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Anakwsn S

Sales Development Representative at glacier media

How to be Mr. Popular at your team?

I am the sole Business Development Representative (BDR) in my territory, and my manager emphasized the importance of establishing a strong rapport with my Account Executives (AEs). Building friendships doesn't come naturally to me, and I struggle with being the popular guy, but I believe in putting in extra effort and actively participating in more meetings. I have learned from past experiences that visibility plays a significant role, sometimes outweighing sales numbers. 

Could you please provide guidance on how to effectively connect with my AEs and how frequently I should engage with them to garner positive reviews and increase my chances of promotion?
🧠 Advice
🎯 Career Development
📢 Communication
17

18 comments

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antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
9
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Be good at your job and be humble about it except when you need to brag. Who tf cares about popularity? Is popularity at a job going to pay for your bills?
HVACexpert
Politicker
2
sales engineer
👆🏻
BTQ
Politicker
6
Account Manager
You don't need to be "mr popular" just be yourself!

If you're struggling with this read "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.

https://socialskillswisdom.com/ <--- unrevised version for free

All it takes is to take a genuine interest in your coworkers, be useful for them, and they'll pay it forward.
oldcloser
Arsonist
6
💀
Go out and get a great book on how to become popular.

Take it home.
Burn it.

...along with the notion that you need to be popular.

You need to set demos. Hand over solid opportunities and you'll have more friends than you ever wanted.
Fenderbaum
Politicker
3
Retired Choirboy🪕
Excellent take... @oldcloser As you get older, the desire to be popular fades away like my hairline. Just do your job to the best of your ability. Some will love you, some will despise you. The ones that despise you can stick their thumbs up their asses.
BTQ
Politicker
2
Account Manager
^this is the real advice lol
Justatitle
Big Shot
3
Account Executive
You set up some accounts that close and you will have no problem with being friends with your AE
Pachacuti
Politicker
3
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
IMO the best way to go about what you want to accomplish is via performance. Be the best you can be and you will find yourself to be VERY popular.
braintank
Politicker
2
Enterprise Account Executive
They don't want to be your friend.

Your results will make you popular.
Maximas
Tycoon
2
Senior Sales Executive
You don't have to be their friend to be successful, just always consider meeting quota as your best friend instead that's how it works to keep your job and get promoted.
As long as you ain't rude to no one and acting nicely, then that should be just fine!
Cabbie
Good Citizen
1
AE (Account Executive)
To dispel you of 2 myths at once:

1. You're only required to "have good rapport with your AEs" to the extent that you're required to have good rapport with whoever you work with.

I understand what you're saying about visibility, but just make sure you're running good pre-screening on calls & emails; and pre & debriefing AEs around meetings. The better the deal, and the more you can get them excited about it - and their likelihood of closing it - the better.

Getting them excited about the quality of your work is a good stand-in if you struggle to personally connect with them.

2. Don't stress too hard about internal promotion. The best career path for SDR -> AE is to jump ship once you've got the experience. Every SDR role I've ever heard of has "track to AE!" built into it, but almost none of them actually have it.

Start interviewing the second you're confident enough of your sales skills, and keep going 'til you get something you want.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
You don't need to be popular. Be kind, and be available 😎
AnchorPoint
Politicker
1
Business Coach
Work at being respected, not liked.
Ctralt
Fire Starter
1
AE (Account Executive)
Do a good work and that’s all. Work hard, try to understand what obstacles they face and how you can help drive more business for them.

Bringing them good leads and driving business is the best way to earn respect, at the end of the day we’re all here to make money (a lot of money 🙂) and helping with that is what will make you successful
Ctralt
Fire Starter
1
AE (Account Executive)
The one other piece of advice is being flexible to work with different types of people and open to trying new approaches when it’s suggested. You don’t need to be everyone’s best friend nor should you be, but if people see that you’re easy to work with and can function on a team, they’ll appreciate you
CPTAmerica
Opinionated
0
President/CRO
Be yourself, open up to your team about who you are. Sounds small and I know it's tough for introverts but sharing little stuff about your life with the team really helps. Not deep dark secrets but hobbies, interests, what you did last weekend, the trip you are currently planning.
pirate
Big Shot
0
🦜☠️ Account Executive
Just focus on improving yourself and being consistently better in your role and ask people for advice and about their jobs and what they do and say you really want to learn and become AE one day. People love to talk about themselves often and popularity follows with it
NinjaSalesExec
0
Account Executive
Legit just hustle.

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