Planning a Sales Kickoff that balances the competing demands of an entire revenue org is BRUTAL. Executives want ROI, product teams want to talk about features, reps want to network (party), and Enablement is left holding the bag.
Only a true BEAST can work all these into a three day agenda AND make their SKO fun and effective. Which is why we called VP of Sales Enablement, Kayde Givens. Kayde created the ultimate SKO planning workbook, which she named THE BEAST. It has played a critical role in planning over 100 Sales Kickoffs and she was kind enough to share it with 30MPC.
Today we’re breaking down Kayde’s perfect SKO Agenda across a 3-day schedule:
Day 1 - Set the Tone with a Welcome Party
Day 2 - Protein, General Sesh, and Key Concepts
Day 3 - Breakouts, QBRs, and Awards
Let’s kick it!
Day 1: Set the Tone with a Welcome Party
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The entire sales org is putting their life on hold, dealing with travel, and giving you 3 full days of time for this event, so you have to set the tone for SKO as soon as they arrive.
So instead of wasting the first night and waiting for your General Session to set tone, start this thing off right with a welcome party on Day 1.
Kayde’s key to success for a welcome party are:
- No Agenda - hold off on any slide decks or presentations
- Launch the theme of SKO - hammer it home with big displays, signage, and decor
- Approachable Executives - brief your execs to show up and spend time with the team to show top-down buy-in
But just don’t party too hardy because Day 2 is jam-packed, starting with some protein…
Day 2: Protein, General Sesh, and Key Concepts
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Day 2 is your General Session and is NOT a 6-hour block of slide decks and static sales training. Kayde has a few keys to success for the General Session and she’s feeding us first:
- PROTEIN: Muffins and fruit for breakfast will leave your team on empty by 2 PM. Serving PROTEIN for breakfast is a must-have. Just ask Armand, he ate 30 eggs at Carta’s SKO and didn’t miss a thing.
- Introduce Key Teaching Concepts: bring multiple leaders on stage when rolling out Key Teaching Concepts to provide different perspectives. Keep it high-level knowing you’ll do a deeper dive in breakouts tomorrow.
- Customer panel: invite a few customers (+prospects) to your SKO and have a sales org leader moderate an on-stage panel. This reminds reps why they’re here, offers perspective from ACTUAL buyers, and might even make your customer stickier.
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Reps spent all morning drinking from a firehose of new information, so they’re probably starting to fade, even if they did eat 30 eggs for breakfast.
Wake the group up with an activity or some movement. Kayde likes to have a quick rock paper scissors competition and even brings the last two standing on stage to crown the champion.
Save your CEO keynote for the final slot when the team needs it most, you will literally see the entire room perk up when the top dawg hits the stage.
Phfew what a day, you must be exhausted. Now don’t forget to text your partner goodnight and get your 8 hours because we have one more day of SKO left.
Day 3 - Breakouts, QBRs, and Awards
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By Day 3 Reps will get antsy if you have them sit through another day of general sessions and you’ll see the lobby will fill up with reps faking phone calls. Keep reps engaged by mixing in some breakout sessions. It’s the last thing standing between them and (the bar at) the awards show.
Key Day 3 Sessions:
- Breakout Sessions: Have individual teams go deeper into how the key teaching concepts introduced in Day 1 apply to their team. Leaders of breakout rooms should partner with a member of the enablement team to align on messaging.
- QBR’s: Each rep should present to their team: a retro on last year, goals for current year, and an actionable account plan using the key concepts.
- Awards Show: Kayde’s go-to is an award dinner at the end of SKO. Keep the actual award presentation piece short and sweet, or you might miss opportunities like this one of Armand break dancing at Carta’s SKO. Thanks Kayde!
If you want to see Kayde’s Ultimate full video breakdance, I mean breakdown, where she walks through her entire SKO Planning Process check out the full masterclass here.
That’s a wrap!
