GTM Club Newsletter

🚀 GTM Club Newsletter #10: 3… 2… 1… SKO!

Ready to kick off 2025 with impact? In this newsletter, we dive into planning successful Sales Kick-Offs. Learn practical tips for aligning your team, building momentum, and setting the stage for a successful year.

Ilkka Vertanen - GTM Club Founder

22 Dec 2024 — 7 min read

Welcome to GTM Club Newsletter #10! Today’s main story is the sales kick-off.

Sales kickoffs are annual gatherings that serve three crucial purposes: setting strategic direction, providing learning opportunities, and building team momentum. During these events, sales teams align on objectives and strategies for the year ahead while receiving updates on topics like targets, products, and market positioning.

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A sales kick-off (SKO) is an event where companies share their sales strategy and energise their sales and GTM teams. It typically occurs at the start of the fiscal year.

Through presentations, training sessions, and team-building activities, SKOs help develop skills, foster collaboration, and create connections between team members. The SKOs also celebrate top performers and energise the team for the battles ahead. These events transform careful planning into actionable steps, making them essential for kicking off a successful sales year.

Our website contains a recent blog elaborating on the importance of SKOs.

Check out the intro to SKOs from our website.

My Approach to Sales Kick-Off

Let me share how I approach planning our team's sales kick-off. I'll walk you through my preparation items and show you the agenda I'm working with. It's still a draft, but hopefully, you'll find some valuable nuggets there. Planning these events is fun and challenging as one wants to balance business value, learning, and team building.

A sales leader figuratively kicking off new sales year.

Why Are Annual Sales Kick-Offs Important?

Sales kickoffs are vital annual gatherings where sales teams align on objectives, develop skills, and build momentum for the year ahead. These events focus on three key areas: strategic alignment, learning and development, and team building.

A sales leader passing his cross-selling playbook forward to the next generation.

Cross-Selling Playbook: From Strategy to Execution

Read GTM Club’s comprehensive guide to implementing successful cross-selling initiatives in B2B tech companies. This playbook walks you through the key elements of planning, executing, and optimising your cross-selling initiatives.

A sales leader tracking his team's cross-selling KPIs.

Measuring Cross-Selling Success: Key Metrics and KPIs

To improve the success of cross-selling initiatives, one must learn how to track and optimise the right metrics. This comprehensive guide helps you measure what matters, identify improvement opportunities, and drive better business results through a data-driven approach.

🚀 GTM Club Newsletter #9: Crush Quota in 2025 with Personal Sales Plans

GTM Club Newsletter #9 introduces personal sales plans and wraps up our series on annual sales planning. Personal sales plans can be your secret weapon when we enter 2025!