![\"Laura](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-laura.png\")
<\/div>\nWe\u2019ve always had lofty goals at Drift. We want to grow fast. We want to be the best at what we do. And we want to make our customers successful. Now we\u2019re entering a new stage of hypergrowth<\/a> that\u2019s more mature \u2013 one that requires us to develop smarter processes to scale.<\/strong><\/p>\n As a sales organization, our main focus is selling and accelerating revenue<\/a>, but more than ever we have to be intentional about how we grow. Personally, I\u2019ve always loved being close to the action. And revenue is where the action is.<\/p>\n In sales leadership, you need to be able to read what\u2019s happening, find ways to improve, and then go out and enact that change. At the same time, you need to do this without stifling the personalities and enthusiasm that define your sales organization.<\/p>\n As we grow at Drift, we\u2019re focusing on new mid-market and enterprise targets, which have very different sales cycles. This requires us to make smart investments and be intentional about all of our processes. Growth is an exercise in adaptability and change.<\/p>\n That\u2019s to say nothing of the global transformation<\/a> going on around us.<\/p>\n Until recently, Drift was an office-first culture. There was a sense of camaraderie that came from working together, especially for our SDRs. For many of them, it\u2019s one of their first jobs out of college. And it\u2019s a hard job, one where you\u2019re told \u201cno\u201d a lot. If someone had a bad call, they could turn to their friend for a joke or some words of comfort. You don\u2019t get that from your cat or dog working at home all day.<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019re a remote-first company<\/a>, we\u2019ve had to change how we coach and onboard<\/a> new SDR hires. We\u2019ve developed ways to simulate the in-office learning experience. Like having new SDRs start on Drift Live Chat<\/a>, with an SDR teammate or customer advocate there \u201cdigitally\u201d to help them out. If the SDR needs internal support, they can tag in a teammate \u2013 all without the customer knowing.<\/p>\n B2B sales cycles, in general, have also changed<\/a>. Because buyers\u2019 preferences have changed too. A McKinsey report<\/a> found that almost two-thirds of today\u2019s B2B buyers now prefer remote human interactions and digital self-service vs. in-person sales meetings.<\/p>\n The good news is, there are now so many ways to connect with buyers, whether it\u2019s text, email, chat, LinkedIn, video, or a phone call. It\u2019s more important than ever to be tight on your message and find a way to stand out. Often that\u2019s less about communicating urgency or being the loudest voice in the room, and more about understanding peoples\u2019 preferred way to communicate.<\/p>\n At Drift, we\u2019re constantly growing and learning as a sales organization. But we\u2019ve built an incredible team of experts over the last few years. Not only are they deeply embedded in our platform every day, but they bring with them expertise from the world\u2019s most-renowned sales teams.<\/p>\n Now, we want to share their knowledge with you.<\/p>\n In this guide, you\u2019ll hear from our sales leadership and the Drift SDRs, account executives, and account managers on the frontlines. Not only will you get to see how we use Drift @ Drift, but walk away with insights and sales secrets from our in-house sales cycle experts.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta_block","title":"In this guide you\u2019ll learn:","body":" Like most salespeople, I got my start as an SDR.<\/strong><\/p>\n I adored the job. I loved the hunt. Unearthing new business opportunities was nearly as exciting as actually closing the deal.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m still as passionate about sales prospecting<\/a> as I was back when I started, a lot has changed in the past eight years. The growth in sales technology has left prospecting feeling more impersonal. Instead of having genuine conversations, sales reps often run through rigid templates and scripts.<\/p>\n But, at the end of the day, we’re humans buying and selling from other humans. Companies like Drift have done a great job re-humanizing the sales cycle<\/a> \u2013 especially during the prospecting phase. At Drift, everything we do focuses on people and genuine conversations.<\/p>\n A good SDR will convert about 20% of the conversations they have on the phone into meetings. But that leaves 80% of conversations open. What we’re trying to do there is connect the dots for our buyers. We\u2019re answering buyer questions, demonstrating value, and delivering an amazing website experience along the way.<\/p>\n Using Drift allows us to have those conversations wherever our buyer happens to be. For example, our SDRs receive notifications<\/a> whenever somebody from their target account is on our website. This allows them to drop in and have a real-time conversation instantly. Meeting people where they are and engaging with them on their terms is hugely impactful.<\/p>\n Even when our reps are offline, our artificial intelligence (AI) technology has their back<\/a>. Every morning our SDRs have bot-booked meetings waiting for them to start their day. Drift is like an always-on technological teammate, ready to help buyers every hour of every day.