Enterprise Sales Development (CIENCE)

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Dionne Mejer, CEO and Founder of Inside Sales by Design. Dionne shares her best practices with scaling inside sales teams and what works and what hasn’t worked. She also discusses leadership versus the manager mentality and why the purpose statement is the team’s North Star. Listen for her advice on learning scripts and messaging and how to sound more human and more natural on the phone. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN What has changed the most in the landscape of the inside sales and outbound SDR culture in 2022 How Dionne helps bridge the gap with the team members who are on different levels and how she get everyone on the same page Why the purpose statement is the team’s North Star The difference between managing the team vs leading the team Her tips to handling calls What to expect in her upcoming book that will be released at the end of this year Practices that she has found to scale really well and practices that are better for individual approaches What Dionne wished she has known at the start of her career that would have informed different decisions QUOTES “We can’t coach our team if we haven’t set the right expectations.” - Dionne Mejer [05:45] “We’re going after unity, not uniformity.” - Dionne Mejer [08:10] “Our purpose isn’t to hit a quota. That is never the purpose. That is a result. Our purpose as a team is to delight our customers, make their engagement with us the best thing that’s happened to them that day.” - Dionne Mejer [11:23] “We should be different next year than we were this year.” - Dionne Mejer [19:27] “Give yourself some grace and what you’re not good at today, if you work hard at it, you’ll be good at it tomorrow.” - Dionne Mejer [42:18] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [00:29] Meet Dionne Mejer [02:41] Changes with inside sales and outbound SDR culture [04:41] Getting everyone on the same page [08:59] The team’s North Star [16:05] Manager vs leader mentality [19:37] SDR is impossible work [24:09] Handling calls [33:13] Her upcoming book [34:08] Practices that scale really well vs individual approaches [41:07] The perfectionist mindset [44:44] Using a script and/or roadmap [51:58] How to contact Dionne RESOURCES Raising Men, Not Boys: Shepherding Your Sons to be Men of God by Mike Fabarez The Mighty Ducks The Mighty Ducks - Goldberg The Goalie Is Born Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin Jocko Podcast Regie.ai CONNECT Dionne Mejer on LinkedIn Dionne Mejer on Twitter Inside Sales by Design website Inside Sales by Design on LinkedIn CIENC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Rob Simmons, VP of Sales Development at LeanData. Rob talks about entering into his role where he leads 20+ SDRs after first being a customer. He discusses how he scaled his team and is responsible for a lot of the growth. He also shares how his experience as a football coach informs his leadership style and his approach to coaching and leadership today. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN His experience as a coach and his transition from coaching into sales How his coaching experiences carry overs into his leadership in sales His thoughts on employee retention The Four C’s he looks for when hiring The most important thing when onboarding and training a new SDR Suggestions for certifications and things an SDR can do prior to the interview process Takeaways from his time at Outreach Using proof points and what the narrative arc looks like at LeanData Sales methodologies that he finds incredibly valuable as well as disciplines and coaching skills he looks to instill to his team How he coaches reps to take really hard objections and how he straightens the SDR/AE relationship QUOTES “I do love people who come from a team sports background. I think it just breeds the right kind of culture of competitiveness, but not at the expense of others. Like ‘We’re a team here together and we can help each other and all be successful together’ is very much the culture I try to instill within my teams.” - Rob Simmons [10:50] “I’ve realized that you can find SDRs within any background whatsoever, and it’s more about the intangibles that they have.” - Rob Simmons [12:06] “The phone still works. And I’m a big preacher of leaving voicemails, even if you don’t catch people.” - Rob Simmons [20:21] “Alway be practicing, but you just got to pick up the phone and go.” - Rob Simmons [31:51] “You always, no matter what it is, want to show what good looks