If you want to have, if you want 2026 to be the best sales year of your career, don't wait
for it to be handed to you by someone.
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You have to build the systems and the process that create that success.
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Hello everybody and welcome to Haverin About, a father daughter podcast all about
healthcare technology sales.
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Dad, happy new year.
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Happy New Year Bethany.
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It feels like I've been saying that for an eternity now because we're recording this on
the 8th of January but as far as I'm concerned to you our lovely viewers it's the first
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time we've met you this year.
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Happy New Year.
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Happy New Year.
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And it is that time of year again.
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It's a new calendar.
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That means for the majority of folks listening, it's a new quota.
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That means that everything has reset and all that wonderful stuff you sold last year does
not matter anymore.
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All that matters is the pipeline ahead of you.
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What have you done for me lately?
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I think is the phrase.
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Exactly.
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And so it's very exciting for me because I am starting the year in a slightly different
seat, new company, new role, very similar to what I've done before, but really excited
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about this company and kind of some of the values that they have and the community that
they serve is really exciting.
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But it means that this January is important to me because not only is it a new quota, it's
a new everything.
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Um, and so today's episode is all about that.
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How do you plan effectively for the next 12 months ahead of you personally,
professionally, professionally for your company, professionally for yourself.
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And, um, you know, the number has reset.
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The expectations have reset.
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Whether you had a brilliant year last year or maybe, maybe not so great.
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Doesn't matter anymore.
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Really doesn't matter anymore.
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So.
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that is the wonderful thing about the sales calendar is you have 365 days, except, and
this is my one piece of advice up front, that clock disappears really, really fast.
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As a sales manager, I always used to say to my reps, literally keep a countdown clock that
shows how many days you have left in the year.
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Because guess what?
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It's not 365 anymore.
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It's 358, or 357, because we're now on the eighth.
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So that means that you're already shrinking the window in which you've got to be able to
achieve what you have to do.
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But it's exciting.
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I always used to love the New Year reset because yes, you've got to go through some kind
of like backwards looking, et cetera.
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But again, one of my favorite quotes I always used to say,
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is from, it's actually attributed to Enzo Ferrari, the Ferrari creator and designer.
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And he used to say, what's behind you doesn't matter, only what's ahead.
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And I think that's a great mantra for people involved in sales.
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So we are here today to talk about what's going to set you up for your best sales year
ever.
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No hype, no hustle, no hustle culture, just practical things that good reps
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need to do and that good managers need to encourage as behaviors in their teams.
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Things to do in January whilst everybody else is saying, I'll get back to you So this is
havering about.
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And I think Bethany, you're going to kick us off with a wee discussion.
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Absolutely.
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So let's start about what you should do this first week, second week of the year.
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I think you need to oh block 90 minutes of your calendar out and do a professional reset.
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Look at last year's CRM data.
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Your manager will love you for it.
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They'll love that somebody else is actually looking at all of that data that you put into
Salesforce.
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But if you've been putting quality data into Salesforce, you can look back and you can see
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all of your closed and all of your lost opportunities.
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And you really have to take the time to do a very honest deep dive into what you want to
repeat and what you want to leave behind in 2025.
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So look at your deals that closed the fastest.
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Why?
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Was it because you had just come off of a very similar deal so you could rinse and repeat
a lot of things?
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Was it because just all the stars aligned and you're just going to have to trust the
universe to give you another thing like that?
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Is it because you had a new sales engineer next to you in the seat and they were crushing
it right alongside you?
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Look at what worked.
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On the inverse, look at what didn't work.
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The deals that you were super excited about and super hyped up about and week after week
in deal review, you had to say, well, they're still considering.
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Well, we're still trying to schedule a demo.
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Well, we're still trying to get pricing back from so-and-so.
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Look at that and be really honest with yourself.
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Were you the one that was holding things up?
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Was it because you weren't going out and doing outreach as fast as you could?
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Was it because you weren't responding as quickly as you could?
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Was it because you were afraid to push that person in finance or that person in legal to
get back to you quicker?
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Be very, very honest.
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And I think that's where you have to look and see where did I personally control or not
control the process.
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we always hear as a salesperson, you're the quarterback for this deal, you're the
quarterback, you're the lead, you're the but...
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And sometimes that's true and you are.
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You also have to be aware that sometimes if you know your legal team suck at getting red
lines back to you, because maybe they're just terrible, but most of them aren't.
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Most of them are just underwater.
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Okay.
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You've got to change your process and how you work with them.
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You've got to lean on your management.
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and your leadership to encourage some of those other players to really kind of um improve
things on their side.
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just add to that, or if it's not something that you can control or influence, how are you
going to adjust your planning?
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Because in that example that Bethany gave of legal teams being sluggish about coming back
to you with the red lines or whatever, that means your learning is not to sit there every
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morning going, I wish the legal team were more responsive.
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It's to go, OK, one.
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How can I avoid getting caught out by those challenges with the customer in terms of like
trying to head some of those issues off at the pass so they don't even become issues that
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you have to send to legal?
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That's the first strategy.
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The second strategy is knowing that you have to adjust and get your behavior whereby
you're getting those issues to them quicker.
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Don't wait until the contract red line.
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Sit down with the customer and say, hey, listen,
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I am sure you're going to comments and issues that you're going to have.
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How does your organization normally respond to some of these contractual terms and
conditions?
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What's their normal expectations around the critical items that you know and have learned
are the trip points that normally need legal or commercial review inside your
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organization?
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Get ahead of it.
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Have a game plan.
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Play chess.
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Think five moves ahead.
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Don't be a victim and wait until it's, oh, now I need to get legal to look at this.
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So that would be my other piece of advice is if you can't change it, then you have to come
up with a different plan.
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Yeah.
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And if you're new to an organization like I am this year, ask the questions of the people
that were there.
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Well, how did this deal close?
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How did you find it?
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What are people having questions about a lot of the time?
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I'm trying to proactively pull as much of that information out and I'm looking at
Salesforce and going, well, this one closed quickly and this one has this and this.
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So what was different about this one compared to that one?
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Number one, you'll look smart.
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because you're actually analyzing and you know, maybe they have or maybe they haven't, but
everybody likes knowing that they hired someone who actually is going to do the work.
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Um, but it is important for you to look back, you know, don't treat it like you've got a
bag on your head and you've got no idea what happened.
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You can ask, can, you can poke around and figure out.
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And I think, you know, as part of this 90 minutes or two hours or however long you set
aside, you need to write down what am I going to keep doing?
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what patterns were working.
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Yeah.
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You can use one of our beautiful Haver and about notebooks.
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Exactly.
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Nothing better.
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It's like a new school year when you get the new pencils and the pens.
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went, I started my new job.
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That one of the first things I did was go to staples.
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I bought some new pens.
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It's a new highlighters.
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I got new post-it notes, new index cards, my favorite index cards.
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I'm ready to go, but write down.
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you might think that's old school and I haven't done that since high school or college or
it doesn't matter.
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It's actually psychologically very good for you to do that, tidy up and go, I am going to
get on my game.
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I am going to be organized.
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I am going to be even if all your old bad habits come back later, do the mental reset.
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Now, new year, new you, new quota
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Exactly.
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And look, and if you want to get a little modern with it, type it into chat GPT, have a
conversation with your chat GPT and ask them, okay, with all of this information, what
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should I do differently?
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And what should I do the same?
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And then take it from the computer and write it down.
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So you get that muscle memory.
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Love a muscle memory.
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All right.
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So let's move on to quotas.
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Now, some people get their quotas ahead of the year, some it's going to be at sales
kickoff in a couple of weeks, but you know there's a number coming and you know that quota
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doesn't go down.
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So if it was a million last year.
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ever got my quota for a January 1st start?
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April 27th.
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In my company.
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And it was like for almost 14, 15 weeks of the year we operated not knowing what our
number was or how we were going to be paid.
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Sorry, yeah, was just as you were saying that and I was going, yeah, sure, you'll get it.
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But no.
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Bethany's right.
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Hopefully you actually either know, have a good idea, or if you're going to your sales
kickoff or your QBR, you may be the type of organization that walks away from those events
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with your quota in hand.
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So yeah, I mean, think that we're all in that stage whereby that's part of the excitement.
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But now let's talk about some of the dread people have about their quotas.
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Well, no, and it can be, you know, scary, especially if you did have a good year last
year.
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It means you probably don't have a ton of pipe.
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You didn't sandbag a bunch of deals that are just sat there waiting for you in Q1.
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If you had a bad year last year, I hope that's what you did do.
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And you're sitting and you're like, I've already closed half a million dollars and I'm
number one on the rankings one week in.
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Great.
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If that was you, fabulous.
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If it wasn't you, break it down.
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based on math.
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Again, a lot of reps, and I've seen this, tend to be a little head in the sand.
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They're like, well, I have, you know, this pipeline for Q1 and Q2, then, you know, stuff
will come in in Q3, and it'll be there.
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Stuff will turn up, and maybe stuff will turn up.
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It really depends on your, product that you're selling.
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Like if you are existing accounts and you're an account manager,
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you know that there's going to be renewals that come in.
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You know that there's going to be growth that comes in.
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There's always kind of a steady, like when I was at Rapsody, I knew that there would be a
steady flow of stuff that would be fine.
