One Room, Every Revenue Team. One Keynote That Lands for All of Them.
A revenue kickoff puts sales, marketing, customer success and revenue operations in the same room, so the keynote has to work for everyone, not only the closers. Chris Sund, President and COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare and COO of Nebula, gives the whole revenue team one shared language for why deals close and why they stall: the LOCKS framework.
An RKO Is Not a Sales Kickoff With More Chairs
A sales kickoff can go deep on deal tactics because everyone in the room carries a number. A revenue kickoff cannot. Half the room writes campaigns, onboards customers or runs the systems the forecast lives in. If the RKO keynote is all closing technique, those people check out by the second story.
Chris builds the RKO keynote around the one thing every revenue team touches: the buyer’s decision. Each team hears where its own work moves that decision forward, and where it can quietly stall it.
Sales
AEs, SDRs and sales leaders learn to diagnose a stalled deal by which of five conditions is missing, then work the objection with LAARC.
Marketing
Positioning and content that answer the questions a buyer asks privately, so the rep walks into a meeting where the buyer already wants the product and trusts the company.
Customer Success
Buyers are really buying the first thirty days. The Kickoff Plan a rep sells is the plan customer success has to deliver, and renewals ride on it.
Revenue Operations
A shared vocabulary for pipeline reviews: which condition is missing on each deal, so the forecast shows where revenue is leaking and what to train.
LOCKS: One Framework the Whole Revenue Team Can Use
A deal closes like a combination lock: every tumbler has to turn. LOCKS names all five, and every team in an RKO owns a piece of at least one of them.
Love the Product
“Do I actually want this?” Marketing and sales build it together. Necessary, and table stakes rather than the finish line.
Own Belief
“Could someone like me pull this off?” Customer stories and a clear first win help the buyer see themselves succeeding.
Confidence in You
“Do I trust the people behind it?” Every team touches this one: the campaign, the rep, the onboarding call.
Kickoff Plan
“What happens the moment I say yes?” Sales sells it, customer success delivers it, operations makes it repeatable.
Stakes
“What does it cost me to do nothing?” Two honest twelve-month paths, not fake urgency or a discount.
LOCKS diagnoses where a deal is stuck. LAARC (Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Respond, Confirm) is the conversation that follows. Read more in How to Close More Deals.
The Story the Whole Revenue Team Remembers
Before healthcare, Chris was head of sales and marketing for a brewery. The beer was in every major store in its market except one: the biggest retailer in the country. Every store manager he asked gave the same answer. They did not decide. One buyer did. So Chris called that buyer. Then he called again, and kept calling.
When the buyer finally picked up, he told Chris he was persistent, then asked whether he knew how many items were in his stores, and whether he bought paper clips. To him, the beer was a paper clip: one more item in a building full of them. Chris did not argue about how good the beer was. He explained what not carrying it was costing the retailer. It was a top seller in its category, every competitor stocked it, and its fans were loyal enough to drive to a competitor to buy it and do the rest of their shopping there.
The buyer’s reply: “Get me your best sellers, every store, and I want a display.” Persistence got Chris the call. Stakes got him the order. The buyer never needed a better description of the beer. He needed to see what saying no was costing him, and that is a lesson for every team in a revenue room, not only the reps.
- A shared language for sales, marketing, customer success and operations
- Diagnosing a stalled deal by which LOCKS tumbler has not turned
- Making the cost of doing nothing visible without pressure
- Treating the first thirty days as part of what the customer buys
- Handling objections without defaulting to a discount
- One deal, or one handoff, each team commits to fixing the week they get home
Where the Keynote Fits in a Revenue Kickoff
Chris shapes the session around the agenda you already have. These placements work well at an RKO. For the full planning timeline, see How to Plan a Sales Kickoff, and for theme ideas, Sales Kickoff Themes and Ideas.
Opening General Session
Right after the CRO or CEO shares the number and the plan. The keynote turns the plan into a way of winning it that every team can use.
Keynote Plus Breakout
The main-stage keynote for the whole revenue organization, then a breakout for sellers, or for frontline managers who will coach LOCKS all year.
Cross-Team Working Session
A half or full day in person where sales, marketing and customer success work the same live deals through LOCKS and agree on the handoffs.
Proof: Sales Rooms Chris Has Spoken To
Chris delivered You Are Capable of More: Sales at the Definitive Healthcare sales kickoff in Boston to more than 800 sellers and sales leaders. He has also taught objection handling at the emPower Breakfast and to recruiting and business development audiences across the country.
Chris would be an incredible addition to any live audience. I’ve had the privilege of seeing Chris speak a few times now, including at our company’s Sales Kickoff in front of 800+ people — which he crushed. Each time he finds a unique way to connect with his audience on both a personal and professional level, keeping everyone engaged and attentive.
