I have had the privilege of keynoting hundreds of national sales meetings and annual sales kickoffs. Below, you will find my top 10 or so hotel locations to hold a sales conference. Be forewarned, this list is based upon my personal experience and I wanted to include properties you may not be familiar with from all across the country. Also, I did not want to focus on mega-hotel locations like Orlando and Las Vegas (you already know all the places there). Finally, my list is based upon reasonably priced VALUE- MINDED hotels. Even though some may sound expensive, these hotels offer something beyond the generic meeting place. Also, CLICK HERE FOR THE 2018 ANNUAL SALES KICKOFF MEETING PLANNING GUIDE
Embassy Suites (Naperville, Illinois) - www.embassysuites.com This hotel has been remodeled so it is more like a Hotel W. Easy drive from O'hare international airport and there are the best restaurants all within a 2-5 minute walk. Free breakfast is a value!
Château Elan (Atlanta, Georgia) – www.chateauelan.com Incredible property, great facilities coupled with impeccable attention to detail at a reasonable price make the Cheateu Elan number one on my list. Atlanta provides good year round weather and is easy to get to from anywhere in the US and even Europe.
Camelback Inn (Scottsdale, Arizona) - www.camelbackinn.com A beautiful hotel in a fabulous Southwestern mountain setting make the Camelback Inn one of the best locations for a sales meeting.
La Costa Resort (Carlsbad, California) – www.lacosta.com North of San Diego, the La Costa Resort is a great place for a meeting any time of year. If your meeting will also include your business partners and channel resellers, this is the perfect place.
Claremont Resort (Berkeley, California) – www.claremontresort.com Just twelve miles from San Francisco, the Claremont Resort is a wonderful Silicon Valley location for small and mid-size meetings.
Amelia Island Plantation (Amelia Island, Florida) – www.aipfl.com A very different Florida meeting location (better priced in the off-peak season).
Rancho Los Palmas (Rancho Mirage, California) - www.rancholaspalmas.com While Palm Springs may require an extra airplane connection to get to, the Rancho Los Palmas is worth the extra effort. Highly recommended activities: rent out the Palm Springs air museum for a nighttime event and “Field of Dreams” softball park for team building event.
SeaView Marriot (Atlantic City , NJ) www.seaviewmarriott.com A great place for a meeting in the Northeast US that you probably have never heard of.
Marco Island Marriott (Marco Island, Florida) www.marcoislandmarriott.com Marco Island is interesting alternative to the standard meeting in Orlando.
Long Beach Hilton and Executive Meeting Center (Long Beach, California) - www.hilton.com Good meeting facilities and a great location that provides some excellent evening event possibilities-- group dinner at the Aquarium of the Pacific or on the Queen Mary.
Embassy Suites (Burlingame, California) – www.embassysuites.com I know you are probably surprised to see another Embassy Suites on this list, but this is a great place to have a meeting in Silicon Valley for up to 500 people. It’s only 5 minutes from San Francisco International Airport and situated right on the bay.
Red Rock Resort (Las Vegas, Nevada) - www. redrock.sclv.com It's far off the strip in Red Rock and I think that makes it a very good Las Vegas location if you want to be sure your team is more focused during the meeting. Really nice facility.
Here are some Honorable Mentions:
Westin - Indianapolis, Indiana
Hyatt Regency - Newport Beach, California
Hartford Marriott Downtown – Hartford, Connecticut
Carmel Valley Ranch – Carmel, California
Biltmore Hotel – Phoenix, Arizona
Pinehurst Resort – Pinehurst, North Carolina
2018 SALES KICKOFF PLANNING GUIDE
When I was a vice president of sales, one of my key responsibilities was to ensure that our annual sales kickoff meeting was a complete success. I wanted everyone to leave the meeting trained on our new products, well-versed about the competition, and most importantly, re-energized to get back into the field to sell. Today, I have keynoted and conducted sales training breakout sessions at hundreds of sales meetings and annual sales kickoffs. Based upon my experiences, here's some information to help you plan the perfect sales kickoff:
New 2018 Sales Meeting Themes and Graphics!
Favorite Annual Sales Kickoff Meeting Themes
What Salespeople Want From Sales Meetings
Five Annual Sales Meeting Ideas for the Best Conference
Sample Sales Kickoff Agenda: The Most Important Meeting of the Year!
Virtual Sales Meeting Strategy
How to Ruin a National Sales Meeting
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2018 ANNUAL SALES KICKOFF MEETING PLANNING GUIDE
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION TOPICS, PRICING, AND VIDEO CLIPS
Whether speaking about selling to the C-level, sales linguistics, or high performing salespeople/sales organizations, Steve W. Martin is both provocative and entertaining. Steve is the perfect opening keynote speaker to establish the tone for your sales kickoff or closing inspirational speaker to end your meeting on a high note.
While many keynote speakers offer canned presentations of generic information, Steve Martin’s keynotes are completely customized to your unique sales situation and specific areas of need. To ensure topical relevance, pre-presentation interviews and background research is conducted to understand your market, product, and salespeople. Presentations are customized for your particular area of interest and use the terms of your industry.
Steve also offers another truly unique sales kickoff experience called "Tales from the Field." Tales from the Field is similar to a roundtable talk show where key salespeople are interviewed about their major wins and losses. However, this session goes far beyond discussing sales strategies and tactics. Steve elicits the psychological and intuitive aspects of selling and translates the common sales themes into models the entire sales organization can understand and emulate.