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":86997,"id":86997,"title":"sales-prospecting-productimage","filename":"sales-prospecting-productimage.png","filesize":721606,"url":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","link":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","alt":"sales secrets prospecting","author":"357","description":"","caption":"","name":"wp-attachment-wp-attachment-wp-attachment-sales-prospecting-productimage","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86977,"date":"2021-04-06 18:48:33","modified":"2021-04-07 12:47:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2840,"height":1376,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","medium-width":2840,"medium-height":1376,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":372,"large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","large-width":2840,"large-height":1376,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage-1536x744.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":744,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage-2048x992.png","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":992,"third_width_square":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage-324x324.png","third_width_square-width":324,"third_width_square-height":324,"profile_24":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","profile_24-width":24,"profile_24-height":12,"profile_48":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","profile_48-width":48,"profile_48-height":23,"profile_96":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","profile_96-width":96,"profile_96-height":47,"profile_150":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","profile_150-width":150,"profile_150-height":73,"profile_300":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sales-prospecting-productimage.png","profile_300-width":300,"profile_300-height":145}}},{"acf_fc_layout":"body","body_text":" Even though it\u2019s a bot handling the chat, we\u2019re still laser-focused on the individual. Our approach to prospecting delivers a supportive, personalized<\/a>, and engaging service to buyers \u2013 but it\u2019s beneficial for reps, too. People often join Drift as an SDR without knowing exactly what they want to do next. That\u2019s why training<\/a> is such an important part of my job. Over their first 18 months, we expose SDRs to many different elements of the B2B sales cycle and help them map out their career progression.<\/p>\n To double down on that, we even launched a virtual career fair. We brought in professionals from dozens of different post-SDR career paths: field sales, account executives, management, sales enablement, and so on. They ran fireside chats and fielded questions and queries from SDRs.<\/p>\n After building a career in business development, it\u2019s important for me to help others do the same. And I love how supportive Drift has been in helping me do that.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta_block","title":"How We Train Our SDR Team at Drift","body":" Want more insights from Julianne on training high-performance SDR teams? Check out her strategies and plays on the Drift blog.<\/p>\n","button_text":"Read the Blog","button_url":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/blog\/sdr-team-training\/","open_in_new_tab":true,"button_text_two":"","button_url_two":"","open_in_new_tab_two":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"body","body_text":" From prospecting into key accounts to outbound outreach \u2013 here\u2019s a behind-the-scenes look at the strategies our SDR team uses at Drift.<\/p>\n \u201cI started my career in tech sales when I co-founded a startup with one of my best friends. I became fascinated by sales and entrepreneurship. After graduating college, I flew out to San Francisco on a whim to work for a tiny bootstrapped startup.\u00a0This was the biggest gamble in my professional career.\u00a0Eight\u00a0months later,\u00a0I was recruited by the French Embassy Trade Office where\u00a0I led outbound sales<\/a> development for top-tier French SaaS startups. I stumbled into Drift during a Sales Hacker webinar and fell in love with the company. I’m lucky to have found my dream job.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI actually started as an HR intern at Drift \u2013 back when we were around 100 employees. Since then, I\u2019ve experienced a bit of everything: After HR, I moved into Customer Advocacy. In that role, I had a blast supporting our customers and talking to marketing and sales leaders. I also loved collaborating with our sales team. Through that collaboration, I quickly realized, \u201cHey I want to do that!\u201d So when Drift introduced a new sales support role in 2019 \u2013 known as a Conversation Development Representative (CDR)<\/a> \u2013 I worked with our leadership to define the position. And that\u2019s how I became Drift\u2019s first CDR! Within a year, we grew that role into a team of four. Later on, as we started building out our SDR organization, it became time for me to move up. And that\u2019s where I find myself today \u2013 as an Enterprise SDR.