Ryan Kahn

Ok, I'm getting on the SDR discussion train, but not in the same vein as a lot of the conversation going around over the last few days. 🌶 Hot take: SDRs shouldn't be an entry-level job. 🌶 If you take what many GTM leaders out there are saying about what SDRs should be doing, it's not a skill set for kids fresh out of school in their first professional job. Sorry, y'all. It's just not. The role of an SDR, when executed to match 2024 buying environments, takes professionalism, finesse, drive, sales technology navigate, market awareness, and many other skills that take years to develop and hone. And if you're selling enterprise deals to the C-suite, I promise not a one of them enjoys being cold-called by a 23-year-old who knows little to nothing about their business or the industry. SDRs are a niche form of sellers and should be a secondary track developed in a sales org alongside AEs. They shouldn't be 'beneath' AEs and they also should be compensated in a much more evolved structure than the BS call volume or meetings booked metrics. At a bare minimum, they should be comped on pipeline generation, but the comp side could be a whole separate post. "But Fiiioooonnna, how will our company get entry-level folks?" You know where everyone should start in a SaaS company? Customer support. Learn the product, learn the customers, learn the culture, work hard and fail fast with a safety net more experienced colleagues. Imagine how good an SDR would be if they'd spent 6-12 months supporting customers? Thoughts?

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I am not trying to create "balanced" sellers Im trying to help create unfair advantages in the marketplace for the sellers I lead Finding different ways to say and teach the same two things is ultimately my enablement plan. Yes I said "my enablement plan" because enablement shouldn't be outsourced or delegated. Frontline leaders should own this but... Its not about a peanut butter spread of enablement topics to check a box that "we are enabled" across everything you could possibly be enabled on It has to start with identifying the 2 or 3 most impactful areas to focus that will drive the majority of forward progress If we break it down to its simplest form, sellers do this: Generate Pipeline --> Progress Pipeline --> Close Pipeline This year (and for the past 5 years) I have planted my enablement flag squarely in the first 2 buckets. I have found that if you can get really good at - Generating Pipeline - Progressing Pipeline Then the 3rd bucket takes care of itself 21 trainings delivered this year around those 2 topics As a result... We are damn good at pipeline generation We are damn good at creative contracting (pipe progression) Being damn good at those two things means that we always have deals to run at because our pipeline is full... And we have have the skills and tools necessary to create a win/win for any customer no matter the customer situation because we understand finance, cashflow, and how to structure deals to get the customer what they want, when they want it Let me keep it all the way real for a second though. There is a downside to this approach We are NOT very good at a lot of things Some would say that my team is a little out of balance with lots of improvement areas Public Service Announcement: Its intentional that we are good at the things we are good at which means that Its also intentional that we are NOT good at the things we are NOT good at because we dont focus on being good at those things. Not telling you what to do, just showing you that the 80/20 rule applies in frontline sales leadership too!

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SDRs - A great boss can actually change your life 🙏🏾 4 things leaders shouldn't want to hear from their SDRs: 1. ''Sorry -- I missed lunch so I'm eating it now on the call'' 2. ''Can I take some last-minute leave for a family emergency?'' 3. ''Sorry I'm late, I was at the doctor's this morning'' 4. ''Can I work from home today, I'm not feeling good'' Why? Because SDRs aren't 5 years old. They're fully grown adults. They don't need to give you a play-by-play every 2 minutes. SDRs deserve to be trusted more... If we all did that, the SDR world would be a much better place. Do you agree? PS. ♻️ Every SDR should see this. Reshare to your network. Follow me, Chris Ritson for more on SDR Leadership. If you’re serious about being a better SDR leader, consider my bootcamp that starts 28th October. DM for deets.

