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UNSUBSCRIBE: The demandDrive Podcast

UNSUBSCRIBE: The demandDrive Podcast

By demandDrive

A podcast for sales development professionals looking to get fewer 'UNSUBSCRIBE' replies in their inbox.

We produce 2 shows to help SDRs and Managers level up their game and learn from experts in the field.

❓ 𝟱 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 puts the spotlight on our guests and their experiences. Each episode ends with a major takeaway that listeners can use to make positive change.

📩 𝗢𝗽𝘁-𝗜𝗻 is all about quick and dirty sales advice. Our 5-minute timer really forces us to talk about the most important aspects of the topic at hand - no fluff allowed.
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Episode 3: Find Everyone's Carrot

UNSUBSCRIBE: The demandDrive PodcastNov 29, 2018

00:00
12:21
SDR Insider 4: ‘No’ In Sales Isn’t Rejection, but Redirection
Jan 25, 202430:49
Alignment Led Growth
Jan 04, 202411:29
SDR Insider 3: Time Management - The Key to Success
Dec 12, 202348:01
Time Management Skills

Time Management Skills

Join AJ and Alex as they recap the finer points from our SDR Symposium on Time Management.

Highlights:

🕒 Importance of power hours for various tasks, not just calling prospects

🔄 Using evidence to create an efficient agenda for productivity

💡 Experimentation and habit-building to determine optimal working times

📞 Adapting working hours to align with prospect engagement times

🤝 Balancing time management with consideration for team collaboration and dynamics

=== The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ https://bit.ly/dD-Pod Meet our team ➡️ https://bit.ly/dD-Team Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ https://bit.ly/dD-LI Want to work with us? ➡️ https://bit.ly/Contact-dD Want to work for us? ➡️ https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Dec 08, 202309:19
SDR Insider 2: From Acronym to Sales Career
Nov 10, 202323:38
Episode 62: Alignment and ABM

Episode 62: Alignment and ABM

Why Paul Slack, Founder & CEO at Vende Digital, continues to beat the sales and marketing alignment drum. Plus, how true ABM can solve a majority of your alignment problems.

===

Stop us if you’ve heard this before:

“Following up on marketing leads is a waste of time - they’re all garbage!”

Or

“Sales reps are so lazy! We generated hundreds of leads and they aren’t even bothering to work them.”

It’s a tale as old as time. Well, a tale that’s at least 30 years old.

And unfortunately, the chasm between the two teams doesn’t seem to be shrinking. And in some cases, it’s growing wider.

Let’s lead with the punchline here - we have to get this right now more than ever.

And our guest, Paul Slack, has an answer.

A former tech sales rep in the 90s turned digital marketing expert, Paul has both the experience and knowledge to bridge the gap between sales and marketing teams.

His solution: ABM.

We talked with Paul about why sales and marketing are still misaligned, how ABM is helping solve that issue, and what the future of demand generation will look like.

===

💻 Paul's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/alignment-and-abm

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Aug 31, 202343:59
SDR Insider 1: You Got The Job! Now What?
Aug 24, 202333:27
Opt In: A Rev Dev FAQ
Aug 17, 202321:42
Episode 61: SDR Intent and The dD Academy

Episode 61: SDR Intent and The dD Academy

How Chelsea Leahy, Director of Training at demandDrive, is helping elevate the SDR role by focusing on foundational sales skills and an intent-driven mindset. Plus, a look at the new dD Academy!

===

“I would be laughed off the phone.”

To say that B2B sales has changed would be selling its evolution short.

The SDR role has evolved from a high-volume, ‘just get the meeting’ position to a more consultative and helpful guide. And it’s happened relatively quickly.

And nobody knows that better than our guest, Chelsea Leahy.

A former top rep turned SDR Trainer, Chelsea always has a finger on the pulse of the sales development world. The training program and coaching motion she built out at demandDrive has helped hundreds of reps learn the basics, master the role, and become experts in their own right.

And now, she’s rolling that program out to the public with the launch of the online dD Academy.

We talk with Chelsea about the evolution we’ve seen in B2B sales, how that’s impacted the SDR role, and what the dD Academy is doing to help support and enable salespeople as the changes keep coming.

===

💻 Chelsea's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/intent-and-the-dd-academy

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Aug 10, 202341:44
Episode 60: Orchestrating the Perfect Cold Call

Episode 60: Orchestrating the Perfect Cold Call

How Taylor Del Giudice, Co-Founder at Quack, is booking over 80% of his meetings via the phone with his ‘perfect’ cold calling framework.

=== Think back to the absolute best cold call you’ve ever had. What made it great? What was missing that normally derails you? How was your tone? Your questions? Your close? Ok, snap back to reality. We know that not every cold call can be perfect. Sales, by nature, is unpredictable. So when our guest, Taylor Del Giudice, told us that he had built the ‘perfect’ cold calling framework, we knew we had to get him on the show. Beyond laying out his framework, Taylor dove into general outbound prospecting tactics that can serve any SDR team. From getting over cold calling anxiety to curing commission breath to systematizing your qualification questions, Taylor has a ton of insight into how to make the phone a powerful tool in your outbound arsenal. And the proof is in the pudding - over 80% of the meetings he books come via the phone. Find out how he does it - and how you can emulate his framework & style to see similar results yourself.

===

💻 Taylor's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/the-perfect-cold-call

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Aug 03, 202337:48
Opt In: From SDRs to Evangelists

Opt In: From SDRs to Evangelists

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on the evolution of the SDR role in 8.5 minutes!

