Blog

How to improve your cold calling ratios

Every salesperson tries to find the best way to impact their lead and engage them.

Founder vs Salespeople

They are the business' rock stars! Sometimes, one single person will hold both roles - they're both idealists, non-conformists and resilient.

How to calculate the salary of an SDR

Our clients have often asked us to advise them on the definition of the salary for their new SDRs.

The 11 player of your Outbound Sales team

When a startup or B2B company decides to implement the Outbound Sales methodology, it is the time to consider what profiles to onboard.

How to reduce recruitment costs?

That's one of the main concerns in every HR department. On this post we explain how to calculate recruitment costs and how to reduce them.

How to create an effective recruitment process

Every team wants to hire the right person for the position in the shortest amount of time. But this does not always end up happening. What can we do to improve our chances of success?

How to succeed in tech sales

What skills should you work on to be successful in tech sales? Helen Cabrera and Julio Herce share their insights.

Biggest challenges in recruitment (and how to overcome them)

Many companies are experiencing great challenges in recruiting qualified talent as a result of the evolution of the job market in the past few months. These are our best tips to tackle the main challenges.

When cadences become your best friend – 5 tips for SDRs

We often discuss the importance of the SDR role within Outbound Sales and how this position can help you boost your career in tech sales. Today we share tips by sales professionals.

Success in sales – what skills do you need to become a superstar

In this post, Maria Aranda, SDR Manager, shares with us the skills that she considers most relevant to succeed in sales. Beyond the basic skills we look for in candidates for this area, Maria details other skills she values in her team.

Sales department: an organisational chart

There is no single model in the sales department, but we have summarised the most common positions in sales and customer success.

Qualify the company you’ve applied with

Do you want to develop a career in sales but you don't know how? Hernán Gimeno shares his action plan and explains what you should prioritise in your job search.

Customer Success: the Farmer in B2B SaaS Sales

Client retention is key in a SaaS B2B, and Customer Success teams are responsible for minimising churn. On this post we explain what are their other responsibilities and what skills we look for in a Customer Success.

Mission impossible: Recruiting 40 Account Executives in 30 days

One of the greatest challenges we've faced at Outbound People took place in April 2022: recruiting 40 AEs in 30 days for one single client. Here's the full story.

Prospecting in August: how to keep a full pipeline and avoid the summer slump

Ah, the summer holidays! You still have your quota to meet but struggle to have conversations? Well, here's some ideas of what you can do to get a higher response rate and how you can invest your time towards better results in the coming months.

Full-cycle sales rep: what is it and when do you need one

There are two outbound sales methodologies: SDR/AE synergy or a full-cycle sales rep. In this article, we explain what to consider when choosing between the two.

What is a Sales Playbook in 1 minute

Challenge accepted - here's what you need to know about a Sales Playbook in less than 1 minute.

How to attract and retain talent in 2022

The recruitment industry has suffered a 180º shift in 2022. In previous years, companies would access a reasonably sized talent pool with ease. However, this situation has changed, meaning that companies need to go the extra mile to attract and retain talent. So how can employers access top talent?

Internationalising a B2B SaaS

When we consider entering a new market, we should consider a few factors in order to define an Outbound Sales strategy. We discuss the most relevant variables to consider.

Outbound Sales roles – Inside Sales

In this series of articles, we describe the roles in Outbound Sales: Sales Development Representative (SDR), Account Executive (AE), and Inside Sales.

Outbound Sales roles – Account Executive

In this series of articles, we describe the roles in Outbound Sales: Sales Development Representative (SDR), Account Executive (AE), and Inside Sales.

Outbound Sales roles – Sales Development Representative

In this series of articles, we describe the roles in Outbound Sales: Sales Development Representative (SDR), Account Executive (AE), and Inside Sales.

How to motivate your SDR team

We’ll all agree that SDRs are pivotal to the success of the company - without a good SDR team, the Account Executives won’t have the resources to close the sales. With this in mind, how can we keep our SDR team motivated and performing at its best?

