Kevin Van Dolder

A question for Sales Leaders re: quotas - A friend in Medical sales just got their quota...halfway through May (almost halfway through the year). As a territory manager they hustled in 2023 and achieved 111% to quota. They were #4 in Canada and #1 in Ontario. Great, right? Wrong... As a reward, they were gifted with a 12% increase in quota not from previous year's quota, but from previous year's achievement, and to me this just doesn't make sense. 👉 This type of quota calculation rewards those who achieved 90% (or even lower ) 👉 Demotivates those high achievers - They used their relationships to get orders in before quarter/year end and those doctors won't be needing those products perhaps for 18 months 👉 Promotes #quietquitting - doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary 👉 Promotes mediocrity - the more I sell the more will be expected of me next year My friend is understandably demotivated. They are the first ones to help with any events, often being away from home on a weekly basis to help other colleagues with their events/sales. They no longer want to put in any extra work and are questioning the company and whether it may be time to leave. I would love to hear from Sales Leaders out there as to how you calculate quotas, what systems/products you use, and how you deal with employees who have questions.

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3 ways you can help your SDRs right now: 1. Give them time back on their calendar ⏰ Less time in unnecessary meetings, the more time they can give to their role. Tell them they can leave a meeting early if it’s not relevant to them! 2. Show them how to time block. Give them an example time block schedule so they can better manage their time 🗓️ 9-10am calls 10-11am emails Etc. 3. Take the load of admin work off their plate 📋 There’s always going to be manual processes and admin work involved. However, the faster you can help them source a contact or lead list, the faster they can reach out What else can you take off their plate? 🍽️ #SDR

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Salary Range is $45,000 - $50,000 USD (Fully Remote, Global 🌎) - Doesn't matter where you are in the world. 4 weeks PTO Laptop to get you started $1500 CAD learning budget $1000 CAD in travel allowance A Customer Success Rep that: - understands that success starts at support interactions with users - is the bridge between engineering and users on detailed bug/issue reporting, feature requests, etc. - knows how to effectively deliver trainings with passive campaigns to onboard user and improve product adoption - has the acumen to deal with admins for successful renewals and upsells - is up for the challenge to work in a startup and build the customer success function Someone with technical support experience and has managed 50+ accounts with at least $1 Million in Book of Business. There is no training, onboarding or a hard playbook to follow - we would build it together. If you think you've got what it takes, take a crack at applying below. Or if you think you know someone, tag them in the comments. https://lnkd.in/dZw3gbTs P.S - if you want to stand out, shoot me a loom video on LinkedIn :) #remote #csm #job

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I hear a lot from SDR Managers "Auto diallers aren't strategic" Or "we don't want to be a call centre it removes that personal touch" Now to say you won't lose a little bit of that Persoanl touch would be a lie. Let’s imagine Salesfinity didn’t provide you with: -ICP -Personna -Competitors -Problem the company solves -Relevant info about the prospect (Job title, name, company, etc) -Open jobs at the company -Notes from your CRM /Salesengagement platform All in call at a single click. I pose the question to you..... Is it worth sacrificing 10% percent of that “strategic” touch…. for more conversations..... I thought so! Interested in people outlook on this 👀?

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It's Thankful Thursday - and I'm so thankful that I’ve had a lot of coffee chats recently with my fellow Canadian sales pros! There was a common theme keeps coming up: “I want to start posting on LinkedIn but there are already so many LinkedIn influencers out there, posting sales tips on a daily basis.” ☕🤔 I hear you. It can feel like LinkedIn is already packed with people talking about prospecting, lead generation, and the latest sales hacks. But let’s take a step back for a moment. 🚶‍♂️ Have you noticed that many of these influencers work for CRM companies, B2B databases, or similar businesses that sell sales tools? Of course, their content is going to revolve around prospecting, lead generation, and closing deals. It’s in their best interest to promote the products and methods that support their business. 💼 But guess what? This is YOUR reminder: LinkedIn isn’t just for them. It’s for YOU, too! 👈 We don’t have to be a “guru” selling a new software to share valuable insights. We all have stories from the field, lessons from tough calls, and tips that we can help others. We’ve all got a perspective that is grounded in real, day-to-day sales work. The world doesn’t need another copy-paste influencer post. It needs OUR authentic voice, our unique experiences, and our genuine insights. So, if you’ve been hesitant to start sharing because you think the space is already crowded—don’t be! There’s room for real voices and new stories. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s always someone out there who needs to hear exactly what you have to say. It’s never too late to start. Your first post could be the one that makes a difference to someone else. So, go ahead—let’s hear your story! 💪 #thankfulthursday #CanadianSales #LinkedInJourney #AuthenticityMatters #SalesCommunity #ShareYourStory

