Strategies for SDRS to Meet Quotas

Not everyone runs the math on this, but I do! When I had 5 SDRs I looked at how they spent their time… I wanted to know my costs. Their 8 hour days were on average: - 30 min: internal meetings (1:1’s, all hands) - 30 min: trainings - 150 min: prospecting data gathering - 150 min: calling - 90 min: custom emails / LinkedIn My cost of running my SDRs team was about $750K (includes tools, management, benefits, etc) That meant each fully supported SDR is $150K That meant $75/hr With that I looked at the SDR day again… WTF! $37 worth of training per day $187 worth of “Data gathering!?!” I wanted to flip it. Didn’t like the ratio I let go my least productive SDR, and hired 2 Data researchers who OBSESS with Clay, and other data tools. Hired offshore (no agency, direct hire!) Cost-wise we stayed the same. But time spent per day on my 4 SDRs flipped to: - 60 min meetings (more time w/ AEs & data team) - 60 min training (more w/ peers!) - 15 min checking / validating data in Outreach - 195 min calling - 120 min emails / LinkedIn Something crazy happened. SDRs became A LOT more strategic. SDRs enjoyed their work more SDRs collaborated with AEs more SDRs didn’t burn out as quickly SQLs (Held meetings) went from 22 per month for the team to 38 per month… SALs (AE takes ownership / flip it) went from 8 per month to 27 per month! Mid-funnel meetings to move opps down the funnel went from ZERO! To 7 per month. SDR tenure went from 14 to 31 months. All for a total cost of $0. Not an extra penny spent. Just re-organized the team, became more data driven, split responsibilities, gamified the calls, added SDR Revenue commissions and maximized SDR/AE collaboration. As you plan your 2025, consider this… there are ways to improve your team that take $0 budget. Especially if you don’t have a data team Especially if you use Orum/Nooks Especially if you’re not turning meetings into revenue Especially if you don’t have SDR-Rev-Ops Tag someone that needs to see this / think about this / consider this for the future. Heck! DM me if you want me to explain how to do it right. Happy to share some visuals and process documents via Zoom. Now get back to your 2025 planning and knock it out of the freaking park next year #SDRsMatter

The difference between being an average SDR and a top-performing SDR booking 5 to 10 meetings a week is simple ⤵️ 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝘼: consistent, targeted outreach with relevant follow ups 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝘽: generic, mass emails and sporadic cold calls When you rely on Strategy B you might hit a few lucky wins but you'll mostly face rejection and frustration For Strategy A you get a higher response rate, more meaningful conversations and ultimately a consistent pipeline of meetings Here’s how I booked 25-30 meetings a month as an Enterprise SDR ⤵️ ♦️ 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆: Every email and call was tailored. I referenced recent news, their current challenges and specific ways our solution could solve their problems ♦️ 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝘁: I never focused on the quantity of anything. Whether I made 25 dials or 500 I gave everything I had until the "buzzer" stopped. I focused on hitting my numbers no matter what it took ♦️ 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽: I took the time outside of hours to refine my data, research my accounts and tier/prioritize my prospects ♦️ 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵: My first 2 emails were always relevant and focused on the prospect and then I would sprinkle in and nurture with the rest of the sequence ♦️ 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: I was always on the phone. I spoke with confidence and a consultative approach. Sharing how our tool could support or empower them and what they could expect ♦️ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: I shadowed my AEs, marketing team and CSMs. I learned what the sales cycle looked like for clients and met with solution engineers to understand our offerings ♦️ 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: I took big risks on subject lines, call openers, leaned into video, cold FaceTimed folks – I tried it all By focusing on these strategies I consistently booked 25 to 30 meetings a month with a 75% show rate Remember it’s not about how many calls you make but the quality and relevance of your outreach P.S. What strategies have helped you book more meetings consistently? Share your tips below!

One of our SDRs went from hitting ~60% of quota to 120%+ with the simple change of “bucketing” their prospects. Before making the change, they were uploading all of their prospects into a call list and cranking out dials. High volume, tons of conversations, very few conversions. They’d call a VP of engineering, then a product manager, then an engineering IC, all across different industries. They were making it nearly impossible for themselves to be “audible ready” for conversations because they were creating their own massive context switching problem. The change we made was simple: they started bucketing their prospects into lists based on level and title. Then, they spent entire call blocks on the same level and title, making it incredibly easy to nail the talk track when someone answered. Their conversion jumped, along with their quota attainment and commission checks. How do you organize your call list? Do you “bucket” your prospects?

Here is how I would become a top SDR. (4 immediate steps you can take after reading this post) 1. Talk to the top sales reps Remove your ego and ask the top people how they have succeeded by asking a few questions. • How do you stay mentally focused? • What is your favorite cold call opener? • How do you manage your time as a rep? • What are your favorite tools to use and why? • What are your favorite subject lines for outbound? The best advice will come from someone who has done it well in your company. 2. Speak to Customer Success If you want to be great at sales, you need to know thy customer. • What are the pain points we are solving? • Why do customers stay with us? • Which vertical is performing well right now?      Get very detailed information. This will help you understand why people invest in your company. The more you learn about the customer, the more you earn. 3. Creative prospecting Think about how to use pattern interrupts and be outside the box in your prospecting. • LinkedIn Voice Notes (post on this in the comments) • Ground Swell Prospecting • Video prospecting Sendspark Don't be afraid and start doing this today. 4. Manage your time effectively An organized schedule leads to organized results. Here are a couple of questions you can ask yourself to get better at time management. • What time of day are you the most productive? • How can you prospect well in a 30 minute window? • How can you efficiently reach out to leads in an hour? Learning time management is vital and it will make you a top SDR. If you follow these four steps you will become a top SDR in no time. Mention someone that could benefit from this content. ----- Btw, I post daily content like this about prospecting and sales. 1) If you found this useful. Repost to help others ♻️. 2) Check out Commi$h newsletter. I send an email every Thursday to 10,000+ people. It always has 1 tip on how to do creative prospecting that gets meetings. You can sign up with the link below my name in this post.