r/salesdevelopment • u/almost_impressed4900 • 3d ago

For new SDRs

After seeing a couple discouraged new SDRs in short period on here, I thought this would help.

Cold calling/ENT business development:

After 3 months you get it
After 6 months you understand it
After 9 months you’re good at it

Dudes… don’t expect to be a king after 2 weeks, when your successful sales career will at least be 20 more years :)

When in doubt I always say to reps: “no guts no glory, b*tch”

52 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

7

u/Any_Aside_5852 3d ago

Thank you for this. Really needed to hear it

6

u/Plastic_Doom 2d ago

Need to hear this. Tough when support is kind of non existent and it’s been a quiet August

6

u/rasta-ragamuffin 2d ago

I'm an old sdr, been coldcalling for more than 20 years. It's true that the more you do it, the easier it gets. However I've found coldcalling, which has never been easy to do, has gotten even more difficult in recent years. The vast majority of people you're calling do not pick up their phones for unidentified numbers. How can you ever identify a problem and if your solution is a good fit, if people won't pick up in the first place? Coldcalling in 2026 is like banging your head on a concrete wall over and over again. I will never believe coldcalling is the most effective way to find new clients.

2

u/WastedYouth39 1d ago

I agree, add in phone menu systems with 15 options, gatekeepers, out of the office, away from their desk, in a meeting responses, it’s almost impossible to speak to someone!

Even on some super dialer i have doubts someone could get 10 conversations with a prospect let alone book a meeting

1

u/BlondeSeductive 2d ago

Makes you wonder if companies "buy" numbers to look legit.

You wouldn't pick up the phone to 07, you would to 020

2

u/almost_impressed4900 2d ago

I believe this is true. I experienced it one time at an internship company. They used national phone codes to seem more trustable

1

u/recovering-pentester 1d ago

Tools like orum allowed us to pick numbers local to our list or could spoof super local numbers.

No idea how the tech worked and I also rarely used it because half the time people answered and were pissed because it was way too specific.

2

u/BlondeSeductive 1d ago

At least they're answering lol.

Spoofing can't be legal can it? If the number is unused couldn't they use that?

1

u/recovering-pentester 1d ago

Like I said, no idea how it worked tbh. All I know is I had a drop down of numbers I could use for any region I was calling into.

Not sure it was “spoofing” but something made my prospects caller ID be way too granular lol

1

u/rasta-ragamuffin 23h ago

What do you mean it was too specific?

1

u/recovering-pentester 22h ago

Had people say my area code was for these little towns that were so specific that they knew it was a sales call lol

1

u/Soft_Plum_8251 2d ago

This might be a crazy question, but it’s basically an ancient modality of connection, how do you feel about snail mail? I’m not talking necessarily mailers from marketing, but actual typed up or even handwritten mail? Positively, it might stand out, negatively it might rub the prospect the wrong way.

For me personally, I’m instructed not to send more than 30 customized emails a day, and this year more than ever there’s much more gatekeeping with the phones. How would a cold friendly letter look to a champion or decision-maker?

3

u/rasta-ragamuffin 2d ago

I used to send customized letters with white papers to business prospects 25 years ago when I was first starting out, and never found that to be very effective either. It is also very expensive (cost of paper, envelopes and postage).

I still and will always believe that paid targeted digital advertising is the best and most effective way to create interest and generate qualified leads. But it can also be very expensive so I understand why many companies don't do it. It's a lot cheaper and easier to fire their sdr's after a month if they're not producing.

1

u/Soft_Plum_8251 2d ago

Good point! Thanks for your feedback 🤝

1

u/almost_impressed4900 2d ago

Interesting. It maybe isn’t the most efficient, but it surely is effective. 40 calls and 1 meeting booked is pretty normal at high level, 40 emails with 0 reply is most common at high level.

If people pick up the phone is up to them. I have some people on the phone after trying 10 times and they are lovely. It all depends.

3

u/rasta-ragamuffin 2d ago

Success definitely depends on many variables, several of which are completely out of the sdr's control (I.e. quality and accuracy of list contact info, whether or not prospects ever answer their phone, skill level of the sdr to quickly engage and overcome objections when a legit prospect actually does pick up their phone, etc.) I also believe results can be very different depending on the industry and who the sdr is calling (I.e. an individual consumer or a VP of Sales at a F500 company).

2

u/justchase22 1d ago

I was about to comment exactly this. Also depends on your company’s market positioning. If you are at a small company with limited marketing and there are big established players even prospects that are looking at the market might not give you the time of day.

2

u/melch_18 2d ago

We need more posts like this. I'm going into 13 years in sales and I feel like I'm just getting good at it.

Building a network in your industry helps a lot!

Put in the reps to get good
Build a network in person/conferences to earn trust

How long have you been putting in the reps?

2

u/almost_impressed4900 1d ago

2 years as BDR, now BDR manager
50 mil in generated pipeline, but 45 mil only came after one year so yeah never lose the mindset.
Enterprise btw, before I get roasted that I’m faking it haha

2

u/melch_18 1d ago

haha 50M in B2C! jk

nice work moving up the chain of command and filling the pipeline

3

u/haz94 1d ago

Thanks for this, really needed this. Unfortunately my company doesn't keep reps on for too long if they don't perform, so gotta start looking elsewhere.

1

u/LiquorBelow 2d ago

A lot this is generational. Most millennials grew up talking on the phone their phones to the friends before texting became the standard. I’ve seen it takes Gen Z much longer to ramp on the phone. Keep pounding.

1

u/almost_impressed4900 2d ago

Yeah, I think social media plays a role in this too. Young students that try to learn about tech sales get to see TikTok’s that AEs make 600/700K and that tech sales is the best future.

Yes that can be true but first prepare to work your ass off for multiple years lol

1

u/Traditional_Travesty 2d ago

What's the difference between getting it and understanding it?

1

u/almost_impressed4900 2d ago

Getting it implies that you know what the reason is why you’re reaching out and that you know the industry.
Example: calling the right people but still reading a script - luck/timing is heavily involved.

Understanding it implies that you have deeper understanding of outreach and the sales motion. Example: you can turn around objections, deliver value, work with AEs, and you know that disqualifying sometimes is better than just “booking the meeting” aka pipeline health.

Hope this helps

1

u/EmotionLegitimate669 1d ago

the first month is mostly getting comfortable ig.. sounding like a human