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A lot of people posting about their company are posting… fluff. They’re reposting marketing docs that have either already been shared or stored on a drive internally. Shopify is different. Since I started my career in sales I have never felt the power and organic belief this company has. From macro level decisions on direction and strategy, to the day to day operations. We run an incredible business. It sometimes honestly feels surreal. And this transfers to sales. I talk about our product with such conviction because it literally has no equal. Not just because of the size, but what we do has no match. Shopify is prime Mayweather, Gretzky, Brady, Messi, Tiger. Whatever analogy you want to use, it’s simply the best. Here’s a few actual facts I quote: - Shopify currently gains 40x more customers than we lose - We have 3000 engineers shipping product (10x the size of one of our competitors with 300 total employees 🤫) - Replicating any current e-commerce store except have it built on Shopify, and it will convert up to 25% better, simply by being on the platform I’m grateful to be here, and daily able to help entrepreneurs with their dream of becoming the next big thing. It’s rare you get to help so many people succeed and I’m here for it. If you’re not bullish on Shopify, you should be.

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Prospect says I'm not interested Average SDR response: "Why?" 👎 "I haven't shown you anything yet for you to not be interested" 👎 Top SDR response: "Sounds like you've tried something like this before?" ✅ PAUSE "Understood. I know I called out of the blue. Usually when I hear someone isn't interested it's because they've tried this before and it didn't work" ✅ PAUSE Your prospect will correct you☝ So why is saying "why" bad? Your prospect will get defensive. It comes off as too aggressive and you haven't necessarily earned the right to ask why. You sound like you're about to fight the prospect... Seek to understand by being understanding - not by being aggressive and annoyed 🧘‍♂️ #coldcalling #SDR #sales

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Prospect says "I'm too busy to meet" Average SDR response: I appreciate that you're busy, why don't we put some time on the calendar tomorrow at 1pm so that when you have more time, you'll know how we can help 👎 Top SDR response: ✅ Sounds like you're busy gearing up for other projects? ✅ Unsure if this is for you and I don't want to add more to your plate, but some of our clients were spending a lot of time on X - mainly because they weren't aware of what was out there to help them save time doing X. Open to reviewing some of those options? Seek to understand by being understanding🧘‍♂️ #coldcalling #SDR #sales

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Outsourcing SDRs? Don’t fall for: - A promise of X amount of meetings/month - X amount of dials and emails they promise to send out - Their email + call messaging skill Outsourcing has a bad stigma because there are so many companies looking to get quick money from clients with weak results. What to look for instead: - A team who understands they need to test messaging and help you make pivots to your ICP - Shares their sequence strategy - Shares their email and call messaging - Shares the tech they use - What they do to avoid ending up in a spam inbox and hurting your domain health - Builds your target/ICP lead list with you - Sends weekly reports on progress - Gives you access to their SDRs so they feel like they’re part of your internal team This is when outsourcing is worth it ⬆️ #outsourcing #sales

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Sellers who have "need for approval" from their prospects are 35% less effective (RAIN Group). It's not your job to make your prospect feel "good" all the time and here's a prime example: When Spencer Ivey is asked for a discount, he simply nods his head and says "....Okay..." He doesn't jump to justify his pricing. He doesn't immediately start negotiating. He lets the silence linger. No doubt, this makes the prospect who just asked him for a discount feel somewhat uncomfortable (Ironic, since that's what they were trying to do to HIM when they demanded a discount!). 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐬. Salespeople that want their prospects to like them (need for approval) will immediately jump to problem solving mode when they get asked for a discount. But the best? They're ok with a little discomfort, even if it means they're less "likable". They know that the discomfort will compel the other party to justify their ask with more information (information is your greatest ally in a negotiation).  

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Yesterday, I ran the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 🏃‍♂️ Here are some commonalities between running and sales ⬇️ 1. It's a (half) marathon, not a sprint. 2. Discipline is key. 3. Your training program will set you up for success. 4. Sometimes you will not want to wake up early and go for a run or hit the phones on a cold call block. Both are important and necessary for success. 5. Time management is critical. 6. The hardest part is starting your journey. 7. Hard work WILL pay off.

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Hiring SDRs? Before you do: - Hire an SDR Manager - Hire SDRs in pairs (2 minimum) - Pick the right tech stack (Outreach, etc.) - Have a 2-3 week intensive onboarding plan and long term training plan - Set a ramp quota target 🎯 Don’t assume 1 SDR = X amount of meetings There’s a testing phase☝🏼 - Hire an entrepreneurial spirit for your first few SDRs - Establish realistic KPIs and metrics. Expect KPIs to change especially based on how you’ve set up your tech stack What are some of the mistakes you’ve seen companies make when hiring SDRs? 🔎 Need help? DMs are open ✅ #SDR