=== In our opinion, the SDR function is often criminally underutilized. Traditionally, companies look at the SDR function with the following (overly simplified) formula: 🤝 🎓 + (📃 + 💻 + 📞) + 🧑‍🏫 = 🤑 Hire College Grad + Give them a list, laptop, and phone + 1 week of training = Sales Leads And while that might have worked 10 or even 5 years ago, today the role is much more nuanced and complicated than that. Simply executing an outbound motion where SDRs follow a script and are only measured on meetings booked is a recipe for disaster. So what’s a sales leader to do? AJ and Alex recap an onDemand event with Sean Adams of Iorad where they discuss the evolution of the SDR role. From embracing dark social to front-loading value in your outreach to prioritizing customer insight, leaders have a huge opportunity to revolutionize their SDR function and start seeing some long-term pipeline growth. Opt In to expecting more from (and increasing support of) your SDR function.

===

Episode Page ➡️ https://www.demanddrive.com/podcast/from-sdrs-to-evangelists

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Meet our team ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Team⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-LI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work with us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Contact-dD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work for us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jul 27, 202308:34
Trigger Event Templates

Trigger Event Templates

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we share the trigger event template from 30MPC and talk through why it’s so important in 12.5 minutes!

Note - this was shamelessly stolen from the good people at 30MPC. Click here to view the original source material (under “Things You Can Steal”)

===

Trigger events - situations that present an SDR with a relevant reason to reach out to an account - are an important part of the SDR research process.

Rather than calling/emailing someone because they’re just a name on a list, trigger events (like a round of funding, an acquisition, or a new hire announcement) help an SDR tailor their message and solidify why they’re reaching out to someone.

…If they do it properly.

More often than not, SDRs take a trigger event and simply slap it onto the beginning of their standard outbound email template. Then, they hard pivot from that observation into a pitch for their product.

The issue with that is the message lacks continuity. The email feels forced. And it’ll likely end up in the prospect’s trash folder.

Instead of the hard pivot, Armand @ 30MPC recommends you do this:

Figure out the problem that the news creates and weave that into how you solve that problem.

AJ and Alex talk about their experiences with this idea in our latest Opt In. They cover what good and bad look like, how and why reps should adopt this approach, and the common pitfalls to look out for.

Opt in to providing solutions, not observations.

Jul 20, 202312:29
Episode 59: Psychological Safety for SDRs

Episode 59: Psychological Safety for SDRs

How Jagrit Gambhir, Social Media Strategist @ Sybill, views psychological safety and its importance in the workplace (especially for SDRs).

===

The role of the SDR has changed dramatically over the past 5 years.

It’s no longer a “spray and pray” type of job. You win by making long-term deposits, remaining relevant over an extended period of time, and being authentic and empathetic in everything you do.

And for that to be possible, you need a certain level of psychological safety.

The ability to be you - while prospecting, while posting on LinkedIn, or with your colleagues - without being punished or scrutinized for it is a key component of success for top performers.

Including our guest, Jagrit Gambhir.

A former top SDR & AE turned marketer, Jagrit thrived in environments that prioritized psychological safety. That allowed him to fully immerse himself in an industry and build up subject matter expertise & key connections - and that helped make quota attainment a breeze.

But it wasn’t always like that. His first role in the SaaS world almost chewed him up and spat him out. But after recognizing how important psychological safety was to his mental health and overall success, he made it a premium when looking for new gigs.

We cover how leaders can enable and encourage that safety within their organizations, how reps can take advantage of it, and the results you can expect to see.

===

💻 Jagrit's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/psychological-safety-for-sdrs

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jul 13, 202353:54
Opt In: SDR Life Hacks

Opt In: SDR Life Hacks

Every SDR goes about the job a little differently. The most successful SDRs employ numerous best practices, tricks, and life hacks to get the most out of their prospecting, like:

📧 Developing their own nurture cadence outside of marketing.

💬 Maintaining strong communication with both sales AND marketing.

📞📞 The contentious “double dial”.

While the foundation of the role is pretty standard across industries, the nuances and intricacies of each organization and the individual SDRs they employ, creates a lot of room for exploration, experimentation, and personal development.

The best SDRs take advantage of that freedom to build a skillset that is uniquely suited to them as an individual, with the mindset to match

Our most recent internal SDR Symposium brought some of our most creative and outgoing SDRs to the panel to share their favorite tactics and life hacks to making life as an SDR a good one.

As Alex summarized, their mindset for using and developing this tricks boils down to “Hey, this is working ok, but what can I do to make it work better?”

The best SDRs are the ones who always continue to grow.

Opt in to building a skillset that helps you succeed as an SDR.

Jul 06, 202309:05
Opt In: AI Coaching for SDRs

Opt In: AI Coaching for SDRs

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we cover takeaway 4 of 4 from a Gartner guide on boosting SDR pipeline in 8 minutes!

===

According to ⁠a guide published by Gartner⁠, “70% of chief sales officers are implementing or considering investments in SDRs to generate pipeline due to concerns over a lack of adequate pipeline and the transition to virtual or hybrid selling organizations.”

