Outbound Squad Meet our new Head of Training, Clara Johnson!
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Nov 18, 2025 Clara Johnson, a seasoned sales leader and former BDR/AE manager from Outreach and Catalyst, joins to discuss her new role as Head of Training. She shares insights on creating a formal outbound methodology and emphasizes the importance of hands-on learning and role-playing in sales. Clara explores the future of outbound sales, highlighting the impact of AI and the necessity for AEs to self-source leads. She also offers career advice and discusses innovative outreach tactics like LinkedIn voice notes, ensuring a human touch in a tech-driven world.
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From Retail To Rapid SDR Promotion
- Clara moved from retail at Nordstrom into tech and became top SDR by outworking peers and hand-typing leads into Salesforce.
- She promoted to SDR team lead in four months by doubling expected output and asking for feedback to improve.
Sell Reps On Self-Sourcing With Pipeline Math
- Announce a prospecting change early and explain the business reason so reps have time to mentally prepare.
- Show reps their pipeline math and explain how self-sourcing helps them 'own the destiny' of their quota.
Derive KPIs From Sales Math
- Work backward from quota using win rate and average deal size to calculate the meetings and activity required.
- Give managers and reps a calculator so each rep can derive their own activity targets and justify KPIs.