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But for me to make my number, I still knew I needed, you know, half a million, a million
of stuff that was not just going to organically naturally come.
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You have to go out and plan for it.
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And it's a math game, right?
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If your quota is a million dollars and your thing that you sell, the average deal is a
hundred grand, you need 10 of them to close, okay, to hit your number.
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Well, you need more than 10 opportunities to close 10 deals.
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And so work it backwards and spread it out through the year.
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You know that Q4 is a crappy time to close.
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So you have to put it in the beginning of the year and just map it out, math it out.
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And if you don't,
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have enough opportunities?
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either go find them or if your territory and your product and everything is that crappy,
go listen to Brian's episode last week and go find a new job.
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Because if you can't see a path to quota in January, Oy!
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If you're telling me like, it looks rough in September, that's fine.
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You know, as long as you've done the work.
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But if you're telling me that in January, that means that something is wrong with the role
that you're in.
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And like, as Bethany described there, that's a fairly typical pattern that people have.
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Either if you're rolling over, if you're not in her situation in a new job, new quota,
empty pipeline, Salesforce devoid of opportunities that belong to you, the company might
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have them, but they're not allocated to you.
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You actually have to do that grunt and work it through.
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But you have to start, everybody.
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either existing 10 year veteran in a company or somebody brand new in the door that
started at the beginning of the year, you have to start by saying, here's my quota.
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What is my path?
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Start with the path, which is exactly as Bethany says, you take your number and based on
whatever information is available to you, you say, okay, how am going to do that?
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If you're in a single product company, that's dead easy.
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As Bethany says,
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You take a million dollars, $100,000 deal size, you divide it and you get the answer of
10.
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I need 10 deals.
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The math for pipeline then becomes really easy.
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I've been doing sales for a very long time.
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Telling you right now, don't make it complicated.
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Three to one.
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Three to one.
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You need three deals coming in the top of your pipeline to be able to get one that could
cross the finish line.
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And so therefore you need to think about that in terms of your ratio.
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Now, in maybe another episode, we'll talk about how you horizon switch across those deals
as they mature.
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Because as you get to closing, you get really, really busy.
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And this is where a lot of salespeople trip up and they fail to pay attention to that top
of funnel stuff.
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But keep it simple at the beginning of the year and go, what is my path to quota?
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Take your quota, look at your deals and on from there.
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Let's complicate it.
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If you're in an organization whereby in your territory you have more than one thing that
you can sell the available customers, our clients or prospects who are out there who are
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net new, then it gets more complicated because now you have to place some bets.
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You have to say, which of these products am I going to invest time in?
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Which of these products does the company want me to
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actively promote and push.
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Because you'll often find that in compensation plans, as we discussed with Chris Goff a
few weeks ago, there might be incentives around new products or products that the company
215
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really wants to push for one reason or another.
216
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And so your path to success might be there.
217
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Now the veterans might advise you, that's awesome.
218
00:16:21,254 --> 00:16:25,870
It's great that the company wants to have you sell that, but...
219
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This product A has a three to six month sales cycle.
220
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Product B has a 15 to 18 month sales cycle.
221
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So therefore you're going to take longer to sell those.
222
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can't guarantee that if you don't already have them in your pipeline, you're probably not
going to sell one this year.
223
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Now, that is part of the calculus that you need to make.
224
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And if you're brand new to a company, you need to work that out real fast.
225
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as to what the typical cycles are to be able to sell your product portfolio.
226
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When I was uh selling clinical systems and leading teams selling clinical systems at
Allscripts, we had upwards of 25 products and services that we were selling.
227
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That made the math really, really complicated.
228
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Salespeople initially love it because it's like, I got all this stuff to sell.
229
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But the problem is,
230
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Where do you focus your time and effort?
231
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So I think start with the easy one, which is how do I, what is my path to quota?
232
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How can I get there?
233
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Then later you can actually start looking at your territory and trying to work out, okay,
now how do I actually take my territory and calculate that back into creating pipeline?
234
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And hopefully you've got some, if you're not a new,
235
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uh person to the company like Bethany is with her company here, then you will have some
pipeline that may have carried over.
236
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But it's still really important that you do the basic math.
237
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Start with the path, then start looking at your territory and what is the viability of
selling the portfolio.
238
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If it's one product, it's dead easy.
239
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That's what you've got to sell.
240
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it's 25 products, you're going to have to get into some calculated math and decisions.
241
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about where you're going to invest your time against both the existing customers and the
new customers that you might have in your territory.
242
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Yeah.
243
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And I think that's as well where you need to go back in that first recommendation I gave
of taking the time to sit down and look at what worked and what didn't work.
244
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Look at what worked for the reps that were successful.
245
00:18:52,955 --> 00:19:02,481
I remember at Rapsody on the new business side, there was a fabulous new business sales
rep called Mike and he was really successful.
246
00:19:02,481 --> 00:19:04,472
He went to club like a million years in a row.
247
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I think he's still going to club.
248
00:19:06,204 --> 00:19:08,505
And he's just really good at what he does.
249
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And while he was really good, was the other spots on his team with those reps were just
churning.
250
00:19:16,429 --> 00:19:18,750
And I remember chatting with him one time.
251
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was like, why, why are they having such a hard time?
252
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And he's like, because they're going after this, which is fine, but it takes a lot of luck
and stars aligning.
253
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What I do is this.
254
00:19:31,423 --> 00:19:37,843
And it was a lot more churning, like smaller deals, but he's like, but I can, I can go and
sell those in a minute and they add up.
255
00:19:37,843 --> 00:19:47,459
So as much as it's lovely to try and get that big half million dollar, three quarter
million dollar deal, it's a lot more effective to sell 10 of these.
256
00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:57,987
And you know, the work effort is probably similar, a little bit more when you're churning
through a million opportunities, but he was like, for the territory we're working in and
257
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what we're selling and what is in my bag, this is the way that you get to quota.
258
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And he went to club like a million years in a row on it.
259
00:20:05,352 --> 00:20:07,306
So if you haven't been successful,
260
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Look at the people who have been.
261
00:20:08,557 --> 00:20:12,098
Hopefully you're a nice person and they're a nice person.
262
00:20:12,098 --> 00:20:19,182
You can chat and, you know, share war stories and figure out how to make the best of it.
263
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But it does make a difference.
264
00:20:21,397 --> 00:20:32,644
And I think for sales leaders, that's the other thing that at this time of year, normally,
one, you're typically maybe bringing in new hires, either that you did hire over the
265
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holiday period and starting them literally on the beginning of the year, or as you're
going to SKO, you're hiring to bring people in for that kind of kickoff start that
266
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normally happens with lots of training and product announcement and stuff like that.
267
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So if either of those things are happening, you have to bear in mind that those newbies
are gonna have some spin up time.
268
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And so therefore, how are you gonna accelerate that?
269
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How are you gonna take that and allow them to become more successful, more quickly?
270
00:21:06,845 --> 00:21:16,293
And then if you're building those teams, and this is one of the lessons I learned a long
time ago is not all territories are created equally.
271
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Mm-hmm.
272
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you may as a company have a very strong brand recognition regionally, you know, whereby
your headquarters are maybe located, I don't know, somewhere in the Northeast, Boston,
273
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Philly, Washington, D.C., or they're in California and you're heavily networked there.
274
00:21:33,675 --> 00:21:44,063
So therefore your reps who are in those territories, as opposed to reps who are in
territories where your brand recognition is very low and you don't have the same network
275
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of clinical contacts.
276
00:21:46,995 --> 00:21:50,336
then that may be a harder road to hoe.
277
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And how are you going to get those reps, one, up to speed so they can be effective, but
two, then support them so that they can be successful in those areas.
278
00:22:02,229 --> 00:22:06,650
And different strategies may be required for different territories.
279
00:22:06,650 --> 00:22:16,713
So that's the other thing that as people are planning for either reorganizing territories,
reorganizing sales teams, if you're a CRO,
280
00:22:16,725 --> 00:22:25,565
and looking at all of this is you've got to, it's not as straightforward as just throwing
up like I used to do with other leaders.
281
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You throw up, you know, 36 stickies on the wall with the names of the reps and then you're
shuffling them around to try and just get it.
282
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There's a lot more sophistication to it afterwards once you've reorganized into and now
how are you going to make them effective and performant.
283
00:22:46,586 --> 00:22:47,906
Absolutely.
284
00:22:48,105 --> 00:22:54,549
I think another tactic that I use at the beginning of a new year is looking at your
accounts.
285
00:22:54,609 --> 00:22:59,951
And this is whether you have existing accounts in your account manager or your new logo.
286
00:23:00,311 --> 00:23:02,172
Look at who you're selling to.
287
00:23:02,172 --> 00:23:05,423
This is a great time to just refresh yourself.
288
00:23:05,423 --> 00:23:10,015
Again, you can do this old school with Google and OneNote and a pad of paper.
289
00:23:10,015 --> 00:23:14,101
You can use your GPT of choice and you know.
290
00:23:14,101 --> 00:23:18,022
kill some trees while you're trying to figure out who you're selling to.
291
00:23:18,022 --> 00:23:20,803
But do things like looking at locations.