But simply setting up an SDR team doesn’t guarantee results. In fact, if you *just* set the team up and fail to do any continuous coaching, you'll likely lose production through "burn and churn." Gartner cited a report stating that "SDRs require approximately four to six hours of 1:1 coaching per month." And if you're a manager with a large team, getting in that ~1 hour/week with each rep can be pretty tough. That's where AI comes in. Not only can AI quickly distill hundreds to thousands of data points into actionable insight, but it can also pinpoint high-impact areas to make coaching more effective. We're not saying that sales coaching is being replaced by robots - humans are still a vital part of the equation. But when that human is armed with unbiased data from thousands of call sessions, it can lead to some seriously impactful results. Opt In to scaling your frontline coaching with AI and watch your rep productivity & total meetings booked go up. ===

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Meet our team ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Team⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-LI⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work with us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Contact-dD⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work for us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jun 29, 202307:57
Episode 58: Just Send Me Some Information

Episode 58: Just Send Me Some Information

How Itai Amoza, Co-Founder & CEO @ StoryDoc, is building a tool to help sales reps flip a common objection into a competitive advantage.

===

Let’s do a little “read and react” exercise. Below, you’ll find an objection that SDRs face on a regular basis:

“That sounds interesting. Why don’t you send me some information to look over and I’ll get back to you?”

How did you feel reading that?

Most current and former SDRs (ourselves included) probably felt a tinge of positivity followed by a slap of reality.

🤩 They said they were interested!

😟 But when I send someone more info, they don’t always get back to me.

Maybe they’re just brushing you off. Maybe they really are interested. Either way, a lot of reps dread the next step in this process - sending an email off into the void, hoping to hear back.

And while there are plenty of tactics you can use to solidify those next steps (tentative date on the calendar, confirming the type of content they want to read, leveraging AI summaries), our guest for this podcast has turned his attention to the content itself.

Itai Amoza, CEO of Storydoc, believes that creating more interactive content to share with prospects not only helps with our objection scenario above but actually helps bridge the gap between that initial conversation and getting decision-makers on board.

We talk with him about the challenges SDRs face engaging prospects today and how they can tweak their processes to deliver a more personalized and compelling buyer experience.

===

💻 Itai's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/send-me-some-info

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jun 22, 202338:18
Opt In: What We Learned From Rewriting 50+ Sales Emails

Opt In: What We Learned From Rewriting 50+ Sales Emails

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on the lessons we learned rewriting 50+ sales emails in 9.5 minutes!

===

If there’s one thing we learned after rewriting over 50 cold sales emails, it’s that a lot of the common mistakes we saw weren’t tied to a particular caliber of company. From the tiny tech start-up to the unicorn-funded behemoth, we saw a lot of similar issues.

Whether it was poor targeting, shaky value propositions, or a failure to stand out in the sea of cold emails in prospects’ inboxes, nearly every company (and SDR) deals with similar problems.

That’s why we helped create and produce SDRescue, a web series where we critiqued and rewrote real cold emails that SDRs were sending out to prospects. We believed that with a few tweaks, you could improve nearly any email and see an increase in engagement & reply rates.

And that’s why we sat down with Greyson Fullbright - not just because he was the SDRescue host, but because he has a strong track record of building successful cold email campaigns.

We asked him to talk about his biggest takeaways from the SDRescue series.

  • What mistakes was he seeing most often?
  • Where are the biggest areas of improvement for SDRs?
  • How can management get involved in the process?

We cover a lot in our ~30 minutes (it was hard not to with 50+ episodes to pull from). And in classic Greyson fashion, he took the 3 takeaways and really fleshed them out into comprehensive cold email lessons.

Opt In to leveling up your cold email systems and making it a reliable source of booked meetings!

--

Episode Page ➡️ https://www.demanddrive.com/podcast/email-rewrite-lessons

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Meet our team ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Team⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-LI⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work with us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Contact-dD⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to work for us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jun 15, 202309:39
Episode 57: Don't Fear The Phone

Episode 57: Don't Fear The Phone

How Christian Erba, AE @ Contractbook, overcame his fear of cold calling and made it his greatest weapon.

===

Do you remember your first cold call?

How did you feel when your hand moved to pick up the phone (or load up your digital dialer)? Nervous? Excited? Some combination of the two?

For a lot of reps, that feeling of anxiety, fear, and discomfort doesn’t go away quickly. Depending on their mindset, training/guidance, and management, it might never go away. And we know that you know that neglecting the phone entirely is a bad look for (virtually) all reps.

So how can you get over that fear of picking up the phone and start making cold calling a regular part of your outbound motion?

We asked out guest, Christian Erba, how he turned his fear and reluctance of cold calling into his greatest weapon as both an SDR and AE.

Christian talks us through his early struggles as an SDR, how he shifted his mindset to love cold calling, and the advice he has for anyone experiencing the same feelings he did when first starting out.

===

💻 Christian's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/dont-fear-the-phone

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jun 08, 202339:27
Opt In: Messaging and Enablement

Opt In: Messaging and Enablement

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we cover takeaway 3 of 4 from a Gartner guide on boosting SDR pipeline in 7.5 minutes!

===

According to a guide published by Gartner, “70% of chief sales officers are implementing or considering investments in SDRs to generate pipeline due to concerns over a lack of adequate pipeline and the transition to virtual or hybrid selling organizations.”

But simply setting up an SDR team doesn’t guarantee results. Without the proper guidance, enablement, and management, an SDR team can quickly morph from a pipeline generating function to a money pit.

Especially if your sales and marketing teams aren’t properly aligned. And based on what we’ve seen historically, they likely aren’t.

