PODCAST
First Things First…

Many of you are the same as I am, always willing to push your boundaries and improve. One of the ways I did that was to participate in a podcast! I can’t thank the team of Tolu Adebekun and Richard Washington at Tick Talent enough. We did some good work, speaking mostly about leadership, and my hope is you enjoy it too!

STUFF ONLINE
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THOUGHTS
What am I seeing this Week: How to progress to be a Global SDR Leader

It's important for people who have reached certain career milestones to share their experience with those behind them, be it in career or age, to show them and guide them through their similar career journeys. It’s the knowledge that should be shared. It doesn’t mean that that person will also ‘make it’, but it’s about helping those around you.

So I wanted to share the 7 steps I undertook to get to the global leader role I had, so people can take away nuggets and aid their careers.

So here we go:

1️⃣ Write down what you want to achieve and the timelines you want to work towards.

2️⃣ Ask your line manager if your career goals and timelines are feasible.

3️⃣ If the goals and timelines are aligned, you should ask your line manager what steps you should take to achieve the goals you have laid out. Remember, you are not asking for a promotion! You are ensuring you understand what is needed to be prepared.

4️⃣ It's best to seek mentorship with someone already at the level you aim for. They can aid you in achieving those goals you set with their insights.

5️⃣ Finally, ensure you have written all of this down so you can reference back to your line manager what was agreed, when it was achieved, and what the measurable impact was.

6️⃣ Be coachable. Seek feedback, and act upon it when you get it

7️⃣ Do the work. Put the effort in. Take massive action if you want massive results.

But remember, nothing is given; this is all on you!

Set clear career goals and get buy-in from your manager to achieve them. Remember to focus on what you want and what steps you need to take to get there.

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!

INTERVIEW
Five Questions of the Week: Corey Blatchford

This week, we have a passionate and brilliant SDR leader, Corey Blatchford. Corey has previously been at Lacework and is now at Cribl, and he provides some great insight into his leadership style and how he sees the SDR evolving!

You've had a wonderfully varied career so far, which has exposed you to all aspects of the talent funnel; what do you see as some of the key attributes of successful B2B sellers?

Great question. For me, key successful attributes in sales begin with those intrinsic qualities that can't be taught—grit and tenacity, empathy and humility. It's always been evident in those succeeding QoQ that they have a compelling want for continuous growth and perfecting their craft and then using this as a toolset, navigating through challenging periods, putting into practice the right behaviours that consistently drive revenue week after week. 

Another pivotal attribute is maintaining a stellar operating rhythm. Those who excel in B2B sales have typically mastered this, skillfully allocating time where it matters most, preparation, and ensuring a strategic approach in every endeavour. This rhythm serves as a compass during challenging metrics phases, with top-performing sellers leveraging it to reinforce what works, doubling down to propel pipeline growth.

I've distilled this into what I call the "John." Framework—drawing valuable insights from John McMahon's Qualified Sales Leader ( Highly Recommend) I’ve been translating these lessons into my day-to-day as the inaugural SDR on the ground in EMEA, spanning the UK, Nordics, Benelux, and APAC regions. This presented a significant challenge: Prioritising accounts across such a vast territory, especially without an initially defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This prompted the development of my operating rhythm, with this work-in-progress framework serving as a guide: 

Judiciously Prioritise: Focus on accounts with the highest potential impact. Having worked in 2 early-stage SaaS companies with large ICPs, this has separated sellers. They can easily navigate their territory, honing the RSM / BDR relationship to build successful GTM PG plans week on week, targeting the correct accounts and personas. 

Outreach Excellence: Deliver value-driven, personalised outreach. This is easily the most important aspect of pipeline generation within a B2B org, which I try to work on daily. Inboxes are full; Buyers want to know business outcomes and ROI and automated sequences won’t save you. This, for me, comes down to prep; strategic preparation in every piece of outreach will drive world-class metrics and conversion rates. 

Hone Partnerships: Collaborate closely with partners and marketing for amplified reach. Some of the best sellers I've worked with are masters at this attribute; they will connect with partners, channels and marketing and forge technology alliances to help drive new and existing opportunities. 

Navigate Insights: Utilising relationships, data intent, etc, for insights and strategic targeting. Those who utilise these effectively and incorporate them into their PG usually have the most new weekly business meetings.

Be Curious: Taken from the television show Ted Lasso, being curious both in your PG, on the phone, and wanting to learn from leaders will help you find opportunities, discover pain, and open doors within accounts

A prime example is our consistent involvement with Partner BDR teams and leaders. The primary objective is twofold: to empower them to sell Cribl effectively, foster engagement and collaboration on accounts and deal registrations, amplify pipeline activity, and critically cultivate robust relationships within these teams. Facilitated by our dedicated Channel leadership team, I regard this engagement as a pivotal asset within my "PG Toolkit."

Lastly, I’d add that the best reps know accountability is paramount. While teamwork is central, owning your book of business is equally crucial in the SDR realm. This boils down to strategic activities, leveraging what works, cold calling, personalisation at scale, and inventive PG techniques to pave the way for your or your RSM’s pipeline. It's about taking initiative and strategically opening doors for the broader team.

Who are some of the leaders you’ve worked with who’ve impacted you most?

I’ve got the benefit and privilege to say that the majority of leaders I’ve experienced, I’ve seen more like mentors than managers, etc. My success so far has been learning from those I've worked with.

