81: Confessions of an SDR #2 (with Madison Yuille, SDR at Cognism)

We are back with the Sdia confessions and we had Madison on today and we learned that you need to make sure that you have your names right when you make your calls. And what do we talk about tactical though? Cause that's why you're listening in. It is a funny story. We did have a good laugh, but we also learned that make sure to pay attention to your details when you are doing your calls.

Make sure that you're tanking thoughtful notes so that you're. Losing yourself in the process cuz we do not want that. And we also talked about ways to not be stressed out to, to hold accountability to the things that you do and how you can learn from taking that accountability. So hopefully you'll enjoy this episode.

at Cgsm. I started in April,: 2022

So yeah, that's basically what my kind of sales story, so to speak. And also, as you can tell, I'm South African, but yeah, that's basically me to, I love it. I love it. And, and this is this is interesting because most people. Think that the South African accent sometimes can be the London accent and that that can be, people are like, oh, I think that's like, Nope.

No it's not. They're different. So , I'm glad to clarify that cuz people could get lost real quick. And I start off as an S C R as well, so great place to start. But what we're here for is your confession. So. Madison, walk us through your SDR confession. Well, I'm gonna have a lot of people look at me and say, Madison, what were you thinking?

Kate . But so basically in a nutshell what happened from the get-go was I had two different companies that I was kind of in conversations with. And the two decision makers that I was chatting to from the one company was Mark Williams. And from the other company there was Marcus, William. So I'd spoken, I had spoken to Mark, and Mark didn't want a demo, but he wanted me to reach out at a different stage.

Then I had spoken to Marcus and he wanted a demo there and then as I was on the phone with him, but so obviously I went on, tried to book the meeting with him, sent it to his email. I was like, oh, okay, cool. You know, Mark Williams. There we go. Not kind of, you know, thinking anything. . I wait like a couple of days.

Still no, except no accept, like mm-hmm. not accepting the invite, not getting back to me, not emailing back me back. Every time I emailed him, I was like, hi, did you get my invite? Kind of following up with everything. And then no response. So I was just like, okay, cool. Not attend a meeting. This the, this guy's ghosted me.

You know, it. . Then I go onto the invitation and I'm just like looking through everything and I just realize I have sent the invitation to the guy who didn't want the demo. And and I had mixed up the two names the whole entire time, so I'm busy emailing this guy who didn't want the demo at all. Meanwhile, the guy who wanted the demo is busy sitting there like, okay, where's my, where's, where's my invitation?

I'm not receiving it. So eventually I ended up, you know, calling the right girl. I was like, I'm so sorry I sent it to the wrong email, et cetera, et cetera. I ended up booking him in at the end, but that could have been an absolute disaster if the guy wasn't nice about it. So, yeah, that's basically what happened.

And the guy who didn't want the demo, even though he told me to follow up with him in the end, I tried to, but no response. And I can imagine why. So, yeah, that's basically what happens to me. Wow. That is an emotional rollercoaster. Yeah. I don't know, I dunno about y'all, but I felt like went on an emotional rollercoaster.

Like, okay, I think we're gonna get this person the wrong person. Right? We're all over the place raising this. So there's a lot of things to learn from that. I think the first thing is attention to detail, right? Making sure that Okay. Is the person I'm reaching out to. Is that correct? Taking the right notes.

So I'm curious on your perspective, since this whole rollercoaster you went through, what have you learned about attention to detail? Have you changed your process since then? Yes, definitely. So, my process kind of, so basically beforehand we had like these cadences that we would obviously put prospects into and things like that when I was very, so I think this happened in, I think it was August last year.

So, Yeah, basically at that stage I was kind of just looking for a volume of meetings. So I was kind of going through my prospect list and just calling all random numbers, seeing like who I could speak to, who could I get a conversation with. And that's basically how my process was, was going. So it was very disorganized, very, you know, kind of getting through a volume of calls rather than Getting quality.

So, from then on I started using my cadences more often and real realizing kind of the importance of it, because the cadences are what, keep track of who you're speaking to when you're speaking to them, what company they're from, instead of just calling a bunch of mobiles. So I would say definitely cadences.

So like, let's say using outreach or SalesLoft, the cadences are probably the most important part out of all of. Yeah. And, and within that, you, you have these cadences, you've set it up a certain way. How have you made sure to like, make sure you complete your task within those cadences as well and not feel rushed?

I feel like a lot, I mean, I've done this as well when I was an sdr. I'm like, oh, I have 60 emails to send out. Let me just rush through it. How do you make sure that you're being more thoughtful? Yeah, we all how even make sure that you're more thoughtful, . So, the thing about cadences is that, especially the ones that, that we use, so obviously there's like, you know, ones that you can personalize more than than like the more generic ones.

