As we are in the thick of revenue kickoff planning season, I keep seeing a lack of foresight for follow-through. That is a real threat to your success in the coming year. Let me explain.
A revenue kickoff program provides the foundation for transferring knowledge and uplifting behaviors and competencies. Yet, once your revenue kickoff comes and goes, whispers from leaders begin to grow around the organization wondering: Did the kickoff make any difference? Was all that time and money investment worth it?
One single event is not going to move the bar much for your organization and not sustainably over the long run. Rather, the revenue kickoff — emphasis on kickoff — is the start of change, momentum toward future goals. Leaders must intentionally plan for how to activate the RKO program into actual practice.
THE ARC OF ACTIVATION
As your planning committee works out the details of the upcoming revenue kickoff, remember to make a plan for activating your teams. The following are core approaches to any activation plan.
Accountability
Once everyone leaves the sales kickoff fueled up to go after the vision ahead for your organization, to serve the buyer — it is up to you, the leader, to make sure that same fire behind the eyes is glowing come June, come October. You need to follow-up and ensure your team absorbed and is applying key concepts and messaging. Learn the approach of the Chief Reminding Officer for more.
Reinforcement
Is the sales kickoff your only time you get your sales team together? Or do you have a cadence of sales meetings?
Many gather their sales teams, at least regionally, for quarterly or mid-year meetings that spans half a day to a day to ask questions like:
- What are you doing to meet our overall objectives?
- How did you perform this last quarter?
- Have the concepts you learned in the sales kickoff stuck?
Coaching
Along these same lines, learning is never one and done. It is a continuous journey – a lifetime for the most successful professionals. Seek-out opportunities for sales exercises and role-plays, for training discussions and practice sessions on one-on-ones or ride-alongs.
The onus of coaching does not fall on you alone as the chief revenue officer, but it should be provided by the organization. Empower your leadership team, and especially the front-line managers. Coach them to coach and take tasks off their plate that free them to invest more in the individuals on their team.
WHAT ELSE IS YOUR REVENUE KICKOFF PLAN MISSING?
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.