250 Calls to Launch

I started my SDR career just over 3 years ago, and there’s one major thing I did in my first 90 days to ensure future success: make a ton of freaking phone calls. 

I averaged over 250 outbound calls a day for my first 90 days. It may seem like an impossible feat today, but it’s certainly doable.

What does making hundreds of calls a day do for a new SDR?  Both for myself and the dozens of other SDRs new to the role I’ve tutored since becoming an Inside Sales Manager, it accomplishes 3 crucial goals essential for making them more successful.

Makes You Better at Talking to Someone on the Phone 

Might sound obvious, but practice makes perfect, right?  

John and Michael are new to baseball. John goes to the batting cage and gets in 5 swings a day, Michael goes and takes 25 swings, who becomes the better hitter, quicker?

The same theory applies to cold calls; pick up the phone, take a ton of swings, talk to people, and make yourself better. 

Builds Pipeline 

You’re new to prospecting, and you suck. Trust me. 

Do these sound familiar, “Can you send me an email?”, “Call me back next quarter”, and my personal favorite, “Thanks, but we are all set, we use your competitor”. 

Now as you get better, the future “you” will turn these objections into meetings. But for now, put a callback in your CRM, write detailed notes, and do not hesitate to call that person back! 

Don’t be afraid to bring up the previous conversation with specific references to what they said, it shows diligent follow-up and most professionals like that attention to detail. 

More phone calls equal more connections which (for now) leads to more put-offs.  But hey, at least you’re talking to people. 

Can you hear the construction? That’s your pipeline being built!

Provides an Alternate Road to Success

Sometimes the most successful reps aren’t necessarily the best salespeople. I have led a talented group of just about 50 SDRs for almost 2 years now, and from my experience there are two factors that determine who will schedule the most meetings.

Hard work (Phone Calls) + Salesmanship

As a new hire, nothing looks worse than finishing last; you have the power to ensure that never happens. 

Let’s say the most talented SDRs in your office can book 2 meetings a day by making 50 calls. Now, let’s also say a new hire is 1/4 the skill of the talented SDRs, and they make 250 calls.

It’s rough math, and won’t ring true in every situation but in that same formula, the newbie would average .5 more meetings a day.  This isn’t an exact science, but as a new hire, if you make the calls, you won’t finish last. 

My advice-

New Hire: Make the phone calls and work hard; you’ll prove you belong, plus you’ll make more money. If you can’t do the simple tasks of making phone calls, why would management want to promote you to perform more critical assignments?

Sales Development Managers: Can you expect all of your new hires to make 250 calls a day? – No.

However, there is something you can instill in each of your new reps that will be vital to their success from day 1: the importance of phone calls.

Make sure you track their progress by setting up standard activity goals.  Start with 100 calls, and monitor that daily goal and see if it should be raised as he/she gets more situated with the company. 

If you teach that phone calls equal success, your boss and your new top producing SDRs will thank you in no time.

Brian Vital

Brian works at InsideSalesTeam an outsourced SDR company located in Buffalo, NY. Within his role at IST, he has worked alongside DiscoverOrg as an SDR Manager for the last 3 years, running a team of 9 SDRs. 

His experience also includes working with Adobe, Outreach.io, and BlueJeans Network.