions’ value being grasped and conveyed to buyers? When you create an activation plan, you also have a framework for holding your team accountable and reinforcing your revenue kickoff program throughout the year.
BUT IGNORE THIS:
Role-plays are often balked at by professionals, especially sellers: “We already do this,” “Role-plays aren’t real,” “This is a waste of time.” Do not fall victim to the chatter. Role-plays are essential to training and even more so for activation. Practice, practice and then practice some more. In professional sports, the previous season’s champions do not skip training camp. They do not get a pass because they won it all last year. If they are the right people, the standard has now been set and they are going to try to outdo last year’s performance. That necessitates practicing. Role-plays are practice for revenue teams.
PLANNING: A KICKOFF TREND THAT WILL NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE
Every kickoff program demands months of preparation to realize success. It is never too early to start. Our revenue experts at Mereo have crafted The Ultimate Revenue Kickoff Playbook to help your planning committee hone in on and stay focused on what matters most in planning a program that will lead your organization to sustainable revenue performance.