Cold calling and B2B SaaS: the perfect match!

There is a misconception about cold calling, which stems from the idea that cold calling and telesales (B2C sales) are the same. However, when well prepared, cold calling can set your company for success!

Mistakes we should avoid in recruitment

Onboarding the right people into the team is key to success. Now more than ever, talent is scarce, so it's imperative to avoid the following mistakes in recruitment.

Why are B2B SaaS Sales different (and what do they need to succeed)

SaaS B2B sales are a world unto themselves. For a company to succeed, having a good sales team is essential. We explain what the main profiles are and what to look for in them.

How to hire rockstar sales talent

As a result of the pandemic and large investment rounds in the tech sector, the gap between market demand and the shortage of qualified profiles is accentuated more than ever before. The year 2022 marks a historic milestone for hiring in the digital sector.

Sales Manager vs Sales Ops

When we start planning the growth of a SaaS startup, we face a key decision: the hiring of a person to lead this sales growth. We will be considering two profiles: Sales Manager and Sales Ops. Where are their areas of expertise? Which should we hire first?

How can you make your LinkedIn profile more appealing to recruiters?

Job searching is a task in itself. There’s no denying that it takes time and dedication. At the end of the day, you have to leave potential recruiters intrigued to know more about you.

What to do after an unsuccessful interview

There are many reasons why an interview may not go as well as you would have hoped. It happens. But what can you do to make it right?

How to prepare for a video interview

Preparing for an interview is no easy task. Not if you want to do it properly anyway. There is a lot of work that needs to be done before, during, and after the interview.

Top sales habits to become a top performer

Being an SDR is no easy job. Becoming a top performer SDR is even harder. However, if you're persistent and organised, nothing will stop you from achieving your goals.

How to close more qualified meetings

There are lots of tips on how to close more qualified meetings. But we'd like to focus this post on a specific matter: understanding your lead and approaching them in the most appropriate manner following the DISC method.

When to prospect? Sales prospecting explained

Prospecting is what the SDR role is all about. It can be frustrating to put all your efforts into that one lead, only to have them not answer your calls. Well, we’ve got some ideas why this may be happening.

Basic knowledge for a first time SDR

The SDR role is a great way to enter the B2B SaaS sector, but it can be quite intimidating to have acronyms and words you’ve never heard of thrown at you. Here’s some of the most important ones you should master as a first time SDR.

What is a Sales Playbook?

Does your prospecting team know who the company is targeting? Do they struggle to handle objections? Do they know what message works best for each Ideal Customer Profile? If the answer to any of these questions is no, that means your team needs a Sales Playbook.

How to get past the gatekeeper

One of the main reasons that is keeping your contact rate lower than you’d like is having to get past gatekeepers. Their sole purpose is to filter conversations to those people SDRs are always trying to reach, they’re trained at it. We’ve put together a few tips on how to get past the gatekeeper.

Remote hiring

Most companies agree on the importance of the hiring strategy, both for its efficiency in finding great, long-term fits as well as for the company culture and revenue growth.

Reach your goals by defining your fears

While it might seem obvious that clarity and focus helps us reach our goals, we don’t usually pay enough attention to the fears that keep us away from them. Paradoxically, the things we are most afraid of are usually the ones we desire the most. So, what do you fear (*desire*) the most?

The perfect match: Ability and attitude

Here comes the “million-dollar question” (it might even be literal!): «What do you think makes the best professional?» You might think about their skills and knowledge as being the essentials because, after all, you can work on the rest. Well, of course you can motivate people, but it’s important to keep in mind that you can’t change their intrinsic incentives or their biggest wishes.

The power of audacity

Every now and then, we bump into successful people that seem to have it all on a professional level. Importantly, it seems like they have a powerful and extensive network of people who support them and have been key for reaching their professional goals.

