Biggest Mistake Starting Off?

As a brand new SDR, I had the immense fortune of vomiting absolute crap on the phone today and every rejection beat me down. It was not until I had a talk with my manager at the end of my first day after onboarding that she let me know that I was being way too sensitive and that none of the harshness I got was personal. What was everyone's biggest mistake and how can I avoid them going forward?

๐Ÿ˜‚ Sales Humor
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๐Ÿ“ž Cold Calling
21
paddy
WR Officer
15
Director of Business Development
My biggest mistake was waiting until 9:30am to start drinking every morning.ย 
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
1
Sales Development Representative
So is 3AM too early or too late to be drinking on a workday?
paddy
WR Officer
3
Director of Business Development
Depends when you start
Closeitalready
Valued Contributor
0
Head of Sales
True that. Keep the level up so itโ€™s even trough the day
barney2021
Tycoon
2
Account Executive
Reading off the script if it was garbage. If itโ€™s not working for you and keep getting rejected do your own research and find your own flow. Years later they are still using the same shit they got out of a magazine and I made my own and am top cold caller in my company
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
2
Sales Development Representative
Hell yes. Even after one day, Iโ€™ve cut down the script they gave us in half because I sounded like I was reading straight off a marketing email/advertisement. Thank you for the reassurance
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
Shying away from asking questions (that I assumed were stupid) increased my learning curve timeframe.
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
0
Sales Development Representative
Thank you for the advice!
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
2
SaaS Eater
Be genuinely curious, realistically you know nothing right now so go into your calls with questions to get your prospects thinking, not just spitting features hoping they stick.ย 
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
0
Sales Development Representative
Makes me feel good about cutting a lot of the feature focused script
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
1
SaaS Eater
Feature based selling doesnt work. If your script is loaded with pumping features throw it in the trash and come with a questions based approach that will isolate pain points (cut the prospect) and then the value your company provides to solve it (give them the band aid).ย 
goose
Politicker
2
Sales Executive
You won't avoid them.ย  You can only learn from them and not repeat them.
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
1
Sales Development Representative
Great point/advice
LordBusiness
Politicker
2
Chief Revenue Officer
I wish I could remember my first mistake, but that was about 20,000 mistakes ago :)
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
0
Sales Development Representative
Hell yes, that makes me feel a lot better actually.
SaaSguy
Tycoon
1
Account Executive
Not providing value and asking for a strangers time.
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
1
Sales Development Representative
Should be sales101 but for some reason your sentence blew my mind
SweetLeaf
Fire Starter
1
Relationship Manager
Rally all the wins and know when to take a phone break. Yea itโ€™s never personal, but it still sucks just the same at times.
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
1
Sales Development Representative
Still waitin for that first win, but at least now Iโ€™ll be sure to savor it, thanks!
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
Try to not care about the outcome when you're on a call. Focus on actually "discovering" or having a conversation with the person without being fake. If it helps, pretend they are someone in your family (for example).ย 
Disqualification is super important because it helps you stop wasting time with a bad prospect. So the sooner you can rule them out, the sooner you can get to a better prospect.
_pup_of_main_street
Fire Starter
0
Sales Development Representative
๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ
cw95
Politicker
1
Sales Development Lead
Getting through to the right people then realising you know absolute fuck all about what you do and completely losing the Op forever.ย 
Cornholio
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
Realizing that making mistakes in sales is part of it. Every rejection gets you closer to the next yes!
Jewcan_Sam81
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Thinking every issue is the end of the world. Weโ€™re selling software, not curing cancer
kiraugais
WR Officer
1
I work on the WR product
Weโ€™ve just launched an article on this subject in the Academy, check it out here: https://bravado.co/academy/starting-new-job-in-sales ๐Ÿค—
Beans
Big Shot
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Finding a mentor quick enough.
ATX_Seller
Opinionated
0
Cat Herder
Biggest mistake: Forgetting that you're talking to an actual human being. You're catching someone in the middle of their life. They could be having the best or the worst day ever. Some people are just going to be dicks regardless of what you say to them. That's what your manager means by "it's not personal."

It's so easy to get tense when you're reading from a script & trying to remember everything you've been taught. If you find yourself doing this, pump the brakes and try to approach the person with genuine curiosity.ย 
dwightyouignorantsale
Politicker
0
Account Executive
My biggest mistake was not just going for it. I spent so long trying to write scripts, over prepare for calls (to the point where I would always expect an answer from the prospect because I had practiced that so much), and spending FAR too long writing emails. You WILL mess up. You will have terrible calls. You will send absolutely shitty emails. But if you spend too long trying to practice, you will fall short when it comes to the real thing. Go for it and learn from it.
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