Sales Development Playbook

Overview

TeamHiring ProcessOnboardingCall/Email CadenceObjectionsTime ManagementSales Tools Used

Hiring Process

Survey-High Level Setting of Job Expectations, Salary Expectations, finding general timing of candidate.

Phone Screen(20 minutes)-General Introductions, Learning about candidates educational and professional background, high level view of company and position, answer any initial questions from candidate.

In Person Interview w/ 2 BDA’s(30 minutes)-Look to find Culture fit, give the candidate first hand color on what day to day looks like.

In Person Interview w/ Vice President of Sales and Manager of Sales Development (45 mins-1 hr)-Immediately after BDA interview. In-Depth, traditional interview style. Attempting to ascertain desire to obtain/succeed at position, competiveness, what does/does not motivate candidate.

Writing Assignment-Questions designed to ascertain candidate’s research ability, technical competence, quality of work, overall ability to produce a list. Given 48 hours to complete.

Post-Writing Assignment Call-Recap Writing Assignment, Ask 3 Questions-1)Does this interest you? 2) What interests you? 3)If we offered you the position, would you take it? Why/Why not?

Offer Letter/Call-Offer Candidate position, sort out start date

Survey

Hi Brett: Thank you for your interest in whatcounts.com (please review our website). Prior to scheduling a phone interview, please respond to these questions: 1. Do you have any experience working with SaaS applications? 2. Do you have any experience prospecting (generating interest) using the phone, email, internet, etc? 3. Are you currently living in Atlanta, and if so, what is your availability to start? 4. Do you understand this is an "entry-level" inside sales position? 5. Do you understand this position requires "high activity": 50+ phone calls per day, 50+ emails per day? 6. The position provides a base salary of $36,000 + bonus (based on leads generated) + benefits (this is a full-time position in our Buckhead office), does this meet with your salary expectations? 7. Do you consider yourself technical (do you enjoy playing on Internet, social media, etc)? 8. Are you looking to build a career in Sales?

Business Type B2C

Market Segment Media/PublishingCompany Size SMB ($50M-500M)Employee Size 200-10,000 EmployeesGeography US, English Speaking Canadian Provinces

Title

Marketing Titles:Chief / CMOVP of MarketingMarketing Director

Campaign Types Newsletters, Marketing Campaigns, Transactional., etc.

Key QualificationMust have an opportunity to sign up for email communications on the home page.Must be selling a tangible product that can be sold on a repeatable basis.

WhatCounts Research Questions

Please answer the following five questions and reply.

1) Who are the three main competitors for WhatCounts? How do they differentiate themselves?

2) What is the difference between Brightwave Marketing and WhatCounts?

3) What are the three most popular E-commerce systems? What is the relationship with WhatCounts and E-commerce systems?

4) What are the three most popular web analytics platforms? What is the relationship with WhatCounts?

5) Locate 5 companies who fit this profile. Once you have located the appropriate type of company, locate an individual who currently holds one of the "titles" below (generally Director, Manager and VP are strong titles):Anything containing "business development, sales, sales and marketing, etc"

Onboarding Plan-1st 90 Days

Weeks 1-2(Days1-14)-TrainingMeeting with heads of other department heads, learning pieces of the businessLearning the Sales Process(Prospecting to Closed Won Business)Learning Sales Tools (Salesforce, Sales Loft, etc.)Spend time with every member of the Sales TeamLaunch Meeting

Weeks 3-4(Days 15-30)-Practical LearningMaking first Prospecting calls, building own lists, getting used to the cadence and processHave a better understanding of what common objections are and how to overcome them at a high levelSet at least 8 appointments to have an initial discussion with another BDA within these 2 weeksQualify a minimum of 1 Converted Turnover with an Opportunity amountUnderstand a high level of the 1-3 post call scoring system

Weeks 5-8(Days 31-60)-Executing the PlanBe fully proficient in building lists and executing process on a day to day basisBecome more proficient in overturning objections, notations in Salesforce, etc.Set at least 32 appointments to execute within the next 6 weeksQualify a minimum of 2 additional Converted Turnovers with Opportunity amountsBe able to score all of your turnover calls on a 1-3 system accurately

Weeks 9-12(Days 61-90)-Confirmation of Ramped Proficiencies Qualify a minimum of 3 additional Converted Turnovers with Opportunity amountsSet at least 32 additional appointments to execute within the next 6 weeksExcellent process execution from logging calls to managing daily processes to prospecting listsExcellent understanding of Competitor tiers, Objection Handling, as well as Professional Services and how they interact with core business90 Day Review meeting

Call/Email Cadence

Waterfall

Day 1-1st Email in the morningDay 1-Call and Leave Voicemail in the Afternoon

Day 2-Call with no VoicemailDay 3-Call No Voicemail in the morning

Day 3-Call, Leave Voicemail in the AfternoonDay 4-Send Email #2 in the morning

Days 5/6-No ContactDay 7-Send Email #3 before lunch

Day 1-1st Email in the morningLooking for the Appropriate Contact

Hello Sue: I am with WhatCounts, an Email Service Provider in Atlanta. I am looking for the right person to speak with about your email marketing programs. Can you let me know who

that person is?

Day 1-Call and Leave Voicemail in the AfternoonHey John, Mike from WhatCounts. I was doing some research on your company and it looks like you are the right person to speak to about email marketing. Give me a call back at 404-

920-0127.

