Bad BDR

So about 2 weeks ago, I get this LI message: I just took a look at your page and your company looks super interesting - it would be great to connect and happy to hear more about what you do!


And I ignored it at first, but then thought, what the heck, I'll respond. Maybe it's someone starting out, looking for advice, won't hurt to be nice. Reached back out about a week ago, responded: I have been neglecting to visit LI and so didn't get back to you. How can I help?


Just got: Thank you for getting back to me I really appreciate it! I was just wondering if <your company> is using video in the sales process. We created a tool that uses AI to personalize your video (deepfake technology) and would love to show you how it works! Let me know if you're interested <my name>.


I peaced out. Obviously I'm not a decision maker, and while my friend here would have no way of knowing it, I despise video outreach. Basically, I'm 100% the wrong person to sell to. And no, I'm not going to send them to the right person when they ask out of whatever sense of kindness led me to respond in the first place.


For all the BDR/SDRs on here: what would you have done differently? Let's make this a learning experience.

๐ŸŽˆ Mentorship
๐Ÿ”Ž Prospecting
๐ŸฅŽ Training
20
CuriousFox
WR Officer
14
๐ŸฆŠ
Oh I like teachable moments. Here for this.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
3
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Exactly, THIS is what the Warm Room is for. I am looking forward to seeing this discussion play out. Rather than the other BS that keeps making its way on our feed.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
6
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
As someone responsible for at least a little of the bs, I

agree
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
8
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
When I was a BDR, my manager would give me advice that was almost the same as what this BDR sent. We would send a very generic message like "Would love to hear about what you do, and to see if we have synergies" (I know, it's cliche).

I was in my initial days, so I started out on the advice. I realised a lot of backlash from my prospects. They wouldn't respond or they would respond with something like - What synergies might we possibly have?

Then I started doing this -
1. Send a connection request without a note
2. See how active they are and what they post about regularly
3. Take a post / a share / a comment as a reference point, and at least get to know them.

I know it's a lot of nurturing, but when I created that kind of comfort space with that prospect, two things happened:

1. I understood they are not the right audience. So I just kept the connection as is, a network.
2. When I realised they are the right audience for me, I would then talk about business as well.

P.S: I was not heavy on Linkedin. So this method worked for me, since I'd really just filter out the active ones. They weren't a lot.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
This actually makes sense and involves a bit more effort - which will show in the outreach.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
7
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
UPDATE: I did just get a response.
Thank you for letting me know <my name>! Who would be the best person to talk to regarding our product, would <actual correct person> be interested?

So - nice job, BDR! You did figure out the most likely person. However, I'm now no longer going to respond (sorry) as I suspect your next trick is to tell <actual correct person> some story about how I recommended the BDR reach out.

Couple of other things: I don't know what company or solution this is. I don't know why video outreach with AI and deepfake technology is a benefit or what it can do. Nowhere is there a call to action.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
1
Sales Rep
Seems like a win on their end for info gathering, not the best message to start the convo, but still a win
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Except I'm not going to respond and confirm anything. They got nowhere from outreach to me. They could have reached out to that other person from the jump and left me out of it.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
Com'on got to be nice to the SDR!!! They are grinding it for starbucks gift cards
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
I'm nice when they earn it. This was lame, sorry.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
5
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Oh wow, that is painful and makes me never want to open LinkedIn again to avoid such terrible scripts.

I know what I would have done differently, but I am more interested to see what the BDRs/SDRs are going to say.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Yeah, I thought it would be interesting to hear from them if this approach has ever been successful (I bet not) but I wouldn't know.

I usually just ignore outreach, but this one wasn't an obvious pitch. I also thought if it was someone looking for advice, it would be tedious due to the really limp inquiry, but I responded anyway. I'll probably never be that kind again, at least on LI.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
3
Bravado's Resident Asshole
It's not that we are calling out sales people like the asshat CISOs are on LI, this is just a poor research and process that these ignorant(unknowing, poorly trained) BDRs/SDRs need help with.
TennisandSales
Politicker
3
Head Of Sales
hahaha ouch. yeah i wonder why they were reaching out to you???

also using deepfake tech? nothing about that sounds like a good idea haha
Sunbunny31
Politicker
6
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Yeah, so the clumsy outreach is one thing, what they are selling is a whole other level of nope.
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
that has to be right up there along side the automated linked in tools
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
Definitely here for this kind of content, thanks for sharing :)

I would've peaced out as well, even as a DM for my company.

Teaching in the WR is so much better than blasting the rep on LI
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
I withheld my natural inclination to sell back - "Hey, you asked about my cool company - pretty sure we can solve xyz issues you're having and help you personalize your touchpoints (ok, this is a lie, but would serve the dude right)".
jefe
Arsonist
2
๐Ÿ
Hahaha if you get bored then DO IT

and let us know
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
I haven't gotten that bored yet. Also I'd feel kinda mean.
jefe
Arsonist
2
๐Ÿ
Just a little mean though...
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
True, like "taste of your own medicine" mean.

If I was feeling more creative, I'd drop a bomb of a cold sell message back out, but it's hot and I'm feeling lazy.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
Not knowing much what's on your LinkedIn, but given your title here, I would know you aren't a DM.

So I would have been asking questions like "has leadership been pushing video outreach" "Is there common pushback from reps like yourself? Example being takes too long to personalize"

I usually just try to info gather rather than set a meeting
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Yep, LI profile is pretty obviously IC sales rep. No management/director title anywhere. I should also note that I'm at a company as an employee, which is pretty clear, and not a sole proprietor or 1099 employee where I might just be purchasing tools for myself.
Pachacuti
Politicker
2
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I ask in my LI profile to not connect with me just to sell me something. I only want to connect with people I have a professional connection to or I have met in person.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
TBH, the "try to sell me something" outreach doesn't happen that often. It's mostly recruiters and occasionally a colleague or, once, someone who reached out to learn about an open role at our company and ask about the culture, etc., which was awesome.
KCash
Fire Starter
2
SSDR
In my experience as an sdr, pitching up is death. No matter the prospect.

Everyone spams in their own way for initial engagement, but slight tweaks is the second message would pay dividends.

I saw that <company> leans heavily on the outbound team. Does your outreach consist of strictly emails and calling? Have you tested alternative methods to increase response rates?

<referral> and other in your space have seen <bs metric> through personalized video outreach.

<deepfake company> leverages ai so your teams can connect with prospects via video at scale.

Would love to get a few minutes to learn about your outbound strategy and see if this is a conversion worth having.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
5
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
That is a well thought out response, but to the wrong person - so the other issue this BDR faces is not targeting the right ICP in the first place. Heโ€™s not going to get a busy AE on the phone to discuss, nor would he get any info of value from me, because I donโ€™t exactly know what our marketing team is up to.

However, great outreach to the right person.
KCash
Fire Starter
1
SSDR
This is my biggest problem 100%. Hopefully I donโ€™t miss this far, but how does one keep up with roles and responsibilities of so many titles ๐Ÿ˜‚
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
That is so true! "Marketing manager" doesn't tell you much, if that's who you are targeting. What kind of marketing? Does it fit your ICP? It can be a challenge.

In my case, I'm listed simply as "Sales Executive". That should indicate that I'm an IC and probably not the correct target.
Notmyrealname
Politicker
1
AE
No disrespect to the OP because you're active on here and normally I agree with what you say. But.. Wtf? Was everyone on here born yesterday? Downvote this to death I don't care, I read the post and the comments and it's obvious none of ya'll understand how the BDR/SDR role works.

Unless you agree to a meeting... THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. They have a quota to worry about, they have activity metrics to worry about, their job is to spam people to generate meetings for sales people and they get paid a barely liveable wage to do it. You're not their ICP. Probably got included because they need to create x amount if leads per day. If I gave this bdr your name and asked if you were their lead they probably wouldn't even know. The gig is contact them and move on. You're not even a side character in their story.

Quit shitting on the lowest earners in the saas world and lead by example. All of the shitty tactics they use were passed down from shit sales reps and they're forced to do it by bad managers. It's not their fault. Help them when you can, as annoying as they are. IMO the only bad bdr is one who can't be coached.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Ease up - definitely not crapping on the BDR here. Well, maybe a little, because honestly, yes, they have metrics, but they also have a brain. Pointing out a poor outreach might just help a BDR who is on here who has to target multiple people be just a bit better themselves, you feel me?

The people who set these metrics for these BDRs are really the targets. Their unrealistic goals lead to this behavior and also the poor training most of these guys get, but how does anyone improve if they aren't getting any direction from their manager or sales reps? Maybe they come here and see a post like this and think, "oh, that's why I'm not getting responses".

Realize also that this role is relatively new in the sales world. Maybe some of us want this to be better - there are BDR/SDR managers on here lurking, maybe they'll get a bit of an idea how silly this is. What a waste of everyone's time, for real. I'm advocating for change. Spray and pray is a terrible way to do business in this tech world. Be better. Have a decent message. Maybe try some humor (works on me every time).

You know which BDRs I'm very nice to? MINE. I'll help them any chance I get. I'll go out of my way to take the meeting, get on a call, agree to dirt o'clock time zones for that first call if it will help them out. I've helped write communications and worked on messaging, and invited them to shadow me.

That said, not giving this particular dog a cookie. That will only make this happen again. And again. And thanks for pointing out that BDRs don't care about the targets of their outreach. I now feel better that I dgaf what he thinks of me either, because why should I care about him? He provided me absolutely nothing of value. I brought this up because it was not a great pitch AT ALL. I've gotten great pitches - and I've helped those folks out. Next time I get one of those, I'll share it too, because fair is fair.
Notmyrealname
Politicker
1
AE
Great response. I guess I came in a little hott here ๐Ÿ˜… the clowns on linkedin tagging people in posts for sending them a cold email have me tilted.

Spot on. Likely that managers are more at fault here than the xdr. Could be that they chose a bad message but they're only learning from those around them, and there's way too emphasis on automation and tech stacks, and not enough on quality. They might not even have any control over what messages they send.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
6
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
No worries at all. I think it's really easy to dump on the BDR as they are at the bottom of the food chain, and that's unfair.

This forum is anonymous, and so approaches can be used as teaching experiences and a way to share methods that work (and don't). We all improve that way.

Have a great day!
NoSuperhero
Politicker
1
BDR LEAD
yeah on linkedin I never really pitch, keep activity as liking the prospect and all that, and when a prospect sees my profile with in the hour I'm dialing to their number.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
I'm a tricky one on LI, I don't typically post, so I'd be a tough one to slowly engage with that way. However, I'm a bad candidate for outreach just based on my title and position - not a DM and not going to purchase or influence any sales.

I definitely appreciate your approach - building up to outreach, and jumping on a call when it makes sense to engage.
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