Official thread

Bad Sales Advice? 60 to 80 Calls a Day

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Sales - it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. A world where the only thing that matters is the next call, the next email, the next close. A world where if you're not making 60 to 80 calls a day, you're getting fired. Or at least, that's what they want you to believe.

But let me tell you a secret. A secret they don’t tell in those “daily scrums” or “strategy meets”. The sales floor is not a wolf pack. It's a playground.

You see, a customer is not just a number on a spreadsheet, they're a person. And if you want to sell to them, you need to understand them. And let's be real, isn't that what sales is all about? Building relationships with people and understanding their needs?

You need to know what makes them tick, what their pain points are, and what they're looking for in a solution. And the only way to do that is by taking the time to learn about their business.

So, if you're out there making 60 to 80 calls a day, STOP. Breathe. Take a step back. And remember - it’s a playground. In the end, it’s all about output, not input.

You can get that 5-call connects with 20 calls instead of 80. If you make the to the right people, at the right time, with the right intent.

And if you can do that, the world is yours.

PS: Do check out other videos from Bad Sales Advice series:

📞 Cold Calling

27

19 comments

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TennisandSales

Politicker

8

Head Of Sales

could not agree more.

shit is CHANGING for SDRs and its going to take a while for everyone to catch up but the real ones are already shifting what metrics are looked at and what the approach is.
also "back in my day" we would have LOVED to only be forced to make 80 dials in a day hahaha

and back in my day was in 2017 😂

also, what is the context of these videos. is Sahil actually talking in front of ppl? or is it just an empty room with him spittin hot takes?

Pachacuti

Politicker

6

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I get calls and emails from SDRs all the time who simply aren’t prepared. It’s so hard to reach someone today that if you’re somehow able to do it you need to be 110% ready.

6

Sales Process Consultant

The problem is that everyone wants to shit a metric and says "that's the one guys, follow through". You can make this kind of call volume, depending on your market and the product/service you are selling. In most B2B companies, this doesn't make sense at all because are very complex solutions with huge qualification frameworks that you need to pass by.

FoodForSales

Politicker

4

AE

Very true. Quality over quantity.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

3

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Prepare to be prepared.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

Then prepare some more.

punishedlad

Tycoon

3

Business Development Team Lead

I'll never forget when my manager and I were piloting a lower volume, higher quality outreach approach at my first employer (startup). The CEO came out and complained that the sales floor was too quiet and we needed to be making more dials. We brushed him off and kept our heads down while we tested the new methodology.
Ended up closing the best two quarters in company history. CEO still said he didn't like how quiet it was.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Absolutely quality over quantity. And if you're not making dials to make dials, you can be more prepared.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

3

Sales Rep

Very much a Quality over Quantity person, however with connect rates with calls so low, I feel like you do need to have volume to have a realistic chance of a connect. You can have a perfect emails, but it can still be skipped over if they are busy. You can have a perfect reason to meet, but the reject the call since they know its from a sales person.
Unless @Gastythere is some trick to calling the right people at the time, I feel like you need volume to hit expectations due to the lack of pick ups.
I would love to be wrong on this, but this is why I am a fan of mixing high volume to increase touches and include extremely personalized touches for A and B accounts

BTQ

Politicker

3

Account Manager

I understand where this advice is coming from but I disagree.

If I only made 60-80 dials a day I would only connect with 3 prospects at most. Yesterday it took me 55 dials to one pickup.

I typically average 100-200 dials per day and 7-10 conversations.

I’m not going in blind either. I prepare my calls with a matrix of messaging in front of me for each customer profile and what their focus is on.

I get what sahil is saying with quality over quantity but as someone in the trenches you gotta ramp up your dials unless you have a PAD.

NoSuperhero

Politicker

3

BDR LEAD

Yeah, I'm starting to feel it. I used to be able to just hit the phones and book a meeting by providing some added value statements, and boom! Meeting booked. Now, it's a bit tougher. I thought It was me but it's putting me in the homework to get better and actually try to understand their day-to-day and actually bring in some value. IMHO, I think spending more time doing that so the rest is a bit easier. The same goes for emails and the rest of the channels we use for outreach.

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

Right period, right time, quality approach 🎯

NoSuperhero

Politicker

2

BDR LEAD

HOW DO I APPROACH MY MANAGER TO STEER AWAY FROM THIS?
Edit> Sorry for yelling, but I need help addressing this issue sooner rather than later.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

1

War Room Community Manager

Get your numbers without picking up the phone ?

NoSuperhero

Politicker

1

BDR LEAD

I've been a call guy all my life. Put in some research, align where there could be problems, drop a value statement around that, and the meeting got booked. Emails or LinkedIn have always been my Achilles heel. I dunno where to go to simply make my emails better. I don't think my writing is all that bad, and I try to stay short. I'm swimming aimlessly for the past 2 to 3 months.

Armageddon

Opinionated

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Agreed. Quality first!

RandyLahey

Politicker

1

Account Executive

Quality > Quantity. Yeah, you need some quantity to get the quality, but always prioritize quality once you've established what works.

AtlantaDigitalTransformation

1

Senior Sales Executive

The important part is identifying opportunities and moving them through your funnel to beat your quota. If your role is Biz Dev you make lots of calls. If it is Enterprise Sales it about opportunity quality and progress. So maybe your sales manager is measuring something that doesn’t matter?

WheelofCheese

Opinionated

1

Sales Executive

I couldn’t agree more! Dialing for dollars so to speak isn’t effective unless you happen to come across someone whose service/product, etc (whatever you’re selling) is on fire. Take the time to do a little research on both the company you’re reaching out to (website, etc) and the person (LinkedIn). Show that you may have something of value based on what you’ve already learned (about their industry for example) but stop short of assuming you know the answers to their challenges. Your only objective is to set a discovery meeting! That being said, no one wants their time wasted so your message needs to resonate with something they may care about. Have a focus but keep it high level.

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