[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/01\/25\/sales-kickoff-top-sko-themes\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/01\/25\/sales-kickoff-top-sko-themes\/","headline":"Sales kickoff: Top 5 SKO themes motivating sellers in 2024","name":"Sales kickoff: Top 5 SKO themes motivating sellers in 2024","description":"Faced with a sinking economy, what are companies doing to pump up their sales teams? Find out the top themes for sales kickoffs in 2024.","datePublished":"2023-01-25","dateModified":"2024-03-11","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/david-rand\/#Person","name":"David Rand","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/david-rand\/","identifier":662,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27af23cf29ea2b57936ae1099d10f2b43bf9e7528abe792c2ae825d887981c44?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27af23cf29ea2b57936ae1099d10f2b43bf9e7528abe792c2ae825d887981c44?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sales-Kickoff-FTR.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sales-Kickoff-FTR.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/01\/25\/sales-kickoff-top-sko-themes\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/employee-engagement\/","name":"Employee Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Employee_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q14937678"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/revenue\/","name":"Revenue","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Revenue","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q850210"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/sales-general\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]},"Sales Success"],"wordCount":1352,"keywords":["2023 Trends","B2B Sales","Sales","Sales Reps","Sales Success","Sales Tips","Sales Training"],"articleBody":"It’s annual sales kickoff (SKO) season again, but this one is distinctly different from any in recent memory.Many businesses are holding their first in-person SKO gatherings since before the global pandemic was declared in March 2020. Some are just now asking workers to return to physical offices. And most are reluctantly preparing for what could be the first recession in more than 13 years.Against this backdrop, you\u2019d think it would be tough for companies to host SKOs with the high level of confidence, passion, and spirited optimism that’s needed to inspire salespeople. But celebrating wins, product achievements, and customer successes is vital for morale.At the same time, it’s especially important when facing an economic downturn to get everyone aligned on priorities so they can have consistent, meaningful exchanges with prospects and customers.How are companies pumping up their sales teams in 2024? Here are some common SKO themes at this year’s sales kickoffs:Get into the customer mindsetPrioritize customer retentionFocusHave the right contentShare best practicesSales kickoffs in 2024 get realCompanies traditionally hold SKO meetings at the beginning of the year to educate and inform their sales team. After COVID, they became virtual events, but now some businesses are returning to in-person SKOs, at least partially.A poll by SalesHood, a sales enablement platform, found 20% of its community members are taking a hybrid (in-person plus virtual) approach to SKOs this year, and 9% are going completely virtual.Instead of funding lavish offsite events \u2013 as they have in the past \u2013 companies like Nogin, a Southern California-based e-commerce service provider, are acknowledging economic headwinds and holding modest gatherings this month in their own offices.Thematically, companies know they can’t simply approach sales kickoffs as massive cheerleading sessions where they pump up audiences, name their President\u2019s Award winners, and party into the wee hours of the night.Most executives know there needs to be a dose of reality involved as well as prescriptive guidance their salespeople can use to frame external conversations throughout the year.They realize many salespeople are likely to have questions in the backs of their minds, like: Are my sales likely to fall this year? What\u2019s my path to personal profitability? Are layoffs coming?      Scalable marketing: Customer engagement in a recession-wary world                As economic uncertainty abounds, scalable marketing involving processes, people, and tech is a must to efficiently grow customer engagement.      Priority #1: Customer-focused salesAs a service provider, Nogin’s VP of sales Patrick Feit says his company is underscoring how its offering can help customers right-size their costs and infrastructure to ride out the recession. Sales organizations, he says, need to put themselves in the shoes of their customers and focus on business opportunities and challenges.Elay Cohen, CEO of SalesHood, agrees. \u201cIf companies are solving a real business problem with quantifiable impacts, then they’ll be fine and it\u2019ll be their time to shine,\u201d he says.\u201cNow’s the time to double down on skills like discovery, curiosity, and value selling. Messaging alignment is key. Many companies are updating their messaging to adapt to the current environment.\u201dScott Edinger, a Florida leadership consultant and author, advises companies to avoid the temptation to offer customer discounts to win business. Instead, he says they should urge sales teams to pursue the \u201cright kind of business.