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe tech and SaaS industry is all very new to me. I used to work retail sales, so, as you can imagine, I had no idea what an MQL, CTA, SLA, or who the heck a CMO was when I started here. Thankfully, today, I do. SDR onboarding at Drift focuses on the basics of marketing and sales. This helped me feel informed in my role, and made the learning curve that much easier to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAs an SDR Team Lead, I’m in charge of recruiting, onboarding, and coaching new hires<\/a>.\u00a0I help new hires understand our tools, processes, and techniques to craft outbound sequences and educate buyers on the problems Drift solves. I see my role as a motivator, challenger, educator, and pipeline builder.<\/p>\n We’ve also adjusted really well to a remote-first culture. I have morning and afternoon check-ins with my team, training huddles, weekly drills, call feedback sessions, and a few happy hours now\u00a0and then.\u00a0We celebrate our successes and strive to keep work fun \u2013 all while staying laser-focused on our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI’m an Outbound Enterprise SDR, which means I run completely cold outbound campaigns<\/a> into our enterprise accounts. I work with two enterprise account executives, and co-own their books of business. It’s a really great group we have! Together, we analyze and study our books of business, identify accounts that we want to break into, and develop strategic campaigns to drive conversations and generate pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAs an SDR, you are the first impression people have of a company \u2013 and that\u2019s a big responsibility. I love that, and I love the different ways I get to do that through cold calling, emailing, prospecting into accounts, building them out, and syncing up with our team. I use the Drift platform every single day \u2013 from chat to video. I\u2019m always learning something new in this role, which is a great experience to have in your job.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI use Drift ABM<\/strong><\/a> to jump into conversations with my prospects while they’re live on the site (by far one of my favorite features) and understand what sparks their curiosity. Drift Prospector<\/strong><\/a> also gives me x-ray vision into what’s happening in those target accounts and helps me identify various buying committees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDrift Prospector and Video are essential to my prospecting strategy. For every priority buyer I identify in Prospector, I send three to four Drift Videos<\/a> before we even speak on the phone. These videos include lengthier custom demos or quick snippets where I introduce myself and walk through their website.<\/p>\n Outside these features, Drift chatbots<\/a>, Meetings<\/a>, and AI chatbots<\/a> are my lifeline. If I\u2019m busy strategizing new accounts or sending videos to buyers, I have peace of mind knowing that our chatbots and AI chatbots are always on in the background. They help carry my workload. That might mean pre-qualifying buyers and teeing up conversations for me on our website or<\/em> booking meetings for me while I sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWithout Drift, I couldn\u2019t book half the meetings that I do. Every morning I create a list of who is at their highest intent to buy via Drift Prospector, and who’s interested or wants to learn more about Drift. Those people will be my first dials or my first emails of the day. I also keep the Drift desktop app<\/a> open so that I can chat into any target account that jumps onto the site right away.<\/p>\n And I use Drift Video<\/a> non-stop. Many of my SDR friends were in awe of the fact that we use Drift Video. It’s a super new way to prospect. It’s not used by a lot of organizations, which makes a cool first impression.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEmpathy<\/a> has been my competitive advantage throughout my sales career. I always try to put myself in the shoes of my buyers when prospecting.\u00a0Keep your messaging concise, original<\/a>, and problem-centric. Outbound sales development can become repetitive so don’t forget to also have fun and stay creative!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think of my outreach cadences as mini campaigns. For example, if there’s a CMO<\/a> and CRO at a high-priority account, I’m going to carefully craft outreach cadences for them. And the easiest way for me to do that is with Drift Prospector. In Prospector, I can pull any filter from our CRM to create different attribute lists, and then develop messaging based on people that fit into that criteria. This method lets you develop really cool plays personalized to buyers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGet super comfortable with video. No one likes to listen to themselves talk, but one of the Drift leadership principles<\/a> that I love is to have a bias for action. When you’re making Drift Videos, have that bias for action and just ship it rather than trying to make it perfect. People want you to be human.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I started selling when I was 11 years old.<\/strong><\/p>\n It was the 1980s and I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. Any time it snowed, I\u2019d walk door-to-door and ask my neighbors if they wanted their walkway shoveled. I\u2019d negotiate the price, assign my buddies to walkways, and distribute the cash. Through high school and college, I scaled up and experimented with other ideas like private snowboarding lessons.