Misalignment is often seen most noticeably in the messaging sent out by the SDRs. When sales and marketing don't have established feedback loops, it leads to SDRs sending out messaging that's unpolished, untargeted, and lacking the credibility or authority that marketing can provide. And that can lead to low connect, reply, and conversion rates. Which nobody wants.

41% of the respondents in this report cited messaging as the *number 1* problem facing their SDR function.

So how do we fix that?

Beyond establishing those feedback loops, AJ and Alex talk about the value that a dedicated enablement role can bring to the table. That allows for oversight, facilitation of best practices and examples, and the opportunity for reps to flex their creative muscles and write their own messaging with established "guard rails."

Opt In to enabling - not dictating - your reps to create great messaging.

--

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠⁠⁠

Meet our team ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Team⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-LI⁠⁠⁠

Want to work with us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Contact-dD⁠⁠⁠

Want to work for us? ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

Jun 01, 202307:32
Episode 56: Is Cold Calling Dead?

Episode 56: Is Cold Calling Dead?

How Charlotte Lloyd, Sales Director at Investment Monitor, views cold calling in today’s sales environment and how to do it *right.*

===

Let’s start with an obvious (to us) statement: No, cold calling isn’t dead. If you Google, “Is cold calling dead?” you’ll get a TON of hits (about 75 million, in fact). And if you look at the “People Also Ask” section, you’ll see questions like: - Is cold calling effective anymore? - What is replacing cold calling? - Do people hate cold callers? Not the most positive grouping of questions. But while the public rhetoric on cold calling isn’t great, there’s a fairly large contingent of sales professionals that still heavily rely on cold calling to generate revenue. One of those people is our guest today, Charlotte Lloyd. She’s a heavy proponent and practitioner of cold calling and has been for a long time. The difference between Charlotte and the people who call for the death of cold calling lies in a few key traits: approach, mindset, and vision. We tackle each of the above and more in our conversation with Charlotte. By the end, you’ll be excited to pick up the phone* * Not guaranteed, but we’re pretty confident 😎

===

💻 Charlotte's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/is-cold-calling-dead

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

May 25, 202334:20
Opt In: The Fate of Sales Development
May 18, 202309:12
Episode 55: Succeeding From Scrach

Episode 55: Succeeding From Scrach

How Adrianna Vidal, Community Manager at RevGenius, made the jump into SaaS sales, saw success as an SDR, and built her online brand.

===

Breaking into the world of SaaS sales can be daunting. It’s competitive (high earning potential), it’s confusing (we love a good acronym), and it’s fast (new tools and strategies pop up every day). But if you can embrace all of that, the sky’s the limit. That’s what draws people into this world - people like our guest, Adrianna Vidal. A former retail sales associate turned property manager, Adrianna had her sights set on breaking into and succeeding in the world of SaaS. She talked us through her journey, what she’s learned along the way, and the advice she has for anyone looking to move into or up in the world of SaaS sales. ===

💻 Adrianna's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/succeeding-from-scratch

📣 More Podcast Episodes: https://bit.ly/dD-Pod

👋 Meet our team: https://bit.ly/dD-Team

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/dD-LI

⭐ Want to work with us?: https://bit.ly/Contact-dD

🤝 Want to work for us?:  https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

May 11, 202341:35
Opt In: SDR Role Specialization

Opt In: SDR Role Specialization

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we cover takeaway 2 of 4 from a Gartner guide on boosting SDR pipeline in 8 minutes!

According to a guide published by Gartner, “70% of chief sales officers are implementing or considering investments in SDRs to generate pipeline due to concerns over a lack of adequate pipeline and the transition to virtual or hybrid selling organizations.” But simply setting up an SDR team doesn’t guarantee results. It requires guidance, proactive management, and elasticity to be successful. You can’t “plug and play” a team and expect to generate recurring revenue. One of the ways that guiding hand can make a significant impact is around SDR role specialization. Basically, focusing the inputs of the SDR around a specific output. Think: qualifying inbound leads vs. penetrating target enterprise accounts vs. reaching out to closed-lost SMB opps. 👆 Those are 3 specific scenarios where an SDR would alter their cadence (inputs) to match the desired outcome (output). And that context-switching is costing reps a lot of time & energy. We actually talked about this topic on our podcast with Karlie Morien. And we open the episode up with this: For a role as vital as the SDR, we sure do a bad job of focusing their efforts. From working inbounds to running an outbound motion to handling nurture accounts, reps are often split across multiple campaigns and channels. That split (and the associated context switching) is what pushed Karlie to employ a specialization strategy on her team. Seeing which marketing channels produced the most leads helped direct how she deployed her reps, and that deployment ultimately evolved into specialized roles. There’s danger in trying to slice and dice your team too much, but there are also a lot of benefits to doing it right. 📈 SDRs become adept at a specific channel/outreach method, increasing efficiency and volume of leads over time. 🎓 SDRs can develop deeper messaging expertise to make their prospecting efforts more effective. 🔍 Specialized roles require specialized skills - which you can look for in the hiring process. That saves a ton of time and effort for your recruiting & onboarding team. Opt In to evaluating your marketing channels and seeing if SDR role specialization is right for your team.

