The Promotable SDR Podcast

Summary

Brian Lamanna shares his journey from SDR to AE and provides insights on how to navigate promotions. He emphasizes the importance of reverse engineering goals, building relationships with top performers, and treating LinkedIn as a public journal. Brian also discusses the benefits of building a personal brand on LinkedIn and shares his experience with launching Closed Won, his sales education business. Check out Closed Won here!

Takeaways

- Reverse engineer your goals and create a roadmap to success - Learn from top performers in your organization and emulate their successful strategies - Build a personal brand on LinkedIn to expand your network and create future career opportunities - Treat LinkedIn as a public journal and share your thoughts, experiences, and insights

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background 02:15 Getting Started in B2B SaaS as an SDR 04:09 Navigating Promotions from SDR to AE 08:08 Carrying Skills from SDR to AE 10:09 Ideal Time for Prospecting as an AE 14:25 Preparing for the AE Role 25:08 Launching Closed Won

• Mentorship and being coachable are crucial for success in sales
• Personalization in outreach, using relevant keywords and phrases, can make a significant impact
• Learning sales operations and data analysis is important for SDRs aspiring to become leaders
• Focusing on building up the team and fostering a collaborative environment leads to overall success

Timestamps

• Maintain a relaxed and conversational attitude in cold calls to increase the likelihood of engagement.
• Shift your mindset from fearing rejection to understanding that it is a normal part of sales and that a certain number of rejections will lead to a yes.
• Prepare for promotion by listening to calls of AEs and asking questions to deepen your understanding of the sales process.
• Sell yourself to clients, peers, and leadership by taking initiative, having open communication, and demonstrating your willingness to go above and beyond.
• Focus on the journey and push yourself to see how far you can go, rather than setting limits on your potential.

Summary

In this episode, Nick Bontrager interviews Grant Griffin, who recently transitioned from an SDR role to an AE role at Drata. Grant shares his journey into tech sales and provides insights into his rapid promotion. He emphasizes the importance of aligning with a company's values and having a growth mindset. Grant also discusses his interview process and the preparation he did to transition into the AE role. He shares tips for success as an SDR, including being versatile in different sales skills, personalizing outreach, and focusing on timing over customization. Grant encourages SDRs to be vocal about their career goals and to develop a deep understanding of their product. Overall, this episode provides valuable advice for SDRs looking to advance in their careers.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Grant's Background 02:07 Grant's Career Goals and Alignment with Company Values 06:25 Taking Charge of Conversations and Building Trust 09:34 Tips for Success as an SDR: Versatility and Personalization 11:27 Timing Over Customization in Outreach

Takeaways

• Align with a company that has values you align with and offers growth opportunities.
• Be versatile in different sales skills and be willing to do whatever the business needs.
• Focus on timing over customization in outreach.
• Be vocal about your career goals and seek leadership opportunities.
• Develop a deep understanding of your product to improve sales effectiveness.

Ever think about what comes next after you're done being an SDR? Maybe you want to move to Account Executive. Maybe to Account Manager. In this episode Elmer Lopez (who's done both roles post SDR) breaks down the pros and cons of each plus a whole bunch of other tactical promotion advice for SDRs looking to get promoted in 2024.

Quick bullet point takeaways from the show:  - Know the daily activity metrics you need to hit to meet/exceed quota. - No's aren't personal - taking them personally only weighs you down mentally. - The phones work. - Progress > Perfection - Focus on the controllable.

Listen to the show for details on each! 

This week's show features Hank Lazzara. You should listen if you're an SDR looking to get promoted into a more technical role like a Solutions Engineer or if you're looking to get promoted quickly just in general! 

From the Army to being an SDR with zero selling experience in B2B SaaS - McKay Adamson shares how he went from SDR to Account Executive in 12 months!