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People that care about UX and productivity for sales people: SDR Managers (god bless you wonderful folks). I do find that most direct managers in Sales aren't polling their employees--especially AE's to find out what's not working, what they are putting up with and not complaining about. There are tons of tools that sales folks are buying on their own dime like Scratchpad, Superhuman, etc. We all care about "giving developers the right tools to stay in flow".. but your revenue team? Sure, leaders need our forecasting tools and enablement systems (maybe)--but ask your team "what sucks about this CRM layout, how does thing work on your mobile device, what things are getting in your way, how much time do you spend clicking around poorly designed tooling interfaces---and what would move the needle for you". As an AE-centric leader, i'm working to put things in place that sure--make folks more productive--but that they don't hate using. What say you? whats sucks in your world? what tools do you buy on your own to deal with your day? or even how should the world work for a day-to-day SDR/AE/Account Manager, etc

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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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Hey leaders are you hiring BDR's? The market is tough - its easy to just focus on folks with experience. Some of the greatest salespeople did not have a sales background before entering the career. Hot take: but the taboo of not hiring folks with sales experience says more about an org and their process to be able to train vs the rep without experience. One of my BEST EVER sales hires Matthew Perrott came from the hospitality industry! Teachers, waitresses, or retail employees have some of the greatest upside. Why? Because they’re willing to learn and understand hard work. So I put together a list of ‘non-sales people’ looking to land their first BDR role. Check it out here https://lnkd.in/gkhi3HzK #sales #khantent #hiring #management

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SDRs get treated like second class citizens every single day. (especially women) → Layoffs → Unrealistic quotas → Micromanagement → Adjusted commission plans → Return to the office or leave policy → Leaders who have never done it before → Fired for missing quota once or twice → Increased quota and no training → Removal of marketing budgets → Put on a PIP with no support → Vacation rejected → Tech removed Add to that: Women who get called ''dominant'' for speaking up. Or ''too ambitious'' for wanting a promotion when they do well. Or ''b!tchy'' for having an opinion on something. + 382982 other things. It's BS. It's us men feeling threatened and lashing out. And it's time we left it in the past. SDRs [and all women], if this is you → STOP giving your soul to employers like this. There are lots of others out there who will treat you with the respect you deserve. Worth considering. 💯

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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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SDR leaders, 9 questions to ask yourself before you wrap up the week: 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 - What did I do well? - What didn't I do well? - What should I do differently next week? 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 - What did we do well? - What didn't we do well? - What should we do differently next week? 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘀 - Who performed well that I can recognize? - Who struggled that needs more support? - Who can I spotlight for success stories? Doing this every Friday is a surefire way to keep you and your team improving. Happy Friday, y'all.

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10 of my favorite AE + SDR partnerships tips... What am I missing? 1. Treat each other like peers - The more you can trust each other the better your results will be 2. Build relationships - Learn about each other on a personal level to enhance collaboration - What do like to do outside of work? - What keeps you motivated? - What depletes your energy? 3. Align on top accounts - When AE informs their SDR on what accounts take priority and why the SDR books meetings that matter 4. Talk often - Connect weekly for 30 minutes to: - Assess where you are at and where you need to go - Exchange feedback - Listen to calls and review emails together 5. Don't use BANT - Initial conversations should start with your research of the buyer's pressures, objectives, and challenges - This helps build trust and credibility with buyers 6. Invite your SDR to the meetings they set - Helps the SDR gain insights for future multithreading - SDR can understand what meetings provide value and what do not - SDR can learn from your expertise 7. Let your SDR kick off the call they scheduled - Avoids repeating questions from discovery - Increases the handoff experience for the buyer - SDR gains confidence and builds executive presence skills 8. AEs should listen to SDRs calls at 1.5X speed - This will help you prepare and give constructive feedback to enhance future conversations 9. SDRs should deliver customer value in every call - Arm your SDRs with insights, customer stories, and short "commercial demos" of your product to leave buyers inspired 10. Share goals - Talk about short and long-term goals often - Find how how those goals will impact your partner personally if hit or missed #askflamman #Partnership #SDR