On being an SDR: Handy Tips

Are you a newbie SDR? Or, on the opposite, you’ve got some experience yet? If you really want to master your outbound prospecting and close more meetings, keep a close eye on these main pillars –

How to keep your employees happy and achieve better results

In all positions from a company —with special emphasis on Sales positions, which tend to be pretty emotional— it’s crucial for companies to do their best to make their employees feel good and valued. Some studies [1] demonstrate that organizations that have a lot of happy employees have three times the revenue growth and half of turnover rate compared to other companies who don’t.

Interview with Robert Neagu – Business Development at Plannam

We met Robert around a year ago, as we interviewed him for an SDR position at Plannam, which has a SaaS platform for end-to-end HR management. After a year full of fun battles, Robert has now begun to participate in later phases of the sales cycle. In this interview he explains us a little about his experience and main learnings so far.

Sales: your personal trainer

It seems obvious that working in sales can be especially useful for any future position, since, in some way, we are constantly selling ourselves both professionally and personally.

Culture in sales teams

Sales teams are one of the most important assets of a company. So, it’s out of the question that there must be a high-quality sales culture to hit the desired goals. In this article, we'll break down some of the aspects you can work on to crush a superb culture within your sales team.

Extroverted or introverted SDRs?

It’s without doubt that interaction with third parties (prospects) is one of the key aspects for an SDR, which leads many people to think that an extrovert profile is the most appropriate for this position. However, we anticipate that it won’t necessarily be like that.

Luck is (in part) an attitude!

How much of your success, opportunities and apparent luck is mainly attributable to your attitude and the way you show up in life?

Why are SDRs key for your team?

In most cases, the SDR role is key to a successful sales structure, although in some companies there isn’t much knowledge of it yet. In this article, we aim to explore in depth the value we can add by including this profile in our commercial department.

Bet on your ideal candidate

Have you ever had the feeling of being in front of the ideal candidate? Throughout the interview, you have verified that the profile meets all the necessary skills for the position, is highly motivated and fits in well with your company culture. However, I bet you have also asked yourself: what if there is a better candidate? I would like to do a comparison with other profiles…, etc. In front of this situation, it’s quite likely that this same thought pattern and its consequences will result in losing our perfect candidate.

Authenticity and your personal brand

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when we talk about Steve Jobs or Michelle Obama? All this set of characteristics that we attribute to any famous character evidence and define their personal brand. All these aspects will determine the image that third parties have about ourselves. So, to begin with, we must ask ourselves the following questions: What’s my value proposition? What distinguishes me from the rest? With which attributes do I want to be related to?

Gamification: Get on the podium!

It often arises the question about how to motivate our SDR team, improve the results and achieve a healthy competitiveness while having fun. Today we’re going to talk about gamification: when you have a cohesive and powerful team, it’s a good idea to introduce changes that pose new challenges and go further. Economic remuneration is not the only way, as we’re not only looking for results but also to have a good time. At the same time, happy SDRs will transmit its enthusiasm to their leads, and everyone likes to buy from positive people who look passionate for what they do.

How to excel your SDR Onboarding

As we discussed in one of our previous articles, even the most brilliant SDR won’t shine in your company if not provided with the right tools and a clear methodology. In line with this, it becomes indispensable to excel your SDR onboarding plan. At the same time, if you have a clear onboarding plan, it can be used for any new SDR, making the process agile and applicable to anyone joining the team.

How to design a good SDR commission plan

Any company in the process of hiring its first sales reps will agree about the challenge of developing a good commission structure. The existence of this detailed structure wasn’t so necessary when the founders themselves were in charge of the sales; however, when this new member joins the sales team, it’s essential to introduce an effective commission plan.

In-house or outsourced SDR team?

We get you. You want to see an increase in revenue… and fast. Depending solely on marketing won’t provide you enough pipeline, so it’s time to incorporate an SDR team in your strategy. But then the big question comes… should you build an in-house team or outsource it?

