Best Practices for Hiring SDRs

I’ve always talked about the character traits I screen for when I hire sales candidates: the grit, curiosity, and fire in the belly. Here’s how I actually test for them using these 3 simple tools: 1. Deal Walkthrough We all love win stories, but for this round, I want to hear the messy middle: What really happened in the deal? Where did it go sideways? And how did you personally handle it? I want to see how you took ownership, adapted on the fly, and made smart calls under pressure. 2. Written Test This part is very straightforward. Sales = communication, so expect a few prompts from me like: “Write an outbound email.” “Explain this product in 5 sentences.” I just want to see how you think, how you organize ideas, and whether you can make things make sense to someone else. Does that make sense? 3. Stage-Fit Filters We're down to real stories here. I want to know about your real-world fit. I’ll ask: “How do you build a pipeline when nobody knows the brand?” “What do you do when the usual resources or enablement aren’t there yet?” Here's a bonus tool: KANNY, a reference tool I use to go beyond what I see on the surface. - How did you show up when things got hard? Were you kind? Accountable? Nimble? These "soft skills" define the long run. I found some of my best SDRs using these tools. Got your own tools for spotting sales talent? Would love to hear them!

Hiring "A players" is often idealistic advice. At some point you'll make a bad hire or struggle to attract top talent. Here's 2 learnings and some advice on hiring SDRs: Learning: Have candidates do the job BEFORE getting the job. Typically, we schedule 2 interviews for behavioral style questions before doing a mock interview. For mock interviews, here's how we evaluate SDR candidates: Step 1: Find an account + persona that fits our ICP Step 2: Write a cold email selling our solution Step 3: Mock cold call We don't provide email templates or a call script. Ideally, the candidate has already been trained on this. If not, you'll see how resourceful they are. Learning: Make the initial phone screen 15 minutes. It takes ~5 minutes to form an opinion on someone. Early in my career, I'd spend 30+ minutes with candidates I knew we weren't going move forward. Now, my goal when hiring is to spend as little time as possible with unqualified candidates. Scheduling phone screens for 15 min makes this easy. If you like the candidate, it's easy to extend the convo to a half hour. Advice: Create systems so “B-players” can succeed. I feel great leaders have the ability to turn some "B-players" into "A-players." Systems and processes help you get there. Start by documenting what "good" looks like. If you don't have a playbook already or are in need of a refresh.... Try this: - Record yourself explaining a workflow using Zoom - Transcribe recording with Gong - Summarize in a system like Notion - Update quarterly I'm a HUGE fan of recording videos for training/coaching. Shadowing is one of the best ways for reps learn. Video helps managers document efficiently. TL;DR Hiring SDRs is hard. Here's how we avoid wasted time and mis-hires: 1. Have candidates do the job before getting the job 2. Make the initial phone screen 15 min 3. Use video to help "B players" become "A players" I'm still growing as a leader and certainly don't know everything. Happy to provide perspective or answer questions. Drop them below.

4-steps needed in every playbook to hire A-players for your SDR Team 𝟭) 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔+ 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 Goal: repel the bad, attract the good. Think like an A-Player. What do they want? ↳ List: Salary/Comm/OTE + % of team attainment + benefits + tools + perks ↳ Clear picture of the opportunity in the JD ↳ A-Players want the best = show off 🥇 ↳ Post like Clint Hinkle: bit.ly/3x2CAUe ^ Clint's format landed 220-450 applicants per SDR role for my clients 𝟮) 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼 🎥 Goal: this system changed my ability to "meet" candidates by 12x... seeing 12 candidates per hour (20+ on 2x speed). You'll spot top talent 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 quicker via video. ↳ Only 4-5 basic questions ↳ "tell me about you" done over video ↳ 5min or less / vid = a happy schedule 📆 ↳ know what to dig into on the face-to-face P.S. Vidyard & Loom are free. 🚩 If they can't figure this out? How will they do with sequencers, dialers, and SDR tech? 𝟯) 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Goal: See their analytical and written skills. ↳ fully passive task (BIG time saver) ↳ Identify 3 ideal prospects & explain why ↳ Choose 1 of 3 prospects, write 3 emails to get a response. ↳ The variance on this is shocking, and that's the points. See the A-Players. 𝟰) 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 Goal: Can they move through the discomfort of cold call objections? ↳ Act out 3 mock cold calls ↳ Increase the difficulty from 1-2-3. ↳ Before starting, a great time to ask: "in your own words, what do we do?" ↳ Their goal = Get {prospect} to agree to meet. Easy to assess objectively. In my next newsletter I'll give away: 📧 The 5 Video Intro Questions for SDRs 📧 Stress Test Templates 1 & 2 📧 A bonus gift 🎁 Join 2,813 founders & revenue leaders who want A+ SDRs on their team. 👉 https://ronenpessar.com ------- ♻️ Hit 'repost' if you love A-players ♻️ Follow me for my proven systems to grow revenue with an SDR Team. 🔔 Then hit the bell—never miss a post 🔔 ↓ 𝗣.𝗦. How do you hire for A+ SDRs? 💬 ↓ Tell me in the comments! ↓