like.” - Rob Simmons [41:13] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [00:29] Meet Rob Simmons [01:53] Scaling sales development and employee retention [06:54] His team of SDRs [08:26] His experience as a coach [11:20] The Four C’s [14:21] Onboarding and training a new SDR [16:46] Takeaways from his time at Outreach [22:01] Proof points and what the narrative arc looks like [29:03] Sales methodologies [31:59] Disciplines and coaching skills he instills to his team [36:18] Working with hard objections [39:18] Eye-opening responses [41:23] Straightening the SDR/AE relationship [46:08] How to contact Rob RESOURCES Rick Neuheisel Outreach Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling by Jeb Blount Salesloft blog Outreach blog 6sense blog Gong Labs Blog Chorus blog CONNECT Rob Simmons on LinkedIn LeanData w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Morgan Ingram, Director of Sales Execution and Evolution at JBarrows Sales Training and creator at 1UP Formula Podcast. Morgan shares his insights about routines, mindset and preparation for SDRs. He also discusses how he stays on top of the current trends and his approach to building a presence on LinkedIn. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN The origin behind his title as Director of Sales Execution and Evolution, why he chose it and how it relates to what he does at JBarrows Sales Training Self-reflecting sales skills for SDRs who are afraid to listening to their calls His routine that preps him for his day Relationships betweens SDRs and AEs and keeping that curiosity alive internally How he stays on top of current trends and move them into the sales side QUOTES “Sales is a life skill. And the faster that you realize that, that everything you do is sales, you’re gonna be just way better off.” - Morgan Ingram [15:03] “My goal is try to win the week.” - Morgan Ingram [19:43] “It’s a puzzle, and you have to figure out where the puzzle pieces to bring that together, but the only way you can do that is by asking the right questions with genuine curiosity and caring about their business and what’s going on, so you can uncover if you truly can help.” - Morgan Ingram [25:06] “So the thing is I’m not married to any channel, any outbound channel, any social media channel, nothing. All I’m married to is the process and figuring out where is the attention and where is the audience, and then how can I convey the same thing that I always say in a different way.” - Morgan Ingram [33:38] “I honestly wished we could turn off all followers in everything, and we will probably have more quality relationships with people. We wouldn’t judge people on the first indication of their followers and their engagement and whatever that may be. We would just focus on the value that they’re bringing.” - Morgan Ingram [38:38] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [00:29] Meet Morgan Ingram [02:02] Director of Sales Execution and Evolution [08:26] Self-reflecting sales skills [14:32] Morgan’s routine [22:03] Finding the puzzle pieces [25:57] Relationships betweens SDRs and AEs [32:04] Staying on top of current trends [35:47] His approach to building a presence on LinkedIn [39:15] His LinkedIn courses [42:47] Having an Individual brand within a brand [45:25] What’s next for Morgan [48:01] How to contact Morgan CONNECT Morgan Ingram on LinkedIn 1UP Formula with Morgan J. Ingram JBarrows Sales Training website JBarrows Sales Training on LinkedIn CIENCE website CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter CIENCE on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Collin Mitchell, Chief Revenue Officer of Sales at Salescast. Salescast is in the business of helping others create podcasts, and Collin shares why he thinks every person in sales should have a podcast. He talks about the techniques he uses to get guests for his podcast, actionable insights and advice on where to get started as well as free resources and tools. He also gives advice on mistakes to avoid and how podcasts can and should be used with outbound. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Some methodologies that Collin braces and styles that he tried and were not for him Collin’s style and what he’s learned picking styles and mastering them Some of the outbound activities that he’s invested time in and experiments he’s done Collin’s approach to LinkedIn How podcasts can and should be used with outbound Tips for bad interactions and how to learn how to quickly move on What motivates and inspires him QUOTES “Pick a style. Stick with it. Master it. Make it your own. That’s when you’re going to become the most confident. That’s when you’re going to see better results. That’s where it’s going to feel more authentic and genuine as you as a person rather than more of like a robot or reading a script.” - Collin Mitchell [03:55] “The content that performs well for building authentic relationships, connections and leads is original content.” - Collin Mitchell [18:36] “So I have a bit of a crazy thought and a lot of people would disagree with me, but I believe everybody in sales should have a podcast.” - Collin Mitchell [20:11] “You can do everything right in a sales interaction, whether it’s a cold call, whether that’s running a discovery. Even like an AE or whatever the case is, you can do everything right exactly the way you should have, and you can still lose. And you have to be ok with that.” - Collin Mitchell [30:29] “Learning those hard and soft sales skills are important, but taking care of you first is more important, and then those things will come easier. Even if you’re not the best at them, you’ll do better.” - Collin Mitchell [35:05] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [00:28] Meet Collin Mitchell [02:42] Methodologies that worked and didn’t work [05:53] Collin’s style [09:33] Outbound nerdiest activities [12:28] Collin’s approach to LinkedIn [17:43] Unified messaging [19:52] How podcasts can and should be used with outbound [28:57] Bad interactions [32:49] Skills that transfer to sales and outbound [37:07] What motivated and inspired him [39:42] About Salescast [43:37] How to contact Collin RESOURCES Enterprise Sales Development with Josh Braun The Million Dollar Rebuttal and Stratospheric Lead Generation Secrets: Cold Calling is NOT a Numbers Game! by David Walter Salescast Podcast Episode #123 Cold Calling is not a Numbers Game with David Walter Vidyard Sell Without Selling Out: A Guide to Success on Your Own Terms by Andy Paul Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Arpit “Appy” Choudhary, Head of Sales Development at Blend and previously at LaunchDarkly. Appy shares his insights on how to run a sales development team and the sales techniques that have worked for him throughout his career. He discusses scaling efficiency tips, his gifting techniques and ways of managing an SDR team. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN The practices Appy has taken up since the remote shift to keep his team inspired and motivated What he uses to measure the success of his team and what kinds of analytics he would encourages sales leaders to take a look at when measuring success of a team His thoughts on driving personalization through sales outreach and how he helps his reps prepare for these calls Appy’s favorite sales methodologies How he coaches an SDR for a specific conditioned response His perspective on the departmental shift between SDRs and marketing The skill sets SDRs need vs the ones developed in the closing role and how SDRs can bridge that gap How he screens for SDRs during the hiring process What he feels is changing the most about the SDR role QUOTES “We started doing weekly call review sessions, where we probably bring four to five calls as a group together. Everyone would listen to the call on the meeting, enter their Gong score card and then give the feedback on the call itself. This encourages a lot of people to learn, not just from their leader, but from their peers.” - Appy Choudhary [05:37] “If the culture of the team is good, then anything can be achieved. If the culture is not great, it becomes difficult to experiment new things.” - Appy Choudhary [09:23] “So the difference I see is that calls work more with the banking sector compared to the VP engineer and persona we were going after. ‘Cause in this space, people are in their roles for a really long period of time. They’re not very tech savvy. They’re not active on LinkedIn, but they’re more active on the phone.” - Appy Choudhary [13:10] “It’s all about asking the questions and asking for their permission rather than throwing things on them.” - Appy Choudhary [27:12] “Someone who’s persistent than consistency is very important when you’re an SDR because 99% of the time the answer is going to be no.” - Appy Choudhary [35:52] TIMESTAMPS [00:01] Intro [02:00] Meet Appy Choudhary [03:34] Practices he has taken up since the remote shift [07:15] The size of his team and measuring team’s success [14:28] Driving personalization through sales outreach [19:34] His favorite sales methodologies [26:03] Coaching for a specific conditioned response [31:59] The