Stronger, Faster, Together: Setting the Tone with AvePoint’s 2023 Sales Kickoff
As the world continues to adapt to a post-COVID environment, we had a unique challenge when planning for AvePoint’s 2023 Sales Kickoff. After several years of largely virtual meetings and engagements, it was exciting to be able to get back to a true in-person kickoff where we could bring our teams together, share our upcoming strategy, motivate our teams, celebrate successes and create alignment on our goals for the year. In fact, for many of AvePoint’s sales professionals, this would be the first time they met their peers in person after two years of communicating through video chats.
We know there is a direct relationship between highly engaged teams and performance. According to Gallup, highly engaged sales teams were nearly 20 percent more productive and companies were 23 percent more profitable.
All of this meant we needed to be deliberate in the words we chose to define our kickoff. Stronger, Faster and Together is meant to foster feelings of camaraderie and a sense that we’re one team. The three global sales kickoffs that took place in North America, EMEA and APAC were a worthwhile investment into the talented people who work for us and to reinforce our confidence that this is the team we trust to help us achieve our ambitions.
Learning and growing together is instilled in AvePoint’s culture, and this year’s sales kickoffs were an important way to build upon the continued investments we’re making in setting our sales professionals up for success. Specifically, this year’s sales kickoffs gave people the opportunity to:
- Meet one another because physical presence matters – creativity is kicked off by being in the same place to talk through ideas or problems
- Spend time with our executives to get to know them personally and professionally as well as hear directly from them how they are working to meet our company goals this year
- Elevate and inspire our people through workshops and sessions run by colleagues and peers as well as renowned guest speakers to give us a fresh perspective
The feedback we received from everyone who attended the sales kickoffs was they found the content and workshops extremely helpful, and they were excited to get back to their offices to crush their quotas feeding off the energy of their peers. Even more so, it was reinvigorating to share our mission for the year and focus on how we will be successful, and better understand the pieces people need to be successful.
Our sales kickoffs are just the first few steps in our journey to move forward stronger, faster and together. I’m excited to see how we will continue to ride this wave and build momentum throughout 2023.
As Chief Revenue Officer, Tom is responsible for ensuring AvePoint’s global sales teams continue to bring strong value to each customer’s unique business context, while scaling globally. Previously, Tom served as AvePoint's Chief Operating Officer, Chief Customer Officer and Corporate Vice President of Sales. With a specific focus on international expansion, Tom has held numerous operational leadership positions, including in Japan and EMEA. Tom received his Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University in Political Science and Criminal Justice and began his tenured career at AvePoint as the company’s first Sales Representative.