--

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠⁠

Meet our team ➡️ ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Team⁠⁠

Follow us on LinkedIn ➡️ ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-LI⁠⁠

Want to work with us? ➡️ ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Contact-dD⁠⁠

Want to work for us? ➡️ ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Careers

May 04, 202307:52
Episode 54: Marketers Are Friends, Not Food

Episode 54: Marketers Are Friends, Not Food

How Kate Erwin, Head of Content at Contractbook, breaks bread with her sales counterparts to support company growth.

===

Marketing gets a bad rap in the world of SaaS sales. They’re looked at as the “fluff” behind the real work - sales.

And as fun as it is to belittle marketing, their jobs can make the lives of their sales counterparts much, much easier.

From creating personalized content to running large-scale events, marketing has the opportunity to support and enable reps in a way that others can’t.

Our guest, Kate Erwin, has made that her mission as a marketer. She constantly asks a simple, but powerful, question to help strengthen the relationship she has with her sales team:

“How can I support you?”

Kate sat down with us to share more about her mindset as a marketer, how she fosters alignment at her company, and what you (yes, you!) can do to start bridging the gap between these departments at your own company.

===

💻 Kate's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/marketers-are-friends-not-food

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Apr 27, 202338:23
Opt In: Crafting a Winning GTM Strategy in Health Tech
Apr 20, 202306:44
Episode 53: Boosting Email Engagement Through Deliverability

Episode 53: Boosting Email Engagement Through Deliverability

How Maggie Blume of Mailshake uses email deliverability best practices to increase cold email engagement rates.

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Imagine this…you’ve just finished writing a great cold email. It’s relevant. It’s timely. It moves the soul (ok, slow down…) It’s sure to get you a response. So you hit the send button with confidence and… * crickets *

What gives?

🤔 Maybe your email wasn’t that compelling?

🌴 Maybe they're OOO and haven’t seen it yet?

🚫 Or maybe your server reputation is so low that your email was flagged as spam?

*Yikes*

Deliverability is an underrated component of sales development success. And nobody knows that better than our guest, Maggie Blume.

Her work at Mailshake is all about helping sales reps generate more engagement with their emails through a combination of good copywriting, relevant examples, and deliverability best practices.

We sat down with Maggie to pull back the curtain on deliverability. What is it, why is it so important, and how can you (yes reader, you) follow Maggie’s advice and best practices to help boost your email engagement?

-- 💻 Maggie's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/email-deliverability

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Apr 13, 202339:35
Opt In: Relationship Building

Opt In: Relationship Building

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we recap our symposium on relationship building in 7 minutes!


SDRs are professional relationship builders. Think about it… 🤝 They act as the bridge between their prospects and their company. 🤝 They create and strengthen bonds with their manager and AE on a regular basis. 🤝 They connect with and learn from colleagues and SDR peers at other organizations. Their job might be building pipeline revenue, but the best SDRs do that by developing and fostering strong relationships - with prospects, colleagues, and peers. Our recent SDR Symposium covered the different ways in which reps can build relationships and the impact it can have on their overall career. Because there are a lot of different ways to level up as an SDR - podcasts, webinars, books, LinkedIn Lives, digital events - but almost nothing is as powerful as connecting with and learning from other people. AJ said it best (insert heavy bias here): "For any rep out there who’s looking for ways to level up and really take their SDR acumen to the next level, it’s connecting with other people to see how they’re doing the job, and then emulating that in the way that makes sense for you…and layering skills, tactics, insights, etc. on top of what you’re doing, to push yourself to the next level." Just remember to make more deposits than withdrawals! Opt In to building and fostering more relationships as an SDR.

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Apr 06, 202306:56
Opt In: Alleviating Non-Sales Activities

Opt In: Alleviating Non-Sales Activities

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this episode, we cover takeaway 1 of 4 from a Gartner guide on boosting SDR pipeline in 7 minutes!

According to a guide published by Gartner, “70% of chief sales officers are implementing or considering investments in SDRs to generate pipeline due to concerns over a lack of adequate pipeline and the transition to virtual or hybrid selling organizations.”

But simply setting up an SDR team doesn’t guarantee results. There are still plenty of hurdles that both the reps and their leaders have to overcome for that team to produce replicable results.

One of those hurdles focuses on time management. And specifically, “setting up a non-SDR resource responsible for sourcing external prospecting data.”

Basically, SDR Operations.

Should SDRs be doing their own research? Yes - it can help them build the context they need to create relevant messaging. But they don’t need to be cleaning up bad email addresses and phone numbers.

The goal of having an ops person or team is to reduce the amount of administrative work (pulling contact info, building org charts, etc.) for your SDRs so they have more time to do specialized work (having conversations with prospects, sharing relevant content, etc.).

After all, you don’t incentivize your SDRs to pull data, you incentivize them to generate pipeline revenue.

Opt In to having an operations arm supporting your SDRs and allowing them to focus on prospecting, not admin work.

--

The demandDrive Podcast ➡️ ⁠https://bit.ly/dD-Pod⁠

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Mar 30, 202307:14
Episode 52: Systems Integration

Episode 52: Systems Integration

How Jake Bernstein of SPINS navigated a major acquisition and got a new team on the same page. Plus, how you can apply those lessons in your day-to-day.

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If you’ve ever been part of a merger or acquisition, you know the feeling.

❓ Questions about job security.

❓ Questions about new responsibilities.

❓ Questions about tech, processes, and strategies.

In short, it’s a lot of uncertainty. And that can be really disconcerting for your business development team.

It’s important to be transparent, communicative, and empathetic in these situations. And that’s something Jake Bernstein knows firsthand.

