The knowledge, skills, and cultural updates should all be tied to metrics. How are we planning to measure success in these areas? In the next thirty sixty ninety days.
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Hello, and welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm Rachel Klett Miller. Today we are going to be talking about what we need to do after the SKO, After those sales kickoffs. There's so much focus on the planning of these events from a leadership level, and as reps and managers, we often are just focused on the event itself, but we also have to have a game plan coming out of the SKO. John Kaplan joins me today. Hi, John, Rachel, how are you good?
Tidy? Yeah? Tis the season and this is kind of the what happens after the Hoopla podcast exactly.
So we're going to break this down with kind of people in different roles and talk through how you want to think about your game plan after the hoopla dies down to use John Schwartz. So, John, let's just start with people who are listening right now that are managers. These people have gone through the SKO. What are their action steps as a manager immediately afterwards?
Yeah? Well, I think any good SKO should consist of a distribution of from the company to the troops, a distribution of knowledge, skill, and culture. There should be like a minimum those three things that are being discussed at SKO. And so what new knowledge was brought forth at the SKO. As a leader, I have to learn that new knowledge and just like the reps. And then what new skills are required to act on that knowledge? And how will we put them into practice and measure them either by
the company level or certainly for my team? And what were the overall cultural themes that were introduced at the SKO And how am I going to break those down and break those messages down and make them consumable and meaningful for our team based upon where we're at right now. So that's the mindset you should be going into with the SKO. You should know the agenda figure out that agenda, get a head start on sitting in your seat thinking about day after that SKO or plane ride home or whatever.
And those are the things I would be thinking about as a leader.
Yeah, and reinforcement is a big component here. What are you going to be reinforcing after that event? What am I planning to do thirty sixty ninety days out?
Yeah, so the knowledge, skills and cultural updates in any adjustments should all be tied to metrics. How are we planning to measure success in these areas in the next thirty sixty ninety days. So if I'm thinking about knowledge, I've got to get that new knowledge into skills. I want to see if that's translated into activities, and so I want to put those measurements in place that said, what should I expect in the next thirty days, sixty days,
ninety days. So, like you're saying here, it's very very important that we take this thinking all the way down to the measurement level.
Yes, okay, so that's some great advice for managers. I'll go ahead and put some additional manager resources for reinforcing in the show notes. Be sure to check those out. Let's shift to the rep, the quota carrying account executive.
What am I taking from the SKO.
Well, I think prepare yourself for these skos, and whether you say it or you don't say it, it's going to be. My message to the leadership too, is that there's a vast majority of you that use skos to figure out whether or not you want to be in
the company for the next year. And I think that's just the nature of things that companies have to take it that serious that the men and women that are going to be sitting in those auditoriums or on those zoom calls, or however you're going to do it, you need to make sure that you're putting forth the right knowledge, skills, and culture, and you're painting a picture of something in the future that I'm going to want to be a part of. So I just wanted to kind of put
that out there. But at the REP level, it's the same reference of knowledge, skills, and culture, which becomes character. I'd like to take the knowledge for just a second. You should be looking for supplemental information on knowledge that helps you with the four central questions, what problems do we solve for our customers? How specifically do we solve those, how do we solve them differently or better than our competition?
And where have we done it before? And if you're on the leadership team, you should be bringing knowledge to the company and put them in those four buckets. So with that, I now have that information that's going to help me attached to big business issues for my customers. And I now have information that's going to help me these are the skills that are needed that's going to
help me influence the decision criteria with my differentiation. So you should be really really keen to go into that SKO and really think about what you're hearing as it relates to the answers to those four central questions. How is that going to help you attach to big business issues? And how is that going to help you influence decision
criteria with your differentiation? And then when you come out, ASKO commit and say this is either a place I'm going to be or it's a place I'm not going to be, and then get that out of the way and roll put your plan together and roll right right.
Yeah, this comes down to that concept you off talk about around this time of year, John, the plan to make the plan you want to also look at the opportunities that are now being offered to you. Maybe they talked about it in SKO, maybe in other conversations, but you want to make sure you're taking advantage of all of those opportunities your company is giving you.
I would be working on my plan to make my plan before SKO, and I utilize the updates to drive the execution on my plan and even further cement my plan. The problem great is that a lot of companies, they're often late with the distribution of quota, and they try to do as much of this as possible as SKO.