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"I am in a meeting right now. Please call me back tomorrow." Cold calling can often lead to responses like this. As an SDR, I've encountered this scenario multiple times. During my calls yesterday, I got the same response from the Head HR of a prospect account. When asked, the best time to call back was mentioned as afternoon. Following up is key. Setting a reminder and making the call at the specified time is crucial. This simple act not only led to a successful conversation but also secured a meeting for next week. Consistent follow-up tasks can significantly impact an SDR's success. #SDRLife #B2B #EnterprisePreSales

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The best "cheat codes" every AE should know: 1. 1:1s with your boss. Approach them strategically. Proactively share format and content. Biggest deals you need support on. Challenges you need help with. Forecast for the month, quarter, etc. Wins. 2. Perception. Performance is your fire. How you're perceived internally (aka your brand) is the water or gas that gets dumped on your fire. Attitude, how you show up, handle change, communicate, matters. Hold yourself to a high bar. Two levels above where you're currently at. 3. Document everything. Take the time to write down your own sales playbook. Every strategy, process and template you have. Store it on your personal computer. The value of this over time is immeasurable. I can't state this enough. 4. Problems are a good thing. Anytime there's a problem that's an opportunity to solve it, improve it, and add value. Some of the biggest opportunities I've gotten in my career came because I dove head first into problems and helped move the business forward. Startups always have problems. Don't be the negative person. 5. Time management. Block Monday mornings every week. Don't go to meetings if they're not worth your time. Most things can be solved async. Make meetings 15 to 20 mins. Sometimes you need a whole week of no meetings to catch up, get organized and do deep work. Don't feel bad for saying no to people. They'll understand. 6. External coaching. Up level by listening to podcasts, taking courses and building an external network. Don't rely on your company for everything. Even if they're doing a great job get the perspectives and strategies of other people for a significant edge. What would you add to this list? - Mike G 👉 Join 5,000+ sellers getting my (free) sales newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gwQVvVBK

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With the amount of information available, final pre-call research used to take me hours the night before important meetings. It was a guaranteed way to cut through the noise and stand out against 15 other seller calls an exec had that day. Over-prepare, deliver with confidence, and the results will follow. It worked. Lately, I've been using ChatGPT to inform outreach and quickly make messaging more impactful -- building custom models for each account. This takes time to set up, but it's a no brainer for strategic customers or top prospects to cut down research time while improving relevancy. I'm evolving the strategy, but phase one looked like this: 1. Collect important investor materials → 10K, 10Q, Earnings transcripts, Investor Summit PDFs, Leadership bios, top news articles. 2. Create GPT → Upload docs and ask to familiarize with materials, your role, and mutual goals you're working towards with the customer 3. Draft a series of prompts → Provide clarity around your market, platform, and typical customer value points. Start simple:   • I work in sales for [x company] and we provide [x service]. Customers usually see value in these areas: [driver 1], [driver 2], [driver 3].  • Typically, our customers are most interested in solving [pain point 1], [pain point 2], or [pain point 3].  • Our website can be found at [website]. (helps to include individual product pages where applicable) • Based on the information shared, will plan to ask a series of follow up questions to validate how our solutions can benefit [x company]. Does this sound ok? 4. Save as [Customer Name] GPT Model  → Repeat for each customer and save in personal ChatGPT environment for future promoting. You now have unique GPT models, each with advanced knowledge of your top customers or prospects -- contextualized around your offerings. Let's test it out. Ask a few questions: • Knowing that I work in sales for [your company name], what opportunities should I focus on when talking with [customer/prospect company name]? • Given your knowledge of [your company name], what strategic initiatives could we most likely impact at [customer/prospect company name]? • What are some of the top risk factors challenging [customer/prospect company name] this year? Next time you have an EB or Go-No-Go call and need to understand positive business outcomes leadership could be evaluating them on... boom! Want to make sure your POV is targeted, based on C-Level strategic initiatives... here you go! Care to see if they were featured in any podcast, video, or interview... and what points may be useful... ask GPT! AI + Automation is changing the way we work, and sales is no exception. Sure beats my old method of CTRL + F searches on SeekingAlpha transcripts. 🔍 Give this a try and let me know what you think. Any other GPT tips for sales?

