What does a Sales Development Representative actually do? This was a question I had when getting into sales and a question I get asked a lot now that I am an SDR. Fortunately, it is a clear answer, unlike what you get when you ask a consultant what they do.
An SDR helps develop new business by setting up meetings with prospective customers through emails, calling, social media, etc. You get leads through inbound (customers submitting requests on the website, attending marketing events, etc) or Outbound (researching companies, finding people, etc). The split between the two depends on the company. My company is a category creator and is rapidly growing so it is 90-95% outbound and the rest inbound.
Let’s get to it!
8:45 AM CST
I start my day off just a bit before 9 by reviewing my task list, emails, slack messages, etc. I take these 15 mins to organize through everything and check my calendar so I can be prepared. I also work in Central Time Zone and most of my team is in the Pacific so there are messages sent after I have logged off from the day before that I want to read through.
Tech Used:
Gmail
Slack
TickTick
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
As I said before most of my team is in the Pacific Time Zone so most meetings don’t start till 11 AM CST or later. I use the first 2 hours of the day to focus on prospecting. This starts with finding companies through Crunchbase, tech blogs, newsletters, Startup websites, VC websites, etc. When I find a company that fits our Ideal Customer Profile, I find them on Linkedin Sales Navigator. Here I find people in the company that fit our target prospect profile and import them to Salesforce, our Customer Relationship Management system aka CRM. From Salesforce I add them to Outreach which is where I add them to sequences. A sequence is a series of emails, calls, LinkedIn tasks, etc that we use to reach prospects and try to get a meeting booked. Once they are in a sequence I start the process again until I have added enough leads for the day.
Tech Used:
Crunchbase
Linkedin Sales Navigator
LeadIQ
SalesForce
Outreach
Google Workspace
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
From 11 to 2 CST is when I have the majority of my meetings ranging from weekly syncs, company all hands, to daily hangouts with other SDRs. The latter is key in a fully remote company as it provides an opportunity for people to talk and hang out while working. This is just one of the ways that a fully remote company can help keep that camaraderie alive even if not in the office.
If I have any customer meetings I try to book during this time but really it is any time that works for the customer. We want to make sure that a meeting is on the books and they attend so we stay flexible.
During this block, I also have lunch scheduled. I use Clockwise to auto-schedule lunch and focus time which really helps me not forget about lunchtime and stay consistent with it. This ensures I take some time away from work and recharge.
If I don’t have any meetings then I continue prospecting during this time.
Tech Used:
Zoom
The tech mentioned above
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Time for calls!
Remember I mentioned adding leads to a sequence and sending them emails? Well at a certain point in the sequence we also call leads in the hopes of talking to them directly and setting a meeting. So for 2 hours every afternoon, I open up Outreach and go through my call tasks. I usually have plenty to go through and try to get 100-125 done a day. This helps target my most engaged leads and connect with them directly. It is tougher these days as everyone is at home and company numbers have become default switchboards that connect with no one. But there is success found in calling still.
Tech Used:
Outreach
Google Workspace
4:00 PM-5:30 (or 6 depending on how long lunch was)
After I am done with my calls, I go back to….Prospecting! You guessed it! I also use the end of the day to go through my emails and clean up anything from the day, individually email high engagement leads, and read through some of the other slack channels like product and customer success to get to know my company more. This helps me stay up to date with both the product and what is happening with current customers so I can better target future customers.
And that is a wrap! What was missing was how every day is different from meeting with prospective companies, training, company events, and more. I have a certain amount of focus time scheduled for the week so that way if one day is overloaded with meetings and other things I don’t worry too much as I know that throughout the week I will have time to put my head down and focus.
I hope this was insightful and you enjoyed seeing what a day in the life of a SaaS SDR is like. If you are a SaaS SDR with a very different experience let me know and I would love to have a guest post featuring your story.