Day 2-Call with no Voicemail

Day 3-Call No Voicemail in the morning

Day 3-Call, Leave Voicemail in the AfternoonHey John, Mike from WhatCounts, left you a voicemail and sent an email, still trying to connect with you about email marketing. Let me know when a good time to reach you

would be. Give me a call at 404-920-0128

Day 4-Send Email #2 in the morning

Trying to Reach You

Hello Dave, While I've tried to reach you, I haven't heard back from you and that tells me one of three things:

1)You've already chosen another company to help you with Email Marketing and if that's the case please let me know so can I stop bothering you.

2) You still want to learn about WhatCounts but November is a better time to follow up 3) You've fallen and can't get up and in that case please let me know and I'll call 911 for you... Please let me know which one it is because I'm starting to worry... Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you

Days 5/6-No Contact

Day 7-Send Email #3 before lunch

The Train is Leaving The Station

Hi Matt, I’ve reached out to you a few times and haven’t heard back. Please let me know when the best time to reach out to you or who a better contact would be. I eagerly anticipate your response.

ObjectionsI don’t deal with thatI can appreciate that… maybe you can help me out…It would be great if you could refer me to the right personIDK… Do you think that would fall under (name highest marketing name you know)?IDK…Do you know who is in charge of your email marketing? Social media?

Send me infoI am happy to send you info… but what I am really interested in is…We have a lot of great content, I want to see what specific info I could send you..

We don’t do email marketingIf you’re not doing email marketing you may not be a good fitYou look like a lot of our customers that are doing emailIs there a reason you’re not?

Not interested… thanks.I can appreciate that you must get hammered by cold calls… maybe you can help me out real quick…When do you evaluate email providers? Who is best to follow up with

We use ET and we’re happy/ in house…

That’s good… I’m glad to hear you understand the value of email marketingET is certainly a good companyThat said, we have been successful working with other companies like yours and winning deals from ET based on usability, pricing, and customer svcLove to get an opportunity to talk with you when timing is rightDo you know when you evaluate email services what specifically are you happy with?Are you happy b/c I caught you at a bad time? Or b/c they are performing…Are you getting (stats - open rates)…How are you sending personal messages.What information are you looking for… is there a better time to speak…2nd blow off…I understand you’re busy… reason, I’m so passionate about what we’re doing is that we’ve been able to help other ______ get open rates as high as 41%. Just want to see when it’s appropriate to talk with you to see if we can help you.

PricingHappy to give you pricing. Before I give you pricing, I need to understand a little bit more about what you’re doing. We have a broad set of services and solutions. I want to make sure I give you the right price based on volume and services. Understand that we are competitive. We don’t lose deals based on price. Great so, you’re ready to buy…. TimingDoesn’t really have a timeframe/reluctant-Utilizing Smart Start,-takes 30-45 days, Where are you at in your research/evaluation process, try to tie it back to value, i.e.-if you are having bad deliverability and you are losing money, how quickly would you want to move forward with it?

BudgetsBudgets-How are budgets created for these type of services? How do you evaluate ROI for new services? What other projects are being funded by your budgets? Who do you currently use? General The point came up to ask more specific questions and avoid such questions as “Are you doing email marketing?”

Month to Month? Push Back on Contract

It takes a big investment in an email program from our end, we do require a commitmentThis is the industry standard. We don’t use month to month contracts because of deliverability. We don’t want anyone that would damage our IP addresses and then take off after a month. We need to protect our IP reputations. Also bring up SmartStart, investing the time to make you successful. Education on the difference between the DIY space and the mid-market/enterprise level companies

Free Trial Use the opportunity to get a deep dive demo-takes a while to set it up, takes a while to get used to it, send a few templates, lists, we’ll take you thru a 90 minute demo with your info to show you how it would work.

Someone is in Research Phase, then goes dark Goes back to the send me some information stage, make sure that you ask what specific problems you are having, so I can send you appropriate materials. Where did you start your search? Google, Forrester? What’s the evaluation process? Is there an RFP? Are you looking at 20 ESP’s?

Time Management

8:30 AM-8:40 AM Arrive/Log On/Review Calendar8:40 AM-9:00 AM Stand Up9:00 AM-9:15 AM Send 1st Email9:15 AM-9:45 AM Respond to Emails/Send Day 4 Touch (Email #2)9:45 AM-10:45 AM Day 2 Touches-No Voicemails10:45 AM-11:45 AM Day 3 Morning Touches-No Voicemail11:45 AM-Noon Day 7 Touches(Email #3)Noon-1:00 PM Lunch1:00PM-3:30 PM Day 1 touches-Call and Leave Voicemail3:30 PM-4:30 PM Day 3 Afternoon Touches, Leave Voicemail on All4:30 PM-5:30 PM Prospecting in Insideview/SalesLoft for next day

Sales Tools

SalesLoft-Used to prospect via LinkedIn API’s. Has proved marked improvements over previous use of Data.com. Much Lower Bounce rates from emails. More direct and targeted prospecting available with this tool. Salesforce-CRM to log/track activities and send email campaigns. Also provides dashboards for analysis. Telephone-We’re paying for it…they should be using it…because it works. InsideView-Used in conjunction with SalesLoft to find general phone numbers, unknown email address formats, and other information not readily available from other data sources. ThundrLizard-Used for call recording and coaching to help develop BDA’s via real situations with objection handling and controlling the conversation.