I’m lucky and privileged with my SDR leadership now, and I haven’t seen this talent level within an SDR Leadership function anywhere else. Jaime Fulton, our VP of BD @ Cribl, and her team have had a massive impact on my immediate success here, helping me to lead the org in most metrics globally through direct leadership, empathy and continuous support across the difference in time zones, you always want a manager who has that fine balance: empathy, a want to see you and the team succeed, and a drive for organisational results, I certainly owe my results here down to herself and the team. 

I’m also enjoying learning a lot from the Executive Sales Leadership team here at Cribl and Charlie Howe, VP of EMEA @ Cribl. He has created a culture here like nowhere else, and I’ve loved watching my RSMs and the wider team grow amongst his core values. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time learning from Matt Bauer, SVP of Sales @ Cribl, during my trip to Charlotte, and his recent trip to London, he emphasised on doubling down on the right behaviours and touched on several key attributes I mentioned earlier. 

I really learnt a lot from my time at Lacework under International GM Jesper Frederiksen and worked more closely with Stuart Simmons, now VP of EMEA @ Sigma and Colin Doyle, now AVP @ Harness; they both set out some really strong best practices for the EMEA sales team, adopting PG as a “culture, not a process”. They are natural leaders who have spent much time perfecting their craft, are super personable guys, and both came from a MEDDPICC background. I spent much time trying to learn as much as possible from them both. 

I’ve also had the opportunity and privilege to have external mentors I’ve spent almost the last two years learning from the likes of Christian Andersen, Country Lead @ Snowflake. Helping me navigate my operating rhythm, PG best practices and enablement for my next role. 

What is your leadership methodology? 

Using the Strategic Revenue Acceleration (SRA) Framework, as the BDR leaders do here at Cribl, you can guide teams towards strategic, data-driven, and customer-centric success, ultimately accelerating revenue growth and fostering a high-performance culture.

It translates into leading a business development team, and it's all about syncing your team's daily grind with company goals. We're talking weekly strategy meetings and keeping communication open via tools like Slack daily to create a sense of camaraderie when you're actively PG day in and day out.

Mindsharing and cross-collaborating with the team and other internal functions hugely facilitate growth and drive enablement and continuous learning for SDRs; this can be around things like our target customer base, crafting persona messages and account research, etc. - that makes for outreach laser-focused.

Data-driven prospecting is also our co-pilot here at Cribl, so we are ensuring we are using analytical tools like 6sense and predictive tools for hunting down those high-value prospects. It's all about playing smart with tech going into 2024. Automation, AI, and analytics tools will be your team's secret weapons to keep things strategic when you have larger territories, but you must avoid any “Spray and Pray” technique. 

At the end of the day, it's always going to be about the team and what they need to be successful; I’ve learnt from the Leadership at Cribl, who have brilliant enablement and continuous learning & feedback loop going, with Persona, Technology and Generic PG training sessions and a culture of learning from each other, whilst keeping an eye on the numbers, tweaking our game based on solid metrics - because in the end, our job is all about building a healthy sales pipeline but doing it all with a buyer mindset, making sure every piece of outreach is spot-on and value-packed.

What are your career aspirations?

“How big would you dream if you knew you couldn’t fail?" is how the saying goes, right? -  I’d love to eventually lead an early-stage sales organisation and create and help build something of my own; I see a long career here at Cribl for the time being though, I’d want to be one of the youngest leaders here at Cribl, and at the top of the leaderboard once I enter into a closing role. My reasoning is purely from experience and the effects a good leader can have on his team, helping them personally and professionally to achieve their aspirations.

I still have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to stepping into an IC role soon. I’ve always heard you shouldn’t look to rush into a closing role, as the saying goes “Once a SDR, always an SDR”, and some of the greatest B2B reps I've worked with surround themselves in PG activity. I’d love to become an expert in my craft and eventually go on to mentor those who wish to follow a similar career path. My personal and professional career aspirations have been shaped and influenced by those already in similar roles, and I'd really emphasise and encourage those still figuring out where they see themselves to work with their mentors to help figure this out. 

How do you see the SDR role evolve over the next few years?

I think adopting AI tools in the SDR sales process will likely increase. SDRs may leverage AI for lead scoring, personalised outreach, and data analysis, allowing them to focus on more strategic pipeline-generating aspects. It's unclear how much further the AI journey could go, potentially changing the SDR role to a completely automated role and eliminating the need to hire altogether, although I can’t see this happening anytime soon, with buyers still preferring a more personable approach from sellers. What I can see however, is that the need for more centralised, strategic PG, as these tools become more and more sophisticated, no doubt they’ll crowd up inboxes with very smart AI generated personalisation, making it harder to stand out. 

Since my move from Lacework to Cribl, I’ve noticed a dynamic shift in the SDR wearing “many hats.” What I mean by this is that even as the traditional role was pure outreach, the ability to contribute to territory plans, SFDC admin and support field marketing events, and even take the initial few steps within a sales cycle could become game changers in an SDR’s resume. 

Additionally, with the above, I can see the division between sales, channel and marketing blurring further, with SDRs collaborating more closely with marketing/partner teams. This collaboration can streamline lead generation, improve content alignment, and create a BDR ecosystem that can be leveraged for account insights and lead generation. 

Finally, I also see the role evolving into educators, providing valuable insights and resources to prospects; by this, I mean more of a consultative approach that emphasises solving problems and addressing pain points, setting SDRs apart in a competitive and pretty noisy market right now, where feature listing and “I’s” & “We’s” are all too common. 

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GOOD READS
Book of the week

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