departmental shift between SDRs and marketing [34:42] The division of skill [37:37] Screening for SDRs [42:56] What he feels is changing the most about the SDR role [44:41] How to contact Appy RESOURCES Sendoso Charlie Brown’s teacher speaking The Sandler Selling System MEDDIC Gong CONNECT Appy Choudhary on LinkedIn Appy Choudhary on Twitter CIENCE website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Dr. Carmen Simon, a instructor at Stanford Continuing Studies, Cognitive Neuroscientist at Memzy and Chief Science Officer at Corporate Visions. Dr. Simon deconstructs a cold call and how the brain interprets every part of that outbound exercise. She also provides tips, research and examples of what’s happening to the brain with a cold email. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN What lead her to study and get her PhD in Neuroscience How to get more successful interactions from cold calls by understanding the neuroscience and best techniques for the average cold caller Debunking the idea that it takes 21 days to form a habit and the brain science for interrupting a habit Research that makes outreach more meaningful in marketing and sales messaging and the data that explains what happens during the listening and viewing a pitch Tactics she would suggest for cold emails and texts and techniques to reduce cognitive workload Her thoughts on the herd mentality behind decision making and how to decrease the pressure as you construct messages QUOTES “Everyone you’re addressing personally or professionally has a brain, and it’s important to know a little bit at least about how the brain reacts to communication and business communication in our sense.” - Dr. Carmen Simon [02:43] “So out of that list, we’re cold calling or any other persuasive environment for that matter, I would invite our listeners to think about the promise of being in control. I think one of the reasons why perhaps people don’t react so positively to cold calling is because they’re not in control.” - Dr. Carmen Simon [16:23] “Sometimes the ego takes over, and we want to impress others with a lot of novelty, with things that perhaps they will have not experienced or done before. And sometimes that works against us because with novelty comes the extra cognitive resources that you’re hoping somebody has. And these days people are so taxed that it’s a bit harder to rely on that.” - Dr. Carmen Simon [19:35] “Because what we’re noticing in business is that people try to use too many words that are fancy. They’re very jargon, and even if you’re talking to experts, experts still have human brains.” - Dr. Carmen Simon [40:03] “The moment that we create something that is indeed steeped in scientific principles, then all of us can benefit and address an ever evolving business brain.” - Dr. Carmen Simon [51:40] TIMESTAMPS [00:01 Intro [00:30] Meet Dr. Carmen Simon [03:01] How she came to study neuroscience [04:47] Sharpening receiving and creating [08:07] How to get to more successful interactions [14:50] Best techniques for the average cold caller [19:15] Seemingly no effort [20:08] 21 days to form a habit [27:13] Research to make outreach more meaningful [34:54] Tactics she would suggest for cold emails and texts [40:34] Herd mentality behind decision making [51:10] How to contact Dr. Carmen Simon CONNECT Corporate Visions website Dr. Carmen Simon on LinkedIn CIENCE website CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter CIENCE on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Tom Slocum, Program Director of RevGenius and co-founder of RevLeague. Having been an SDR himself, Tom shares his try-and-true methods, and he details how he effectively uses office hours to coach his reps. He also discusses how he wants to change the way we approach the market by simply being human. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Why Tom is focused on being human and how he coaches simplicity through the three Rs Tips for SDRs to find success as they research to personalized at scale with relevance Advice he has for SDRs who wants to bolster their LinkedIn presence How he facilitates community growth during the COVID-19 pandemic How Tom coaches and the structure for office hours Where best practices end and gimmicks begin Why Tom thinks the phone is the most slept on channel for outreach QUOTES “Just be conversational. People are people. Like I don’t need this whole drawn out, fuzzy words and buzz words about my growth.” - Tom Slocum [02:27] “Look at ways that you can tie in the research to what you’re trying to do.” - Tom