292
00:23:20,803 --> 00:23:29,565
Should you sell, is your product that you're selling, is it better at a 10 hospital system
and above, or is it better for a clinic?
293
00:23:29,565 --> 00:23:30,515
Is it better for this?
294
00:23:30,515 --> 00:23:31,726
Is it better for that?
295
00:23:31,726 --> 00:23:36,547
And some of this stuff your company will tell you, but it's better if you go and do some
research as well.
296
00:23:36,547 --> 00:23:40,008
Things like creating an updated org chart.
297
00:23:40,148 --> 00:23:41,729
I love a relationship map.
298
00:23:41,729 --> 00:23:43,763
It's one of my favorite things to do as a rep.
299
00:23:43,763 --> 00:23:50,436
I love color coding and I like saying if someone's a champion or if someone's a detractor
and who their owner is.
300
00:23:50,436 --> 00:24:02,811
em You know, at a lot of my previous roles, I've literally assigned, I've written out the
company that I'm, you my client's org chart and then I'll assign and I'll be like, okay,
301
00:24:02,811 --> 00:24:04,122
this person is mine.
302
00:24:04,122 --> 00:24:05,542
I talk to them.
303
00:24:05,642 --> 00:24:12,298
This legal person, my legal person, you're now going to be best friends with this person
because if you create a
304
00:24:12,298 --> 00:24:13,499
Relax relationship map.
305
00:24:13,499 --> 00:24:17,100
It's going to pay dividends down the road when you're actually selling.
306
00:24:17,100 --> 00:24:19,061
But also look on LinkedIn.
307
00:24:19,261 --> 00:24:30,106
Is your usually very quiet champion, are they suddenly on LinkedIn posting a bunch of like
thought leadership stuff and commenting on things?
308
00:24:30,106 --> 00:24:30,746
Guess what?
309
00:24:30,746 --> 00:24:34,867
They're probably looking for a new job and they're probably going to leave your account.
310
00:24:35,188 --> 00:24:37,169
Because why else do people post on LinkedIn?
311
00:24:37,169 --> 00:24:41,150
The only time people go on LinkedIn is if they're looking for a job.
312
00:24:41,342 --> 00:24:43,864
if they just like LinkedIn, which some people do.
313
00:24:43,864 --> 00:24:46,586
But there's a lot of people just like LinkedIn.
314
00:24:46,586 --> 00:24:55,689
But if a normally very passive person is suddenly posting a bunch, I would flag that as a
little suspicious.
315
00:24:55,689 --> 00:24:56,049
Yeah.
316
00:24:56,049 --> 00:25:08,191
And the way to do that in LinkedIn, you're just a casual surfer and you just look at your
own stream, but when you drill into somebody and look at their profile, you can go and
317
00:25:08,191 --> 00:25:12,415
say, show me their posts and show me what they've commented on.
318
00:25:12,737 --> 00:25:20,480
And you'll actually see if they like various things and if they are commenting on somebody
else's posts or if they're posting new themselves.
319
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,411
And you can very quickly work out patterns.
320
00:25:23,537 --> 00:25:29,382
as to what they're doing, is this normal behavior for them or they suddenly become
inspired?
321
00:25:29,382 --> 00:25:36,768
um Just be careful, because idiots like me and Bethany, we're constantly on there
promoting the podcast.
322
00:25:36,809 --> 00:25:43,014
our guests are saying, absolutely, like and comment on our posts all the time, please.
323
00:25:43,014 --> 00:25:46,685
um But no, think that, yes.
324
00:25:46,685 --> 00:25:55,329
you'll see, you know, someone that you're trying to sell to and they'll comment on someone
else's thing and be like, yeah, we just upgraded blah, blah, blah.
325
00:25:55,329 --> 00:25:57,400
yeah, we're dealing with the same pain point.
326
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,921
If they are a LinkedIn user, you can get a lot of insight.
327
00:26:01,161 --> 00:26:06,023
You have to be careful about how you then bring it up so you don't appear like a stalker.
328
00:26:06,023 --> 00:26:08,144
Please don't be creepy with anyone on LinkedIn.
329
00:26:08,144 --> 00:26:12,815
ah But you know, you can use it to dig around.
330
00:26:12,815 --> 00:26:15,242
platforms we've discussed before.
331
00:26:15,307 --> 00:26:16,907
We've done.
332
00:26:16,907 --> 00:26:17,867
Yes.
333
00:26:18,207 --> 00:26:21,619
Don't turn up and be like, I saw your five year old is doing blah.
334
00:26:21,619 --> 00:26:23,697
No, no.
335
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:35,693
But again, the more informed you are about your prospects and about your accounts, don't
ask the lazy questions that a customer has been asked a hundred times that you can just
336
00:26:35,693 --> 00:26:36,673
Google.
337
00:26:36,693 --> 00:26:39,244
Save your questions for the good stuff.
338
00:26:39,352 --> 00:26:43,994
that they absolutely are not going to post publicly and is not going to be available on
their website.
339
00:26:43,994 --> 00:26:46,721
But again, just do your research.
340
00:26:46,721 --> 00:26:48,141
It's so simple.
341
00:26:48,141 --> 00:26:57,469
There's a uh salesperson that worked for me and worked alongside Bethany in another
organization called Dan Davis.
342
00:26:57,469 --> 00:27:01,904
Dan, I loved this aspect of Dan's behavior.
343
00:27:01,904 --> 00:27:09,750
Whenever he went to visit a client, he didn't just go for the meeting.
344
00:27:09,750 --> 00:27:12,033
um He hung around.
345
00:27:12,033 --> 00:27:13,153
He actually hung around.
346
00:27:13,153 --> 00:27:15,251
Sometimes he'd hang around for two days.
347
00:27:15,251 --> 00:27:21,271
in the hospital and just wander about and introduce himself and hang out in the cafeteria,
et cetera.
348
00:27:21,551 --> 00:27:27,071
When he was doing that, was gathering intelligence.
349
00:27:27,091 --> 00:27:33,311
He was finding out what was going on in that organization, not just with, you know, IT and
that system.
350
00:27:33,311 --> 00:27:37,411
He was finding out what was going on in the organization.
351
00:27:37,551 --> 00:27:39,091
Were they building a new facility?
352
00:27:39,091 --> 00:27:40,411
Were they talking about this?
353
00:27:40,411 --> 00:27:43,891
Were there architectural models in their lobby?
354
00:27:44,051 --> 00:27:45,137
What was going on?
355
00:27:45,137 --> 00:27:53,190
He said he loved reading bulletin boards, know, those big cork or felt bulletin boards.
356
00:27:54,191 --> 00:27:58,963
No, but he said, you can find out all kinds of interesting stuff.
357
00:27:58,963 --> 00:28:04,275
know, like some organizations post their team briefings on there.
358
00:28:04,275 --> 00:28:09,597
Some people even have their organization charts pinned up on there.
359
00:28:09,597 --> 00:28:13,239
you know, Dan was a great...
360
00:28:14,408 --> 00:28:19,532
He would probably made a really good CIA operative in that respect or something.
361
00:28:20,473 --> 00:28:23,856
In terms of like just gathering intelligence.
362
00:28:23,896 --> 00:28:33,265
And I think that's one of the things that as Bethany saying, yes, digitally things are
made so much easier, but people are really aware of that now.
363
00:28:33,265 --> 00:28:36,287
And so they started to sanitize a lot of that stuff.
364
00:28:36,287 --> 00:28:41,723
um And so there is still a lot of merit from getting out there and getting on the road.
365
00:28:41,723 --> 00:28:43,335
Absolutely, I agree.
366
00:28:43,335 --> 00:28:52,783
So when you've done all your internal work, it's then time for every rep's favorite time
of year, sales kick off.
367
00:28:53,925 --> 00:28:54,333
Yeah.
368
00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:56,161
go man!
369
00:28:56,345 --> 00:28:58,366
Give me that hype music!
370
00:28:58,911 --> 00:29:00,181
to the moon.
371
00:29:00,742 --> 00:29:10,606
Yeah, that's when you get to find out your executives have terrible taste in music and
they walk onto their pump up jam and it's like, no, no, someone should have stepped in
372
00:29:10,606 --> 00:29:10,800
here.
373
00:29:23,547 --> 00:29:28,289
uh Legitimately, I love a sales kickoff.
374
00:29:28,289 --> 00:29:29,829
I love a sales meeting.
375
00:29:29,829 --> 00:29:32,502
I like getting to meet people.
376
00:29:32,553 --> 00:29:36,703
I like talking with people you don't normally talk to.
377
00:29:36,703 --> 00:29:39,026
I like some of the rah rah.
378
00:29:39,026 --> 00:29:41,208
company bonding stuff.
379
00:29:41,309 --> 00:29:50,317
I know a lot of people don't, but I will say, I'm like 12, 13 years into this, I've
probably been to a dozen kickoffs.
380
00:29:50,798 --> 00:29:52,020
I still like them.
381
00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:53,231
I'm going to mine next week.
382
00:29:53,231 --> 00:29:54,303
I'm very excited.
383
00:29:54,303 --> 00:29:54,726
Yeah.
384
00:29:54,726 --> 00:29:55,090
no.
385
00:29:55,090 --> 00:29:57,884
You've been to more than a dozen, maybe you are over them.
