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As organizations prepare for 2023 sales kickoff events, it’s time to take a long, hard look at how these events are structured. While sales kickoffs are an excellent opportunity for teams to reset, refocus and reenergize, these events can come at great expense.

Costs and Benefits of Sales Kickoff Events

Like any internal event, the ROI of sales kickoffs isn’t in the money the event will bring in for your organization. In fact, internal events are inherently cost drivers. But that doesn’t mean their benefits aren’t abundant—and it certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t worth it.

Internal events are proven to boost employee morale, improve retention and help prevent burnout. In the age of the “Great Resignation” and “quiet quitting,” making sure your employees are happy and engaged in their work and teams is critical.

As you begin planning your 2023 sales kickoff, consider what it takes to balance the cost and benefits of all your internal events programs, and how things might look a little different than they have in years past. Is your entire staff now remote, or have you transitioned to a hybrid work model? Maybe you’ve completely transitioned back to in-person work. Whatever the case, finding a way to connect your employees continues to be a unique challenge.

So, where do you start?

How to Host Your Sales Kickoff

From the very beginning of your planning process, there are a few things to consider that will help you decide what your sales kickoff should look like.

1.     Choose an event format and venue

First, and probably most importantly, you’ll need to consider where your employees are. Is most of your staff in-office? Do you have a global team that could meet more readily virtually? A hybrid sales kickoff could be the answer if you have a mixture of in-office and remote employees, or if you have multiple offices.

If you’re hosting a hybrid or in-person sales kickoff, make sure you source a venue that meets your health and safety requirements and offers your employees a rewarding experience.

2.     Find out what motivates your employees

What are your employees’ favorite events from past years? When do they feel most inspired and motivated? Surveying employees before and after sales kickoffs is a great way to check the pulse and find out how you can insert fun into your sales talks.

3.     Determine your KPIs

Think deeply about the goals/KPIs (key performance indicators) you and your stakeholders have for your sales kickoff. You not only want to reward your employees for their hard work, you likely also want to raise awareness of your sales goals for the new year, align teams’ benchmarks and possibly connect your other teams with sales to be sure everyone is on the same page.

4.     Choose your sales kickoff event tech

Whether you’re opting for an in-person, virtual or hybrid sales kickoff, you’ll need the right event tech at your side. Ideally, you’ll want to work with a platform that can not only handle all your sales kickoff needs, from registration to attendee reporting, but you’ll also want a platform that will work for all your internal events.

That way, you can plan all your events in the same place, host events using the same technology that your employees will recognize and create a streamlined process that allows you to balance your internal events budget sheet each year to satisfy your stakeholders and prove ROI.

Choosing a Sales Kickoff Platform

When choosing your sales kickoff platform, you’re looking for a platform that allows you to manage the entire event, and maybe even host your event, if you’re going the virtual or hybrid route. So, what should your sales kickoff event tech be able to do for you? At minimum, look for an event platform that can offer you:

-        Event marketing capabilities

-        Event website and registration setup

-        Check-in and badging process

-        Meeting and appointments notifications

-        Attendee surveys

-        Virtual engagement opportunities

-        Budgeting capabilities

-        Venue and vendor sourcing

-        Room block management

-        Mobile event app