Chris was the consummate professional with an excellent stage presence. Not only did he work with our change in scheduling, topics, and even how many speakers were onstage at the same time — but he did it with grace and tact. Chris resonated with the audience to the point I had many attendees come up to me and ask where we got him. I would recommend Chris for any speaking needs as he’s versatile, flexible, and professional.
Having just started a new role in Business Development, the timing of Chris’s session on Handling Objections was perfect. Chris is a great storyteller — the Lucky Bucket story illustrates how persistence and research can help you win. The focus on “the pause” and how we speak resonated deeply. How you talk matters — and though simple, it’s powerful.
Programs for Revenue Kickoffs
Every session is customized with your revenue leadership around your product, your buyers and where deals are getting stuck.
You Are Capable of More: Sales
The flagship sales keynote, built on LOCKS, with the brewery story and the habits of producers who keep raising their own ceiling.
How to Handle Objections
A focused session on the moment a buyer pushes back, using LAARC to keep the conversation moving.
Sales Training Workshop
A half or full day in person where reps work their own live deals through LOCKS and practice the conversations.
Take Back Your Time with AI
Practical AI for the tasks eating everyone’s week, from proposals to follow-up, taught by an operator running an AI company.
Who Books This Session
Related pages: Sales Kickoff Keynote Speaker · SaaS Sales Kickoff Speaker · Tech Company Keynote Speaker · Company Kickoff Speaker · Partner Summit Speaker · The LOCKS Framework · How to Plan a Sales Kickoff · Sales Kickoff Themes and Ideas · Cybersecurity Sales Kickoff Speaker · IT Channel & MSP Conference Speaker · Fintech Conference Speaker · Revenue Growth Speaker · Sales Kickoff Agenda Template
What RKO Planners Ask
What is the difference between a revenue kickoff and a sales kickoff?
A sales kickoff is built for the people who carry a quota. A revenue kickoff, or RKO, brings sales together with marketing, customer success and revenue operations. Chris builds the RKO keynote around the buyer’s decision, which every one of those teams affects, instead of around closing technique alone. If your event is sales-only, see the sales kickoff speaker page.
How does one keynote work for sales, marketing and customer success at once?
LOCKS gives every team the same five conditions a buyer has to meet before a deal closes. Marketing builds Love the Product and Confidence in You, sales works all five, customer success delivers the Kickoff Plan, and operations tracks which condition is missing when deals stall. Each team leaves knowing its part.
What is the LOCKS framework?
LOCKS is Chris’s sales framework: Love the Product, Own Belief, Confidence in You, Kickoff Plan and Stakes. All five have to be met in the buyer’s mind before a deal closes. The full breakdown is on the LOCKS framework page.
Can Chris run a breakout or workshop alongside the RKO keynote?
Yes. A common format is the main-stage keynote followed by a breakout for sellers or managers, or a half-day or full-day in-person workshop where teams work live deals through LOCKS and LAARC.
When should we book a speaker for a January revenue kickoff?
October through December for a January or February RKO. The guide to planning a sales kickoff walks through the full timeline, and sales kickoff themes and ideas can help you pick a theme the keynote supports.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynote: an Amazon bestseller and the 2026 Paris Book Festival winner in the How-To category. For a revenue team, its core idea hits close to home: the gap between this year’s number and what the team could really do is mostly habits and belief.
Many teams send every attendee home with a signed copy, so the kickoff keeps working after everyone flies home. Bulk orders are available.
He Leads Revenue Teams for a Living
Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare and COO of Nebula, an AI talent-sourcing tech company. He helped grow Uniti Med 10x in revenue in two years, earning #3 on the Inc. Regionals list of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest, along with a Fortune Best Workplaces award and Best Places to Work recognition across multiple programs.
He started in sales long before healthcare, as head of sales and marketing for a brewery. He is the Amazon bestselling author of You Are Capable of More, winner of the How-To category at the 2026 Paris Book Festival, and he writes for Forbes and Inc.
He has been a guest on WOWT Omaha, 10/11 Lincoln, Bloom on WFLA Tampa, Studio 512 on KXAN Austin, My KC Live on KCTV5, Iowa Live on WOI and Dakota News Now. See media.
Stages I Have Spoken On
Where Sales Audiences Have Heard Chris
Sales kickoffs, objection-handling sessions and business conferences where Chris has spoken.
Definitive Healthcare SKOBoston, MA · 800+ sellersemPower Breakfast LincolnOct 2026 · Handling ObjectionsMICA Fall Business MeetingsTake Back Your Time with AILeadingAge IllinoisPublished the LAARC MethodNAHCR 2026 Annual ConferenceMilwaukee, WICalifornia Staffing ProfessionalsCSP ConferenceAlso: Sales Kickoffs · Tech Company Keynotes · All Sales Speaking · See all speaking engagements →
Bring Chris to Your Revenue Kickoff
Tell Chris when your revenue teams are getting together, who will be in the room and where deals are stalling. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
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