A long 2-day meeting? Between these two somewhat caricatural extremes, you probably want your company seminars to be a productive moment that contributes positively to the life of the team and allows for the creation of links between its members. This event is always an important investment for your company, so it is important to use it wisely!
To help you achieve this goal, here are a few easy-to-apply tips that will give you a good start in maintaining your sales performance (an infographic to summarise, followed by an article to go a little further).
Throughout this article, we will repeat the various points summarised in this infographic produced by Kestio
1. Define a clear and unique objective for your company seminar
Before jumping headlong into the logistical organisation of your company seminar and the production of the presentation materials, take time to think about and decide on the following clearly define the objective Is itto communicate new strategic directions? Is it to enable team members to get to know each other so that they can work better together? To undertake an ambitious shift in the definition of your service offer? Updating the skills of your staff to achieve commercial excellence?
Take time to ask yourself these key questions before designing the content of the seminar: Who do you want to address? What is the main message you want to get across (in one sentence)? What is the ideal outcome of the seminar?
2. Encourage the active participation of the team
The annual company seminar is a symbolically important moment in the life of the team and a unique opportunity to bring together all its members and to discuss key issues for the company. Nothing is more damaging to the group's dynamics than to run it like a lecture, with managers speaking and employees taking notes without participating, expressing their opinions or communicating their ideas. More than ever, pay attention to your communication, and your sales management must think "collaborative"!
Provide clear, visually appealing facilitation materials and concise texts. Prepare your speech if necessary so that it is dynamic and attracts support. Last but not least, favour participatory formats (workshops, quizzes ....)
3. Make sense of the proposed activities and setting
Seminars are usually an opportunity to offer team members a moment out of the ordinary, to get to know each other, to relax and to create shared "good memories". You can also approach this more informal relaxation time as an additional opportunity to convey a strong message related to the main objective of your seminar : as Victor Hugo said, "form is substance that rises to the surface"! Be aware of the subconscious impact of the chosen venue and the activities offered.
Choose a venue that is consistent with the state of mind you wish to convey (friendly, intimate, studious, original...). Choose an activity in line with the objective of the seminar (improvisation theatre for the ability to bounce back, escape game for collective intelligence, etc.)
4. Put the ideas generated at your business seminar into practice
The company seminar is often a fairly intense time in terms of exchanging ideas and producing ideas and actions to redefine your business strategy. It would be a real shame if the energy and proposals born of this moment shared as a team were forgotten when you return to your daily routine and remained dead letters! Formalise the fruit of these exchanges, preferably in collaborative mode and on shared media... And above all, translate the proposals validated with the team into concrete actions . If the ideas discussed have no concrete impact on the reality of the return to the office, the teams will not maintain their commitment.
Keep a record of the ideas and proposals produced during the exchanges, round tables and workshops. Make sure that they are accessible and known to everyone afterwards. Make sure that the decisions taken are translated into tangible actions as soon as possible.
5. Propose a shared vision and new perspectives
For the teams to be truly committed, during the seminar and in the months that follow, it is essential that the content be based on a solid "foundation" and on a shared vision: the company's value proposition, strategic vision, customer commitment, culture and corporate identity.... These elements must be known by the team and make sense to everyone in order to generate a collective momentum. Also take advantage of the seminar to call on external speakers (lecturers, trainers, etc.) offering an original approach to developing new skills internally.
Work on the founding elements of your corporate identity and the discourse that accompanies them, in "storytelling" mode, to give them depth and encourage their appropriation. Involve external speakers to create new perspectives!
To go further, download the white paper SALES SEMINAR :
KESTIO is a company specialising in Customer Performance Improvement services and solutions. For more than 10 years, we have been helping companies to secure and increase their revenues in the long term, by intervening on all the levers that enable them to acquire and retain their customers.
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