How to attract the best talent

When you start building the team in your company, you must never forget it will be the most valuable asset in it. In order to attract top talent, it’s not about candidates convincing you that they’re the right fit, but rather about you convincing them that this is the perfect opportunity for them. It therefore becomes essential to have certain qualities or values that will make you attract top talent, which should be made very clear with candidates during their interview process.

Hard vs Soft sales: Which is the best SDR approach?

It seems obvious that to be successful as an SDR you must have the best attitude and mindset in order to close meetings. But in front of this situation, it often arises the following question: is it better to adopt the role of wolf or lamb? Extremes don’t tend to be good and especially when it comes to sales within the SaaS B2B sector. Let's go deeper into these two approaches.

Ask the right questions!

So, you’ve done your research on that lead. It seems like your service could really add value to their profitability, processes or results. But once you finally manage to talk to that lead, you still fail to prospect it.

The importance of both talent and methodology

The commercial profession is perhaps one of the hardest out there, and because of this it’s also one of the best paid. Commercials are the most visible face of the results of a company. The pressure for it – and also the satisfaction if you get results- is not precisely small.

Should we base our professional motivation solely on money?

In a professional context, when a person recognizes to be motivated by money, it often generates a feeling of dishonesty or unscrupulousness. This is because we tend to seek a higher purpose in our professional career: to carry out our vocation, to make a difference or to believe in what we do. All of this is especially relevant when it comes to sales positions.

Are you attracted to Sales?

Generally speaking, and unlike other fields such as marketing or advertising, sales are not usually a popular or desired professional career for recent graduates, even though they tend to be better paid and allow a faster development.

Why starting your professional career as an SDR can be a great move

At OP we work with startups in their initial growth phase. For people starting their professional career, it can be a place to learn and enjoy the most, since these companies are developing, building and finding out their market niche.

Book recommendations by and for SDRs

If you want to shine as an SDR, it's not just about working smart but also working hard. To accomplish this, you should train your skills and knowledge constantly, and among other means, reading is a must.

Interview with Hernán – SDR Manager Bloobirds

Today we spoke with Hernán Gimeno, SDR Manager of Bloobirds, and he explained us his experience as an SDR in a SaaS Startup. Hernán is from Mallorca and after finishing his studies in Translation and Interpretation in English, he made his first steps in a digital marketing company in Mallorca. In August 2019 he joined Bloobirds as an SDR and in early 2020 he became SDR Manager.

Remote working for SDRs- Yes or No?

Both yes and no: it’s a NO at the beginning that can gradually become a YES. Let's explain it.

Resilience in an SDR

You have decided to take a huge step in your professional career and become an SDR. Some aspects of the role will be as you expected and others will surprise you, but what is clear is that you will need to cultivate certain indispensable skills for it. In this article we will discuss about how to work on your resilience, a key skill for your success.

SDR Training Sessions

We love meeting again with Sales Reps that we have recently recruited to talk about their first days in the role. Therefore, we organize a training session every 1-2 months with the new settled SDRs.

Career fairs

Last November, we had the opportunity to attend different career fairs; among them, UPFeina, ESERP Business School and Catholic University of Valencia.

Previous experience in SDRs

Should we seek experience in Sales Development Representatives? This is a widely discussed topic as well as a relevant one. In this article we will discuss why looking for "experienced" SDRs can be totally counterproductive.

The SDR profile

SDRs are possibly the most important part of generating opportunities: they find customers out of thin air and are the first phase of the sales funnel, as well as the first image of our startup.

Evolution of an SDR

When an SDR is incorporated into the outbound team of a SaaS start-up, it is essential to consider the development he/she will experience.

Expectations of an SDR

Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) bet on this role for different reasons: they like the contact with clients, they enjoy building relationships, they want a challenging role, they look to work in a specific sector… But all candidates have some common expectations.