Salespeople sleeping through SKO?

Face it. Who wants to fly from NYC to Destin, Florida, on a Sunday, in January, during the NFL Playoffs? Forget 3 strikes, that's 4!!

Getting your salespeople to tolerate Sales Kickoff is always going to be a challenge. Since you're saddled with the arranging SKO, and also the recipient of complaints on the perceived "waste of my sales time" attitude of the part of sales staff, what can you do to make them forget that 28-27 double OT NFC Championship game they missed because the airport cable TV was on the fritz? 📺

As a former sales person, I hope I can shed some light on how some sales folks may feel about SKO and, perhaps, suggest some things you can do to help them get more out of it. Here are a few things that invariably cheese off your sales staff. 🧀

1. We are professionals. Justified or not we are some of the highest paid employees in the company. Many make more money than their bosses. So please, don't treat us like your teenagers. Making someone sing "I'm a little teapot" in front of their peers because they forgot their name tag won't help your SKO or make friends in the sales force.

   
   

2. 7AM to 9PM schedules. Don't. Do. It. Our customers don't care that we are at SKO. They still expect our help. Give us several extended breaks to handle company business. No one wants to send email from the toilets during a 10 minute break!🚽

   
   

3. Just because it's SKO it doesn't mean every team in the company needs to take the stage and make a presentation. In the same vein, it's not a time for every executive to get his or her "15 minutes". Leave the egos at home.

OK, so you've done everything humanly possible to get your business partners to pony up for lodging, catering, and entertainment. Your salespeople are going to be well rested, fed, and entertained. If you're lucky with local laws, or through some shrewd negotiating, you can ensure the hotel bars are closed before the wee hours of the morning so they aren't "too entertained". 🍸🍷🍺

How do you steer this ship to it's promised land? We're talking a Miami Vice cigarette boat here, not the lumbering Titanic. Fast and swift is the only way to keep these sales cats from napping or clawing (or worse) on the carpet! 😼

Here are some Sales Kickoff issues faced by many organizations along with some ideas or themes you can try in 2025 to make your SKO the event of the year!

Lack of organization

I have witnessed, many times, the frustration on the faces of my SKO organizers as breakfast ends and crowds of salespeople scurry around with no idea of where they need to be next. I have literally seen my marketing teams in hallways, with arms outstretched, herding salespeople like they were cats! 😺

Every salesperson needs answers to these questions at their fingertips:

• What breakout sessions am I attending and where are they?

• What is the schedule of events, agenda, and speakers?

• When do we eat? Where? Wearing what?

• Where are the bathrooms.

Solution

ByteBands provide every salesperson with instant access to schedules, maps, agendas, breakout sessions, and more through their ByteBands Smart Lanyard. Simply tapping a cell phone to a ByteBands lanyard will open a custom directory App containing everything about your SKO. All that with No App download!

It's a simple-to-use technology which is going to keep everyone on-schedule and make your job a whole lot easier!

Visit us and get a quote!

Silly pointless games

Everyone loves a game but really, is tug-of-war between sales teams dignified? Granted, your engineering teams enjoys the spectacle immensely, but seeing your sales force on their collective asses is a picture we don't need. Three things to never, ever, ever do at SKO:

• Trust falls. It ain't pretty!!

• Two truths and a lie game. It's time for the wooden stake here. 🧛‍♂️

• Anything overtly physical like paintball or rock climbing. Save that for corporate retreats where VPs have plenty of insurance!

Solution

Mix gamification into your breakout sessions. Keep them awake with a SKO-long trivia contest incorporating your vendors. Make sure there a some worthy prizes and strict rules about attendance at breakouts. There are numerous games available that are cell phone based and keep ongoing scores.

Death by boredom

Please, mix it up. Yes, partners are footing the bill and want our attention, but unless you plan on using eye speculums, (go ahead, look it up but be warned! 😱), you should break up the routine. Here are a few ways that some SKO newbies have managed to put their sales force into a coma:

• Scheduling breakouts that last 2 hours. 😴

• Breaks of 10 minutes or less.

• Lack of snacks/drinks.

Solution

Look, if your partners can't sell it to your sales force in 45 minutes how do you expect them to sell it to your customers? Their attention span is even less. 45 minute breakout sessions. No more. 20 minute breaks. No less. Pity the smokers!

Food/snacks should be interesting. Nothing is more boring than a tepid soda and a sticky, melted snack bar. Get original here and make a real difference. This is an area where you can offer a nice theme setting. Want fancy? Gelato, parfaits, and croissants. Go old school? Maybe a staffed ice cream stand? Popcorn machine? Italian ice cart?

🥨🍧🍦☕🍇🧁🧊

Whatever your choice. Make it fun!

Once ByteBands has made your next SKO the most successful ever you'll have earned your vacation on a tiny island with sandy beaches. Think of us as you enjoy that first Margareta. 🍹🍹🍹