The beginning of each year we in production that provide event technology solutions are producing the annual Sales Kick Off Meeting for our clients. It is their springboard event to get their sales team fired up, aligned for this year’s goals, and provide training and motivation. But how do you keep attendees engaged? How do you keep the energy up and provide opportunity to interact during your virtual event? How do you motivate and create a sense of purpose virtually?
First by choosing the right production company to manage the technology that comes into play with producing a streaming event. The production company should be versed in virtual event production and have a broad spectrum of clients, testimonials and capabilities that ensure your comfortability and allows you to concentrate on the content aspect of the event.
Next is by choosing the right platform. You and your production company can collaborate on what type of platform will best fit your needs. You’ll need to look for an online platform that provides security and allows you to track attendee engagement through metrics. The platform should be easy for your attendees to use, brandable and can serve up seamless live, recorded, and on-demand content. The platform should serve as your virtual venue with guides for attendees, networking opportunities that include table and global chats and provide surveys and polling to gauge content retention.
Most kickoff sales meetings involve sales reps getting lots of goodies and content related swag. This one important step should not be forgotten this year just because the sales event has moved to a virtual meeting. Set up your sales team ahead of time with coordinated swag bag deliveries prior to your virtual event kickoff. This will help create excitement and shows your team that you value them and their hard work.
Don’t forget to celebrate the successes from the previous year. This is the perfect time for top sales reps to share stories and give inspiration while providing motivation for the coming year. Also rethink your session length. Planning short sessions with longer breaks helps the at-home attendees deal with distractions and virtual fatigue.
Your content can be presented in many forms. You can present live segments and pre-recorded segments. Various presentation styles will help with “Zoom” fatigue and allow for a more polished professional feel for some of the materials being presented. Bringing in pre-recorded material from customers who can share their positive experiences is a great opportunity for your sales team to learn directly from the source while getting inspired.
Make sure you use different types of gamification to keep your attendees engaged. Nothing wrong with starting the meeting off with a company-oriented team trivia challenge for increased interaction among attendees. Polls, quizzes, contests, and Q&A’s will also help keep your salespeople engaged. You can try stepping it up a notch with prizes and rewards. Rewarding certain levels or types of engagement will help motivate the team and reinforce on-brand messaging.
While gamification is a must don’t forget to have some activities placed throughout your meeting that facilitate team building and interactions. Allowing for interactions and networking help build trust and collaboration along with setting the meeting apart and making it unique.
Just because the meeting is virtual this year doesn’t mean that true engagement and educational needs can’t be met with enthusiasm and motivation. Making sure to educate, inspire and empower your sales team may seem impossible to accomplish during a pandemic and virtually, but with the right strategy and mindset virtual meetings can be as impactful as in-person meetings.
