The Sales and CS Partnership at SKO
By Allison Tiscornia
It is that time of year again: sugar cookies, twinkle lights, dreidels, latkes, holiday wreaths, and stockings hung by the chimney with care. And, of course, updated compensation plans, SWOT analyses, territory assignments, new pitch decks, and President’s Club winners. The holiday season always means one thing in SaaS: SKO (Sales Kick Off) is right around the corner.
Every year, as I picture what that stage will look like, I am reminded of a familiar pattern. Sales and CS leaders often hesitate to bring the CS team fully into the SKO experience. The best CROs know the truth. SKO is not a sales event. It is a revenue event. Having your post-sales partners beside you is not a courtesy. It is a competitive advantage.
Here are five ways SKO strengthens CS, Sales, and, most importantly, your customers.
1. Prevent the “Expectation Gap” That Drives Churn
When Sales and CS define customer value differently, implementation inherits a gap they cannot close. SKO is the best moment all year to align on what outcomes are promised, how quickly they are delivered, and what success looks like in the first 90 days. CS leaders help shape the pitch so reps sell the journey the company can actually deliver, rather than the aspirational version Marketing came up with.
2. Embed the Customer’s Voice in Every Conversation
SKO is often heavy on product updates and pipeline strategy. CS leaders bring the missing context: what customers buy, what they value, what they fear, and what drives renewals. CS serves as the translator between customer reality and sales ambition, grounding every discussion in the question that matters: Not just whether it will close, but whether it will stick.
3. Drive Cross-Functional Alignment for 2026
Product has a roadmap. Sales has a quota. Marketing has campaigns. CS has value-realization targets. SKO is the one moment when all four can and should converge. When CS is included, the teams ensure that launches or capabilities are not oversold, implementation capacity aligns with pipeline expectations, and renewals and expansions have an actual plan rather than a wish.
4. Reinforce the Revenue Reality: Most ARR Growth Happens After the Initial Sale
In today’s consumption-based and AI-forward landscape, the first contract is not the finish line. It is the audition. CS leaders are the ones who can clearly describe net-retention math, where expansions truly come from, and how onboarding quality affects revenue a full year later.
Sales reps leave SKO understanding that their success and CS success are intertwined.
5. Humanize the Handoff
SKO is one of the only times the entire GTM organization is in the same room. CS leaders can use it to build the relationships that make handoffs smooth, communication honest, and escalations rare. People escalate to strangers. They collaborate with colleagues.
The Punchline
While I will still dream of sugar plum fairies this season, I am also dreaming of the year SKOs evolve into RKOs, Revenue Kickoffs, where CS is not a guest but a core contributor.
When Sales and CS start the year together, the customer wins. And when the customer wins, the company wins.
The Success League is a customer success training and consulting firm. We offer full certification programs for both CSMs and CS Leaders. Visit TheSuccessLeague.io to view our full suite of offerings.
Allison Tiscornia - Alli is a seasoned Silicon Valley executive with over 20 years of experience leading customer-facing teams. As Chief Customer Officer at ChurnZero, she scaled the customer experience organization and formalized implementation methodologies. At Sendoso, she built the customer experience function before transitioning to Chief Sending Operations Officer, aligning logistics with product and customer workflows. Previously, as VP of Customer Services at Zenefits, she led professional services and support for the platform. Passionate about scaling teams and driving customer success, Alli has held leadership roles at Medallia, Visa, Endeca (acquired by Oracle), and CA Technologies. She holds a B.A. in sociology and public policy from the University of Arizona, with certifications in scrum management, project management, and IT infrastructure. As a visiting lecturer at Pavillion’s CCO School, Alli specializes in customer onboarding. She resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her family and a lively Goldendoodle.
