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The path to sales success is unique - both in the steps you take and how you define "success." For some people, success means being a top individual contributor. They're born to be hunters, and they thrive in that role. They might define success as making as much money as possible. For some people, success means leading others. They have what it takes to motivate and manage a team - not just themselves. They likely define success as moving up the corporate ladder. But how do you know which path is right for you? Kristie Jones, a seasoned sales leader and author, offers advice on how to identify and embrace the right path for you. By realizing your "sales superpower" and leaning into what you define as success, Kristie believes that anyone with the right mindset can succeed in sales. === Episode Recap & Insights: https://www.demanddrive.com/podcasts/kristie-jones-blueprint-for-sales-success ===

One of the most significant learning curves for anyone entering the sales world is becoming comfortable with hearing the word ‘no.' And you don't have to just get comfortable with it - you have to hop back on the horse and make another call right after hearing it. It takes time to see a door closing or a phone hanging up on you as not rejection, but redirection. Episode 4 dives into these topics (and more) with Senior SDR and President's Club member Kyle Schmider. Beyond his mentality for getting over rejection, Kyle also shares the importance of positivity in a sales role and his advice on returning to that mindset on more challenging days. === Episode Recap & Insights: https://www.demanddrive.com/podcasts/no-isnt-rejection-but-redirection ===

Join AJ and Alex as they recap their top takeaways from our Growth Guiders event. Highlights:

Time Management - The Key to Success may sound like just another piece of content about managing your time, but it is far from that. Episode 3 is a dynamic conversation about getting back to the basics of the SDR role. It's filled with tips and advice from a former SDR turned manager, Andrew Smith (who still gets on the phone with his team), who has takeaways for any listener. === Episode Recap & Insights: ⁠https://www.demanddrive.com/podcasts/time-management-the-key-to-success ===

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

SDR: From Acronym to Sales Career is an episode that walks you through the journey of starting as a new SDR with little-to-no sales knowledge, to cultivating relationships, honing in on networking skills, and eventually, creating a career path for yourself. This episode is a great listen for both new and tenured reps, showing how even though it might have just sounded like a funny acronym === Episode Recap & Insights: https://www.demanddrive.com/podcasts/from-acronym-to-sales-career ===

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. ===

“You got the job, now what?” A simple question that has anything but a simple answer, which is why it felt like a perfect topic to dive into for the first episode of SDR Insider: Insights from Top Performers. If you recently started as a new SDR, are feeling stuck in your current role, or you're any place in between, this first episode undoubtedly will leave you feeling ready to conquer the quarter (and beyond). === Episode Recap & Insights: https://www.demanddrive.com/podcast/sdr-insider-1-you-got-the-job-now-what ===

Join AJ and Alex for a special episode of Opt In! We pepper our co-founder Dan Paul, with questions about our newly adopted “revenue development” messaging in 20 minutes! === Recently, we've updated our website language to use the term 'revenue development' instead of 'sales development', and that change has spawned questions - from our current client base, from prospects, and from our partners. We wanted to sit down and answer some of the FAQs associated with this terminology shift, and explain why we decided to go down this path. To guide us, we brought in Dan Paul, one of the co-founders here at demandDrive. He's been really bullish on this change and is helping spearhead a lot of the projects associated with us becoming a “revenue development agency,” so we figured he's the best person for the job. === 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-Caree

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. ===

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. ===

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:

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.

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. ===

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:

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

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.

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

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. ===

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

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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on the fate of sales development in 9 minutes! === Sales development looks a whole lot different in 2023 than it did in 2013. Or 2016. Or even 2020. Tactics, trends, and technologies change quickly. Best practices are constantly evolving. How much value we place in the SDR role seems to change every day. Point being, the world of sales development is dynamic. It's hard to predict what it will look like in a few years' time, let alone later this year. But that didn't stop us from trying! Alex and Lindsay ran a thought exercise with our partners at Transcends Marketing to see if they could predict the “fate” of sales development over the next few years. Taking stock of our institutional knowledge, current trends, and what we can learn from the past, we put together a laundry list of what sales development might look like in 2025 and beyond. Opt in to theorizing about and planning for the future of sales development. === Episode Page ➡️ https://www.demanddrive.com/podcast/fate-of-sales-development 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

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. ===

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.