Mm-hmm. . So there was separate cadences, like for example a sales leader cadence where it had a, just a basic kind of email. But we've kind of in, we've kind of introduced these other cadences that have more personalized emails. So even though you have like 60 emails to send out, it's not as generic because there's a lot of fooling in to do.

So, I would say definitely depends on the structure of the email and. Emails more personal. Instead of just having one generic email you sending out to everyone, because if you're personalizing the email more often, you are paying much more attention to the prospect and their business and what their needs are and what their wants are.

No, it does, it does. I think, I think what's I important is that you're, Finding a process to personalize without it overwhelming you. I think a lot of people, when they think about personalizing, it's like, okay, this is gonna take a lot of time. I got a lot of things I gotta go do. Like it becomes, it becomes like ultimately very overwhelming for that person.

And so I like the way that you have that fleshed out and it kind of goes into like the next piece, which is. Okay, now you have a process. You have your things in order. You also said that, hey, throughout this whole mistake, you, you, you took accountability on that. So how important is it to take accountability for the mistakes you make as an sdr?

We all are human. We've all made mistakes across the board, but how have you made sure to do that as well? Yeah. So my manager knows a lot about this one, . But so most I, the thing about me is I'm a perfectionist, especially when it comes to, you know, making mistakes and stuff like that. I don't really take it lightly.

I immediately go to my performance and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm terrible at my job. I made this mistake, that mistake, whatever. And then my manager will come to me and be like, look, it happens, you know, you made a mistake, whatever. You move on from it. So I feel like he helped me a lot in that department to take kind of, I, I would take accountability, but I would take accountability to the point where I would actually drag myself down and drag my confidence down because of one mistake I'd made.

So I think I. Regardless of taking accountability, I think the porter thing is to take accountability, but like, learn from it and then move on instead of just saying, okay, I'm terrible about my job, I'm gonna give up, type of thing, . So, that's literally the mindset of being in SD Army. And there's certain people, like for example, me, who I was like new to sales at the beginning, and I, you.

Like for example, when you were in school, you'd, you'd make a mistake and it would affect your grades and then it'd affect your future, and then it would affect this and that. But the thing about sales is that if you make a mistake, it's not gonna affect absolutely everything. Every single day is different.

So if you make one mistake, you learn the lesson, you move on, try not to do it again, type of thing. So I would say, Take accountability for the mistake, but don't drag yourself down about it and, you know, destroy your confidence in the job as a whole. Yeah. Let's, let's, let's go more into that. How do you make sure to not drag it down for you?

I would say it's just like, It was, it's a mindset really. I mean, it all, it also all depends on, I mean, obviously, you know, your managers and your peers and stuff are gonna lift you up and hop you up and say, you know, don't drag yourself down, type of thing. But you are the only one that needs to make that mindset and make that kind of mental note that not every single mistake you make is, is going to be the end of the world.

I mean, none of them are actually. So I think it's all about mindset and all about, you know, , if you are doing the right things, if you are, you know, getting your tasks done, if you are learning from the mistakes you're making, if you're doing everything you can to kind of overcome all the downfalls you have, then there's nothing rarely to Drag yourself down above.

Cause you're trying your best in every single aspect. So I would say as long as you're doing everything and you're committed to your job and you're doing everything that you're supposed to and you make fun out of, like you have fun with it, then I would definitely say there's no point in dragging yourself down cuz you're trying your best.

What else can you do? . And obviously the job's not for everyone, no , but it's definitely not, you know, you grow, you, I didn't know at the beginning to be fair, but I grew a really thick skin from it, and now I, I can't think of a single day. I haven't enjoyed it. Yeah. So it takes, it takes time and lessons and learning and everything.

I mean, take it from someone who started from scratch. , but you grow thick skin, you learn along the way, and there's definitely light at the end of every single mistake or hiccup you may have. And the job. Yeah, yeah. No, and and I, I was expecting to say like, well, you know, I meditate at the end of the day and I, and I laugh, fan everything out, but, but no, everyone, everyone, oh, to be fair, I just nap.

I'll just nap. I just go to sleep. I'm like, tomorrow's another day I go to sleep. I wake up with a fresh mind and that's just, no, I think I like that cuz I think everyone has a different way of doing that. And moving past, like, okay, I made a. I can move on. And to your point, I tell people that all the time.

Like if you make a mistake as an sdr, like no one is coming to your house and being like, Hey, you know what? Like you made a mistake. Like you gotta go, you're not able to be here anymore. Like you learned from those mistakes. And I think it's absolutely critical. Which kinda leads into our next point because you were following up with this person and they weren't engaging.

Right? They weren't responding. So there could have been like certain. that we could have done here to get them respond earlier. So now that you look back at the scenario, you've been in the role for a while, are there things that you do that you could share with other SDRs that are listening in on? What type of emails are you do, are you writing to get people to respond when maybe they're not the right person or they're just not responding at all?