386
00:29:57,889 --> 00:30:03,434
Oh, Gee Whizz I mean, I have been to so many sales kickoffs.
387
00:30:03,434 --> 00:30:17,767
By the way, if you are going to your sales kickoff, nothing would be better than for you
to celebrate that with buying yourself some rolls of SKO merchandise from the Haven About
388
00:30:17,767 --> 00:30:18,807
store.
389
00:30:18,988 --> 00:30:24,453
So the links will be there, but we have some interesting stuff.
390
00:30:24,453 --> 00:30:32,835
obviously, you know, got the mug that I love, my nice red and white mug there, which uh
also has uh the podcast logo on there as well.
391
00:30:32,835 --> 00:30:45,639
um But we've got some t-shirts, not only with rule three, which is nothing good happens
after midnight, um but we have rule one, which is rather along the lines of Fight Club is
392
00:30:45,699 --> 00:30:54,154
what happens at SKO stays at SKO because there is probably an episode that we should do
that should be an after dark episode.
393
00:30:54,154 --> 00:31:07,037
about all of the um interesting things we've had to deal with at SKO events that we may
have been at over the years, because sometimes people get a little excitable So what
394
00:31:07,037 --> 00:31:09,349
happens at SKO stays at SKO.
395
00:31:09,349 --> 00:31:18,285
And then I think one of the other Rules that I've got, and actually I should publish that,
I've got about a dozen of them that I've gathered, and they're all kind of humorous.
396
00:31:18,511 --> 00:31:30,261
But one of them is uh the front row, this is Rule four, the front row is for managers,
suck ups, and people who panicked and came in late.
397
00:31:30,482 --> 00:31:34,275
And there was no seats left other than in the front row.
398
00:31:34,275 --> 00:31:35,786
So, right.
399
00:31:37,608 --> 00:31:44,414
If you're a veteran, you're in the back third of the hall because that is a safe place to
be.
400
00:31:44,537 --> 00:31:55,870
want to be in, I want to be an eyeline of the people, depending, although I will say I
have been to, I can think of one SKO where I was so over the company and just so angry and
401
00:31:55,870 --> 00:31:56,410
pissed off.
402
00:31:56,410 --> 00:32:05,763
did, I back rowed it and me and my buddy just sat and we were like, let's take a look.
403
00:32:05,763 --> 00:32:10,386
We weren't actually drinking cause it was only like 10 AM, but it was like, let's take a.
404
00:32:10,386 --> 00:32:13,258
theoretical shot every time they mentioned this.
405
00:32:13,579 --> 00:32:18,734
And about 30 minutes in, we would be like, we would be like passed out by now if this was
actual alcohol.
406
00:32:18,734 --> 00:32:20,365
It's not good.
407
00:32:20,646 --> 00:32:23,007
But sales kickoffs.
408
00:32:23,007 --> 00:32:24,508
yeah, in all seriousness.
409
00:32:24,508 --> 00:32:28,359
think sales kickoffs are an exciting time, you know, generally.
410
00:32:28,359 --> 00:32:38,952
mean, yeah, you know, after you've been at home with family and, know, sales kickoffs for
larger companies tend to be in warmer places if you're from cold climates.
411
00:32:38,952 --> 00:32:47,654
ah I do know that lots of my colleagues who lived in Florida always groaned when they're,
the sales kickoff was in Florida.
412
00:32:47,654 --> 00:32:51,281
ah But at least it meant that they were able to get home.
413
00:32:51,281 --> 00:32:53,392
quickly without all of the weather delays.
414
00:32:53,392 --> 00:33:03,118
And that's another, you know, it's back to the travel episode that we did recently in
terms of the delays you get at this time of year because of weather systems uh that fly
415
00:33:03,118 --> 00:33:09,081
through because you normally can end up getting stranded in your nice warm SKO location.
416
00:33:09,081 --> 00:33:19,267
um But I think that those kind of events at, um typically at a hotel location, I think
most people have gotten back into
417
00:33:19,475 --> 00:33:22,116
in-person events for their sales teams.
418
00:33:22,296 --> 00:33:29,159
During COVID, obviously, that all closed down and we did virtual business reviews and
virtual kickoffs, et cetera.
419
00:33:29,159 --> 00:33:38,143
um But they're a great time for the company to try and bring you up to speed of what the
objectives for the year are.
420
00:33:38,143 --> 00:33:47,567
uh And I do think that the theme in the opening session tells you a lot about where the
company's head is at.
421
00:33:47,591 --> 00:33:53,412
ah If they haven't already been broadcasting that, you know, what's your thoughts on that?
422
00:33:53,412 --> 00:33:54,183
completely agree.
423
00:33:54,183 --> 00:33:57,185
And I think you have to align appropriately.
424
00:33:57,185 --> 00:34:02,108
I've been in sales kickoffs where it's like, we're acquiring and we're growing and we're
doing this.
425
00:34:02,108 --> 00:34:09,193
And it's like, okay, clearly they have a big plan and they're like, but you've got to
sell, we need numbers if you don't have.
426
00:34:09,193 --> 00:34:15,116
And it was like, okay, this is clearly going to be a very higher pressured year.
427
00:34:15,217 --> 00:34:19,280
And there's other SKOs I've been to where it's like, huh, here we go.
428
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,001
Isn't it nice that we're all together?
429
00:34:21,001 --> 00:34:21,885
This is...
430
00:34:21,885 --> 00:34:23,346
This is a delight.
431
00:34:23,346 --> 00:34:25,408
And I think you have to match that.
432
00:34:25,408 --> 00:34:31,832
But more importantly, think sales kick off as, you know, thinking selfishly about
yourself.
433
00:34:32,333 --> 00:34:36,127
You have to figure out how you want to be seen within the company.
434
00:34:36,127 --> 00:34:44,013
Because look, if you had a rock star year and you're going to get to walk around like, and
everyone's going to know you closed the big deal, then you're kind of good, right?
435
00:34:44,013 --> 00:34:47,305
You can just kind of, right.
436
00:34:47,369 --> 00:34:50,875
lauded and applauded and all of those kind of things.
437
00:34:51,758 --> 00:34:56,918
Or at the celebration dinner that normally is these kind of events.
438
00:34:56,918 --> 00:34:57,308
Yeah.
439
00:34:57,308 --> 00:35:01,392
And I've had years where that was my experience and it was great, right?
440
00:35:01,392 --> 00:35:05,585
And there's others where you didn't have a good year and you're just sort of there.
441
00:35:05,925 --> 00:35:09,308
But how you position yourself is important.
442
00:35:09,308 --> 00:35:17,955
These are normally opportunities where there are the executives of your company, there is
leadership, there are the other teams that you encounter, whether that is
443
00:35:17,993 --> 00:35:23,208
legal, security, compliance, product, professional services.
444
00:35:23,689 --> 00:35:28,334
You have to go around and meet those people because you have to work with them.
445
00:35:28,334 --> 00:35:29,516
It goes back to the beginning.
446
00:35:29,516 --> 00:35:33,710
If you know that legal was a pain in your butt last year, guess what?
447
00:35:33,710 --> 00:35:35,902
Go and befriend the legal team.
448
00:35:36,003 --> 00:35:37,405
Just go and make friends.
449
00:35:37,405 --> 00:35:38,826
Offer to buy them a drink.
450
00:35:38,826 --> 00:35:39,662
Bring them some
451
00:35:39,662 --> 00:35:42,965
talk about not the crappy stuff.
452
00:35:42,965 --> 00:35:45,327
please, please will you help me in future?
453
00:35:45,327 --> 00:35:52,533
Talk about normal things, you know, in the social setting, because what you're trying to
do is establish a rapport with them.
454
00:35:52,533 --> 00:35:56,285
So they think that you're an okay human being to deal
455
00:35:56,407 --> 00:35:57,197
Yep.
456
00:35:57,238 --> 00:36:01,961
And you also, this is an opportunity to show off how intelligent you are.
457
00:36:01,961 --> 00:36:05,903
You listen to this podcast, you're already very, very smart.
458
00:36:06,384 --> 00:36:10,346
So ask good questions publicly.
459
00:36:10,346 --> 00:36:17,431
Now don't ask performative ones, you know, where it's like, how could everybody close
deals like me?
460
00:36:17,431 --> 00:36:20,093
How do we just replicate my success everywhere?
461
00:36:20,093 --> 00:36:23,035
Cause someone's just going to want to punch you later.
462
00:36:23,035 --> 00:36:25,250
That's, that's bad for everyone involved.
463
00:36:25,250 --> 00:36:28,702
But just ask smart questions that people are thinking, right?
464
00:36:28,702 --> 00:36:36,488
Especially if you are in a position where you're coming off a good year, if there's a lot
of tension and there is a lot of like, what does this mean?
465
00:36:36,488 --> 00:36:36,968
Da da.
466
00:36:36,968 --> 00:36:44,333
If you're in a position where you can ask the question of like, hey, are we moving from
this model to that model?
467
00:36:44,333 --> 00:36:47,165
Or hey, we heard that there was maybe an acquisition coming.
468
00:36:47,165 --> 00:36:52,798
Could you tell us more about this company that suddenly, you know, their CEO is in the
back of the room?
469
00:36:53,379 --> 00:36:54,924
Ask some of those questions.
