How to Host a Stellar Sales Kickoff

Jacob Thomas Contributor, Sell to Win Last updated on: March 13, 2025

If you’re a sales leader, planning your annual sales kickoff event is probably at the top of your to-do list heading into a new year…or at least it should be.

It’s important to get your sales team thinking long-term, and having a sales kickoff can be a great way to get the team thinking about their sales strategies for the year.

Keep reading to learn what a sales kickoff is, why these kinds of events are valuable to sales teams, and seven tips you can use to ensure your kickoff is a huge success.

What’s a sales kickoff?

A sales kickoff, or SKO for short, is an annual meeting that allows sales teams to set goals for the new year, align strategy, and motivate reps. SKOs often last at least a full day and are typically hosted in January or February, though this isn’t a hard and fast rule.

Common sales kickoff agenda items include:

• Settings goals for the new year
• Reviewing results from the previous year
• Celebrating successes and recognizing contributors
• Training on new products, features, sales processes, and sales tools
• Providing company and team updates
• Networking and team building

What are the benefits of a sales kickoff event?

Are sales kickoff events really worth the effort? While we can’t answer that question for you, we can say with absolute confidence that sales kickoffs are beneficial to the companies that host them. Here’s why:

• Improved team focus: SKOs allow sales leaders to set goals for the year and ensure the team understands them. When reps align with company objectives, they can focus on high-impact strategies, boosting team performance.
• Opportunity for sales team education: SKOs are a great time to educate reps on new products, boosting their confidence and sales. They also offer a chance to train on sales techniques, processes, and tools.
• Increased team-wide energy: A well-structured SKO re-energizes and motivates your sales team, boosting enthusiasm and driving higher sales through inspirational speeches and award presentations.

7 tips for your next SKO meeting

The benefits of sales kickoff meetings are clear. Now the question is, how do you host one? Keep the following seven tips in mind and your next SKO will be much more successful.

1. Secure leadership buy-in

The first step in planning a successful sales kickoff is to get buy-in from your leadership team. You’ll be better able to align your sales team around your company’s goals and initiatives for the year if key stakeholders are also on board—and you’re more likely to have better ROI for the time you spend planning and executing the event. 

You’ll need to communicate about company and sales objectives, determine the top goals for the sales team, understand what new processes and products the team will be expected to learn, and more.

2. Understand your goals

Your objectives should form the foundation of your entire SKO, which means you have to actually know what they are. By taking time to define your goals, you’ll ensure your meet-up is both productive and successful. There are two kinds of goals you should set:

• Business goals: What do you want your sales team to achieve this year? Examples could be, “Boost revenue by at least 10%” or “Break into X market.” Don’t plan the rest of your SKO until you know exactly what your business goals are.
• SKO goals: You should also plan specific goals for your sales kickoff event. What do you want your event to accomplish? Maybe you’re looking to celebrate big wins from the previous year and fire up your team for the months ahead. Or maybe you plan to focus on education at your SKO so that your reps have the tools they need to sell effectively. Know your goals so that you can plan an effective event.

Without business and SKO goals, your sales kickoff meeting will be directionless and unsuccessful—definitely not what you’re going for.

3. Choose a sales kickoff theme

Now that you’ve taken the time to understand your goals, you can choose a theme for your sales kickoff. Yes, every SKO meeting should have a theme! Not only will this make it more fun for your reps, it will also make the sales kickoff event more memorable and therefore more effective.

Start by gathering some sales kickoff ideas that your whole team will enjoy. You could, for instance, plan a Marvel-themed SKO and give each of your top sellers a superhero identity to assume during the event. Looking for something a little more traditional? You could come up with a theme like “Better, Stronger, Faster” or “Breaking Barriers” and build the content around it.

The key is to match your theme to the current status of your sales team.

4. Plan multiple session types

Looking to educate your reps at your next sales kickoff? Maybe you want to take time to celebrate last year’s wins or work to build stronger relationships between reps. These are all great goals! But if every single moment of your SKO is about the same topic, it will get stale—fast.

As you create your sales kickoff agenda, plan multiple session types so that your team has a well-rounded experience that’s both fun and productive. Here are a few session types to include:

• Celebration: Your SKO is the perfect time to recognize and celebrate both the big and small wins from the past 12 months and recognize your team for their contributions.
• New updates: Are there any fresh developments your reps need to know about? New product releases, pricing changes, and compensation adjustments all apply. These kinds of sessions are also a perfect time to share new goals for the upcoming year.
• Education: There’s always new information to learn. Teach your team about the intricacies of your new product and share new selling strategies they can use to meet quota. If possible, bring in outside speakers to educate your reps so that they have access to fresh information.
• Rep-led session: Flip the script on lecture-style sessions by giving certain reps the chance to share their experiences over the year, unique challenges they’ve faced, or best practices with others. This can be a great way to involve some of your highest-performing reps for the benefit of the group. This session could also include a Q&A or discussion panel.
• Active practice: Turn education into execution with a session that gives reps the opportunity to put what they’ve learned into practice. Have reps volunteer to play specific roles in different sales scenarios where they can practice pitching the product, meeting objections, and answering a lead’s questions.
• Customer interviews: The best way to learn about your company’s customers is to, you know, talk to them. Plan a customer interview session so that your reps can interact and learn from them in a zero pressure situation. The customer insights they glean will be invaluable and help them lock down many more sales in the future.
• Team building: Modern sales is a team sport, which means team building sessions are essential to the success of your department. Help your team build deeper bonds with each other via fun games and exercises. Team building sessions will also help boost company morale and excitement for the coming year. Win!

There are plenty of other session types you can include in your SKO as well. When planning your event’s agenda, try to keep things fresh with a wide range of content.

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5. Develop and assign pre-work

Your sales kickoff could just be a two-day lecture series—but that wouldn’t be very engaging for your sales reps, and it likely wouldn’t offer them opportunities to contribute their insights and expertise to the larger team. Create and assign relevant pre-work to your reps several days before the event so that everyone can come prepared. 

Pre-work can ensure everyone in attendance has the foundational knowledge they need for your kickoff while providing a chance for them to share their experiences with the team, leading to even greater learning. 

Some good examples of sales kickoff pre-work include: 

• Identifying their top personal successes and failures from the past year 
• Doing some research on a new process or tool the team is about to implement 
• Learning essential facts about the products or services your business is about to launch 
• Pinpointing the tasks, activities, and practices that have made the biggest contribution to sales success 

Be sure to communicate with your sales team leaders ahead of time to ensure reps have the time and resources they need to complete their pre-work before the SKO. You may also find it helpful to incentivize participation by clearly communicating the benefits to your team or offering participation prizes at your kickoff event.

6. Invite other departments

SKOs are for sales teams, but your sellers don’t operate in a silo—at least they shouldn’t. Marketing, product, customer service, and other departments all need to work together in order for a company to be successful. With this in mind, invite other leaders in your organization to speak at your sales kickoff meeting.

It can be incredibly beneficial for reps to understand how marketing can work with them. Oftentimes there’s a disconnect between marketers and sellers within companies. Your next SKO is a fantastic opportunity to unite these separate teams.

In a similar vein, insights from the product team can help your reps better understand the solutions they sell. And conversations with your company’s customer service leaders will give them in-depth knowledge about the unique audience they need to convert.

Just make sure that everyone who speaks at your SKO understands the theme you’ve chosen and plans their talking points around it, regardless of the department they work in. That way their sessions feel cohesive and work towards the goals of your event.

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7. Provide follow-ups

If all goes well, your sales reps will leave your sales kickoff better educated, energized, and motivated. Take full advantage of these benefits by providing follow-up opportunities.

To reinforce the goals, theme, and enthusiasm generated by your sales kickoff meeting, plan ways to continue the conversation. For example, you could schedule regular meetings to check in with your team. Or create a Slack channel devoted to the themes and goals covered in the kickoff.

In conclusion, a successful sales kickoff (SKO) starts with clear business and event goals, a memorable theme, and a variety of engaging sessions. By incorporating multiple session types, inviting other departments, and providing follow-up opportunities, you can ensure your SKO not only motivates and educates your team but also sets the stage for a successful year ahead. Proper planning and execution will maximize the impact of your SKO and drive lasting results.

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Sales kickoff FAQs

Planning and executing a successful sales kickoff requires a lot of planning. Check out these frequently asked questions to make sure you cover all your bases:

What should be included in a sales kickoff?

A sales kickoff should include several types of sessions to encourage and motivate your sales team, including presentations, training, and networking opportunities. While you should always tailor your sales kickoff to your team’s needs and goals, here are some sales kickoff ideas to consider:

• Reviewing results and setting goals
• Celebrating your team’s accomplishments and recognizing contributors
• Sharing customer success stories and interviews with customers
• Team-building activities and networking opportunities
• Sharing company and product updates
• Educating your team on new sales techniques and processes
• Providing updates on your company’s products or services

What should you expect at a sales kickoff?

There are a few standard things you can expect at a sales kickoff, including speeches from company executives or other industry professionals, networking and team-building activities, and presentations on sales strategies. A sales kickoff could also include an awards ceremony, product training, a happy hour, and a closing sendoff.

What makes a good sales kickoff?

A good sales kickoff is one that invigorates and empowers your sales team to tackle the year ahead with tenacity. Your sales team needs teamwork, focus, and drive to succeed, and a good sales kickoff sets the right tone for the year ahead.

Organize your sales team with a powerful CRM

A stellar sales kickoff event will educate and re-energize your team while bringing focus to their efforts. Companies that host SKO meetings often find that their next year in sales is more productive. If you want to have your best sales year yet, implement the seven tips listed above.

Want to keep your sales team organized throughout the year? Give them the best chance at success with a powerful and effective CRM. Nutshell has the features you need to power company-wide growth, including pipeline management, reporting and quota tracking, team collaboration, and more. 

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