He stopped by the show to talk about the acquisition he managed between his old company, ClearCut Analytics, and his new company, SPINS.

From demystifying the gray areas to highlighting the exciting parts (and everything in between), Jake made sure to keep his reps as involved and up-to-date as possible during the process. And because of that, they were able to seamlessly integrate systems, tools, processes, and teams without losing momentum.

The best part? Jake’s examples and lessons are applicable all of the time - acquisition or not. As long as you put the well-being of your reps first, you can use his advice to make a positive impact on your own organization.

--

💻 Jake's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/systems-integration

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Mar 23, 202336:33
Opt In: Cold Email Teardown and Engagement Tactics

Opt In: Cold Email Teardown and Engagement Tactics

Mar 16, 202306:38
Episode 51: Is The SDR Model Still Viable?

Episode 51: Is The SDR Model Still Viable?

How Maria Bross of revenue.io is modernizing the way we look at SDR training, onboarding, and support.

There’s a common myth that some of us are natural-born salespeople - and without that innate ability or predisposition, you won’t see success as an SDR.  

Well, consider this podcast an episode of MythBusters because we reject that reality and substitute our own.  

And so does our guest, Maria Bross of Revenue.io. She is a self-proclaimed “not naturally good at saleser,” and yet she’s built out an impressive career as both an IC and as a manager+.  

Her secret? Training, coaching, and support.  

And those themes stayed constant throughout her full circle journey - from Sales Development Rep to Sales Enablement Manager and back to Sales Development, this time in a leadership position. Her love of adult learning and fascination with pipeline generation propelled Maria forward - not some “innate ability.”  

We talk about the impact of a well-structured training program, what happens when management offers minimal support, and whether or not the SDR model is still viable in today’s modern environment.

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💻 Maria's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/sdr-model-viability

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Mar 09, 202342:56
Opt In Throwback: Poor Attention To Detail

Opt In Throwback: Poor Attention To Detail

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! We turn back time in this throwback edition where, in 6 minutes, we confirm that the devil is indeed in the details.

Part of your job as an SDR is to carve out space inside your prospect’s brains for your name, brand, and value. That way, when they’re actively looking for a solution, you’re top of mind.  

Carving out that space requires:  

🧠 A long-term mindset 

👍 Social nurturing skills 

👂 Active listening skills 

✅ Credibility  

🧑‍⚖️ Authority 

🔍 And above all else, attention to detail.  

Carving out that space is really hard to do and really easy to lose. And reps lose it all the time if their messaging is disjointed, their emails are full of grammatical errors, they don’t listen to what the prospect needs, they lie, they take too long between outreach...  

(we could keep going, but we’ll cap the number of examples at 5)  

Your prospects can tell when you start “going through the motions” and that detail is lost. And when that detail is lost, it gives the impression you don’t care. And if you don’t care, why should the prospect care? And if the prospect doesn’t care…  

Bye bye!  

Sales development is a different game nowadays. You win by sharing value and making deposits in the short run, cashing out in the long run, and staying on top of each prospect in a personal & relevant fashion in the interim.  

Is it a lot? Yes. But that’s what it takes to see long-term, sustainable success these days.  

Opt In to making attention to detail a key pillar in your SDR strategy!

--

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Mar 03, 202306:01
Episode 50: Change Management

Episode 50: Change Management

How Josh Schwartz of Bregal Sagemount helps organizations not just embrace change, but actually look forward to it.

A call for change is typically met with one of the following responses: 

  1. Fear 
  2. Denial  

No doubt about it, change is a touchy subject. It implies that what you’re doing isn’t good enough or that you lack the knowledge to do it right - neither of which is good for the ego.  

But change can be, dare we say, good? After all, without change, there is no growth.  

And after talking with our guest, Josh Schwartz, we’re realizing that it’s not always the change itself that gives people pause. but how that change is brought about.  

Josh dives into how he’s able to infiltrate a company and make positive change (like tripling growth in three years). From small tasks like changing up messaging to large initiatives like promoting widespread CRM adoption, Josh uses a very efficient and empathetic approach to earn the buy-in he needs to facilitate growth.  

We talk about his approach to change management and the impact it can have on an organization.  

And if he can do it as an outsider, you can certainly do it within your own organization.

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💻 Josh's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/change-management

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Feb 23, 202339:13
Opt In: Running Contests Sales Reps Actually Care About
Feb 16, 202305:58
Episode 49: Gamification For SDRs

Episode 49: Gamification For SDRs

How Drew Torrey and Prapanch Madhiraju are making prospecting more effective, more rewarding, and more fun with their gamification tool, Rake Rewards.

Let’s not beat around the bush - SDR activities can be monotonous.  

Cold calls, pitches, email follow-ups, prospect research, chasing potential leads…it’s easy to lose sight of the forest among the trees.   

But the trees (your daily activities) are vitally important to make sure the forest (your goals) thrives. Slip into an apathetic mindset and you can kiss your sales goals goodbye.  

That means as a manager, properly motivating your SDR team is vital to your success.  

Enter: Gamification.  

Recognizing and rewarding the success of your SDR team through friendly competition helps shake the monotony of their day-to-day and keeps them focused on what’s important.  So how do you build a gamification structure that fits your team?  

We sit down with Prapanch Madhiraju & Drew Torrey of Rake to talk about the psychology behind gamification and how to best implement it on your team.