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. ===

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on GTM success in health tech (and how it applies to other industries) in 7 minutes! Developing a successful go-to-market (GTM) strategy requires more than a “one size fits all” approach. Especially in the health tech space - it's far too nuanced and regulated to copy/paste a strategy from a different SaaS industry. The ways you:

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

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…

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 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

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. -- 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. --

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on cold email engagement tactics in 6.5 minutes! Every message you send trains people to open or delete your next message. But more importantly, it trains them to view you as a trusted resource or as a nuisance. Ethan Beute said that

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. ===

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:

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: Fear 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. ===

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar on running sales contests that your reps will actually care about in 6 minutes! Think back to the last sales contest you ran. Got it? Ok, now try to remember: Why you ran it. What was the purpose? The engagement level of your reps. Did they buy in? The end results. Was the contest able to spark an increase in production? If you know why you did it, your reps bought in, and the results met (or exceeded) your expectations, you're in the minority. Truth is, in most cases, managers use competition as a lazy checkbox to feel like they're doing something to promote productivity.

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. ===

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! -- 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

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?

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

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. ===

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. -- 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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Learn about prospecting during the holiday season in 7.5 minutes! The most wonderful time of the year…can also be the slowest time of the year. Especially for those of us that are prospecting. And let's be real - you should be prospecting during the holidays. AJ and Alex tackle some of the reasons why (and how to do it effectively) in an episode of Opt In. -- Additional insights from our SDR team can be found here!

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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Learn about the importance of critical thinking and knowing your "why" in 7.5 minutes! Hey there listener! AJ here

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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Learn how to create a bountiful harvest of leads this holiday season in 6.5 minutes! Through the holiday season, it's especially important to remain consistent and innovative with SDR techniques. In this season of giving, let's review a few points of interest that are sure to provide a bountiful harvest of leads for you moving into the New Year.

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:

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. -- 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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag some tips on improving your 1-on-1 meetings in 7 minutes! How many times have you heard an SDR mumble “that meeting could have been an email” under their breath? Ten? Twenty? Hundreds of times? To all the managers out there nodding along, the blame isn't fully on your reps. After all, how much preparation and effort did you put into your last 1-on-1? Internal 1-on-1 meetings are a necessary evil (too harsh?). There are certain topics or scenarios that are too nuanced or complicated to cover over text - be it email, Slack/Teams, or an SMS message. But it doesn't mean that every meeting you have with your reps has to be dry, complicated, or long. AJ and Alex dive into some strategies around 1-on-1 meeting structure in this Opt In. They talk about the importance of an agenda, staying cognizant of schedules, and the cost/benefit of non-work talk. Opt In to breaking the traditional mold and running a meeting that all parties enjoy. -- 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

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Learn about some of the common pitfalls around asking for a meeting in 6.5 minutes! You've done your research. You found the right contact. You got them on the phone. You discussed pains & challenges, diffused objections, and uncovered a need you can solve. Now all that's left is to book a meeting and toss them to your AE. Easy, right?

Join AJ and Alex for another episode of Opt In! Snag a recap of our onDemand webinar with Nishit in 8.5 minutes! At this point, call recording software has moved from the “nice to have” into the “need to have” bucket. But not for the reasons you think. Yes, recording conversations and listening back to them as an SDR or AE have tremendous benefits. You can identify self-coaching opportunities, see where your messaging falls short, and uncover market intelligence trends (among many things). The insight and sentiment you can pull from these conversations is gold. But it's just the tip of the iceberg. That data can impact more than just your situation - it can make a positive impact on your organization holistically. AJ and Alex recap their conversation with Nishit Asnani of Sybill. They cover how and where call recordings can make an impact on capturing market intelligence, building effective feedback loops, and aligning revenue-generating departments toward a common goal. -- onDemand Event: https://bit.ly/conversation-intelligence-onDemand 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