COMMUNITY
First Things First…

Being part of the SDR Leaders of EMEA means I get to interact with some talented people. Sian Taylor and Andy Laws are two such people. They have great insights and ideas on how to lead. The insights are so great that we started a LinkedIn Live to discuss these issues affecting SDR Leaders.

Join us on April 17th for our next LinkedIn Live: What is the role of an SDR Leader?

Want to take part? Register here

STUFF ONLINE
Content of the week

• 5 step KILLER cold email template

• For our senior leaders, ask these 20 questions when looking for your next big project

• Dont do this to our friends in Customer Sucess

THOUGHTS
What am I seeing this Week:

This week, I spoke with Richard Washington on his podcast Revenue Masterclass, and we discussed many aspects of building world-class sales development engines.

Here are three takeaways from our discussion. Check out the full podcast here.

Bridging the Gap Between SDRs, Marketing, and Sales

Why It Matters:

Misalignment between SDRs, sales, and marketing due to different targets and historical biases undermines the effectiveness of your go-to-market strategy. This dissonance leads to missed opportunities for a joined-up buyer's journey and multiple opportunities in your target accounts.

The Fix:

Build a culture of collaboration and shared goals. Establish regular cross-functional meetings to ensure alignment on targets, messaging, and strategies. A unified approach not only streamlines efforts but also maximises the impact of each function.

SDR Leadership to have a Seat at the Executive Table (Not Reporting to Sales or Marketing)

Why It Matters:

The ideal state for an SDR function is one where they are integral to strategic decision-making. However, this is often not the case, with SDRs sidelined in tactical roles, reporting to leaders with their focuses and targets.

The Fix:

Elevate the SDR function within your organizational hierarchy. Include SDR leaders in strategic discussions and decision-making processes. This not only adds to your strategy with frontline insights but also empowers SDRs and their leaders to have more direction in the organisation, which, with their view of the market, is like giving some control to the people who can see the best view of what's happening.

Effective ABM: The Strategic SDR Advantage

Why It Matters:

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is crucial for efficiently targeting high-value accounts. However, its success is contingent on the alignment and integration of SDR efforts within the ABM framework.

The Fix:

Incorporate SDR activities into your ABM strategy, leveraging their insights for personalised / hyperrelevant outreach. Train SDRs in ABM tactics and ensure they work closely with marketing to effectively target and engage key accounts. Go deep and wide in accounts to build your champions and sponsors and expose your anti-sponsors and threats!

For those new to the newsletter and like what you are seeing, please click on the subscribe button, and you’ll receive this top-quality newsletter in your inbox every Friday morning!

STAKKI
Overwhelmed by Sales Tools Options?

Sales tools often boast an alphabet soup of features.

Deciphering complicated technical jargon can be time-consuming and frustrating, leaving you confused and unsure if it will help with connection or conversion rates.

Meanwhile, researching, comparing, and evaluating sales tools can be highly time-consuming.

Diverting your focus from core business activities like closing deals and managing your team.

This is where we’ve built Stakki, your free sales tool calculator.

We mapped 176 tools and their integrations, minimum costs, feature overlaps and freemium options. 

Visit stakki.io to make the selection of sales tools easy for you. 

Or book your free consultation call and we’ll recommend the best three tools for whatever you are trying to achieve.

INTERVIEW
Five Questions of the Week: Caroline Cannesson

This week we have SDR Leader of EMEA member Caroline Cannesson, of Vonage, join the newsletter! Caroline will discuss her journey into leadership and how she sees AI separate the best SDRs from the rest/

Hey Caroline! Firstly, tell me a little bit about your journey. How did you end up at this point?

I started as a "global" SDR 6 years ago, working from London for a US-based start-up. When Covid hit, I had to find a new position and land a French-speaking SDR position at Vonage, where I went up the ladder to Senior Manager of EMEA Sales Development.

What is it about your role that you love?

In sales development, you hear about the growth journey of many companies and can help them identify or solve key challenges. As a manager/leader, you develop loads of people, helping them progress in their careers by developing new skills or playbooks.

When did you realise that leadership was the career path you wanted to follow, and how did you make it happen?

I had thought about leadership before, but it was only when Daniel Acorda became my line manager and positively impacted my career that I knew for sure I wanted to be a leader and impact other people's careers.

Drawing on all your experiences so far, what advice would you give your younger self on their first day as a manager?

Recruit hard! Your people are the key to the success of your team. Talented people with the right mindset will be very eager to learn and grow within the company.

With AI looking to disrupt the SDR space, what do you see as the role of SDR evolving in the next 36 months?

Absolutely! AI will separate SDRs who are curious and eager to learn from those who are just here for the paycheck. Basic outbound can be done exclusively through AI. A marvellous SDR will leverage AI to accelerate and augment its impact.

SDR HIRE
Cut SDR Hiring + Ramp time by 70%

The average time to hire an SDR/BDR is two months. Ramp takes another 2-3 months.

That’s five months of unrealized pipeline and revenue. At €30k ACV and ten meetings quota, that’s €1.5 million in pipe not generated.

SDR Hire cuts that by 70% by giving you access to a pool of vetted and experienced remote SDRs from Southeast Europe (Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Greece, Bosnia etc). 

Sales leaders at companies like NES Health, Schoolyear, and Allwhere average 4-7 qualified interviews with near-to-native English speakers in the first 24 hours. Time-to-hire averages 3-4 weeks, while reps start performing within the first few weeks (as opposed to 60-90 days).

They work on a performance model, so you only pay if you end up hiring their SDRs.

Book a call with their founder Stefan and see if one of their remote SDRs would fit your culture.

Earn free merch 🎁 

You can get free stuff for referring friends and colleagues to our newsletter 👇️ 

1 referral - Linkedin Shout out 🔊 
5 referrals - Mastering Sales Development Stickers 🎉 
10 referrals - Free Copy of Closing the Gap 📖 
15 referrals - Limited Edition Mastering Sales Development mug 🍵 

You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving a Linkedin Shout out!.

Copy & Paste this link: https://saleswise.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

LASTLY
Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I could help you

The new Community for European-based SDR leaders: SDR leaders of Europe

An ebook about SDR<> AE Alignment: Closing the Gap

3 Coaching slots are still available for the Spring/ Summer: Sign up here