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💻 Rake's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/gamification-for-sdrs

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Feb 09, 202343:06
Opt In: Building a Knowledge Base

Opt In: Building a Knowledge Base

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this edition, we talk about best practices around building an appropriate knowledge base for new SDRs in 7 minutes!

Your manager tells you to “do some research.” Ok…what does that mean?  

New SDRs and reps who are ramping up a new program/division/industry feel that pain. The call for research is vague and directionless.   

  • Where do you go?  
  • Are there existing resources you can leverage?  
  • Should you be looking for anything in particular? 
  • How much is too much?  

AJ and Alex discuss some of the challenges reps and managers face when building a knowledge base.  

Managers: Suggesting sites, publications, and resource types can speed up your rep’s development considerably. Beyond basic marketing collateral, where else can they learn more about the product/company/mission?  

Reps: Knowing how much information you need to ingest before putting it to the test will help you boost confidence and see timely success (holy cow am I a poet?). Do you need to know everything before you start doing your outreach, or will tidbits of info do the trick?  

(Managers & reps should take notes on the opposite party up there as well…lots to learn from each other)  

Opt in to accelerating development and building an appropriate knowledge base!

--

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Feb 03, 202306:59
Episode 48: Building Sales & Marketing Alignment

Episode 48: Building Sales & Marketing Alignment

How ‘The Pickle Boys’ aka Junior Lartey & Taylor Dahlem used a peer prospecting campaign to foster and grow alignment between sales and marketing.

When you hear the words “sales and marketing alignment,” what image does it conjure?

📺 A Zoom meeting with the heads of each department hashing out strategy?

🎯 A carefully executed ABM campaign that hits target accounts with a succinct, powerful message?

⚙️ Tech that enables the two teams to work with one another in a seamless fashion?

How about memes?

Alignment is tricky. It means different things to different people. And in the case of our guests, Taylor and Junior of Pickle, it meant proving out and working closely together on a peer prospecting campaign.

Junior’s idea & execution + Taylor’s support & long-term strategy = a happy and healthy pipeline, strong brand identity, and the early phases of sales & marketing alignment.

We chat about the origins of Junior’s peer prospecting campaign, how he and Taylor work with and support each other, and what other campaigns lie ahead now that foundational alignment is set.

And yes, we talk about memes. Because they’re a lot more important than you might think.

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💻 Pickle's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/building-sales-and-marketing-alignment

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Jan 26, 202341:37
Opt In: Running Effective Team Meetings

Opt In: Running Effective Team Meetings

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar in 7 minutes!

How to make meetings effective and (believe it or not) enjoyable.

There’s always been conflict when it comes to internal meetings.  

And now in our remote world, the issues and difficulties with running 1-on-1 and team meetings are magnified. There are more distractions for your reps, they can turn their cameras off, and they could easily be multi-tasking while you speak. 

 In short: “The ability to drive comprehension and listening to what is being discussed is much lower than what it would be in an in-person setting.”  

That 👆 is a direct quote from Karlie Morien Bliss, the guest of our latest onDemand event. AJ talked with her about the system she implemented at Logixboard to run effective internal meetings - both on a team level and at the 1-on-1 level.  

The results of her system? Reps are Logixboard were more engaged, actively participating in meetings, and able to really comprehend what leadership was sharing. Setting her reps up for success helped set the company up for success - Logixboard achieved 105% of their annual growth target and TRIPLED revenue totals in 2022.  

We’re not saying there’s a direct relationship between Karlie’s structure and the company beating its goal…but when you have an SDR function that buys in to what you’re selling, good things happen.  

All it takes is a little structure, some forced participation, and an understanding of each rep’s north star goal. Oh, and actually having the meeting instead of “pushing it to next week.”  

Opt In to building a consistent and effective meeting structure for your SDRs that actually happen.

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Jan 19, 202306:58
Episode 47: Uplifting Untapped & Overlooked Voices

Episode 47: Uplifting Untapped & Overlooked Voices

How Lori Dunn, COO @ Optimus Technologies, views the mentor/mentee relationship and shares advice on how each party can benefit.

What does mentorship mean to you?  

  • Someone to help you navigate difficult situations? 
  • Someone to lean on when you’re unsure of a decision? 
  • Someone to coach up a specific skill or unblock you from negative thoughts?  

There are a ton of ways you can slide and dice mentorship, but we think Lori Dunn has a pretty solid definition:  

“A mentor is someone who is with you on a journey of growth.”  

We dive into what that means, how Lori started down her path as a mentor and mentee, and what you (yes, you!) can do today to start fostering better relationships and personal growth.

===

💻 Lori's Episode Page: demanddrive.com/podcast/uplifting-untapped-and-overlooked-voices

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Jan 12, 202334:11
Opt In: Misleading Subject Lines

Opt In: Misleading Subject Lines

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this throwback edition, learn about the dangers of misleading subject lines (and what to do instead) in 6 minutes!

Here’s the deal: There are a lot of emails out there.

The “sea of bad prospecting” continues to grow every day.

What are you doing to stand out?

If the answer is “trick your prospects,” you’re wrong…and right?

Now, we’re not advocating for your to send out emails with subject lines like “your husband and my child.” Messages like that might score you an open and a quick read, but it will also demolish any trust or credibility that you or your brand might have with that prospect.

Trust us, open rates are a vanity metric that isn’t worth destroying your reputation over.

When we say “trick” a prospect, we mean personalizing the subject line for the prospect more than using it to sum up the nature of your email.