Hmm. So I, I actually took a bit of a risk Like a couple months ago, and I got a really good response from it . And I think I was on LinkedIn and I, I like took inspiration from, from someone. I can't, I can't remember who it was, but I saw someone about talking about emails and. Stuff like that, first of all, I mean, when I'm on a call, the accent does the work.

I'm being complet honest , but , I'm being, I'm, I'm being like, completely honest and it's all about tonality on a call. But with regards to emails, for example. So I think finding a structure of an email that completely suits you and gets you the best respond rate is definitely the way to go. In my case I wrote a personalized email.

A couple months ago, and I've been using it ever since. I researched the company and I see who their competitor is, and then if their competitor is a client of ours, that's, that's even better because then you can, you know, you could draw from that and say how they are benefiting and how their competitor is benefiting and therefore they can benefit from it type of thing.

So, , I search who the competitors and then kind of put it in the title of the email. So I'll say something about the person that I'm reaching out to and the competitor in, in the subject line. So that kind of catches the decision maker's attention cause they're like, why are, they're mentioning my competitor with my name.

Yeah. That'll make them click into it. And then in the body of the email, I'll say something about, , the company that I'm reaching out to, I know that a B ABC company. Has a better something than D, f, G, whatever. So I'll say, I don't know if this is making sense, but how their company differs from their competitor and how they have a benefit over their competitor.

So what they do better than their competitor that also catches their attention. They're like, okay, cool. Yeah, we do do that better than our competitor. And then kind of go into the body and say, for example however your competitor is doing this and they are generating more business through this, and then kind of wiggle my way into how Cognizant can fit into their processes and how make them do just as good as the competitor.

It's a different way of structuring it, but. That was one of the emails that I got the best response rate with because people see their competitor's name and they're like, what's up? Okay, yeah. Caught my attention. What's going on here? And I think the most important thing is getting them to open it and read it.

And then if they've done that and there's no use case, then fair enough. But I mean, if they've read that by the end and there's apps and there's interest. . There you go, guys. Solve the meeting. I love. I No, I love that. So, so, so clarifying question so people can follow along and do this tactic. So one thing you mentioned was it's so it's not your competitor.

It's their competitor to clarify that. And then, yeah. And then, yeah, so it's their competitive. Okay. And then if it's their competitor, are they using CSM already or you're like just It would be urinate. Okay. Okay. , if they were, if they were using Cognizant, that would be fab. However, We do have a lot of information on companies, so like I'll do research into the competitor and what tools their competitor's using and then kind of structure it in such a way that I can kind of differentiate what their competitor is doing better at than them.

It does take a lot of research, but I think my response rate has literally been like a hundred percent percent the entire time. Hundred percent. Hey, look also on the side memes, I mean memes and gifts. Based response rate. Ava, how do you make sure, how do you make sure you're, how do you, how do you decide which means, or gifts or gifts you're sending?

I feel like that could be amazing or it could be like a disaster if you send something that's like, whoa, like, I'm so curious on this. Yeah. I, I actually have a generic GIF that, that I send out and it, majority of the time, it does get me a response. I dunno if you've ever watched Mr. Bean. I. C and the Mo.

Have you, have you watched a movie? I haven't watched a movie. I've just watched like the, the show, the shorts, like a couple of the shows. Yeah, so basically Mr. Bean's quite like, you know, generic British comedy. That's all over the world. I mean, I used to watch it as half Africa, so I'll like send a voice note on LinkedIn cause obviously it's more personable.

Most of the time I'll use memes and gifts on, on LinkedIn as well as in an email. But I'll send a voicemail on LinkedIn and then if they kind of, if they read it or they don't reply, within a couple of days, I'll send a gif, which is Mr. Bean standing on a freeway looking at his watch, like checking the time, like , that looking around type of thing.

Yeah. So I send that and I actually got a really good response rate. The one time the one guy replied and he was like, oh my gosh, the Mr. Bean GIF was such a nice touch, cuz my nickname in the office is actually Mr. Be. I was like, I was like, wow, what are the chances? So worked out in my favor. And then and the other memes and like emails and stuff.

I've got an email that has like, A kitten in a mask, like a lion mask. Mm-hmm. , and then an actual lion picture. And then it's like your data without csm, your data with csm and it's like the lion and the kitten . And that get, that gets quite a good response. Right. As well. I, I love that. So hopefully y'all wrote that down.

You got, you got a competitor. You got some gifts or gist or whatever you like to call it, and you got some memes. So incredible, incredible insight. Has this ever gone bad for you? Before I move into like the final parts of this whole entire thing? I did have one kind of tactic that I tried to use the one time that one of my SDRs in the office, you know, kind of suggested as a way to reach out.