And I know many companies that have people in for an SKO knowing people are going to be in the seats, knowing that they got to be fired up and ready to go, and they haven't even distributed the quota yet. They haven't even that's like a cardinal rule for me. So there's no plan to make the plan going on, there's no deciding whether or not I'm going to be here or not, and it just becomes a big you know, drink faster, food faster. Hey, we'll see what happens when
the quota gets out there. It's just I think that's why so many people miss Q one. So if you're listening, most people aren't doing that till the end of January, beginning of February, what have you, And then they don't have this stuff in place. You're going to miss your first quarter, so get it out there. So many people want to get a head start on things. If i'm you, what I'm thinking about, whether you're a leader or a rep how do I get off to a fast start?
And I think this combination of knowledge, skills and culture and then getting my mindset adjusted to getting off to a fast start is the best way to go.
Yeah, that's it.
And you know you might be in a situation too that you might be asked to do things differently in the upcoming year. There may be some changes, you might have a new different segment you're targeting. Whatever, change is hard, we know it, We've lived it, and if you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it.
If that guidance isn't clear for you.
Yeah, I think you never have to give that advice to the elite sellers because they know life is pretty boring without change. So you know, change is inevitable, and I think that people that have the best mindset are the ones that really just kind of get theirselves geared up for change and they're impacting the change. So if I'm doing the right things and people are deciding about things to change, let's be in that camp of saying, well,
let's change things for the better for this individual. But your point is really valid, Rachel, like some of the stuff you might not have a great handle on in order to get off to a fast start, And for me, it's okay not to know or not to understand, but it's not okay not to be doing anything about it. So coming out of ask KO whatever you don't understand, even down to the point of is this the right
company for me? I always respected people because I could see it in their eyes and the people that kind of came to me and they're like, hey, I just want to share with you. You know, I've had a couple of interviews or what have you. And I always encourage people to do that, like you got to go and see what the value of what you have is. And I never discouraged anybody from interviewing or looking at other opportunities. And I want to feedback on how to
make our opportunity the best opportunity. But I think that communication part is really really important. Is that if you're not feeling it or if you don't understand right after that SKO, get with your leadership team and leadership be on the lookout because you can see it in people's eyes.
That's true, Okay, John, great advice.
I think depending on when people are downloading and listening to this, you've got about fifty weeks left in the calendar year cooking as they move into twenty twenty five, what's the bottom line.
You have for them?
Again, I would have said start now before the SKO to work on your plan to make the plan. So by the time this runs, if you haven't done that and you still have time, start working on your plan to make the plan, and then use that SKO to supplement your plan and your knowledge and your emotion and your emotional connection to your plan leaders. You got to remember many sales reps use the SKO as a barometer decide if they want to be in the company for another year, and you have to help them get the
right mindset. You got to set them up, help them get set up for success in the coming year. Keep your eyes and ears open at these skos, and after these skos, if i'm you, I'm putting eyes on everybody that works for me within a few days of that SKO and so companies also, if you want to get off to a fast start, get your quotas and assignments out there early. If you haven't done it by the time you did the SKO, put a rush on it
and say we got to get this done immediately. The longer you do that, it's kind of like a feeling of pause or an idle mind. And elite salespeople, elite leaders, they don't like having idle minds. Idle minds is not a good thing in a sales organization at the beginning of the year. So if that's going to be the case at all, step it up and get those quotas out there, get everything distributed, make those decisions, make those promotions, and just get yourself off to a really, really fast start.
That's it.
I wanted to make sure we let everybody know, John, you're hosting a plan to make the planned conversation that's going to be yes geared towards reps. Maybe a little bit for that first line managers that's coming up Thursday, January twenty third if you want to go, Yes, for all you listening, everyone's invited, open invitation. Check out the link in our show notes.
Are we doing something like something special for.
That, Yes we are.
We're not going to announce it yet though.
No, yes, yes we can announce it.
So for that webinar, we are going to be raffling off giving away a free one on one coaching session for a quota carrying rep who attends the session or first line manager who attends the session.
We're going to be giving that away.
And who's that going to be with?
That's with you getting there? Y, Let's just see.
Let's just see, you got to attend the webinar to get it. Let's just see. I would love to help somebody get off to a fast start. I think that's an awesome idea.
H awesome.
Yeah, we're excited. So the links in the show notes. Make sure your registers you can and join us for that conversation and potentially have a one on one with mister Kaplan here.
And get ready for that one on one. I'm telling you what. Be ready, be ready, let's go.
Let's go. All right, John, thank you, you're welcome. See Rach Yeah, see.
You and thank you to everybody for listening to the Audible Ready Sales podcast.
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