470
00:36:54,924 --> 00:37:07,767
With the exception of that is if your session, if the day's sessions are going to wrap up
at five and then you have your evening thing at six 30 or whatever, do not ask a question
471
00:37:07,767 --> 00:37:09,299
for 30 PM onwards.
472
00:37:09,299 --> 00:37:11,621
Do not, don't derail it.
473
00:37:11,621 --> 00:37:16,226
Do not even think of adding just, just to add my two cents.
474
00:37:16,226 --> 00:37:18,522
No, your two cents don't matter.
475
00:37:18,522 --> 00:37:20,594
going, what nobody's got any questions.
476
00:37:20,594 --> 00:37:22,887
Just, just don't take the bait.
477
00:37:23,196 --> 00:37:25,740
No one has questions at 4.45 PM.
478
00:37:25,740 --> 00:37:26,781
No one.
479
00:37:26,781 --> 00:37:34,161
And if you do, write them down and send it and get, go back to your room and go, Oh, just
thought of this question.
480
00:37:34,422 --> 00:37:36,023
I forgot to ask.
481
00:37:36,204 --> 00:37:37,027
Don't.
482
00:37:37,027 --> 00:37:44,901
the person that you had that question for at the cocktail reception before you all have
dinner that evening or whatever it might be.
483
00:37:44,901 --> 00:37:54,146
Because that's another way um to increase your brand internally, particularly if you're
earlier in your career.
484
00:37:54,827 --> 00:38:04,412
Because I've had the inverse, is like, when you're later in your career, quite often
you're kind of not hiding from the CEO.
485
00:38:04,668 --> 00:38:12,333
But you're going like, oh no, if he gets me then, I'm gonna have to answer to this and I'm
gonna have to do that.
486
00:38:12,333 --> 00:38:14,195
So you end up in that inverse thing.
487
00:38:14,195 --> 00:38:26,243
But when you're early on in your career, if you had that burning question, rather than
being performative in front of the whole audience and looking like the eager beaver and
488
00:38:26,243 --> 00:38:34,002
maybe even looking like a bit of a show off, hold that thought and then go up and pose
that question.
489
00:38:34,002 --> 00:38:40,474
to them afterwards, because that will allow you to establish the fact that you're a smart
person.
490
00:38:40,474 --> 00:38:41,694
You had that question.
491
00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:47,796
You say, hey, I didn't want to derail the session by asking this question, but I'm really
curious.
492
00:38:47,796 --> 00:38:54,358
And then pose your question, because I think that that is one of the things in terms of
SKO.
493
00:38:54,358 --> 00:38:59,280
You don't necessarily get lots of exposure to the leaders in your company.
494
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:00,430
And
495
00:39:00,430 --> 00:39:08,986
the kind of SKOs and you know, the first quarter QBRs are normally a time where they do
come and spend time with you.
496
00:39:09,006 --> 00:39:16,773
And so it's an opportunity for you to be able to position yourself as being one of those
smart people.
497
00:39:16,773 --> 00:39:18,013
Absolutely.
498
00:39:18,073 --> 00:39:23,524
And I think if you are one of those smart people, rule number whatever on dad's mug also
stands.
499
00:39:23,524 --> 00:39:29,624
Just as a reminder, if it's 11.55, excuse yourself and go up to bed.
500
00:39:29,624 --> 00:39:33,224
There is nothing after midnight that is of any use to you.
501
00:39:33,684 --> 00:39:35,944
And you can have a good time.
502
00:39:35,944 --> 00:39:42,884
I've had a very good time at many SKOs, but just take a step back and think.
503
00:39:42,884 --> 00:39:45,280
And also proactively put
504
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,700
Um, this is just a free tip for everybody.
505
00:39:47,700 --> 00:39:58,940
Go ahead and bring a bottle of Advil or your painkiller of choice from home and just put
it in your bag now because at the hotel lobby, it's going to be like $5 for two little
506
00:39:58,940 --> 00:39:59,860
pills.
507
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:01,260
It's a waste of money.
508
00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:07,163
But if you have the opportunity to just bring one from home, you should, because even if
you don't get
509
00:40:07,163 --> 00:40:08,967
very drunk or wrecked or whatever.
510
00:40:08,967 --> 00:40:15,520
You're probably drinking and eating and walking and talking way more than you normally do
if you otherwise work from home.
511
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:17,050
um
512
00:40:17,050 --> 00:40:27,844
a Petri dish of a bunch of people who probably have got little kids who have brought their
various viruses and bacteria with them from wherever they've come.
513
00:40:27,844 --> 00:40:35,613
And you're all hanging out together laughing and guffawing and slapping each other's back
and giving air kisses or sometimes real kisses.
514
00:40:35,887 --> 00:40:41,389
sale kickoff bought to you by Purell or your hand sanitizer of choice.
515
00:40:41,389 --> 00:40:50,531
Look, I have a five year old, this is literally on my desk and I use it several times a
day and I wipe things down, but other people don't, don't all go home.
516
00:40:50,531 --> 00:40:55,913
And also it's January, everyone's coming in on planes, like it's gonna be gross.
517
00:40:55,913 --> 00:41:01,480
So Advil hand sanitizer, don't get drunk, be intelligent.
518
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,777
Don't ask questions after 4.30 PM.
519
00:41:03,777 --> 00:41:09,524
because I'm going to give a tip that I think I handed off to you that you then perfected.
520
00:41:09,524 --> 00:41:14,588
When you start the evening, you don't want to seem to be a party pooper.
521
00:41:14,768 --> 00:41:21,724
So have an alcoholic beverage, maybe a mixed beverage, assuming that you take alcohol at
all.
522
00:41:21,724 --> 00:41:23,316
And there's lots of people who don't.
523
00:41:23,316 --> 00:41:27,198
And I understand that for medical reasons, some for philosophical reasons.
524
00:41:27,359 --> 00:41:28,460
But if you do,
525
00:41:28,460 --> 00:41:32,222
because you know sales is a very social environment.
526
00:41:33,443 --> 00:41:34,493
Have a clear drink.
527
00:41:34,493 --> 00:41:37,965
My drink of choice was Bombay Sapphire and tonic.
528
00:41:37,965 --> 00:41:39,386
So a gin and tonic.
529
00:41:39,386 --> 00:41:40,326
Right.
530
00:41:40,867 --> 00:41:44,450
And my second drink was club soda.
531
00:41:44,450 --> 00:41:47,392
Do these two things look the same with a slice of lemon in them?
532
00:41:47,392 --> 00:41:48,872
Yes they do.
533
00:41:49,133 --> 00:41:54,015
So that meant I had one gin and tonic and probably about six club sodas.
534
00:41:54,015 --> 00:41:55,275
And the trick is
535
00:41:55,275 --> 00:42:00,809
Don't say, if somebody says, hey, let me get you a drink, you say, it's okay, I'll, I'll,
I'll, need to go up to the bar anyway.
536
00:42:00,809 --> 00:42:03,780
So that, that nobody's quite aware of what you're drinking.
537
00:42:03,780 --> 00:42:07,864
Now, Bethany, I know you took that, that step forward too.
538
00:42:07,864 --> 00:42:09,404
Yes, I do the same thing.
539
00:42:09,404 --> 00:42:11,804
I have vodka tonics and then I have tonic water.
540
00:42:11,844 --> 00:42:17,324
Or if everyone's having a beer, I pick a beer with a dark glass bottle.
541
00:42:17,324 --> 00:42:19,564
So it's like a brown bottle or a Heineken or something.
542
00:42:19,564 --> 00:42:26,644
So people can't, cause if you get a Corona and it's clear, they can see that you've only
taken one sip and you're just holding a beer bottle around.
543
00:42:26,764 --> 00:42:33,144
And look, I will say, I think this is a lot better than it used to be.
544
00:42:33,384 --> 00:42:33,784
Right.
545
00:42:33,784 --> 00:42:37,320
I think in, I mean, look, I'm sure you're
546
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:44,283
stories of sales meetings from like the 90s and 2000s are a lot more, woo.
547
00:42:44,963 --> 00:42:51,306
I've had one client ask me to take them to a strip club uh at a customer conference.
548
00:42:51,306 --> 00:42:56,268
You've probably had more than just one because I came in a later generation.
549
00:42:56,408 --> 00:43:01,410
And so people are a lot more accepting nowadays, I think, of people that don't drink.
550
00:43:01,410 --> 00:43:03,471
And that's a good thing.
551
00:43:03,471 --> 00:43:06,832
I don't think there is as much of an expectation.
552
00:43:07,036 --> 00:43:11,950
I just work for way better companies now which could also be very much the case.
553
00:43:11,950 --> 00:43:19,037
think there has been a shift, but there is still a population and I think there still a
pressure there.
554
00:43:19,038 --> 00:43:21,110
I think particularly
555
00:43:21,153 --> 00:43:25,714
we saw this even at uh Vive Health, whichever one it was.
556
00:43:26,015 --> 00:43:29,476
Come 4 p.m., every booth had a bar.
557
00:43:29,596 --> 00:43:30,967
Every single booth had a bar.
558
00:43:30,967 --> 00:43:31,897
So I did the same thing.
559
00:43:31,897 --> 00:43:37,479
I got a vodka tonic and then I just walked around with tonic water for the rest of the
night.
