Tips for SDRS to Improve Prospecting Skills

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!

My prospecting motto that’s changed everything for me. "Do a little every day, so you never have to do a lot." Targeting new accounts is to be built into your daily operating rhythm. It’s just as important as prepping for calls, working active deals, running demos, etc. So I developed my 2×4 Method: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: Target just 2 new accounts each day. Pull first from those top accounts that have shown intent via signals. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: At each account, target around 4 individuals of different personas. For Gong: CRO, Rev Ops Leader, Enablement Leader, AE 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: Do this each day (5) of the week. You will have 40 individuals being hit by the end of week. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: Hit each account fast & hard all at once. Create conversation internally among those being targeted with compelling messaging so personalized that you're impossible to ignore. Over one month (22 business days), you should have hit 44 accounts using this method. By the end of Q1, you should have hit 100% of your Marquee and Tier 1 accounts. If you're an SDR, you will need to target more than 2 accounts per day. You'll find your correct number over time but it's likely closer to 6-10 accounts per day. Make a little progress every day. The goal is consistency. P.S. I created this account planning sheet (free), so you can keep organized on it all: https://lnkd.in/guCMPNxy

I recently flew out to California to work with Will Falkenborg 🌭 for 3 days straight. I found out exactly what makes him the top 1% of SDRs out there. Here are 5 things I learned that you can act on today to maximize SDR productivity: 1) He spends all his time with ideal-fit accounts His understanding of our ICP is on par (or better) than the top AEs and execs at our company. Most SDRs spend a huge portion of their time on bad fits and aren’t aware of it. Spend time early on aligning on the best accounts and set rules on how many should be worked over what periods. Over time, I trust the accounts he is working on but it took time to get here. 2) He is religious about hitting key activity metrics and never misses. He does this while constantly trying to tweak/improve his approach He hits key activity metrics every single week and reports on them. Multiple times a month I get a DM asking to skip an internal meeting (he watches the recordings) so he doesn’t miss out on key calling hours. He takes it very seriously. In addition, he is constantly asking for feedback and listening to sales calls to use new quotes and pitches in his talk tracks. He listens to more calls than anyone at our company by a wide margin. 3) He knows his top accounts as deep as strategic reps and works referrals consistently Most of his call connects are NOT to the ideal person. However, I watched him build rapport on multiple cold calls and smoothly drop 3 other people’s names during the calls. These connects are productive – while they don’t lead to a booked meeting right away – it’s what makes his email channel work. Most people would give up on the account, but he uses every connection to validate who is the ideal person and get one step closer to them. 4) He does what’s best for the business, not the comp plan Multiple times, I’ve heard him say a flavor of: “We can get meetings with X and Y people, but without Z’s support, nothing is going to happen here…. this is what’s happening in the business and we shouldn’t engage until ABC is over.” Most SDRs will take any meeting they can get and try to push aggressively to get it to flip. He owns the conversion rate metrics even though it’s not always in his best financial interest. 5) He has a regimented plan to nurture accounts Now that he has 8 months in seat (minus 4 weeks having a baby), multiple opps are created every month based on high quality nurture. His process is sound for this and he doesn’t miss a follow up. He also uses the entire company (leadership, AEs, and other connections) when the time is right. Takeaway Leaders — Go sit with your highest performing SDRs and AEs. They are doing things at a high level that they don’t realize is special. This is what some people call unconscious competence. It’s our job as leaders to learn from them and then standardize these winning plays via enablement, coaching, structure, etc. Block your calendar or get on that plane 🛫 ….

Fact: Outbound sales is broken. Incentives and strategies are misaligned. Tools like Salesloft and Outreach didn’t cause it. They amplified it. Now marketing and sales need to work together to fix it. The real issue is that sales managers push SDRs to prioritize volume over quality, leading to generic outreach that no one wants to read. Fixing this starts with focus. Give SDRs a small set of accounts, 30 per quarter, and tier them into A, B, and C priorities (using tools like Clay, Tofu, Unify). This makes it clear who they’re targeting and allows them to spend their time understanding the industries, companies, and people they’re reaching out to. Instead of chasing volume, they can dive deep into the problems their prospects are trying to solve. With the right tools, resources and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, SDRs can educate themselves on the pain points, motivations, and challenges of their target audience. They can craft outreach that adds value and speaks directly to what matters most. Take me as an example. If you’re reaching out to someone like me at MoEngage, don’t send lazy, cookie-cutter emails like: “Does getting more pipeline keep you up at night” “Would you be interested in getting more qualified meetings” “Do you want customer lists of your competitors?” “Are you still interested?” “I haven’t heard back. I’ll assume this isn’t a priority.” These don’t work. They’re noise. If you want my attention, show me you’ve done your homework. Understand that I’m focused on growing in North America. Recognize the challenges of expanding into a crowded market. Tell me something valuable about how companies like mine are navigating those problems and how you can help. This approach may lead to fewer meetings overall, but the meetings you get will be better. SDRs and AEs will know their audience. They’ll understand the pain points. They’ll deliver messaging that lands because it’s relevant and thoughtful. And this isn’t just a sales problem. Marketing has to help. Marketing should train SDRs and AEs with insights about the market, the ICP, and the problems worth solving. Outbound sales works best when sales and marketing are aligned, working together to get the right message in front of the right people. Stop trying to get more meetings. Focus on getting better ones.