In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Gerry Praysman, Sr. Director of Sales Development at SalesLoft. Gerry shares Salesloft’s thoughtful approach to finding the right types of people from unique, non-traditional places instead of the traditional SDR paths. He discusses some of the traits, skill sets, mindset and experience level they seek as they attract quality talent.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
What SalesLoft does and how it and the organization Gerry leads are currently set up
How the company thinks about their buying group through metrics and from an ideal customer profile and a few hacks Gerry uses to search for those unique titles that could bring in potential clients
How Gerry’s background brought him to his approach
How they divide commercial and enterprise in terms of territories; what are the types of sales teams that can get the most value of what they do
Whether they start new employees at the lowest level and promote the upwards as they go or look for certain characteristics and traits in prospective team members
Some of the skill sets, traits, mindset and experience level they look for in team members and relevant examples
How they teach and train education for clients and prospects as they target enterprise vs when they target SMBs and mid-market sized companies
QUOTES
“Studying the role, not the title.” -Gerry Praysman [08:24]
“It comes down to how we like to grow, which is efficiently. We typically do not like to throw heads at problems. We like to figure things out and scale in a very effective way, in a very thoughtful way.” -Gerry Praysman [17:45]
“We prioritize progress over perfection, right? It’s not so much that we wait for things to be perfect to go, but we like to put a good level of thought. We like to plan things pretty well before we just kind of dive off the deep end.” -Gerry Praysman [18:52]
“I think a lot of people who are intentional are looking to get into the software industry from other industries. Again, there’s still great candidates in software that have SDR experience that would be a good fit, but I think most recruiters or most teams like go there first and think that’s the well. And in my opinion and experience, that’s not the well. I think that’s the exception.” -Gerry Praysman [29:34]
“There’s no right or wrong way to do anything. You just have to be intentional about what you’re doing.” -Gerry Praysman [39:12]
TIMESTAMPS
[00:01] Intro
[02:00] Meet Gerry
[03:40] How SalesLoft is currently set up
[07:15] The ideal customer
[11:32] Hacks to find unique titles
[13:50] How his background shapes his approach
[17:18] Signifying customers based on employee size
[24:12] Their hiring profile and how to find them non-traditionally
[33:52] The concept of business acumen
[39:21] Teaching and training education for clients and prospects
[50:44] SalesLoft pitch
RESOURCES
Leading Sales Development: The Art and Science of Building Exceptional Teams by Alea Homison and Jeremey Donovan
CONNECT
SalesLoft website
Gerry Praysman on Twitter
Gerry Praysman on LinkedIn
CIENCE website
CIENCE on LinkedIn
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Enterprise Sales Development with Gerry Praysman | Enterprise Sales Development (CIENCE) podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