And it was going onto the company's website. Yeah. And like kind of doing some computer. Wizard stuff and editing the webpage to make it say something. So for example, Hey Sean. Once your SDRs to make more cold calls. Let's chat, whatever, putting that on the website, so like editing the website to make it look like whatever, and then sending the picture through LinkedIn and saying, Hey, Sean, something looks off with your website.

And then send that through. And then on the website says, once your SDRs call cold often, give me the, give them the pitch in the picture. So I tried that the one time. And , I seemed to do this one. This one man. Oh, and he replies, I almost had a lawsuit against me. He was like, How dare you. This must be illegal somehow.

How, like, don't use our hard work websites as a way to pitch da da da. Like full on. Went off at me and I was just like, whoops. I shouldn't, shouldn't have done that. He like it, it was, it was bad. So I ended up just replying. I was like, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to create. Try a unique way of reaching out.

I do apologize, whatever. Never responded and blocked me on LinkedIn, so. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Oh, that's crazy. People, people do get, I say, you try to be creative, and then they're like, well, that's too creative. Stop. It's so, Hey, don't everyone. So now everyone knows what not to do. It's like, what? So as Yeah.

Yeah. Go ahead. I mean it did get a few good responses, like the SDR who kind of suggested to us to try. He got a really good response with it. He was like, oh my gosh, so clever. Let's book, and then it just went wrong for me. So I guess it completely depends on the type of person. It's kind of like, It's like, it's like y you, it's hit or miss situation.

Yep. Because it completely depends on the person you are working with. They could be, you know, horrible and mean or they could be, oh my gosh, that's so clever. Yeah. Greatest thing I've ever seen. Let's, you don't know. Let, that's why it's important to test. Which leads into something you mentioned earlier, cuz I'm curious, you're doing things that are out of the box creative, but you also said that you were a perfectionist.

So how did. Get past being a perfectionist and doing these certain tactics. Cause a lot of people out here probably are like, well, it has to be perfect. And a lot of these are like, oh, whatever. We'll see if it works. So how did you get past that? Well, I think the thing is, is that like when I was doing generic things because I was like, okay, cool, you know, this probably works.

Let me just stick to this, it, it'll work perfectly type of thing. When I wasn't getting responses and I wasn't getting meetings, , I had to look at it and I would say, okay, why am I not getting responses? Why am I not getting meetings? It's because I'm probably not thinking out the box and I'm just think like sending through generic things.

So I think it's more of a fact that being a perfectionist kind of helped in that situation because although I was happy with what I was doing, it wasn't working perfectly. So, I kind of had to look and I'd say, okay, let me try this. Like I tried the whole website scenario and. Basically wanted to sue me

I had to look at that and I was like, okay, that didn't work. Never did it again. Yeah. So I guess it's kind of, you know, trial and error. You, you stick to what works and then. I mean, what's good for you, what you're good at, and for me, if I get a bad response like 5% of the time, but get a good response 95% of the time, yeah, I'll just keep that process in place because I mean, chances are that 5% that we're being horrible, I just.

Moody people and have a bad day. . So yeah, a hundred percent you're dealing with people, right? Yeah. Day. I always tell people that, and you're absolutely spot on. Like sometimes you're gonna catch someone in a good mood. Sometimes you might catch 'em in a bad mood. Sometimes that has nothing to do with the technique that you did, right?

It's just a part of the game. So, that is something that everyone, yeah. Definitely needs to know. So we appreciate your confessions also on the perfection side of your mini confession. But this is the last question here in the interview, which is, If you were to provide some practical advice for all the other SCLs out there, sds out there, especially ones that are just starting out, what would it.

Kind of coming off what we said, I would say be as creative as you possibly can with your outreach and have fun with it. So, because, you know, it is obviously a job, but I mean, It's , it's, there's no point in, in being in sales. Mm-hmm. if you don't enjoy it. So do it in a way that you can enjoy it in the most creative way that you possibly can.

And if you start getting good responses from one sort of process that you enjoy doing, just stick to that and carry it out, and then you'll end up being really successful. Awesome. Well, Madison, thanks so much for spending time with me today, sharing your confessions. Is there any last shout outs or anything you wanna say before we get outta here?

I would definitely love to shout out. I know Cognizant only because I know, only because obviously they were my first sales job. I didn't go to university and went straight into sales. And they've taught me everything that I know, so I wouldn't, I wouldn't be sitting here today if it wasn't, I wasn't for this company.

So I'd love to shout out them. And Dave, our sales director, he's lovely. And yeah, if you guys need contact data, let me know. Awesome. Well, Madison, again, thank you so much. Hopefully you enjoy this episode. You took some notes, I know that I learned a couple things. Do things as well and I'll see you all next time.