Your Sales Kickoff: An Essential Checklist to Help You Crush Your Team’s Goals

As you prepare for your next sales kickoff, it’s important to make every step count. To help, we’ve created a checklist so that you can cover your bases:

1. Pre-Kickoff Prep—Gear up and dig in!
   • Set Goals for the Kickoff: Make it clear what the purpose of the kickoff is, setting objectives such as skill development, product knowledge and team alignment.
   • Conduct Pre-Kickoff Surveys: Create team direction by gathering feedback on challenges, skill gaps and areas where the team feels they need support.
   • Compile Success Stories and Case Studies: Show what your team can do! Provide examples from the past year to motivate and inform strategies.
2. Sales Training—Is your team’s training still relevant?
   • Skill-Building Sessions: Sales are always changing—and so do customers, becoming more sophisticated as they seek solutions. Include modules on negotiation, objection handling, closing techniques, and relationship-building.
   • Industry-Specific Sales Training: No two organizations are the same—and neither are sales teams! Craft tailored sessions to deepen expertise in your target industries.
   • Customer-Centric Sales Approaches: Reinforce customer-focused communication, active listening and value proposition.
   • Competitive Landscape and Market Trends: It’s important to help your team set their sights ahead; update the team on current market dynamics and competitor moves.
   • Role-Playing Scenarios: Conduct role-play exercises to practice real-world sales and customer interactions.
3. Technology and Tools Review—Is your team equipped with what they need?
   • CRM and Sales Technology Deep-Dive: Review CRM tools, automation systems and data analytics software.
   • Tech Demo Sessions: Provide hands-on demos of new tools or updates to ensure everyone understands their usage. Consider training sessions—the investment you make now will create vital impacts later!
   • Data Utilization for Sales Intelligence: Train your team on using data for lead scoring, account prioritization, and personalized outreach.
4. Product Knowledge—What’s changed?
   • New Product Updates: Present new features, services or products launching in the future.
   • Product Use Cases and Differentiators: Highlight specific use cases and unique selling points.
   • Product Q&A Panel: Arrange an open forum with product experts for in-depth Q&A.
5. Account Planning and Strategy—Pipelines, Playbooks and everything in-between
   • Account Segmentation and Targeting: Review ideal customer profiles, segmentation strategies and target account lists.
   • Top Account Playbooks: Develop playbooks for your team’s biggest accounts.
   • Pipeline Review and Opportunity Mapping: Assess the pipeline for Q1 and create strategies for high-value opportunities.
   • Account Planning Workshops: Conduct workshops for teams to create account strategies and set vital goals for key accounts.
6. Sales Enablement and Content Review—Call out those wins!
   • Sales Collateral Updates: Introduce new case studies, brochures and content specific to your products and organization.
   • Customer Success Stories: Highlight wins to inspire the team and show how their impact makes a difference.
   • Personalized Outreach Templates: Update email and messaging templates with a customer-centric approach.
7. Inspiration and Motivation—Get inspired!
   • Guest Speakers: Invite industry leaders or top clients to speak on trends and customer expectations.
   • Recognition of Top Performers: Celebrate top performers with awards, stories and recognition.
   • Set Clear Goals: Have each team member set personal and team goals for the year ahead.
8. Team Building and Culture Building—Better Together
   • Icebreakers and Team-Building Activities: Despite the day-to-day, it isn’t always easy to learn about your colleagues. Engage in activities that strengthen team bonds.
   • Sales Culture Workshop: Discuss and align on company values, sales culture and best practices.
   • Feedback and Open Forum: Provide a session for team feedback, concerns and suggestions.
9. Post-Kickoff Follow-Up
   • Action Plan Assignments: Ensure every participant leaves with a clear action plan.
   • Schedule Follow-Up Coaching Sessions: Plan check-ins to track progress on training and goals.
   • Measure Success of Kickoff: Use post-kickoff surveys and sales performance metrics to evaluate impact.

If you have any questions, never hesitate to reach out to us—we’re here to guide, support and work with you to reach your revenue goals and up those win rates for your team!

How to Start the Year Right With a Dynamic Sales Kickoff Event