One-time transactions have disappeared in lieu of subscriptions. Network television has kneeled down to on-demand streaming. Snail mail and memos are buried under the dominant email. We humans continue to grow, improve and advance our world forward every day. Some of these trends come and stay for the good. Others fizzle out for the best.
The same shifts and trends ring true for the revenue kickoff too. And as we look ahead to 2024 with market uncertainty still looming at large and freezing decision-makers in their tracks, leaders need to work all the harder to prepare their teams to succeed in the year ahead.
New approaches, tools and processes for the revenue kickoff have been gaining popularity in just the past year. And we at Mereo want to help guide you to three revenue kickoff trends that we believe will support your best kickoff program yet — and three things to go ahead and ignore.
TREND 1: THE REVENUE SHIFT
The shift from sales-only kickoffs to revenue kickoffs started in 2023 and is only continuing to solidify into the new normal for leading selling organizations. More and more chief revenue officers are overseeing the full customer lifecycle — a cyclical process replacing the linear sales operations of days past. Selling no longer concerns just the salespeople. With the full customer lifecycle, organizations need marketers, pre-sale teams and customer success teams as informed, enabled and activated as their top sales professionals. If you have not already, be prepared to expand your annual kickoff program’s guest list, and plan for wider-reaching content and more-focused breakout sessions for your different segments.
BUT IGNORE THIS: Revenue growth is the only measurement of success for training — that is a slippery slope. Growth may be the primary measurement but not the only one. Profitability, customer acquisition cost (CAC), sales cycle length, win-rate, lifetime customer value and plenty more all contribute to revenue performance. Growth is absolutely critical, but be careful about making it the sole metric you consider.
TREND 2: AI INTEGRATIONS
Artificial intelligence has infiltrated most selling organizations this past year and should be addressed at your next revenue kickoff. Encourage your teams to use AI for what it is meant to be: a tool. Integrate these tools into processes and operations that make sense. Streamline account research. Be smart about tactical prospecting. Reduce the overall cost of sale. But do not forget the power of the human element as you integrate AI into your organization. And after tapping into this tool, keep critical thinking as part of your processes to achieve successful value selling and sustainable revenue performance.
BUT IGNORE THIS: There are many shouting about the demise of the sales professional as AI hits organizations’ servers. AI should never replace salespeople — maybe certain activities but not the people. It might help your organization work more efficiently so that you do not need as many sales experts on the team anymore, but the salesperson always has and always will be a vital part to the sales process.
TREND 3: ACTIVATION
Most revenue kickoff programs focus on educating their workforce. They then pivot to enabling them with the right skills and tools. But for any knowledge-transfer and behavior-change to actually stick and make an impact on your revenue performance, your leadership needs to activate the professionals. As Paul Stanisk once shared with us: “For a sales kickoff to be successful, you have to sign up for the work that comes after. If training is not reinforced, it is not actually training — it is just intellectual tourism. It’s an expensive TED Talk.” A kickoff activation plan gives your leadership team a guidepost for your team’s performance: Did your kickoff messages land? Were new skills acquired? Are the new solutions’ value being grasped and conveyed to buyers? When you create an activation plan, you also have a framework for holding your team accountable and reinforcing your revenue kickoff program throughout the year.
BUT IGNORE THIS: Role-plays are often balked at by professionals, especially sellers: “We already do this,” “Role-plays aren’t real,” “This is a waste of time.” Do not believe the chatter. Role-plays are essential to training and even more so for activation. Practice, practice and then practice some more. In professional sports, the previous season’s champions do not skip training camp. They do not get a pass because they won it all last year. If they are the right people, the standard has now been set and they are going to try to outdo last year’s performance. That necessitates practicing. Role-plays are practice for revenue teams.
AN UNWAVERING KICKOFF MUST: PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
Regardless of the revenue kickoff trends that come and go, every kickoff program demands months of preparation to realize success. It is never too early to start. Our revenue experts at Mereo have crafted The Ultimate Revenue Kickoff Playbook to help your planning committee hone in on and stay focused on what matters most in planning a program that will lead your organization to sustainable revenue performance.