560
00:43:38,460 --> 00:43:39,794
And that was only last year.
561
00:43:39,794 --> 00:43:47,640
that's the trick is, I mean, just, you know, fit in without complying to the to the
expectation.
562
00:43:47,700 --> 00:43:50,502
And I think that that's a good way to go.
563
00:43:50,762 --> 00:43:57,706
And you can be your natural effervescent self without, you know, any kind of like chemical
additives.
564
00:43:58,207 --> 00:44:02,049
So, you know, from that perspective, you know, I think it's great.
565
00:44:02,130 --> 00:44:05,410
I think that we're all aware and this
566
00:44:05,410 --> 00:44:10,664
truly is a health and social uh public announcement.
567
00:44:11,185 --> 00:44:16,329
I alcoholism is a real issue in our contemporary society.
568
00:44:16,329 --> 00:44:32,142
uh And I think that I've had lots of people that have worked for me, alongside me, that
I've worked for, have had to or believe they've had to lean in on alcohol.
569
00:44:32,283 --> 00:44:34,198
And it is a disease.
570
00:44:34,198 --> 00:44:38,531
I mean, speaking as a former mental health professional, it is a disease.
571
00:44:38,531 --> 00:44:42,535
um And it is a very difficult disease to adjust.
572
00:44:42,535 --> 00:44:53,403
I mean, because otherwise, why would AA and all these other organizations exist to try and
support people who are trying to change their behaviors and reform?
573
00:44:53,403 --> 00:44:55,155
But in...
574
00:44:55,155 --> 00:45:09,999
In a sales environment, because of the pressure, because of the performance expectations
that there are, it tends to exacerbate a lot of those stress fracture points in people's
575
00:45:09,999 --> 00:45:23,459
behavior that mean that when they come into these situations and they may be feeling extra
stress because they're in this big public fishbowl of activity at an SKO or QBR,
576
00:45:23,563 --> 00:45:29,086
they feel the need to lean in on their support, which for them is alcohol.
577
00:45:29,086 --> 00:45:34,259
And so I think just be very considerate of that when you're operating.
578
00:45:34,259 --> 00:45:38,551
So one, yes, you can control yourself as much as you can.
579
00:45:38,551 --> 00:45:50,057
But if you have colleagues that um clearly do have challenges in terms of the way that
they use alcohol, um then try and be sympathetic.
580
00:45:50,057 --> 00:45:53,399
It's very easy to just go,
581
00:45:53,495 --> 00:46:02,385
I don't want to be around him because, you know, or her because believe me, it is no
respecter of the XX gene or the XY gene.
582
00:46:02,385 --> 00:46:07,702
ah So I just would say, go ahead, you go.
583
00:46:07,702 --> 00:46:17,342
Well, no, was going to say one of my tips that I did, I think I did this with Bri, who was
one of the reps I worked alongside at Rhapsody.
584
00:46:17,642 --> 00:46:22,713
We were out, you know, had had drinks with, you know, had wine with dinner or whatever.
585
00:46:22,713 --> 00:46:29,053
And then we're back in the hotel and everyone was chatting and there was clearly a cohort
that was like, let's get drunk right now.
586
00:46:29,053 --> 00:46:31,033
And Bri and I were both like, oh no.
587
00:46:31,173 --> 00:46:33,933
So I was like, you know what, we're going to get cake instead.
588
00:46:33,953 --> 00:46:35,921
And so they all kept drinking.
589
00:46:35,921 --> 00:46:37,401
and doing whatever they want to do.
590
00:46:37,401 --> 00:46:41,945
We had a delicious cake or some sort of dessert thing.
591
00:46:42,987 --> 00:46:44,980
So we were still hanging out, but we
592
00:46:44,980 --> 00:46:48,724
didn't have that feeling of like we have to keep drinking to stay with these people.
593
00:46:48,724 --> 00:46:51,907
It's going to be weird if I'm not and you are and whatever.
594
00:46:51,907 --> 00:46:56,682
And so to dad's point, it is difficult.
595
00:46:56,682 --> 00:46:59,495
It can be, and it can be really difficult for people, right?
596
00:46:59,495 --> 00:47:02,247
And that's where you have to lean on your support system.
597
00:47:02,948 --> 00:47:03,849
Yeah.
598
00:47:04,010 --> 00:47:04,485
So to
599
00:47:04,485 --> 00:47:14,563
think that it's another reason why that advice, I'll hold the mug up again, nothing good
happens after midnight.
600
00:47:14,683 --> 00:47:20,588
And that's when a lot of the excess of drinking and partying can happen.
601
00:47:20,588 --> 00:47:23,430
And just be very conscious of it.
602
00:47:23,556 --> 00:47:28,878
sales kickoffs are when I get to do all my overnight masks and not scare my husband.
603
00:47:28,918 --> 00:47:35,622
And so it's not worth it if I'm only getting like four hours of mask time on.
604
00:47:35,882 --> 00:47:41,845
So I really need to be in bed by like 11 PM at the latest because you've got to wake up at
like 6 AM.
605
00:47:41,845 --> 00:47:45,427
So that's like a solid seven hour masking situation.
606
00:47:45,427 --> 00:47:50,692
So if you need an excuse, dear listeners, say you have to go back to your room because you
have
607
00:47:50,692 --> 00:47:55,890
beautiful new facial mask that you want to try tonight and you want to get your biggest
bang for the buck.
608
00:47:55,890 --> 00:47:59,246
want the seven hours of FaceTime.
609
00:47:59,246 --> 00:48:08,946
The other tactic I pulled once I became a manager was I need to go back and just review my
presentation for tomorrow or I need to go back and just knock out a few emails.
610
00:48:08,946 --> 00:48:10,906
And then I never ever returned.
611
00:48:10,906 --> 00:48:13,526
just basically, you know, that was it.
612
00:48:13,526 --> 00:48:15,606
That was my kind of way of exit.
613
00:48:15,686 --> 00:48:16,686
Yeah.
614
00:48:19,352 --> 00:48:20,372
Yeah.
615
00:48:20,792 --> 00:48:21,560
And disappear.
616
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:22,660
going to see them all tomorrow.
617
00:48:22,660 --> 00:48:23,321
They don't care.
618
00:48:23,321 --> 00:48:24,752
Like, doesn't matter.
619
00:48:24,752 --> 00:48:34,430
So moving on from how to not get drunk at SKO to how to not Brown nose your manager this
year, but still have a great year.
620
00:48:34,430 --> 00:48:35,257
Yes.
621
00:48:47,509 --> 00:48:55,595
And I think this goes back to, if you're looking at the year and you're looking at your
quota, you need to look up as well.
622
00:48:55,971 --> 00:49:04,343
Because while you can control your quota and you can control what you sell, you need to
see what your manager is responsible for.
623
00:49:04,383 --> 00:49:09,195
And so you can, you can be blunt and some people have great relationships with their
managers.
624
00:49:09,195 --> 00:49:10,915
Some people are brand new with their managers.
625
00:49:10,915 --> 00:49:13,386
We're kind of good now, but we don't really know each other.
626
00:49:13,386 --> 00:49:15,646
And some people it's, it's tough.
627
00:49:15,646 --> 00:49:16,397
It's fractured.
628
00:49:16,397 --> 00:49:18,747
There's tension for whatever reason.
629
00:49:19,227 --> 00:49:26,009
But if you can ask them, you know, what would make this a great year for you?
630
00:49:26,084 --> 00:49:26,507
Hmm.
631
00:49:26,507 --> 00:49:28,757
what are your targets?
632
00:49:28,878 --> 00:49:40,301
Because if your boss is a CRO or a CEO or an executive, they have a lot more to care about
than just sales.
633
00:49:40,401 --> 00:49:50,074
They've got to consider a whole P &L that they're in charge of or products or, you know,
there's 20 or are they going to get acquired or have they just been acquired or is the PE
634
00:49:50,074 --> 00:49:51,624
firm breathing down their back?
635
00:49:51,624 --> 00:49:53,305
Are you a public company?
636
00:49:53,305 --> 00:49:54,445
And there are
637
00:49:54,917 --> 00:49:57,918
pressures from investors that you need to consider.
638
00:49:58,218 --> 00:50:04,740
Look at that, but then even if you just have a sales leader, what does success look like
for them?
639
00:50:04,740 --> 00:50:17,313
Like, yes, we all know, and Chris helped to explain it, if your sales division has a
target of $10 million and you have 15 reps, you're all going to get $1 million so that you
640
00:50:17,313 --> 00:50:18,883
have a coverage of 15 for the 10.
641
00:50:18,883 --> 00:50:20,943
Blah, blah, blah, that's fine.
642
00:50:20,943 --> 00:50:23,464
There's some math things, but there's also...
643
00:50:23,876 --> 00:50:25,076
people things.
644
00:50:25,076 --> 00:50:31,917
There's have they been tasked with, you know, onboarding a bunch of new reps because a
bunch of them left?
645
00:50:31,917 --> 00:50:34,259
How can you help them with that?
646
00:50:34,619 --> 00:50:41,061
Have they been tasked with, you know, your Salesforce data sucks?
647
00:50:41,061 --> 00:50:43,382
Okay, how can you help them with that?