<\/p>\n Just as I evolved from a pint-sized snow shoveling mogul into a sales executive, I like to see a progression in my account executive (AE) hires.<\/p>\n I look for people who have progressed in their careers. Maybe they start out as an inbound SDR<\/a> and transition to outbound<\/a> or a senior SDR role. There\u2019s a lot of scope for progression within the AE function as well. Perhaps they start in mid-market and move to commercial or enterprise. Whatever the specifics, seeing progression tells me that someone wants to grow.<\/p>\n Retention, knowledge, and outlook are important, too. Have they successfully weathered the onboarding storm? Are they coachable? Can they implement feedback? Do they have grit? Are they humble?<\/p>\n But finding the right people is only half the equation. Sales has come a long way since my days shoveling walkways in the St. Paul suburbs. With new technology like Drift, we can turn the dial on AE performance.<\/p>\n We’re using Drift daily to accelerate the sales cycle. For example, we’re harnessing Drift Video<\/a> for follow-ups. It makes a huge difference. We can condense a stack of emails into one succinct video. Then there\u2019s Drift Prospector<\/a>, which we use to better understand who we\u2019re targeting and how to reach them. It narrows our focus and empowers us to get deeper into the right accounts.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":86995,"id":86995,"title":"prospector-highlight","filename":"prospector-highlight.png","filesize":177677,"url":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","link":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","alt":"sales secret for inbound and outbound sales cycles","author":"357","description":"","caption":"","name":"wp-attachment-wp-attachment-wp-attachment-prospector-highlight","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86977,"date":"2021-04-06 18:48:26","modified":"2021-04-07 13:05:50","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2596,"height":1660,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","medium-width":2596,"medium-height":1660,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":491,"large":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","large-width":2596,"large-height":1660,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight-1536x982.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":982,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight-2048x1310.png","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1310,"third_width_square":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight-324x324.png","third_width_square-width":324,"third_width_square-height":324,"profile_24":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","profile_24-width":24,"profile_24-height":15,"profile_48":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","profile_48-width":48,"profile_48-height":31,"profile_96":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","profile_96-width":96,"profile_96-height":61,"profile_150":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","profile_150-width":150,"profile_150-height":96,"profile_300":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/prospector-highlight.png","profile_300-width":300,"profile_300-height":192}}},{"acf_fc_layout":"body","body_text":" Although technology forms a core part of our sales cycle, that\u2019s not necessarily the case elsewhere. Other businesses have only begun their digital transformation<\/a>. Some have yet to begin. That said, as the world embraces virtual B2B buying<\/a>, I think that will change \u2013 and quickly.<\/p>\n The future of B2B buying is exciting.<\/p>\n Our goal is to delight our customers and visitors, regardless of how buyer behavior evolves. Innovative sales organizations are transforming the generic online buying process into a VIP personal shopping experience. When we get that right, the benefits don\u2019t stop at conversion. If we deliver an outstanding buyer experience, customers stay with us for longer.<\/p>\n And all of that ladders up to significant commercial change: We accelerate the sales cycle and our revenue.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta_block","title":"Find the Formula for Sales Success","body":" Learn how to develop sales plays based on Drift\u2019s Conversational Sales Formula.<\/p>\n","button_text":"Get the Formula","button_url":"https:\/\/www.drift.com\/insider\/learn\/books-reports\/conversational-sales-formula\/","open_in_new_tab":true,"button_text_two":"","button_url_two":"","open_in_new_tab_two":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"body","body_text":" Here\u2019s how Drift\u2019s account executives use Drift to gain the competitive advantage they need to accelerate sales cycles and close new business.<\/p>\n \u201cI first got into sales because of marketing. I was a finalist for an interview, and I made it to the last round out of 5,000 applicants for this great internship in New York. When I didn\u2019t make the final cut, I was like, \u201cWell, now what?\u201d I started looking at companies in Boston. I found a recruiting company called WinterWyman. And that\u2019s where I got my start in sales! Recruiting was a great entryway into the sales world. The reason I chose that job \u2013 and eventually sales \u2013 is that I\u2019m competitive and I love the idea of being able to dictate how much money I earn.