A playbook intended to be given to BDRs and brand new AEs on their 1st day

1. SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Who was this document created for?
 College graduates whose first day at COMPANY is today – welcome!
 Newer BDRs curious to learn different perspectives
 Sales reps looking to return to their foundation
 And everyone in between
This was put together in an attempt to succinctly illustrate notes that I have been keeping
since January 2015 about what has worked for me – it’s far from done and it always will be.
This isn’t meant to be exhaustive or all-encompassing. However, I think of this as the
“Eclectic & Universal” edition of the playbook; also included are some BDR practices
worth incorporating immediately.
Robert J. Finn
Playbook VOL.
1

2. Get an email response? Have a
call with someone? Add them
on LinkedIn, immediately.
1.
After even a few weeks, you’ll have grown your network
to a point far beyond before. In 7 years when you’re
applying for that CEO position, Jane Smith from that
cold call might be on the board now. If you wait to add
them, they will be more likely to forget you.
3.
Unless it would create a problem,
skip “Does X time work?” and
instead send a calendar invite
with the world “Placeholder”
included.
The amount of time wasted scheduling meetings is
insane – 95/100, when you send a meeting invite “to get
something on their calendar/we can switch if needed”,
the meeting doesn’t change at all; removes the barrier
of “I’m busy that day” by narrowing in on a time; same
principle can be used internally (within reason).
4.
It is far more likely that a “chance/
unique” type of outreach will
yield a conversation than it is to
yield a loss of potential business.
Many BDRs hesitate to try something different out of fear
that they will upset the customer/prospect/person, and
damage the future relationship. While it’s not impossible
to do damage like that, more often than not, any risk
taken has a higher reward likelihood than negative.
5.
“Be Kind & Do Your Job.” At any given moment, during any internal or external
interaction, you should be able to ask yourself: “Am I
being kind? Am I doing my job?” If the answer is ever
“No” to either, recalculate. It’s a corny, simple little turn
of phrase, but will prove useful.
2.
Add every single person that
works at this company on
LinkedIn, now – whether you’ve
met or interacted with them
or not.
The Cybersecurity/Tech/SaaS/Sales/BD world is as small
as it gets – a Software Dev Manager here might be
connected to your ideal prospect, because they worked
together at a start-up 15 years ago. There are so many
instances like this that go unnoticed otherwise. If you are
new to being a BDR, also a great way to get yourself out
there and connect internally with people you may not
have otherwise.
From Day 1:

3. Prospect Outreach Best Practices
QUOTE REQUESTS, DEMO REQUESTS,
MAGIC QUADRANT DOWNLOADS
or anything inbound that is 100%
unambiguously “I want to talk.” Reach
out immediately, within seconds. Many
times my team will get the compliment
that “that was the fastest response
time I’ve ever had.” One colleague
generated 314 opportunites that
resulted in $2,010,911 million closed
won in one year.
GOOGLE ALERTS
 Industry and company specific alerts – We
sell application security software; a Google
Alert for “application security” is set up daily;
subsequent articles can be incorporated into
timely prospect outreach.
 Who is our ideal buyer? For example, CISO
(Chief Information Security Officer) – Google
alert for “CISO”; a CISO at one of your
accounts get interviewed and the article gets
leveraged (I cannot stress how well this works.)
 Our competitor is Johnny’s Software – Google
alert for “Johnny’s Software”; we’re up to
speed on competition’s press releases.
BATTLE TESTED COMBINATIONS
 Call, voicemail, email with subject line
“Just left you a voicemail NAME.”
 Value prop email day 1, follow up single
line email day 2: “Just wanted to see if
you received my email yesterday.”
 Email, LinkedIn add with note on day 1,
email day 2 asking for confirmation.
JOB ALERTS
New posting that says “application
security architect”? Reach out to that
company and mention the posting.
OFFER LUNCH/ON SITE VISITS
In person meetings will always be better.
It’s not always feasible, but when possible
and sensible, offer up a chance to grab
coffee, lunch, or meet on their campus.
LINKEDIN SALES NAV has a feature where
you can see who follows OURCOMPANY on
LinkedIn. Many companies have 10K+ followers
– leads with a perfect warm introduction.
CLOSED LOST OPPORTUNITIES – Countless
lost opportunities just due to timing. One
simple email asking “How are you? Has anything
changed?” can reignite the conversation.
“INVITATION TO SPEAK with (our CEO/Industry
Thought Leader)” – with their permission, C-level
executives will jump at the chance to speak with
a C-level executive at OURCOMPANY.
Pre-Built Campaigns

4. 1. Ending with a question or two questions.
2. Picking a specific time, regardless of how soon or far away it is. 3 PM on Tuesday the 5th
always works better than “time to connect in a couple of weeks.”
3. Best time to send email is Tuesday at 11 AM per studies, but different industries and
companies are different. Try it out by scheduling emails and seeing results.
4. Schedule the follow up alongside the original email. Sent an email just now and want to
follow up tomorrow? Write it now, schedule it, forget about it.
5. Subject line favorites (but try anything):
 Hi NAME – Company’s Product Program
 NAME – Quick Follow Up
 Just Returning Your Message
 Voicemail
 Just Left You a Voicemail NAME – MYNAME from THISCOMPANY
 FW: Other Person at the Company’s Name
 NAME – Can We Connect?
 NAME – Can We Connect with (Other Person at Company)?
 YOURCOMPANY and MYCOMPANY
Discussion
6. Emailing multiple stakeholders flat, cold
with targeted emails – “Good afternoon
Terry, Joanne & Billy – I saw on LinkedIn
that you three are leaders in the Software
Development space over at COMPANY
ABC, so I was hoping to connect with all of
you this week when…”
7. Whenever and however possible, make
your message feels “current” – some sort
of differentiator that says to whoever is
reading it, “I just sent this after typing
it now – otherwise, I wouldn’t have
mentioned (Christmas/the weekend).”
EDITION II - Perfecting use of LinkedIn
Sales Navigator
EDITION III - CRM Maintenance,
Upkeep & How to Make it Less Annoying
EDITION IV - Scheduled Calls:
With & Without a Rep
+ MORE
Email Tactics
FUTURE PLAYBOOK
INSTALLMENTS