Servant Leadership and Using Data to Equip SDRs with Marissa Walden

In this episode of the Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Marissa Walden, Global SDR Director at Starburst. Marissa has developed a thoughtful management style and successful program in only a few years at Starburst. She shares tips on how to prospect better, manage SDRs, and discusses how to better foster talent mobility and enable growth in SDRs. Marissa also talks about the value of servant leadership and service-based sales and how those two elements can make every team member more knowledgeable, empathetic and discerning individuals.  WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Developing lifelong skills as an SDR  Focusing on the hero of the story, not the company The Sherpa Model: leadership and being responsible to others  QUOTES “People love talking about themselves. I tell SDRs if the person answered the phone then you are not interrupting anything. But it is up to you to make the call about them. You have to personalize. People respond to the hero of the story, not the company. It makes things more interesting for everyone.” - Marissa Walden [04:53]  “In anything you go on to do, you will never stop being an SDR. The skills that you develop as an SDR give you the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” - Marissa Walden [13:18] “We are here to solve a problem, create a really quality opportunity, and identify a pain that we can solve, not just any pain so you have to switch your mentality in order to be successful.” - Marissa Walden [35:58] “We have the privilege of being in an industry that is ever-changing and is truly solving problems. If you believe in the product and truly believe in the company you are at, you should be able to easily go into calls with confidence knowing it will work out.” - Marissa Walden [39:35] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [05:25] Relevancy and strategy [09:06] What success looks like as the Global Director at Starburst  [13:18] Developing skills as an SDR [21:09] Supplementing your ego and hiring smarter people [25:16] The value of identifying personas  [30:40] The Sherpa model [35:11] Seller deficit disorder [39:41] Believing in your product  [42:41] How to connect with Marissa CONNECT Marissa Walden on LinkedIn CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter CIENCE on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices