SDR Success Techniques

My take after cold calling 10 people an hour for 6 months. Getting better isn’t about finding the magic opener. It’s about fixing the reps between rep #1 and rep #100. Here’s what actually made me better (and got me more meetings PB: 21 qualified in one month as an SDR): 1. I recorded myself → Cringey at first. → Eye-opening after. → You’ll catch your filler words, weak tone, and awkward pauses immediately. 2. I optimized my first 10 seconds → “Caught you at a bad time?” = hang up. → What works: “Quick one—I saw something relevant and wanted to run it by you.” 3. I prepped 3 talk tracks—not 30 → One for finance. → One for operations. → One for “I don’t know what you do.” Master those. Forget the rest. 4. I followed up every same-day call with value → Call at 10:13 AM? Email by 11 with something relevant. → Not “just checking in.” Give them a reason to care. 5. I tracked my own data weekly → Pickup rates, objection patterns, conversion to meeting. → Patterns = power. The result? — More meetings — Better conversations — Confidence over perfection My take: You don’t get better at cold calling by thinking. You get better by fixing the 99 calls that don’t go well. What’s one change that improved your cold call game this year? #sdr #ae #coldcalling SDRs of Germany

Most AEs fail on the phone for one simple reason: They’re cold calling people who’ve never heard of them. In 2025, that’s just lazy. Here’s how I would book executive meetings without sounding like a desperate sales rep: I used to teach cold calling techniques. Tonality. Pacing. Objection handling. And while that still matters... It’s not the reason I consistently get meetings with C-level buyers. The secret? I never cold call anymore. I warm call. Here’s how I do it: Step 1: Start with a personalized, relevant email. Do some quick research. Make it about them. For example, if I’m reaching out to a CRO, I’ll highlight a drop in quota attainment from RepVue and explain how I can help upskill their team in tough times. Step 2: That same day—a few hours later—I call their cell phone. (ZoomInfo or LinkedIn can get you that. No excuses.) DO NOT call the office. DO NOT waste time dialing assistants. If you can’t get a cell, send a LinkedIn connection request with a DM or video message. Step 3: When I call, I say: “Hi, this is Ian Koniak—did you happen to see the email I sent this morning?” If they say no: “No problem. I sent it because I saw your team’s quota attainment is down since 2022. I think I can help based on what I’ve done with other clients. Do you have a couple minutes now, or should we find time to connect on Zoom?” It’s not a pitch. It’s a reference to something you already sent that’s about them. That’s what makes it warm. Step 4: If they don’t respond, wait 2–3 days. Then reply to the original thread with more context: – Mention the training or workshops you offer – Share real results (e.g., 20% increase in quota attainment) – Ask: “Is this something you’d be open to learning more about?” Always lead with interest, not a hard ask for time. Step 5+: Stack 6–8 touchpoints total. Each one builds on the last—adding more insight, examples, testimonials. Mix in: – LinkedIn videos – Client stories – Relevant frameworks Each message = more value. That’s how you break through. It can take 8-12 touchpoints to get a meeting. Most reps quit after 1-3 touchpoints. Or worse—just send the same “following up” message. No value. No relevance. No shot. This process works. It’s not magic. It’s just real sales effort with a real strategy.

I used to count every "no" in sales like they were failures. Big mistake. After thousands of rejections, here's what I've learned: Each "no" isn't pushing you further from success. It's pulling you closer to your next "yes." Think about it... My worst sales day ever? 47 straight rejections. My best sales day ever? The very next day. Why? Because those 47 "no's" taught me EXACTLY what wasn't working. Here are 5 truths about rejection every salesperson needs to hear: 👇 1. It's NEVER personal (even when it feels like it is) They're not rejecting YOU. They're rejecting the timing, the budget, the priority. I once had a prospect tell me to "never call again." 6 months later? They became my biggest client. Their situation changed. Not me. 2. Most people don't know they need help Your job isn't to convince everyone. Your job is to help people realize their problems. ↳ They think their process is "fine" ↳ They don't see the inefficiencies ↳ They're comfortable with mediocre Sometimes a "no" is just "I don't understand yet." 3. Motivation can't depend on outcomes Lost a deal? Your energy stays HIGH. Got ghosted? Your enthusiasm stays STRONG. Faced rejection? Your optimism stays INTACT. Because here's the truth: The prospect who needs you most might be your next call. Don't let the last "no" rob them of your best effort. 4. Your perfect customers are out there Not everyone needs what you sell. But someone desperately does. While you're wasting energy on the wrong prospects, Your ideal customer is struggling without your solution. Every "no" gets you closer to finding them. 5. Remember your wins For every rejection, someone said "yes." For every slammed door, another opened. For every lost deal, you've transformed a business. Keep a "wins folder." Screenshots of thank you emails. Messages from happy customers. Success stories you've created. Open it after tough days. Here's what changed everything for me: I stopped seeing "no" as failure. I started seeing it as data. No budget? Note it. Move on. Wrong timing? Calendar it. Follow up. Not interested? Perfect. Next. Because rejection in sales isn't a wall. It's a filter. It filters out the wrong fits. It filters out the bad timing. It filters out the mismatched needs. Until all that's left... Are the people you can actually help. So the next time you hear "no"? Don't slump your shoulders. Square them. You're not failing. You're filtering. And your next "yes" just got closer.

I got ghosted by 127 LinkedIn prospects in 2017. Then I discovered the pattern. So there I am... Fresh SDR me refreshing my inbox every 10 minutes hoping for responses. Little Morgan clearly getting cooked in the DMs. My messages were painful. "Hope all is well. My name is Morgan. We have mutual connections and I'd love to connect. Here's what we do..." Just terrible. I am sick even telling you all this. But when you start in sales, there aren't really guidelines. You get thrown in like "hope this works" and pray something sticks. I thought I wasn't good enough. Then I realized something huge: They weren't ignoring ME. They were ignoring my APPROACH. That changed everything. Here's the framework I developed after studying hundreds of messages: The AMP Outbound Formula: ↳ Observation (show them you know them) ↳ Context (why this observation matters) ↳ Pain point (what they're likely facing) ↳ Value prop/Power Move(how you help) ↳ Call to action (next step) You don't need all 5 every time. Sometimes just observation + context + question works. Quick example" Before: "Hope all is well..." (Almost barfed writing this) " After: "Saw you just expanded your SDR team by 5 people. Most VPs tell me onboarding at that scale leads to (insert situation). Not sure if this is relevant but how are you currently doing (x)?" (Now we are getting somewhere) But every successful message I've seen follows this pattern. As Samantha McKenna says "Show Them You KNOW Them" before you show them what you DO. When I follow this framework, response rates jump. When teams I coach use this from our LinkedIn Revenue Engine™ they book more meetings from LinkedIn. Your prospects are waiting for someone who gets them. Be that someone.

I almost fired our best SDR last year. It wasn’t personal. He was a good guy, worked hard, and always showed up on time. But month after month, his numbers weren’t improving. Emails went unanswered. Calls never connected. Demos? Non-existent. We were both frustrated. I started to wonder if he was the problem. Maybe sales wasn’t his thing? Then one afternoon, we grabbed coffee. Instead of talking numbers, we talked openly. I asked him straight-up: “Why isn’t it working?” He took a deep breath and replied: “I’m following our playbook. I send hundreds of emails, but honestly, I’m just guessing. I don’t really know who’s ready to talk, so I try everyone.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. We’d built a system based on volume and hope, not precision. It wasn’t him. it was us. We’d given him the wrong tools, the wrong strategy. So instead of letting him go, we completely changed how we did outbound. We stopped guessing. We started paying attention to signals: Who’s visiting our LinkedIn profiles? (Tracked via Teamfluence™) Who’s engaging silently with our posts? (Tracked via Clay) Who’s spending serious time on our website? (Tracked via RB2B) Suddenly, our SDR wasn’t sending cold messages. He was following signals that said, “Hey, I’m interested. Talk to me.” Within a month, his reply rate doubled. In two months, he became our top performer. Today, he leads our outbound team. It wasn’t about effort. It was about timing and having a system that showed him exactly when to reach out and who to reach out to. Outbound isn’t about sending more messages. It’s about knowing exactly when and how to engage. If your SDRs are struggling, ask yourself: Are they failing you or are you failing them? It might change your perspective. It certainly changed ours. #Outbound #SalesLeadership #SDRlife #RevOps #LinkedInSales #SalesLessons #GTMStrategy #B2BSaaS #SmartSelling #GTMEngineering #AIOutbound #Teamfluence #Clay

I’ve been cold calling for 9 years. Here’s everything I know about it: (this is a longer post so bear with me) 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: People don’t hang up because it’s a cold call. They hang up because you sound unsure, scripted, or boring. - Be calm. - Be confident. - Be clear. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸: Don’t ask “𝘏𝘰𝘸’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?” Don’t ask “𝘐𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?” Just try: “𝘏𝘦𝘺 (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦), 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧.” That opener alone will double your talk time. 𝟯. 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁: No one cares that you’re the “𝘯𝘰.1 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘟.” Tell them what pain you solve, fast. 𝟰. 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: “I’m not interested” just means they don’t understand you yet. Use the FFF method: Feel - Felt - Found. “𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦… 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 (𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵).” 𝟱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: If they’re talking, you’re winning. If they’re curious, you’re in. If you book the meeting, that’s the win. 𝟲. 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁: You could have the best pitch in the world… But if you don’t make the dials, you won’t get the meetings. Consistency > perfection. 𝟳. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲: Don’t waste time trying to convince people who don’t have the problem you solve. Laser focus on your ICP, the ones who feel the pain. 𝟴. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆: Your tone > your script. People say yes to people who sound like they believe in what they’re saying. 𝟵. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘂𝗽 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁: Most meetings I book happen after the call. Send a short LinkedIn DM or a value-driven email right after. 𝟭𝟬. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁: They have a framework. They prep. They reflect after each call. And they improve daily. Cold calling still works if you do it right. Now let's book some meetings!!!! P.S. I've created a free cold calling cheat sheet where I share all of my do's & don'ts. You can access it for free here: https://lnkd.in/g9BrrDA6

I made 50 cold calls every day for 16 months. Here's what I learned: 1. Every prospect is always busy. You are interrupting. 2. You worry too much about doing a clever opener. 3. You need a pain-related problem statement. 4. Do not pitch anything, unless specifically asked. 5. What you say is less important than how you say it. 6. Strong onfidence, energy and tone are key. 7. Do your homework & mention 2-3 research triggers. 8. Always ask to validate your assumptions. 9. Know 3 customer transformation stories really well. 10. Expect to get yelled at or hung up on. Embrace it. Those 16 months have been tough, long & tiring. They have also been an incredible life school. Whatever you want to do: make the phone your friend. What else would you add?👇

Here's a naughty lil secret about discovery in mid-market and enterprise deals. Many of us were taught that the purpose of discovery is to understand the customer's needs, so we can map our solution back to those needs and show how we can help. Here's the fatal flaw in that theory. If we're asking our customers to tell us their needs, chances are, they're telling our competitors the same thing. So, the odds that our solution will be meaningfully different than our competitors are slim. As a result, customers commoditize us around the one area they CAN tell a difference. Price. How could we approach discovery instead? Here is my 5-step process: 1 - Build a hypothesis on what the company trying to achieve, and seek to understand what you're missing as an outsider. *Find this in CEO letter to shareholders, interviews with the Founder, CEO guest appearances on podcasts, etc.. Bring it to the call, and frame it as, "As an outsider - this is what it seems like the business is trying to achieve. But, what have I missed?." 2 - Be curious about HOW that stakeholder currently believes/assumes they will accomplish that goal, and ask HOW they formed that opinion. *Example: Company's goal is to 4x subscription revenue by 2025. To do so, CRO believes they must hire more SDRs and raise activity targets. CRO believes these are the right needs, because this approach worked at his/her last 3 companies. 3 - Introduce evidence that contradicts those beliefs/assumptions. *This is your reframe. Our goal isn't to tell them they're wrong. It's to introduce an enemy to that belief/assumption that breaks it. Key is to make it so you aren't attacking the person, but rather, exposing them to something environmental that makes 1+1 = 3, not 2. 4 - Give them a formula to calculate the implications of continuing with their current approach. *This is NOT an ROI formula. That's what happens IF they change. This is about COI (cost of inaction). What happens if they don't change? 5 - If you've piqued their curiosity, suggest that they collect the inputs needed to calculate the size of the pain, and bring those to the next call. Don't assemble or sell the solution yet. Just agree that we'll explore the size of the pain together, to see if this is even an area worth exploring. Discovery shouldn't feel like death by 1000 questions, or a qualification exercise so that we can pitch our stuff. It should feel like two colleagues exploring a problem together. TLDR: When approached this way, discovery convos are one of the best places to drive a competitive wedge. Not around our product. But, around our ability to be a strategic partner to how the prospect thinks about their own business. (PS - if you're planning your 2025 sales kickoff, this is one of the sessions I love to teach)

I'll say it once...and I'll say it forever...if you're leading an SDR team / department and you're NOT paying attention to what happens with your team's work after they hand it off to AEs... You're relegating your team / department to a support function rather than a strategic one... SDRs can't keep being appointment setters while prospective buyers are more discerning and more risk averse than ever And just tossing meetings and opps over the fence that meet "qualification criteria" isn't going to cut it unless your company is signing contracts like there's no tomorrow ➡️ Take into consideration what sales deems as "quality pipeline" (*cough* it's likely more than just persona + need *cough*) ➡️ Identify how your team can support sales in getting 1 step closer to "quality pipeline" (within reason) ➡️ Set benchmarks for conversion rates towards "quality pipeline" standard ➡️ Partner with sales and sales enablement to come up with a playbook for SDRs and AEs on best practices to hit "quality pipeline" standard ➡️ Make sure everyone -- AEs, SDRs, AE managers, SDR managers, etc -- knows what quality is and isn't, and coaches/reinforces to that standards; consider discovery scorecards, next step sequences, plays for objections during discovery, etc ➡️ Leverage data to identify what needs the most work and what must be true to improve, i.e. further coaching, enablement, disposition training, tactic, campaigns, etc

I’ve sent over 100,000 cold emails (and I learned the hard way). 45% failed because the copy isn’t good enough, or the email never reaches the inbox. That’s why you need both: 1. Copy that gets replies 2. A system that ensures delivery Here’s my 7-step framework to write cold emails that actually get responses: 1. Get crystal clear on your ICP “Founders” is not an ICP. “SaaS founders at $2–10M ARR, hiring SDRs” is. The narrower you go, the stronger your message. 2. Subject line = half the battle 47% of recipients open based on it alone. Examples that work: → “Scaling SDR hiring?” → “Quick note on your Series A round” Keep it under 60 characters. Curiosity-driven, not clickbait. 3. First line > small talk “Hope you’re doing well” kills momentum. Better: “Saw your team just crossed 50 employees—congrats. Curious how you’re managing outbound at that scale?” 4. Keep it under 120 words Data shows 50–125 words = highest replies. One email = one idea. If you need more space, the positioning isn’t sharp enough. 5. Write like a human Short sentences. Simple words. Conversational tone. If you wouldn’t say it in a coffee chat, don’t write it in an email. 6. Call-to-Value, not Call-to-Action “Can we hop on a quick call?” is about you. “Would it help if I showed you how [peer company] cut reply times in half?” is about them. People don’t buy calls. They buy outcomes. 7. Follow-ups make the difference 70% of replies to cold emails come from follow-ups. Most reps stop after 1–2 emails. Big mistake. Change the angle each time…new benefit, proof point, or case study. The framework gets you replies. But scaling it consistently? That’s where most teams fall short. → Staying out of spam filters. → Keeping sequences human. → Testing which subject line actually works. → Managing dozens of replies without losing track. That’s exactly where Saleshandy makes the difference: → Find what works faster with subject line + copy testing → Scale with reply-based sequences that feel personal → Stay out of spam with inbox placement tests → Manage replies in one AI-powered inbox Because at the end of the day: Good copy gets replies. Saleshandy gets it delivered. 👉 Try it out here: https://lnkd.in/dtGtKYUR What’s the most underrated cold email tip you’ve learned from experience?