Entertaining, funny, intriguing…yes. But rarely do they “move the needle!”
Every year you (or your meeting planning team) search for a great speaker for your sales kickoff meeting that will really get your team motivated for the new year (especially when your goals have increased by 20%!). You’ve had the guy who climbed Mt Everest who talked about overcoming challenges. You’ve hired the disabled person who has run 27 marathons and talks about perseverance. You’ve even had the comedian visit to get the troops to laugh and hope they forget about the price increases they have to deliver to clients and the quota increases that likely mean they will earn 25% less than they did last year.
The only reason I know about these challenges is that I was the VP of Sales who made all of these decisions (and more). And the frustration I felt is that although we usually had a pretty entertaining kickoff event, it never translated into one ounce of behavior change (or business impact) on the part of the sales teams.
If you feel my pain – let me offer a suggestion: the next time you search for a keynote speaker, establish a few criteria that perhaps you haven’t included previously:
- Entertaining – indeed, you want the meeting to be upbeat and make the team feel good about the meeting, the company, and your leadership J
- Challenging – I’ve always believed that if people aren’t challenged about what they are doing today they are entirely likely NOT to change a thing! I can recall my IBM training many years ago where they taught us that until you can upset the customer’s “homeostasis” (think emotional and intellectual equilibrium) they are not likely to change from their current solution provider. It’s the same in a room of sales people listening to a keynote speaker – if they’re not challenged they won’t change!
- Does the speaker deliver at least three tangible, actionable “to do’s”? Here’s what I mean – do your sales team members (not just the quota-carrying sales people) take away approaches, strategies, or even tactics that help them to better qualify and/or win more business as a result of the program? In fact, do your sales managers even get tangible things they can use to help the reps become more successful?
If you modify your criteria consistent with these above, you’ll not only entertain the sales people but you’ll also move the needle – and win more business!
Please check out the keynote speeches that I deliver to my clients to specifically deal with the challenges outlined above: Peter’s Keynote Programs