\u201d\u201cDecision criteria like quality, time savings, and productivity enhancers, as well as improving economic performance at the top and bottom line, are important,” he writes in Harvard Business Review. “Add things like integration, simplification, scalability, and reliability, and your sales team will be able to create stronger agreements based on how your company can help a customer achieve their objectives.\u201dLeaders should focus on creating valuable experiences that help customers think differently \u2013 and how the company\u2019s solutions can help, he adds.\u201cWhen there is less business to go around and people are more sensitive about spending, the win goes to the sellers who differentiate in the way they sell,\u201d Edinger says.      Contextual selling: How customer centricity helps seal the deal                Learn how contextual selling helps organizations boost engagement by using real-time data to personalize the sales process for each buyer.      Sales kickoff: Stop the churnIn strong economies, companies pursue new customers like there\u2019s no tomorrow. But when fortunes turn, executives like Kris Rudeegraap, CEO of Sendoso, an end-to-end gifting platform, say it\u2019s critical to adapt by doubling down on existing business.You simply can’t afford to lose too many accounts with budgets shrinking and the cost of acquiring new customers running about five times higher than the cost of keeping those you already have.\u201cIn challenging economies, you\u2019ve got to really make sure that you\u2019re keeping a strong eye on customer churn and retention as well as customer growth strategies,\u201d says Rudeegraap, whose company will hold its sales kickoff onsite in early February for its go-to-market teams. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be a central part of our talk track.\u201d  Always. Be. Closing.Take a product tour to see how a modern CRM can help you reach your sales goals HERE.Focus on what you can controlIn difficult times, it\u2019s easy for salespeople to get sidetracked by understandable concerns about contracts going south, travel and expense freezes, or reductions in force.But it\u2019s a leader\u2019s job to keep teams focused on the task-at-hand, which is to sell.\u201cCompanies need to stress that if you\u2019re a top-performing rep and you are hitting your numbers, there’s nothing to worry about,\u201d says Rudeegraap. \u201cIt\u2019s all about making sure you continue doing a great job.\u201d      Sales process automation: Freeing sellers to sell \u2013 and excel                Learn how automation, done right, improves the sales process by eliminating manual tasks and guesswork so sellers can focus on closing deals.      We have the beef: Sales enablement\u00a0Smart businesses do their utmost to arm sales teams with current, relevant, and meaty enablement content. Customer priorities and pressures are constantly changing, especially over these last three pandemic-stricken years.As such, many companies are using their sales kickoffs to point salespeople to materials containing the latest product roadmap storylines, and to sales playbooks with guidance for countering tricky customer objections like \u201cthe budget is unclear right now,\u201d or \u201cwe need to wait until the dust settles.\u201d\u201cThe key is to create content that enables salespeople to proactively address those concerns,\u201d says Rudeegraap. \u201cWe have content collateral, case studies, and training to help our sellers combat those rebuttals. Stellar sales enablement helps win deals.\u201d      Prepping for the future of selling: Sales enablement must-haves                How can organizations help their sellers prepare for the future of selling? Look for these three capabilities in a sales enablement platform.      Sharing wins and best practicesSalespeople are notorious for keeping information close to their vests because they fear sharing too much detail about their wins will cost them down the road.However, during sales kickoffs, companies must \u2013 especially when faced with a sinking economy \u2013 encourage teams to share best practices.Sales collaboration can help boost sales in a number of ways, especially in B2B. By sharing their wins and experiences, sellers can learn from each other and gain insight that helps them move a deal along. Collaboration also helps keep sellers on the same page so that they provide consistent customer experience.At the sales kickoff and at regular sales meetings during the year, sales leaders should recognize and reward team collaboration. Having sellers talk about team efforts will help encourage collaboration.      Online collaboration: How sellers become rainmakers                Make it rain: Boost sales success via online collaboration and watch remote sales orgs soar.      Ready to winThe bottom line for most businesses in down economies is to remind sales teams during SKOs and throughout the year to have a thick skin, always put customer priorities first, and be willing to constantly adapt.Anything less could lead to disaster \u2013 for the business as well as the salesperson\u2019s livelihood.  Modern business, meet revenue:\u2013 End-to-end connected data\u2013 Engage quickly with a great CX\u2013 Sell anytime, anywhereGet going TODAY."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2023","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"25","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/\/01\/\/25\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Sales kickoff: Top 5 SKO themes motivating sellers in 2024","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2023\/01\/25\/sales-kickoff-top-sko-themes\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]