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I'm not a fan of the full-cycle AE role. "What works is to have your AEs calendars so full of demos that they have to stay up until 9pm every night dealing with follow-up but they don’t mind because they are making SO MUCH money." I could't agree more with Adam Robinson when I saw him write this a few days ago. I haven't met an honest AE who has told me "I just don't like having a full calendar of demos and wish I had more time to prospect" As someone who has tried all the different combos over the past decade (full-cycle AEs, 1:1 SDR/AE, 2:1 SDR/AE, partner led, marketing direct to AE, etc)...I'm just not a fan of the full-cycle AE role. The only times I like it, 1) when your ramping SDRs and training them to be an AE and use it as a bridge to work/build pipeline as they are learning to close/sell. 2) if your ACV is too small to make having XDRs financially work and you are Now before all the pro full-cycle people come at me, I believe the best AEs use downtime in their calendars to prospect, follow-up with past opps to ADD to their pipeline as a company is growing/scaling or they don't have the resources to hire one right now and its a great weapon to have in your arsenal. I still pick up the phone and call leads as my time allows. BUT I am all in the camp of have your AEs be best in the world at what you hired them to do, have XDRs be best in the world at starting conversations with warm accounts. That's why we try and reduce as much admin work for each role as possible. (post for another day). B/c I don't want to pay someone to work on things that take them away from focusing on the thing that only they can do. There is a reason hitters don't work on pitching and pitchers don't work on hitting (yes there are unicorn outliers like Shohei Ohtani). But they are unicorns for a reason. Curious if you are a full-cycle AE or have them on your team why you prefer it...

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Successful, outside sales driven companies prioritize transparency. They aren't surprised with revenue hits or revenues misses. Success is not left to chance. The path to revenue is well defined and measured. Outside reps know WHEN & WHY they need to see each account as they have data guiding them visually. - revenue up or down y/y, m/m - category data growing / shrinking - gm up or down - product expansion oppty - competitor hiccups - renewal timeframes - diagnostic tests up / down m/m - scripts written growing / decreasing Inefficiencies and waste are avoided like the plague. Customer Engagement with the right people at the right time is the number one goal. #outsidesales #fieldsales

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New SDR leader? 14 pieces of advice: 1. Your team will be skeptical of you at first and resistant to change. Don’t take it personally, just persevere. 2. You don’t know everything (in fact, you know very little). Acknowledge your gaps, don’t try winging it. 3. You can’t do everything, nor should you. Find ways to delegate and get comfortable with saying no. 4. Failure is inevitable and necessary. Own up to your mistakes and learn from them. 5. You’re going to feel imposter syndrome most days. Embrace it, it’s totally normal. 6. Don’t assume your SDRs know how to do something. A lot of the time they don’t. 7. Your job as a coach isn’t to give your people the answers. It’s to help them find the answers themselves. 8. This is an endless game of adapting and innovating. Slow down and you’ll quickly get found out. 9. Your sales leader probably knows little more than you about building SDR teams. You must take ownership. 10. If you don’t build a support network you’ll feel alone on an island. This isn’t the time or place for lone wolves. 11. Just because XYZ worked for you as an SDR doesn’t mean it will for your SDRs. 12. You're responsible for people before numbers. Put them first. 13. You’ll get pressure from stakeholders in all directions, all the time. Accept and embrace it or it will eat you up. 14. Your development as a leader is as important as your team's development as SDRs. Don't neglect it. - - - P.S. Want to uplevel you SDR leadership skills? Join The SDR Leader Bootcamp. Next cohort starts June 3. Link in comments.