648
00:50:43,382 --> 00:50:46,043
Ask them, where are you feeling the most pressure?
649
00:50:46,043 --> 00:50:48,263
And it's not that you have to do their job for them, right?
650
00:50:48,263 --> 00:50:50,124
They're big boys and girls.
651
00:50:50,124 --> 00:50:51,594
They can figure it out.
652
00:50:51,852 --> 00:50:52,973
They're your leader, right?
653
00:50:52,973 --> 00:50:53,884
They are your superior.
654
00:50:53,884 --> 00:50:55,014
They're getting paid more than you.
655
00:50:55,014 --> 00:50:57,295
They have more responsibilities than you.
656
00:50:57,416 --> 00:51:06,661
But it is important to look up, not in an opportunistic way, but just in a, again, what is
important for the company?
657
00:51:06,882 --> 00:51:08,453
What are we really worried about?
658
00:51:08,453 --> 00:51:10,584
Are we worried about customer churn?
659
00:51:10,824 --> 00:51:15,527
And so you can then align your business accordingly.
660
00:51:16,088 --> 00:51:16,479
If...
661
00:51:16,479 --> 00:51:18,150
If it's just straight deals, right?
662
00:51:18,150 --> 00:51:18,671
That's easy.
663
00:51:18,671 --> 00:51:23,425
You can just go in and get your deals and get to a hundred percent and be like, tick, I've
done my job.
664
00:51:23,425 --> 00:51:25,072
But also what else can you adjust?
665
00:51:25,072 --> 00:51:27,178
Do you need to adjust your communication style?
666
00:51:27,178 --> 00:51:30,270
Do you need to adjust which accounts you're focusing on?
667
00:51:30,270 --> 00:51:41,899
Because, you know, even if you're hitting your quota with all of those little deals, do
they really need a big flagship one to like sing to the investors or to the PE firm so
668
00:51:41,899 --> 00:51:42,746
that when
669
00:51:42,746 --> 00:51:48,945
know, they go up for acquisition later in the year, they can be like, and we've just
signed, blah de blah.
670
00:51:48,945 --> 00:51:50,918
And everyone goes, ooh, I've heard of that one.
671
00:51:50,918 --> 00:51:55,323
At the end of the day, your manager is your biggest internal customer.
672
00:51:55,324 --> 00:51:58,580
You have to treat them accordingly.
673
00:51:58,580 --> 00:51:59,620
Yeah.
674
00:51:59,880 --> 00:52:15,960
And I think that going, looping that back into SKO, typically QBRs or the first business
review of the year is either immediately following SKO.
675
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:23,080
mean, some companies literally take you over the week and they're, you know, two and a
half days of brainwashing and dumping and rah rah rah.
676
00:52:23,100 --> 00:52:27,320
And then you get into business review straight after because
677
00:52:27,708 --> 00:52:35,683
what will happen is they'll do that, but then the company will pull the leaders, the sales
leaders together and go, okay, what are you going to do for me?
678
00:52:35,683 --> 00:52:36,694
And here's what you're getting.
679
00:52:36,694 --> 00:52:43,139
And so they get their cascade down from the business plan of what the expectations are.
680
00:52:43,139 --> 00:52:45,640
Then they'll get together and come up with a plan.
681
00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:50,944
And then they'll come to that first QBR session, whether it is coterminous, i.e.
682
00:52:50,944 --> 00:52:57,279
in the same week as that SQO, or if it's the week after or two weeks later or whatever it
might be.
683
00:52:57,279 --> 00:53:03,113
When you're at SKO, that is a good time for you to start trying to understand.
684
00:53:03,113 --> 00:53:08,633
Now, the company may give you a big old presentation that says, this is what we're about
for the year.
685
00:53:08,633 --> 00:53:10,148
This is the plan for the year.
686
00:53:10,148 --> 00:53:11,159
This is what we're doing.
687
00:53:11,159 --> 00:53:12,680
This is what we're focusing on.
688
00:53:12,680 --> 00:53:16,483
And when companies do, that is great because you get that message.
689
00:53:16,483 --> 00:53:19,085
However, scrape beneath the veneer.
690
00:53:19,085 --> 00:53:24,797
Talk to some of those other corporate people that are at kind of like tier two and tier
three.
691
00:53:24,797 --> 00:53:29,580
and get the inside scoop as to what does that actually mean and where we're going and
whatever.
692
00:53:29,720 --> 00:53:33,682
If you're a seasoned veteran, you do that automatically.
693
00:53:33,682 --> 00:53:38,625
But even if you're a new person, ask your colleagues and say, does that mean and what are
they doing?
694
00:53:38,625 --> 00:53:40,266
What's your interpretation of that?
695
00:53:40,266 --> 00:53:47,350
Because you'll often get a nuance that isn't on the deck or the presentation that's up on
the screen.
696
00:53:47,511 --> 00:53:51,813
So uh it's a good time to do that because then that will allow you
697
00:53:51,883 --> 00:53:58,478
to take that information and messaging and then, you know, kind of insight into your
planning for your year.
698
00:53:58,478 --> 00:54:05,343
So as Bethany said, start your planning last week and this week for the year.
699
00:54:05,524 --> 00:54:16,352
Then once you hear what the SKO messaging is, you adjust your planning, particularly based
on any insight that you might get from insiders.
700
00:54:16,573 --> 00:54:20,786
And then when you get to that first QBR, you will be ready.
701
00:54:21,034 --> 00:54:28,589
for what your manager is expecting as you get together and review, okay, how am I gonna
make my number?
702
00:54:28,589 --> 00:54:40,117
Because that's always the question in the quarterly business review is, okay, great, we
had a great time at SKO, we celebrated last year, yay, rah rah rah, team did really well.
703
00:54:40,237 --> 00:54:41,858
What have you done for me lately?
704
00:54:41,858 --> 00:54:46,442
I said it right at the beginning of the episode.
705
00:54:46,442 --> 00:54:50,404
So I do think that quarterly business review comes up.
706
00:54:50,488 --> 00:55:03,303
really fast and you need to think about how you're going to be there and particularly for
you learn this as you become, you know, a little bit more experienced either within a
707
00:55:03,303 --> 00:55:05,474
company or just within the industry.
708
00:55:05,914 --> 00:55:09,736
You need to go into that QBR with your plan set.
709
00:55:09,736 --> 00:55:11,607
You need to know your pipeline.
710
00:55:11,607 --> 00:55:19,920
If you have one inside out, if you don't have a pipeline and you just have started in the
company, you need to have a game plan.
711
00:55:20,118 --> 00:55:20,768
Mm-hmm.
712
00:55:20,768 --> 00:55:27,221
to be able to stand up and articulate, this is how I'm going to attack this to make my
number.
713
00:55:27,221 --> 00:55:30,232
And you have to deal with it in a confident way.
714
00:55:30,232 --> 00:55:35,975
It's like every NFL, sorry to lean in on a sports analogy, but we're in that season right
now.
715
00:55:35,975 --> 00:55:41,157
Every NFL team starts the year believing they're going to the Super Bowl.
716
00:55:42,357 --> 00:55:46,899
They're not all going to make it, but they all believe it at the beginning of the year.
717
00:55:46,899 --> 00:55:48,865
um And that is a
718
00:55:48,865 --> 00:55:55,129
core component is one of the reasons that sales leaders love leading off with all these
sports analogies.
719
00:55:55,129 --> 00:56:05,216
um We could probably have another discussion about, you know, being SKOs and the way the
sports analogies just pour out.
720
00:56:05,216 --> 00:56:13,642
And I know all of my female colleagues really struggled with that when it was NFL
references, but they got a little bit more excited when it was college references, because
721
00:56:13,642 --> 00:56:17,324
many of them went to colleges that had football programs and things.
722
00:56:17,324 --> 00:56:18,305
But yeah.
723
00:56:18,305 --> 00:56:21,545
But that would be my my kind of stuff like advice.
724
00:56:21,685 --> 00:56:31,325
Use all of this period to get ready for that quarterly business review and then hit the
ground running and actually perform.
725
00:56:31,565 --> 00:56:38,665
And remember, 365 becomes 364 becomes 363.
726
00:56:38,665 --> 00:56:44,805
And suddenly you've got one hundred and twenty eight hundred and twenty days left in the
in the year.
727
00:56:45,605 --> 00:56:46,854
And you've only made.
728
00:56:46,854 --> 00:56:49,854
we're already one week down.
729
00:56:50,334 --> 00:56:53,845
We only got 51 weeks left to make a number if you haven't sold anything yet.
730
00:56:53,845 --> 00:56:55,753
All right, Bethany, let's wrap it up.
731
00:56:55,753 --> 00:57:00,359
What are the kind of key bullet points that you would like to leave the audience with?
732
00:57:00,710 --> 00:57:05,611
I think even though it's very boring, preparation beats charisma.
733
00:57:05,611 --> 00:57:16,944
You can be the loveliest person in the world, but if you are not walking into this year
prepared for what you are going to sell and how you are going to accomplish that, you're
734
00:57:16,944 --> 00:57:18,155
not going to do well.
735
00:57:18,155 --> 00:57:20,716
And so I think preparation is number one.
736
00:57:20,716 --> 00:57:28,918
The second, going back to there are 52 weeks in the year, consistency beats intensity.