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The Hard Truths About Discovery Calls: They're not just bad. They're insulting. -Junior team members gathering info isn't efficiency. It's a waste of your time. -5 hour-long calls for a price estimate aren't thorough. It's ridiculous. ☎ -It's not customer-centric. It's company-centric. By the time I run this gauntlet, I have lost interest. At Pivto, we're calling BS on this outdated approach. Here's our playbook: 1) Productized services. Because your time matters. 2) Transparent pricing on our website. No games, no guesswork. 3)Same price for everyone. Your budget doesn't determine our price. There's a good chance we will come in under your budget. 😃 We're not just selling services. We're selling respect for your time and intelligence. Our most critical skill is simplifying the process. Einstein said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." We understand our value. Do you understand yours? Stop wasting time on discovery calls. Start discovering real solutions. #PivtoPlaybook #B2BSales #NoMoreDiscoveryCalls

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Attention SDRs and Sales Reps🎙️ If you are not getting enough coaching, use Chat GPT to supplement the lack of support - P.S sorry you aren’t getting support 😥 Paste a transcript of your recorded call or role-play you did with a co-worker into ChatGPT (check with legal if you can do this) Ask ChatGPT to: • Analyze your call based on your call framework or script • Identify areas for improvement by asking Chat GPT (or whatever tool you may use) questions • Suggest alternative phrases to communicate value better Prompts you could use: "What did I do well on this call?” - Start off feeling good "What did I not do well?” "How could I have dug into the pain more? Please provide questions I could have asked?” “Can you give me 3 ways I could have handled the objections?” "Suggest alternative ways I could have gone for the close?” “Did I miss anything in the call that could have helped me go for the close?” A.I. will not replace you; the Reps who learn how to use it to help them improve will. If you are a sales or enablement leader and want to learn more about how you could leverage A.I. to help improve your team. Come to the Allego Sales Success Summit, where Sam Richter CSP, CPAE, will discuss how to use AI to help improve your sales team. https://lnkd.in/eKg3w7w2

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Just wrapped up an outbound training with 64 EMEA AEs & SDRs at Shopify. What a fun group! They really nailed the cold calling portion of the training. Shopify has 20+ openings right now for SDRs, AEs, and leadership right now across the entire globe. Why you should consider joining their team: ✅ Shopify is an absolute 🚀 I've said this before. They're growing 25%+ year over year. Very rare for a company their size. They made 150+ product updates in Q2 alone. Over $1 TRILLION has been sold through their platform. ✅ Their SDR org is top 1% Matt Saxon heads up the SDR org in EMEA. You get all of the tools, support, training, and coaching you need to be world-class. They're using AI better than anywhere I've seen. ✅ Great front-line leaders Birk Angermann heads up the EMEA team. Shout out to all their front-line leaders/coaches: Matthias Kleven, Hisham Khan, Anastasia Sfregola, Dominik Moecklin, Paul Storton, Rich Mason, Marion Escaffre, Dominik Moecklin ✅ World-class enablement Siobhan Sweeney, Brittany S. S. H., and Dan Wetton did an excellent job of setting up the program, building buy-in, and making sure everything went smoothly. ~~~ Check out Shopify's careers page here: https://lnkd.in/egjix93v Tag someone you know this could be a great opportunity for.

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An AE just asked me for SDR advice They aren't even with OpenText They've been struggling with their prospecting This is why people need to take being an SDR seriously If it's becoming repetitive and mundane try something new But if you are just going through the motions while looking for a promotion You will struggle prospecting as an AE It doesn't matter how many years of AE experience you may have The tide is turning and prospectors are in high demand Here are five tips to help those struggling when prospecting: 1. Try Perplexity for research 2. Use multiple channels together 3. Make sure you are going after the right personas 4. Are you A/B testing messaging 5. Try sending a video or a gift There are a ton of things you can try if you're stuck in a rut What's something you're trying now? #bdrlifer #bdr #sdr #sales #salesdevelopment #ae

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What a 9 day fishing trip to a remote lake in Canada can teach you about cold calling… I recently took a trip to northern Manitoba to catch walleye. For those of you who don’t know - this is where the biggest walleye in the world swim. Basically a came to a simple conclusion. Sure you can do it with a rental boat and no fish finders. Just throw out a bobber and wait for her to drop. In fact, a of the few days our graphs & fish finders didn’t work… And this is what we had to do. I got to thinking that this is the equivalent to not having the right tools as a cold caller. Yes we still caught fish - but we weren’t able to locate them and increase our odds. And in fishing… the spot is the strategy. You can have the best lure but if you’re in a lake with no fish good luck… Sort of like how your list is your strategy in cold calling. And depending on the spot, we would use different lures. Kind of like we use different scripts and different offers to different lists. When something wasn’t working…. We would try something new. And when someone did find a winner, everybody else would switch to it…. Once we burned that spot (list) we would try a new spot, with new lures, and the pattern repeats. It was a constant game of guess and check. I couldn’t help but think as cold callers… We sit on the dialer and guess and check different combos of messages to lists until we find our winners. Once we do… we run with them until they stop working. We try a new script or new list and the pattern repeats 📞 🎣 — Am I the only one noticing cold calling metaphors showing up in real life? 😅

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