A "must" in the lives of many companies, it's an annual event to which they often devote considerable resources in order to make it a memorable and "successful" occasion (with the help of charming hotels, exceptional destinations and original, fun-filled team-building activities). This outpouring of resources is justified by the underlying aim of the event: to engage teams in a lasting commitment to achieving the company's business objectives. But it's far from a guarantee of success!
Depuis 10 ans, KESTIO intervient régulièrement en Ingénierie de séminaire commercial. Nous vous livrons ici 5 clés essentielles à la réussite de vos séminaires commerciaux, issues de cette longue expérience.
1) The objective of the seminar is more important than the "wow!
Let's be clear. For a company, the greater the resources allocated to a business seminar, the greater the chance of finding a venue that will delight participants, or an activity that will leave a lasting impression. This is what we call the "Wow" effect: a positive emotional marker, which can stay in people's minds and provide a powerful experience for employees. But this positive marker should not be the sole objective of a sales seminar. The "Wow" effect is a one-off. What will remain of the seminar 1, 2 or 3 months after the event?
You have to combine the "Wow" effect with a real strategy thought out in advance, and define what the seminar should leave behind.
If employees only remember the buffet and the sublime decor, but not really the sales techniques taught, you've failed. It's time to stop focusing on form and start focusing on content. The objective of a sales seminar must become the primary concern of the management in charge of the event. The choice of venue comes next.
2) Each seminar has (in reality) a different objective
Last year's sales seminar was a great success. Good listening, good feedback, a venue that participants loved. Above all, we didn't change a thing. Unfortunately, many companies have this reflex of putting themselves on "automatic pilot". They replicate past successes and minimize risk-taking. It's a mistake. Every seminar is different. Sure, it may take place in the same place. But each seminar has a different objective. So each time, you have to ask yourself what the real objective of the seminar is.
What kind of change do you want to instill in the company? What strong message do you want to convey? What new techniques do you want to convey? What do you really want to achieve as a result of the seminar?
Too busy repeating the success of last year's sales seminar, many companies fail to anticipate the future, and are slow to change and evolve. This was particularly evident in 2008 and 2009, at the height of the crisis. Instead of reassuring sales teams, working on fears, self-confidence and the future, many companies chose to hammer home a well-mastered corporate message... an exercise which is unfortunately futile, if the underlying expectation of employees is actually to be supported and listened to. The phase of defining the objective of a sales seminar should therefore not be dismissed out of hand; on the contrary, it should be the focus of all reflection, and is in fact the decisive point.
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3) A seminar must have a precise rhythm
For the sake of simplicity, too many companies have fallen into the bad habit of organizing their sales meetings in silos. In other words: in the morning, it's a conference in a plenary room with 80 slides on a giant screen, and in the afternoon, it's go-karting! This sequencing between serious moments and moments of relaxation should be avoided, as it is counter-productive. You recreate unconscious mechanisms already experienced at school... There are moments in class to learn and be serious, and moments in the playground which allow you to let off steam, but are considered "useless" in terms of the final objective.
It's possible to create interaction and fun while conveying serious messages. In particular, it's a good idea to organize time for co-construction with the participants. If they are involved, they will apply the rest of the seminar with conviction.
There are always "off" evenings or times of distraction, which allow you to let go and are obviously not to be banned, but beware of overly categorical organization which will make serious periods painful to follow in top-down mode with participants having in the back of their minds "Can't wait for tonight..."...! Fun yes, but with a purpose! Go-karting, paintball or laser-gaming, why not, but with an objective, to serve a purpose. Make sure that the message conveyed is consistent with the theme of the seminar, and ask yourself what symbolic or practical bridges can be built.
4) A good seminar must incorporate digital technology
The digital revolution needs to make business seminars even more enjoyable, productive and sustainable. Start from the premise that if something is produced, it will have value only if it is digitized. Ideas thrown on a flip chart, discussions in the room - everything can be digitized today with simple co-creation and sharing tools. We can't let this creativity and these exchanges go to waste.
The seminar is a source of information and reflection. Digital technology helps to capture these elements.
Digital technology can also be used to prepare a sales seminar in advance. In the same way as for quality training, it is possible to send elements before a meeting so that participants can familiarize themselves with them beforehand. On the big day, they'll already have a knowledge base and won't be discovering the subject, which will improve information retention, the quality of participation and the effectiveness of exchanges. For information to be retained, it has to be communicated 3 times. So it's a good idea to get the key messages across before the seminar, repeat them during, and reiterate them afterwards.
5) Your sales seminar must be consistent
Beware of the inconsistency between organizing a seminar in a prestigious setting and cutting budgets for several company departments in the same month! It's not possible to talk about rationalizing costs all year long, only to "splurge" on a very high-end seminar. Consistency!
The seminar must be part of an ongoing process, and make sense in terms of corporate strategy. It must also fit in with the company's financial logic.
It's possible to alternate venues and activities, and to vary the resources allocated according to the health of the company, but also and above all according to the objectives of the sales seminar. One event may well take place in a privatized château, while for the second meeting of the year, 6 months later, there's nothing to stop the offices from being fitted out differently, to provide more fun for the duration of an effective seminar.
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Depuis 10 ans, KESTIO accompagne des entreprises – de la PME au Grand Groupe – dans la préparation et l’animation de leurs séminaires commerciaux :
- Seminar engineering: definition of objectives and content, development of the program, help in choosing choice of venue and themes, suggestions for events...
- Creation of animation media: definition of key messages, conception and design of original and effective presentations, creation of "intelligent" participative quizzes and games.
- Running all or part of the sales seminar: communicating strategic messages, running worshops and games, challenge-based sales training.
