Your best reps are often "unconsciously competent" and can't explain their own success. Before an SKO, leaders must help these individuals deconstruct their process and build a prescriptive presentation, translating their individual "art" into a replicable science for the entire sales team.

Teams focus heavily on slide content, leaving only a single, late-stage rehearsal. This is insufficient because it doesn't allow time to practice and internalize feedback on delivery, tone, and confidence, which are key value drivers for investors.

SKOs often fail with high-level corporate presentations. A better approach is to put top-performing reps on stage to share specific, tactical "how-to's" for key sales activities like cold calling, email outreach, and champion building, fostering peer-to-peer learning.

An exit presentation isn't a typical business update. The immense pressure of the sale, combined with uncertainty about their future roles, can undermine even confident speakers. Training builds confidence specifically for this high-stakes, unfamiliar scenario.

To make role-playing an effective training tool, sales leaders must demonstrate vulnerability by going first in front of everyone. This signals that the goal is collective improvement, not performance evaluation, and encourages reps to engage openly without fear of judgment.

Instead of traditional classroom training, Stone would take new salespeople on live sales calls. They'd observe him, attempt a pitch themselves, and receive immediate feedback. This rapid, immersive cycle built competence and confidence quickly, even for those without a college degree.

Forcing reps to perform in front of the entire C-suite creates a critical, high-pressure environment that is counterproductive to learning. Successful enablement requires a phased approach with pre-training and post-event reinforcement using real-world customer calls, not just high-stakes internal role-plays.

A founder credited his accelerator's grueling schedule—pitching to 20 investors weekly with harsh feedback—as a transformative experience. This intense repetition wasn't just for fundraising; it was a powerful training ground that polished his core sales and communication skills for all future business dealings.

Don't wait to synthesize feedback. After each validation meeting, immediately grade the prospect's comments (good, bad, indifferent) and their fit as an ideal customer. Use this rapid analysis to iterate on your assumptions and presentation before walking into the very next meeting, accelerating the learning cycle.