737
00:57:29,153 --> 00:57:39,398
If you are only ramping things up the last three weeks of each quarter, and then your
December's always suck because you're like trying to scram stuff in, no, stop it.
738
00:57:39,398 --> 00:57:41,679
Pull your deals forward, get them in.
739
00:57:41,679 --> 00:57:44,079
The best deal is a signed deal, right?
740
00:57:44,079 --> 00:57:48,322
There is no point in sandbagging, no point in dragging this stuff out.
741
00:57:48,454 --> 00:57:56,735
I think, but being consistent in everything you do, being consistent in closing deals,
being consistent in feeding your funnel.
742
00:57:56,821 --> 00:58:00,310
Don't get distracted just because you have some active opportunities.
743
00:58:00,310 --> 00:58:02,145
You've got to keep feeding that funnel.
744
00:58:02,145 --> 00:58:03,549
Because at the end of the day,
745
00:58:03,549 --> 00:58:12,416
Sometimes, and I always see this at SKOs, in awards dinners, there'll always be someone
that says, ah, they just got lucky.
746
00:58:12,537 --> 00:58:13,778
They just got handed that.
747
00:58:13,778 --> 00:58:14,969
They just, da da da da.
748
00:58:14,969 --> 00:58:20,343
And one out of a hundred times, sure, maybe, right?
749
00:58:20,343 --> 00:58:23,466
I had it ah one year at Simpler.
750
00:58:23,466 --> 00:58:27,189
One of my customers came to me and said, hey, we need this like tomorrow.
751
00:58:27,189 --> 00:58:28,630
And was like, oh, okay.
752
00:58:28,630 --> 00:58:30,030
It was the easiest sell of my life.
753
00:58:30,030 --> 00:58:31,924
And it was like a big chunk of my quota.
754
00:58:31,924 --> 00:58:32,834
That was pure luck.
755
00:58:32,834 --> 00:58:33,585
That was pure.
756
00:58:33,585 --> 00:58:35,165
I happened to have that account.
757
00:58:35,165 --> 00:58:36,776
I happened to be the rep at the time.
758
00:58:36,776 --> 00:58:41,027
They happened to need the thing that I was in my bag and not the other person's bag.
759
00:58:41,608 --> 00:58:50,372
Sometimes there is luck, but the best reps, the ones who are really good, the ones who are
going to club five years in a row, they are deliberate.
760
00:58:50,372 --> 00:58:51,912
They are focused.
761
00:58:52,192 --> 00:58:57,025
And it's so easy to get distracted and to, and to honestly, to get pissed off.
762
00:58:57,025 --> 00:59:00,706
If you had a bad year, it's very easy to walk into SKO
763
00:59:01,082 --> 00:59:05,255
and have to sit at that awards dinner and just be grouchy and be mad.
764
00:59:05,255 --> 00:59:08,157
But don't be, be deliberate.
765
00:59:08,145 --> 00:59:16,379
If you want to have, if you want 2026 to be the best sales year of your career, don't wait
for it to be handed to you by someone.
766
00:59:16,379 --> 00:59:21,993
You have to build the systems and the process that create that success.
767
00:59:22,068 --> 00:59:29,625
100 % Bethany, because it's so easy to get bitter about these things.
768
00:59:29,625 --> 00:59:36,311
And I used to hate people that you would see glowering or not paying attention during the
award ceremony.
769
00:59:36,311 --> 00:59:45,338
We should all celebrate our colleagues' success, because the truth is, that means the
company is still going and is doing well and on from there.
770
00:59:45,338 --> 00:59:48,871
So, and I think that, you know, so...
771
00:59:48,871 --> 00:59:52,354
have both had years where we've been the winners and we've been the losers.
772
00:59:52,354 --> 00:59:54,795
We've both been to club multiple times.
773
00:59:54,896 --> 00:59:57,565
We've both not gone to club multiple times.
774
00:59:57,565 --> 01:00:11,125
Yeah, I've had to stand there having had one of the worst years of my life as a sales
leader and watch your name, your name go around the big ticker in AT &T Stadium as, ah,
775
01:00:11,125 --> 01:00:11,865
Bethany Miller!!
776
01:00:11,865 --> 01:00:16,425
And personally speaking, as your dad, it was desperately exciting.
777
01:00:16,645 --> 01:00:24,445
But that was one of those sales kickoffs whereby I was like, yeah, I'm just going to meld
into the background this year.
778
01:00:24,445 --> 01:00:25,959
And so I try not to.
779
01:00:25,959 --> 01:00:33,756
keep my head down so that a certain CEO doesn't come and buttonhole me as to what went
wrong last year, et cetera.
780
01:00:33,756 --> 01:00:37,959
So it's too easy to just sit there and be bitter.
781
01:00:37,959 --> 01:00:38,980
Don't be that.
782
01:00:38,980 --> 01:00:46,266
Celebrate the people who have had that success because it means your company is still
gonna keep you around to being able to perform forward.
783
01:00:46,266 --> 01:00:52,010
But secondly, sales is a momentum business.
784
01:00:52,091 --> 01:00:54,272
It is very much unique.
785
01:00:55,733 --> 01:01:01,015
See that energy there of people having success, feed off it.
786
01:01:01,276 --> 01:01:02,796
Use it to power you.
787
01:01:02,796 --> 01:01:11,580
Don't sit there and go, be jealous and, know, sort of like, you know, go, they were lucky,
they were this, they were that.
788
01:01:11,580 --> 01:01:15,422
That's not, that negative energy is not gonna feed you.
789
01:01:15,422 --> 01:01:17,363
You need to take what's positive about that.
790
01:01:17,363 --> 01:01:20,144
If you think they did something clever, go and talk to them about it.
791
01:01:20,144 --> 01:01:21,305
How did you structure that deal?
792
01:01:21,305 --> 01:01:22,365
How did you overcome?
793
01:01:22,365 --> 01:01:26,346
What were the objections that you had to overcome to make that come through?
794
01:01:26,346 --> 01:01:28,537
How long had you been working that deal?
795
01:01:28,537 --> 01:01:36,909
Because sometimes you'll find that person who is salesperson of year, they worked seven
years on that deal.
796
01:01:37,169 --> 01:01:39,430
It didn't just happen overnight.
797
01:01:39,430 --> 01:01:50,673
And so therefore, I think it's really, really important that you feed off the positivity
of some of these events as much as it's easy to be snarky and obviously, you know.
798
01:01:50,673 --> 01:01:56,180
We covered some of those SKO rules which are designed to be funny, but don't.
799
01:01:56,180 --> 01:02:04,949
Treat it as an opportunity to really kick off your year and feed you with energy and ideas
to be able to go forward.
800
01:02:05,042 --> 01:02:05,725
Yeah.
801
01:02:05,725 --> 01:02:07,312
New year, new you.
802
01:02:07,312 --> 01:02:08,436
New quota.
803
01:02:08,436 --> 01:02:10,125
New quota to go and hit.
804
01:02:10,125 --> 01:02:12,433
And then you get to go to club next year.
805
01:02:12,737 --> 01:02:14,577
And it's a time of optimism.
806
01:02:14,577 --> 01:02:20,788
If you've got a new quota and you've got 365 days, sorry, 348 days, go get it.
807
01:02:20,788 --> 01:02:22,228
Go get 'em Floyd.
808
01:02:22,308 --> 01:02:23,704
Go kill it.
809
01:02:24,117 --> 01:02:24,997
Yes.
810
01:02:25,157 --> 01:02:27,618
Look, we need to do like a rah-rah.
811
01:02:27,638 --> 01:02:28,148
It's funny.
812
01:02:28,148 --> 01:02:30,159
have, uh I call them my cheerleaders.
813
01:02:30,159 --> 01:02:37,531
I have like a handful of friends who every so often I'll just, I'll text and be like, I
need, I need you to cheerlead me right now.
814
01:02:37,531 --> 01:02:41,893
And they'll just send me like lovely, positive, like good, happy stuff about me.
815
01:02:41,893 --> 01:02:44,153
And I'll be like, okay, yeah, I got this.
816
01:02:44,153 --> 01:02:47,774
think we need to do an episode where we just rah-rah our listeners.
817
01:02:47,995 --> 01:02:49,919
Like, look, you are great.
818
01:02:49,919 --> 01:02:54,599
I fully believe that everyone listening to this can hit their number this year.
819
01:02:54,599 --> 01:02:55,599
I fully believe it.
820
01:02:55,599 --> 01:02:56,810
You're all smart people.
821
01:02:56,810 --> 01:02:57,420
Yes.
822
01:02:57,420 --> 01:03:01,872
And with that said, happy new year, everybody.
823
01:03:01,872 --> 01:03:04,503
We hope you all really do have a great kickoff to the end.
824
01:03:04,503 --> 01:03:18,899
We hope you've heard some of these more practical tips and hopefully you can embrace some
of them, use some of them to really have your best year ever as a sales professional.
825
01:03:18,899 --> 01:03:19,800
Absolutely.
826
01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:21,323
And have fun out there.
827
01:03:21,323 --> 01:03:22,324
Be safe.
828
01:03:22,324 --> 01:03:30,565
um Look after yourself and your mental health and keep Haverin