Slocum [08:37] “Sales development is just a skill. It’s not who you are. Who you need to be is your buyer persona.” - Tom Slocum [11:56] “Too many people think they start creating first. Well, you can’t. Nobody’s going to come. Go get your base first. Go build a community of people first, then step out and watch what they do for you.” - Tom Slocum [19:24] “If you have to sell, you’re doing your job wrong. That means you're forcing a square into a circle, and it doesn’t work.” - Tom Slocum [45:08] TIMESTAMPS [00:01 Intro [00:28] Meet Tom Slocum [01:43] What Tom is focused on right now [03:35] How he coaches simplicity [07:21] Personalizing your message with research [10:37] Be your buyer persona [16:05] Bolstering your LinkedIn presence [20:24] Facilitating community growth [23:23] Coaching tonality and what’s working in the space today [29:06] Where best practices end and gimmicks begin [32:05] One-on-one coaching vs group coaching [37:24] The most slept on channel for outreach [45:36] How to contact Tom CONNECT Tom Slocum on LinkedIn Tom Slocum’s Linktree RevGenius website CIENCE website CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter CIENCE on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Josh Braun, an expert in helping sales leaders, CEO’s, and founders create systems to generate a steady flow of meetings each month with qualified buyers. He is the founder of his own sales consulting firm, Josh Braun Sales Training, a former Head of Business Development at Basecamp and the Co-Founder & CEO of Sales DNA. Josh shares his wisdom on sales and discusses the zone of resistance and how to lower it. Using mock call role playing, he also talks about how to build familiarity quickly and effectively in the first 10 seconds of a cold call. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN High lessons Josh has learned over the years since he’s gone on the consulting front The zone of resistance and how to lower it Why you should start with intent and how to use your language, intent and tonality to get to the truth behind the objections Why labeling and making people feel heard and understood is key What an SDR can do in the first 10 seconds to build familiarity quickly and effectively in a cold call QUOTES “Your thoughts affect what you say. So when your intent is ‘I got to talk everybody into everything,’ you end up sounding in ways that feel manipulative, salesy and off-putting, and often people go into the zone of resistance.” -Josh Braun [04:27] “About 10 years ago, I came to this realization that in order to change that, I have to start with my intent, meaning what’s my goal? And so when I cold call people, my goal is this, ‘I wonder if this person has a problem.’ Not ‘they definitely have a problem, I have to pitch them.’ So my cold call approach is completely different.” -Josh Braun [08:33] “That’s the secret to labeling is making people feel heard and understood. It’s a super power for getting people to sort of open up.” -Josh Braun [13:08] “Talking people into things doesn’t work. And we’re trained to convince and persuade. That’s the biggest problem.” -Josh Braun [20:06] “Questions get people talking. Questions spark.” -Josh Braun [29:47] TIMESTAMPS [00:01 Intro [00:28] Meet Josh Braun [01:34] High lessons Josh has learned in consulting [03:48] How to lower the zone of resistance [07:48] Start with your intent [11:51] Labeling is key [20:14] What SDRs can do to build familiarity in a cold call [35:15] How he creates connections and join the resistance [42:06] How to contact Josh RESOURCES Chris Voss on Rewiring Your Brain to Listen Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation - MasterClass CONNECT Josh Braun’s website Josh Braun on LinkedIn Josh Braun on TikTok The Inside Selling Podcast with Josh Braun CIENCE website CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Will Allred, co-founder and COO at Lavender. Will shares a few secrets and tricks of the trade as well as best practices for writing sales emails and outreach through the email channel. He also shares his thoughts on common email tropes and the feedback he receives on Lavender. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN How Lavender came about and what Will learned in the sales use case How to best optimize an email attention span of 11 seconds His thoughts on common email tropes and using media within an email His view of a future where Lavender and SDRs are really successful individuals Where he got the nickname, “The Email Guy” The feedback he gets on Lavender QUOTES “You’re eight times more likely to have your first read through of an email on your phone, and as a sales rep, we should make sure it’s optimized for that.” -Will Allred [05:18] “Most email replies happen at a fifth grade reading level. One of the key things in understanding how that measurement is calculated, it’s basically syllable per sentence.” -Will Allred [11:59] “Big thing I’m focused on this year is just like teaching people that frameworks are way more important than templates.” -Will Allred [16:13] “Everyone right now is sending really long cadences. Everybody’s running a marathon, so we’re like ‘all right, we’ll run sprints.’” -Will Allred [17:49] “The language is always like ‘There’s context for why I’m here. I’m just not randomly showing up and asking.’ Doing your homework, showing your work, right? It proves extremely valuable.” -Will Allred [21:27] TIMESTAMPS [00:01 Intro [00:31] Meet Will Allred [01:21] What is Lavender and its origin story [03:55] What Will learned in the sales use case [05:59] Best optimizing the attention span of 11 seconds [12:21] One thing Will likes from marketers [15:06] Frameworks is more important than templates [17:22] Common email tropes [21:40] Pitching a case study [26:42] Thoughts on media within an email [30:27] Will’s future with Lavender and SDRs [33:17] Why he’s called The Email Guy [35:54] Feedback on Lavender [38:59] Future plans for Lavender [40:05] How to contact Will RESOURCES How Email Attention Span is Increasing Winning Adaptive Sales: Accelerate Your Success by Leading With Insights by Lee Hicks Addicted to the Process: How to Close Transactional Sales with Confidence and Consistency by Scott Leese CONNECT Will Allred on LinkedIn Will Allred on Twitter Lavender website Lavender on LinkedIn CIENCE website CIENCE on LinkedIn CIENCE on Facebook CIENCE on Twitter CIENCE on Instagram< Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Tyler Cole, an account executive at Reachdesk. He is the founding coach of SDR Nation and used to run his own podcast called The Lowly SDR. Tyler shares his wealth of SDR knowledge and his perspective on the SDR role. He also talks about how he’s disrupting the staffing side of sales development and provides tips to accelerate sales results. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Tyler’s passion for sales development and where he is today Why he thinks SDRs don’t get the respect they deserve How he approaches mentoring and what he finds are SDRs’ biggest hurdles as they progress The type of conversations he has with companies during the early stages of building an SDR organization His role at Reachdesk and where it fits in the SDR process What perspective an SDR organization should adopt to accelerate their results and what they should avoid How he disrupts the staffing side of sales development QUOTES “Advocate for yourself. Like sell yourself, build your own brand. Do all these things that are only going to help you sell. If you work for an organization that doesn’t want you to do it, I’ll just tell you they’re wrong at this point. There’s a right way to do things, but more people want to buy from people they like than the person that regurgitated their company’s newsletter, whatever it might be.” -Tyler Cole [10:55] “Just engagement does not equal success.” -Tyler Cole [19:23] “The wrong way to do things is to have no tools in place and hire five people without a marketing mechanism. Like that I can tell you will not work any of the times.” -Tyler Cole [29:16] “It’s like a chicken or the egg thing. ‘Is this broken because I’m not paying people? Or am I just getting shitty candidates and they’re not worth more money?’ So you gotta find that balance.” -Tyler Cole [35:13] “Recruiters for a company love me. External recruiters do not.” -Tyler Cole [45:05] TIMESTAMPS [00:01 Intro [00:24] Meet Tyler Cole [01:24] Tyler’s passion to sales development [04:54] How he approaches mentoring [09:34] The hardest lessons learned [13:56] Conversations he has while building an SDR organization [19:46] His role at Reachdesk [25:09] Tips to accelerate results [30:46] “A Broken System” [39:07] Disrupting the staffing side of sales development [45:19] How to contact Tyler RESOURCES SDRDefenders The Lowly SDR Podcast SDR Nation Sendoso How Small Gifts Can Create Big Marketing Wins SDR: A Broken System ft Tyler Cole Enterprise Sales Development with Justin Michael Tech-Powered Sales: Achieve Superhuman Sales Skills by Justin Michael and Tony Hughes CONNECT Tyler Cole on LinkedIn Reachdesk website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices