RevOps Co-op Weekly #59 - Sales Kick-offs are the Mullets of Parties
Sales kick-offs are more than an opportunity to come together, they solidify plans and expectations while setting a tone and building on the past.
RevOps Co-op provides resources, content and community for those who ❤️ revenue operations. This weekly newsletter features collected tweets, posts and thoughts on a variety of RevOps topics. We also have a private Slack community with > 3,200 RevOps pro’s from companies like Slack, Lyft, Clari, Miro and more 👉🏻 click here to join.
📣 COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣
The RevOps Co-op partner page is live!
Who are our community partners, you ask? You can find them all here!
We partner with leaders and up and coming startups that are building incredible software and technology products for revenue operations. Their teams are active in our community, supporting members in their areas of expertise.
Interested in becoming a partner of the RevOps Co-op? Sign up here.
Sales Kick-offs are the Mullets of Parties
Part of our RevOps Co-op team and President of the Revenue Operations Consultancy Central Metric, Sebastien van Heyningen, talks about the purpose of a sales kick-off, who to include and why they need to be more than just party central.
We all look forward to a good party, especially one that the company is footing the bill for, and there’s no reason not to look forward to a sales kick-off as long as you keep your expectations in check. While usually filled with a celebratory atmosphere, there is business to be done too, so think of it as the proverbial mullet: business in the front, party in the back.
Sebastien van Heyningen (known in the RevOps Co-op as Seb) is the Co-Founder & President of Central Metric, a RevOps consultancy firm that has been part of many kick-offs for growing organizations. He’s also participated and planned a few kickoffs in previous roles. The purpose of sales kick-offs depends on the individuals you talk to, but as he explains, it’s all about alignment.
“It’s a chance to get all of the reps in one place, impart some education, wisdom or process on them and set the tone for the coming months,” he explains. “For the leadership at the executive level, it’s a chance to align everybody from different departments around the same goal while also looking back to see how and why the performance over the last year was made.”
Pick your cliché: it’s about getting your ducks in a row, getting everyone on the same page, covering the bases, finding synergy…
Party Planning 101
Some people are natural party planners and while there are those that focus on tacos or cake, a few will be about the music and others will focus on party games, ways to get people talking and the overall flow. We’ve all invited that friend to a party to keep the energy high. You want your team’s version of that friend to take the lead for your kick-off.
These are the folk who can collect information about what the event should include and create the right atmosphere.
“Figure out what you want to accomplish in a set time with the whole team,” Seb says. “You’re going to need a lot of feedback from the leaders of the teams that you’re bringing in.”
Not only do you need feedback, but you also need buy-in as these leaders will be the ones to communicate specific information about new product knowledge, integration of new tech, or a territory realignment.
Perhaps you don’t really need an over-the-top event?
Smaller organizations of under 10 sales reps can probably cut back on the extravagance and length of time. It may not be the party everyone was hoping for, but it will still be time well spent.
Don’t Leave Someone Off the Guest List
Remember Suzie Barton’s birthday party in grade 2 when you were the only one in the class who didn’t get invited?
Ouch.
Let’s not carry that drama into adulthood.
While a sales kick-off doesn’t need to include everyone from the organization (though there are times it makes sense to), you want to lean towards being inclusive rather than exclusive. Consider what needs to be accomplished in the meeting when asking people to attend.
“Anytime a new product is coming out, the product team is good to have on-hand,” Seb notes. “Many include an element of marketing. Since we are reviewing financial data, someone from finance should probably show up as well.”
There are lots of people to consider and this is one of those times where the journey is just as important as the destination.
Everyone who is involved or affected by a new process or change in policy needs to be on-hand.
The Party is in the Details
Balloons or streamers?
Reggae or 80’s?
Cake or ice cream? (Both are always the right answer by the way.)
Start with a recap or a rah-rah?
The order of things should come fairly naturally once the necessary elements are defined. Three things Seb says are mandatory: 1) A recap of the last sales period 2) A look forward to the upcoming goals and 3) An element of team building.
“This is almost as important as the forecasting and the revenue related stuff,” he says. “One of the big purposes of a sales kick-off is to bring people closer and help them collaborate more often.”
There’s more! Read the full video blog here 👉 Sales Kick-offs are the Mullets of Parties
🗣 From the Community
#04_revops-questions - Account Conversion Considerations
11/15/21: Hey all - Would love the group's thoughts on something. I've implemented the standard process of having our team move opps to closed lost when there isn't a current path forward and then opening a new opp if the company comes back. Pushback from leadership is that this will artificially deflate conversion rate, because you'll have multiple opps in the denominator that are associated with one account. See 10 Replies.
#04_revops-questions - Tool Procurement Process
11/17/21: Hello! We're starting to think about implementing processes for procurement of new software tools and would love to learn best practices and things to consider. We had a case where a team bought a lead enrichment service and a week later, a different team is requesting to purchase a similar service from another company. Wondering what others are doing to manage this process. Thanks in advance! Read 8 Replies.
#04_revops-questions - Retooling Hubspot
11/18/21: Hey folks, going to the new year, I'm fixing to retool a few things in our Hubspot instance. Visibility to products purchased is an area I'm focused on improving for our CS and AM functions. Curious if anyone is doing this well right now in Hubspot? Do you track this at an account level or deal level? Read 12 Replies.
#08_tools-and-software - Help Desk Systems
11/16/21: Hey All! We're currently evaluating help desk systems and wondering if people here have any recomendations. Right now we're looking at Hubspot Service Hub , Salesforce Service Cloud and ZendeskSFDC is our system of record and anything we purchase needs to allow our reps to have visibility of cases on their accounts in SFDC.We're small right now ~50 people but growing fast. I'd like to implement a system that's going to grow with us over the next few yearsExcited to hear what peoples thoughts are. Read 4 Replies.
💬 Access the RevOps Co-op Slack group here to contribute to the conversation!
🐦 This week in #RevOps Social
Just one sec…😑
Rules of thumb.
Truth.
📅 Upcoming Events
RevOps Hangout with Central Metric! Virtual Networking - Thursday, December 2 at 11am PT (2pm ET)
Come and meet other folks from the RevOps Co-op. Share your ideas, get some great tips, and make new friends. This week we will be back in Slingshow, with 2 small group discussion rooms. Co-hosting will be Sebastien van Heyningen and Kevin Lewis of Central Metric.
Hangout Topic: Sales Kickoffs
CS Enablement Webinar: "The Why and How of building a CS Enablement team" | Rocketlane (A Community Partner)
Want a ninja-like CS team? Time to enable your CS team with the right resources, training and assets.
Join Sisira Mallampalli, Manager Customer Success Enablement and Training at Whatfix as she decodes the importance of a CS Enablement and charts out the strategy to create a CS Enablement team ground up.
In this session, attendees will learn:
- Why you need CS Enablement
- How CS enablement helps in onboarding success
- How to build out this function in your org
Bi-weekly Product Led Revenue Peer Calls | Correlated
We're a group of revenue leaders who meet bi-weekly to talk all things PLG & PLG sales (product led revenue!).
📚 Your curated #RevOps reading list
Attribution is Broken (Part I) | Factors (RevOps Co-op Community Partner)
Relevant market information (product details, reviews, alternatives) is instantly accessible to potential buyers. And when your competitors are a single click away from you, there is no room for complacency. As a result, the modern marketer must go above and beyond traditional information distribution.
How to build a successful B2B business through COVID-19 | Momentum (RevOps Co-op Community Partner)
Remote working has been a boon for many B2B businesses. But when your entire business model depends on people being in the office, that becomes an existential threat. Nobody felt this threat more than Mallorie Maranda, Senior Sales Manager of Mid-Market at Envoy, a visitor management and space analytics company. Like many companies, Envoy had to pivot quickly to stay afloat. Their saving grace was finding out how they could support their customers during that difficult time.
Essential Apps For Scaling Companies | Hubspot (free download)
When you're growing your business, you need tools that will take you from startup to scale-up. In this checklist, you'll find 15 of the top apps for scaling companies, so you can grow your business efficiently.
🎧 RevOps Podcasts
How to Build (& Keep) a MOPs Team | The Revenue Marketing Report, CaliberMind
Jeff Kew, Director of Global Marketing Operations at Magnitude Software, joins our host, Camela Thompson, in this episode of the Revenue Marketing Report. Jeff shares how he has scaled marketing ops teams, how to help your team avoid burnout, and tips for newbies who wish to join the marketing ops world.
How to run revenue operations at a Unicorn | Value First: The PLG Sales Podcast, Bliinx
James Labastida is the Chief of Staff, Revenue at ClickUp, the one app to replace them all where you can manage tasks, docs, chat, goals & more. Before ClickUp, James was the VP of Revenue at GoSite. In this convo, James drops some truth 💣 on scaling companies from early product-market-fit 🌱 to unicorn 🦄. He shares how he thinks about technology, people and revenue processes needed for hypergrowth 🚀.
Analyzing Your Revenue Engine: Optimizing Post Close Operations (+ Scorecard Template) | Revops.io
The deal is signed, the ink is dry, the money is in the bank. Congrats, you've closed a deal. But in many ways, this is just the beginning. In today's SaaS world, the customer experience is the key to maximizing your revenue. Today, we're going to talk about what happens after a deal is signed. The revenue engine would not be complete without your post-sale team - the team in charge of what happens after a deal is closed - including implementation, customer success, and support.
🔥 (Way more than) A few HOT #RevOps Jobs
Chief Revenue Officer | alternative
Head of Global Sales Enablement | Spot.io
Senior Director of Revenue Operations | Nitro
Director, Revenue Operations | Amagi
Director, Revenue Operations | RevenueWell
Director, GTM Enablement | RevenueWell
Senior Revenue Operations Manager | Bread
Senior Manager, Business Insights | RevenueWell
Senior Partnership Sales Operations Manager | Landed
CS Operations Manager | Zscaler
Growth Marketing Manager | Scratchpad (RevOps Co-op Community Partner)
Senior Salesforce Consultant | Carabiner Group
Salesforce Consultant | Carabiner Group
Sales operations Tech Program Manager | Anaplan
Salesforce Platform Manager | Telnyx
Revenue Operations Analyst | Catchafire
Sales Strategy & Operations Data Analyst | Crowdstrike
Sales System Analyst | Nava
Marketing Ops Specialist | Integrous
8 different RevOps roles! | Neo4j
4 different roles! | ReviewTrackers
🚒 Weekly RevOps Meme
“Listen to Mugatu and invest in RevOps.”
Courtesy of Seb van Heyningen. 🙌
Funnel IQ is an operating system for your GTM team that provides end-to-end, full funnel analytics and insights that keep marketing, sales and customer success teams aligned and working seamlessly together to drive more revenue growth for your business.