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I promise, I'm still in sales. Okay, so I went from SDR to...Admissions Lead? All my tech sales connections are probably wondering, "what the heck is an admissions lead?" It's a great question. Is it an AE role? Is it a CSM role? How is it a sales role? In this gig, I am 100% focused on helping young people launch their careers, particularly without going to college. I guide them through our admissions process. Answer their questions. Show them how this is actually possible. Get content in front of them. Run email sequences. Take inbound calls scheduled on my calendar. And believe it or not, I still hit the phones 💪☎️ ( I even still jump in CallBlitz with Will Falkenborg 🌭 ) I've been "selling" Praxis for years...now I'm just actually on the team. People often ask me, "why sales?" My answer: it's the most effective way to be on the revenue side of a business while also having a positive impact on others. How? Well, when you recognize that whatever you sell is the solution to a particular problem, then all you're doing is solving problems. So, I get to solve problems for a persona that I deeply care about. Because not too long ago, it was me. And this changed my life. So, I'm the Admissions Lead at Praxis. Selling something I absolutely love & believe in. And I get to watch some really amazing teens & young adults take ownership over their journey and experience a radical life change. Major W. #breakthemold #sales #admissions #praxis #marketing #business #questionthenarrative

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I am so excited about the reviews I have gotten on my course SDR/BDR Fundamentals on skills. Like, look at this. 👇 And they keep pouring in. 😍 What the course is about: Welcome to SDR Fundamentals, a deep-dive course designed to equip you with the essential skills and mindset needed to excel as a Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Business Development Representative (BDR). Whether you're new to the role or looking to refine your approach, this course will provide you with a solid foundation and advanced insights to elevate your performance. What You'll Learn: Activate Your Mindset: Discover how to cultivate a positive and resilient mindset that drives success. Learn techniques to stay motivated, handle rejection, and maintain a proactive attitude. This module will empower you to approach each day with confidence and determination, ensuring you are mentally prepared to tackle any challenge that comes your way. Building and Understanding Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Gain a deep understanding of what makes a prospect the perfect fit for your product or service. You'll learn how to define and identify your Ideal Customer Profile, a critical component in targeting the right prospects and maximizing your outreach efforts. By focusing on the right audience, you'll increase your efficiency and effectiveness, leading to better conversion rates. Crafting Buyer Personas: Dive into the minds of your potential buyers by developing detailed buyer personas. This module will teach you how to create and utilize buyer personas to understand your decision-maker's needs, pain points, and motivations. By tailoring your approach to resonate with these personas, you'll build stronger connections and improve your cold-calling and outreach strategies. Why Enroll? By the end of this course, you will have mastered the fundamentals of being an exceptional SDR/BDR. You'll possess the knowledge and tools to identify and connect with your ideal prospects, understand the psychology of your buyers, and maintain the mindset necessary for sustained success. Whether you're aiming to boost your performance, increase your quota attainment, or advance your career, SDR Fundamentals will set you on the path to achieving your goals. So spend time in July to take micro-courses on skills to really focus on upskilling. 😎 Want to take the course? DM me. 😍 #ColdCalling #Outbound #ColdOutreach #BeMore

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Recently, I spoke with a Sales Dev Leader whose reps each own a patch of 4k accounts. Last week, an SDR told me they have a patch of only 80 accounts to prospect into for the quarter. Another Sales Manager mentioned each of their AE's has 1,687 accounts eligible to work in their territory. It's clear there's a huge variance huge variance across industries, contract size and product market fit when it comes to building account lists. Question: Because having a relevant perspective to outbound with is critical to building pipeline in 2024... If you were in the shoes of these folks, how would you research the your book? #salesdevelopment #sdr #sdrleader #salesleadership #revops #revenue ps - Would you use the same strategies for the 4k list as a list of 80? pps - that's Gore Canyon below - Only accessible via foot and train.

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