Br3k43er

Account Executive

Sales Training that isn't bullshit

Hey Savages,

I've been an SDR for about a year now and I feel like I'm starting to hit a slump. I'm catching myself fumbling through cold calls more and more and feel like I need some better training than my weekly roleplays with my manager.

I'm wondering what sales trainings have yall gone through that have really provided value and aren't the very basics for someone just coming into sales.

As always appreciate any and all advice

👑 Sales Strategy

📞 Cold Calling

🥎 Training

14 comments

Sort by:

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Step One: Download Audible

Step Two: Buy Fanatical Prospecting, Combo Prospecting, and High-Profit Prospecting

Step Three: Listen before, during, and after work. Commit to not falling victim to the slump itself.

Discipline to succeed, courage to the disciplined do the things that get you there.

A slump is a fictitious negative mentality created by someone you don't know at the end of the phone. It's not your problem people are pricks - it is your fault if you let them get to you.

Additionally - you're doing yourself zero favors if you're surrounded by SDRs that complain - that energy transfers. This is an assumption, but SDRs come in packs, make sure yours is the one that's winning.

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

Officer of ♥️

John Barrows.

hippy

Opinionated

ISR (Inside Sales Rep)(AAM) Associate Account Manager

I feel like he is probably on here…I think he’d fit right in.

Notmyrealname

Politicker

Are you hitting target?

If you are, it sounds more like boredom than lack of training. It's really monotonous making the same cold calls over and over all day for a year, having the same conversation, and passing off the prospect to an AE. Trust me, I know.

If you're on target and just bored, you could ask your manager for more responsibilities or pre-emptive training in later stages of the sales cycle to prepare you for any AE roles you could get promoted to in the future.

Br3k43er

Contributor

Account Executive

for some context looking to move up to AE in the next 3-4 months here, but no one on the SDR team is really hitting target. There was a shift in Management, direction, and comp in the beginning of the year and everyone is still struggling to find a groove that produces continuous success

Our Product is SaaS but it's a pretty small target audience so when I get a prospect that's a good fit on the phone and it goes poorly its even more of a kick in the nuts

Notmyrealname

Politicker

In that case I'd point you in the direction of the comments that advise to figure out what's going wrong. You might be doing something wrong but I'd bet not everything, so there's no point revamping everything. See if you find what's causing the calls to go poorly (recordings help), and work on those areas.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

You can sit in trainings all day long but none of it helps until you hone in on the areas you need to improve.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

Best training is just shadowing top performers.

playerone

Politicker

Regional Account Executive

You need to isolate the issue. Are you fumbling because you don't have enough product information, don't know how to overcome objections, or lack of confidence? You've been there a year so I hope you know the product and you should have encountered enough objections by now, so I'm going to guess confidence. If it is confidence, then sales training may not help. You need to hear some motivational speaking and my favorite Dr. Eric Thomas the Hip Hop Preacher. He has a digital album that is a collection of his tracks, you can download it free here: Ambition in THE BLUEPRINT TO SUCCESS (soundcloud.com) Here's one of his most popular videos: HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT PT.I - YouTube

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

To start, do you know what has made you successful in your past bookings? Figure out what has worked, and refine the process from there.

KNOW where you want to go - AE? SDR Manager? and start growing the skillset and knowledge that is required.

Find out where you lack and start building!

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Sounds like boredom and you need a new challenge. Either moving up the ladder, to another area in your company, or out to another SDR job.

wolfblitzer

Member

CRO

my 2 cents - SDR is the greatest training ground in sales. But not to learn how to sell - selling is the easy part. The training you should be doing is learning how to ask questions that matter. Become a student of business - and sales will take care of itself.

If you're calling into finance departments - understand enough about finance to ask educated questions. Not for the sake of it - but because you need to know how something works for them to trust you.

Who would you buy something from? Someone who has lived and breathed your problems? Or someone who doesn't really understand but understand the product?

This is why Gong slays. Because they are sales people selling to sales people. It's so brilliantly moronic.

The turning point in my sales journey was when I came across a customer who had actually deployed our solution the way we imagined it. No one else I had spoken with (across hundreds of customers) had really fulfilled the dream.

So I asked if I could sit with them for 2 days and have them share with me how they did it - from getting sign off, through to getting adoption. After 2 days - I still needed more. So I asked if they would be a reference for me to call and bounce questions off, refer customers to - and in exchange, i treated them like royalty. It was the single best educational experience for my selling career.

It's ok to be a student - people actually respect that. But learn quick. Take notes. Attempt to understand the mechanics of the businesses and departments you are selling to - and you will improve.

Also John Barrow's C-level prospecting... bomb.

champchamp

Arsonist

Certified Savage

I'd say Proactive Selling by Skip Miller.

EasyTechGuy

Opinionated

Sales Development

The thing with sales training is you need to find a voice and style that resonates with your personality and style.

I'd throw JBSales out there as a good example of having stuff for the beginner and the more intermediate peole in both an SDR and AE role.. Sam Nelson from outreach is another good one for sdrs. There are also communities like this one that can provide value in that department.

Beyond that it partially depends on your company style.. Sandler,Challenger and Fanatical prospecting are also good places to start and can be found on Audible..

I also agree with some of the other comments that it sounds like a motivation thing more than a training thing.. pick out one ( and i mean ONE) thing you want to be great at, Find a reward thats meaningful to you regardles of if its directly job related, and go hard at that goal.

Remember, You can eat an elephant(figuratively).. just not all at once..

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.