You Have To Say it 100 Times

Earlier this year I attended the SKO keynote speech by?Fred Voccola , the CEO of?Kaseya , a unified IT and security management provider for small and midsized businesses. For those not in sales, an SKO ("Sales Kickoff") is when a company brings its sales executives and salespeople together to set targets, train on sales techniques, and pump up the energy levels to ensure a successful start to the year.??It’s a great tradition, and it’s not a coincidence that companies who do SKOs well usually have better revenue and growth results.??I love to sit in on my clients’ SKOs because they give me a real feel for the culture and performance momentum of the company.

I’ve worked with Fred for many years, across multiple companies, and he’s a strong communicator who balances authentic passion with uncommon clarity of direction.??The climax of Fred’s presentation was a rousing pep talk with clear instructions on “What you need to do to have a successful year in sales!”

Fred then opened the floor to questions, the first of which was (verbatim): “I’m new to the company, and I’d love your advice, as the CEO, for how I can have a really successful year as a salesperson.”

As he listened to the question, the look on Fred’s face was absolutely priceless.??(Are you really asking me a question that I literally?just gave you the answer to?)

That said, Fred handled the question with grace and humor, touching again on the key points he had just made and re-summarizing some pragmatic tips for the young employee who had asked the question. Tips like that are, of course, well worth repeating, and when we were debriefing later Fred reminded me that he’s a believer in what I call “The Rule of 100.”

John Hillen and I use the term “The Rule of 100” in?our book?What Happens Now? ??to make a critical point executives must remember.??The idea is that that you have to say something 100 times before people really hear and internalize it.??(Parents will certainly empathize.)??

John Kotter of Harvard Business School , who has published some of the very best thinking on leading change,?argues that you must go through your transformation dialogue in as many ways and as often as possible, using every means at your command, to communicate your message. I like to put it even more bluntly:??at the point when you are getting almost physically sick of telling your story, your people are just?starting?to understand it.

The reason you need to say things again and again (maybe not 100 times, but probably more than 10) is not because your people are “dumb.”??Rather, you must say things again and again because?communication is inherently inefficient ?and?organizations are by nature bad conductors .??Kaseya is a great case study for the challenges of communication:??as a high-growth company at scale (nearly 2000 employees and $500M ARR) the company’s leaders have learned that with rapid growth and expansion comes the critical responsibility to communicate deliberately, repeatedly, and constantly.

So, say it again. And again. Be patient.??Learning takes time and repetition. People simply need to hear it more than once.??

The key messages of every successful organization become a drumbeat: “This is what we’re doing; this is why it’s worth doing; and this is how you can be successful.”??That’s effective communication, and that’s how you create a culture of excellence.

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