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAfter studying marketing in college, I had a social media internship for a couple of years, and I was about to take a full-time job with a company when my boss said, \u201cNick, don\u2019t take this job. You\u2019ve talked about sales. Your mom is in sales. Go look at some sales jobs at tech startups. I\u2019ll hold this job open for you for a month. If you decide you want to keep it, it\u2019s yours.\u201d The next week, I interviewed for a few sales positions in San Francisco. I thanked my boss and told her I was taking a job as an SDR. It was the biggest blessing of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy first job out of college was a sales job at a healthcare tech company selling medical imaging software to hospitals and healthcare systems. I attended trade shows all over the country, sourced my own leads, and took deals to closure. After that, I moved to San Francisco and spent the next five years at Box, where I developed my sales career. There, I got promoted four times and eventually transitioned into sales management, which is what I\u2019ve always wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAs a senior enterprise account executive, my primary role is to close as much revenue as possible for the company in the enterprise space. With all the moving pieces it takes to close a deal like that, it\u2019s so helpful to have a platform that takes care of the grunt work and lets you focus on selling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy primary role at Drift is coaching and leading a team of account executives. I have four phenomenal salespeople on my team. For me, the best thing is seeing someone turn a challenge into a learning experience. Let\u2019s say they\u2019re struggling with discovery, and all of a sudden they have a great discovery call. You\u2019re reviewing it and you\u2019re like, \u201cYes!\u201d That \u201caha!\u201d moment is by far the most rewarding part of my job.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cToday, I manage Drift\u2019s east coast mid-market sales team on the net-new business side. As a sales manager, the best part of my day is working with my sales reps and watching them develop their skills and careers as sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo much of sales without Drift is chasing and banging your head against the wall. Drift is a must-have platform because it helps you focus on high-value activities. For example, I love Drift ABM<\/strong><\/a>. I use it every day. You could be sending emails, doing normal day-to-day stuff, and you get notified that this account you\u2019re working with is on the website. You click on the notification and have a conversation. It\u2019s super impactful and helpful in speeding up deal cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDrift accelerates deals. Instead of a prospect coming in through a form and taking a day or two \u2013 or longer \u2013 to get a meeting scheduled, that same prospect auto-books on the website, and it gets scheduled on the calendar<\/a> without any back and forth. That can shave a week off right there for my sales team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEarlier this year, one of my account executives was working to close the largest deal of the quarter, when he received a Drift notification. It told him that the signer was on our pricing page. He was able to instantly start chatting with the buyer and answer his questions. The prospect thought it was such a cool feature, he closed the deal two days later. It was a cool, meta moment.<\/p>\n I love also using Drift Video<\/strong><\/a> to engage with my team. In our new WFH environment, I no longer have the luxury of being able to swing by their desks. A video is a great alternative that lets me get a quick message out when it doesn\u2019t warrant a full meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSelling to enterprise clients requires more teamwork. The higher up you go, the more time you spend quarterbacking different people on your team and getting everyone to work together. The solution consultants do the demo. I might tag in Chris, my director, to join a call. We might have folks from the onboarding team on a call. As you work up into these bigger deals, you learn to share the load.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn past jobs, I spent so much time taking notes and focusing on what I was going to say that I forgot to listen to the other person and foster a real conversation. Tools like Gong are great for letting you relax into a sales call. When you don\u2019t have to worry about obsessively taking notes or missing something, you can use all the great active listening and mirroring techniques to probe for more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOrganize your territory and have a plan. Call your top prospects at the beginning of every year or quarter, and stick to your plan as much as possible. Use Drift to stay engaged with your buyers and prospects at all stages of the sales process.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After graduating from college, I spent five years in finance. <\/strong><\/p>\n It was mentally engaging and challenging, but it lacked the human element that was important to me. Instead of living in spreadsheets and breathing data, I wanted to sidestep into the world of sales and marketing, where I could use my data-driven mindset in a more personable setting.