Sales kickoffs mark the beginning of the new year. New budgets, refreshed expectations and in some cases, a new organizational structure to accommodate the aforementioned. Often they’re dreaded and categorized as colossal wastes of time. There can be a number of real and ‘religious’ reasons, however the two biggies are a fear of the unknown and, frankly, shitty (excuse me!) mundane content.

Apprehension surrounding what one can’t see is a very human trait. Over coming it is challenging but not impossible. Don’t believe me? Then read Switch by the Heath brothers. They are the guys who wrote Made to Stick, and Switch, like the previous, is on point.

Since the Heaths have covered conquering the unknown, let’s talk about your content, flow and agenda. I’ll be talking to small to medium organizations. You big guys can listen in as well however you’re not the focal point.

Beginning at the beginning, build your kickoff like an effective demo. Effective demos, especially in the technical space don’t start with the setup of the technology. They start with the feature or set of capabilities that most interest the audience. In other words, start with the sizzle and end with the steak. Begin with your goal. Your goal is not your numbers from last year. Your goal is a location. It’s an oasis. It’s where you intend to end up at the end of the year. Make it tangible. Make it concrete. Make it something that can be measured without requiring an MBA in Accounting. Accounting isn’t sexy nor is it inspiring especially when we all know numbers can be made to say anything.

Financial numbers are fairly ambiguous unless the intention is to increase them by orders of magnitude. Increasing revenue by 10-15% is not a goal, it’s a fundamental part of doing business. Announcing cuts or a reduction in spending by “n” percentage is not a goal. It’s a means to an end but it’s certainly not something you’ll want to lead with. Effective goals come from a place of:

• Taking market share
• Beating the competition
• Increasing revenue by orders of magnitude
• Decreasing spending by orders of magnitude

In general, exclaiming any of these will meet with grumbles but they are also enablers. Accomplishing them forces new methods of thinking and behaving. In a word they enable innovation. Innovation is a differentiator. If it were easy everyone would be rich and successful. Business is Darwinian by nature. The global recession taught us that. Moreover, innovation is inspiring. Talk to Guy Kawasaki if you’re skeptical. He’s probably more successful than you, so I suggest you listen.

We’ve got the beginning nailed. Set a goal that is tangible, aggressive and measurable. Be sure to measure this goal frequently and honestly. In your kickoff, communicate the strategy that makes this goal achievable and how it will be measured (continually).

“A Relevant Story”

Early in my career I worked for David Schultz @ Media Logic. He’s the president. While working there, an annual staff meeting set the tone for the year and to communicate what was expected of us. The meeting was an event. There were teasers leading up to it, almost like a movie. The theme was communicated before the kickoff so that we could get our minds around it, discuss it, and generally poke and prod it. The event itself was off-site to avoid the temptation of distraction. Once at the kickoff, we were educated and workshop-ed into understanding the relevance, purpose and attainability of the goals. After the meeting there were monthly staff meetings where our goals were analyzed. Are we going to fall short? Are we on target? What do we have to do as a team to achieve our goal(s)? In short, tangible metrics communicating our proximity to achieving or failing were on display for all.

The transparent communication style David used empowered each employee to affect change. Moreover understanding the goal helped to align decision making across departments and responsibilities. The net benefit —  a unified organization where the employees felt empowered and integral to the organization’s success.

In closing, Media Logic’s sales kickoff’s were effective because:

• Clear goals were set
• Goals were articulated through what they meant to the business
• Milestones with associated metrics were communicated
• Workshops to gain our buy-in were used liberally
• PowerPoint wasn’t the communication tool of choice
• Questions were invited and answered candidly on the spot
• Everyone was included in the process