Get creative. Find out what your prospects are passionate about. Research their company and uncover goals or challenges. See if they’ve appeared on a podcast or webinar and grab a quote!

Novelty, continuity, and relevance are your friend.

You need to grab their attention with relevant information - otherwise, your message will drown in the sea of bad prospecting.

Opt in to build a structure around creating catchy - not tricky - subject lines.

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Dec 29, 202205:57
Opt In: The Joys of Holiday Prospecting
Dec 20, 202207:45
Opt In: Getting Started with Sales Development

Opt In: Getting Started with Sales Development

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar in 8.5 minutes!

What you need to know before building & scaling out your SDR function.

Taking a kid out of college and expecting them to generate revenue after a couple of weeks of training is…well it’s absurd.  

But sales leaders continue to build SDR functions with the mentality of "hire a rep, train them quickly, reap the rewards."  

That might have worked ~5 years ago, but there are nuances to building a high-performing team in today's environment that need to be considered.  

And consider them we shall.  

As you might imagine, a company that builds and manages sales development functions gets asked a lot of questions about team structure, compensation, motivation, etc.  

The nitty gritty stuff that you have to consider if you want to build a successful, sustainable team.

AJ and Alex cover 6 common questions & pitfalls in our recent onDemand event. From there, they teased out a couple of “aha” moments to highlight in an episode of Opt In.  

As the SDR function becomes more strategic, the investment in and management of your reps becomes more important.  

Opt In to modernizing your SDR function and building it with sustainable success in mind.

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onDemand Event: https://lu.ma/getting-started-with-sales-dev

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Dec 16, 202208:14
Opt In: Don't Copy - Emulate
Dec 08, 202207:22
Opt In: Culture & Engagement

Opt In: Culture & Engagement

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Learn about the importance of company culture & engagement on SDR success in 7.5 minutes!

Don’t look for culture fits, look for culture adds.  

Building a sales development team is hard enough. The moving pieces (your SDRs) are unique individuals that require different levels of attention, support, and encouragement.  

You shouldn’t expect or want them to blend in with the existing culture of your team - you should want them to progress that culture and continue making it a great place to work, learn, and grow.  

But you have to make that possible. And SDRs have to be proactive. Like Alex said…  

"You don’t have to like the people you work with, but you should feel obligated to get to know them."  

It’s more than just happy hours, random coffees, and being active in your Slack/Teams channel.  

It’s breaking out of your comfort zone, figuring out how you can best contribute to the team, and refusing to settle into the background.   

Because if you don’t, the already difficult job of an SDR can become isolating. And that’s a recipe for disaster.   

AJ and Alex touch on some tactical ideas for teams & individuals to create and evolve their culture.   

Opt in to being a social butterfly, not a suffering caterpillar.

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Episode Page ➡️ https://www.demanddrive.com/podcast/culture-and-engagement

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Nov 29, 202207:29
Opt In: Feast on Leads This Holiday Season
Nov 18, 202206:35
Opt In: Forecasting & Capacity Planning

Opt In: Forecasting & Capacity Planning

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar with Lindsay in 7.5 minutes!

One of the biggest reasons SDR teams underperform?  

It’s not a lack of tech. It’s not bad management. It’s not limited training.  

All of those things are problems, but they pale in comparison to bad goal-setting.  

More often than not, leadership teams end up creating unattainable, unmeasurable, and unmanageable goals for their SDR function.  

That trickles down to the SDR manager, who attempts to build a team that can hit those lofty expectations…  

And that trickles down to the SDR, who ends up burning themselves out in the process.  

Then, it’s ‘rinse and repeat’ with a new crop of reps.  

AJ and Alex talk about how you can solve this problem in our latest Opt In.  

In it, they cover some of the points that Lindsay Frey (dD Co-Founder & CEO) made in her onDemand Webinar on Forecasting and Capacity Planning.  

Some of the big takeaways include:  

📈 Math scales infinitely - sales KPIs don’t. You have to consider the point of diminishing returns. You’re managing people, not a dashboard.  

🔮 Goals need to be rooted in hard numbers - examine your historical conversion rates and set reasonable inputs for those outputs.  

🍐 Match your incentives and your desired outcomes. Don’t measure your team on quantity if you need them to produce quality meetings (and vice versa).

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Nov 15, 202207:26
Opt In Rewind - Be The Delta

Opt In Rewind - Be The Delta

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! In this Rewind, we look back at our 2nd ever-recorded episode where we tackle the idea of being the "delta" in 6 minutes!

The idea behind this episode started when AJ & Greyson (of SDRev fame) interviewed François Bourdeau for the SDRepresent video series.

In it, when asked a question about what the best SDRs are doing, he brought up the idea of being the delta between what your prospects can find about you online and what they can’t.

Basically, instead of leaning on feature/function for prospecting (think copy/paste website content in an email), the best reps are able to leverage anecdotal stories about how they’ve helped other customers solve similar problems or challenges.

That resonates more powerfully than reading through a bulleted list of features. AND it’s not something you can easily find online - these stories are coming from the unique perspective of the rep. They’re more personal and relatable.

Less product-heavy, more experience-heavy.

It’s not easy (if it was, everyone would be doing it), but if you want to level up your prospecting then you need to start humanizing your messaging.

Opt in to being the delta between what prospects can find about you online and what they can’t - because that’s what drives buying decisions.

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