<\/p>\n I secured my first sales role in 1999 and I\u2019ve never looked back. Since then, I\u2019ve worked across the go-to-market<\/a> function \u2013 in marketing, sales, and customer success. Today, as VP of Sales at Drift, I lead our mid-market sales strategy, split between net-new logo acquisition and retention.<\/p>\n Although there\u2019s a lot of overlap, acquisition and retention each require a different set of skills. We use dedicated account managers and <\/em>account executives to pursue those aims.<\/p>\n Our account executives concentrate on landing new logos. After the deal is signed, they work with new customers to onboard them and get them running. About six months into the relationship, our account managers take over. They’re focused on aligning our services with a customer\u2019s goals and objectives.<\/p>\n Our ultimate goal is to help our customers grow and expand their company with one connected sales cycle and customer success program. But businesses grow at different rates. Our account managers get deep into businesses, drive a consultative approach, and identify new opportunities within whatever growth trajectory there is.<\/p>\n I strive to place the customer at the center of everything we do. That\u2019s particularly important given the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. Like many other companies, we doubled down on customer retention<\/a>. For example, we added renewal specialists who collaborate with account managers and success managers to ensure we\u2019re driving excellence in retention.<\/p>\n\n
Sales Secrets for Developing SDRs into Future Business Leaders<\/h3>\n
![\"JulianneThompson\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-julianne.png\")
<\/div>\nA Day in the Life of a Drift SDR<\/h3>\n
How Did You Become an SDR?<\/h4>\n
Exploring startup opportunities<\/h5>\n
![\"Kahlil](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-kahlil.png\")
<\/div>\nStarting My Career at Drift<\/h5>\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-tate.png\")
<\/div>\nGrowing expertise<\/h5>\n
![\"Madison](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-madison.png\")
<\/div>\nWhat do you do here at Drift?<\/h4>\n
Coach & leader<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nbreaking through to the enterprise<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\ncreating a great first impression<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nWhat Drift Features Do You Rely on in Your Day-to-Day?<\/h4>\n
Sales secret #1: Go Deep into what target accounts care about<\/h5>\n
![\"sales](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/drift-intel.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSales secret #2: Personalize & Scale Your Sales Prospecting<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nsales secret #3: stand out from the crowd<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSDR Tips & Tricks to Drive Success<\/h4>\n
Sales secret #4: Make empathy a competitive advantage<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales secret #5: Think of Outbound outreach like mini campaigns<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nsales secret #6: Be Human & Ship Daily<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales Secrets for High-Performance Sales Teams<\/h3>\n
![\"Josh](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-josh.png\")
<\/div>\nA Day in the Life of a Drift Account Executive<\/h3>\n
How Did You Get into Sales?<\/h4>\n
Define Your WOrth<\/h5>\n
![\"Alex](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-hanbury.png\")
<\/div>\nFollow Your Passion<\/h5>\n
![\"Nick](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-nicholas.png\")
<\/div>\nWork Your Way to the Dream Job<\/h5>\n
![\"Carolyn](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-carolyn.png\")
<\/div>\nWhat Do You Do Here at Drift?<\/h4>\n
I’m a Revenue Accelerator<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nHelping turn challenges into learning experiences<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nCreating Skilled sellers<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nWhat Drift Features Help You Level-Up Your Sales Process?<\/h4>\n
Sales Secret #7: Double Down on High-Value Sales Activities<\/h5>\n
![\"high-value](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chat-alert.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSales Secret #8: Get Your Selling Time Back<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales Secret #9: Use Real-Time Engagement for Selling & Training<\/h5>\n
![\"sales](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/video-meetings.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat’s the Sales Advice You’d Give Younger You?<\/h4>\n
Sales Secret #10: In Enterprise SElling You Need to Pass the Ball<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales Secret #11: Be a Better Listener<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales Secret #12: Stay Organized & Engaged<\/h5>\n
<\/div>\nSales Secrets for Delighting Customers & Driving Long-Term Growth<\/h3>\n
![\"Rich](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/headshot-rich.png\")
<\/div>\n