In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with Rakhi Voria, Vice President of Global Sales Development for IBM where she oversees over 350 SDRs. She came to IBM after several years at Microsoft, where she played a key role in building out their digital sales force, growing the team to 2,000 sellers, and the global business unit to over $8 billion in under three years. Rakhi brings her perspective to discuss how IBM defines sales development and integrates personalization. She also talks about how she builds a sales force on a large scale and what she’s learned combining inside sales with incubation.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
What she has seen during her time at Microsoft and IBM and what she thinks has been different for her than others going through other spaces
What she’s learned combining inside sales with incubation and the one thing she would tell herself building something of that scale
How IBM defines digital sales development and their inclusion of the word “digital”
Where she starts and prioritizes when she builds a sales force
How she’s integrated personalization at IBM and how they develop nurture journeys
How IBM defines sales development, maintain accountability and manage the team without traditional metrics
How the pandemic has affected Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and communication
Her passion for creating more diverse places and inclusion and what she would tell women who are interested in the enterprise space
QUOTES
“Corporate’s interesting because there’s so much you can learn in a startup, because there’s so much agility, and there’s the ability to make decisions in a swift and fast manner. But I think what you get in a corporation is you really learn how to deal with efficiency and scale and process and structures and tools in a way that you don’t.” -Rakhi Voria [04:11]
“Even though you’re in a startup within a corporation, the risk may be lower, but I think the expectations are just as high.” -Rakhi Voria [07:38]
“I think what we’re seeing in the industry is that customers want us to meet them on their terms. They want us to make it personal and to keep making it better.” -Rakhi Voria [15:06]
“We’re only reaching out to clients when we think that we have something that will benefit them. I think gone are the days where you sort of take the ‘spray and pray’ approach. It’s more of ‘What can we do to get clients to want to come to us?’” -Rakhi Voria [18:38]
“There’s no point in putting so much effort into getting people in the door if you’re not going to foster an environment where they can thrive and succeed.” -Rakhi Voria [41:13]
TIMESTAMPS
[00:01] Intro
[00:27] Meet Rakhi
[02:14] What she’s seen in the industry
[05:17] What she’s learned combining inside sales with incubation
[08:52] What is digital sales development
[14:35] Integrating personalization at IBM
[21:47] How IBM defines sales development
[30:16] How she manages the team without traditional metrics
[35:06] How the pandemic has affected SLAs and communication
[40:19] The blending of personal and business communications
[43:18] Her passion for creating more diverse places and inclusion
[49:21] How to contact Rakhi
RESOURCES
Salesloft
IBM Products
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
CONNECT
Rakhi Voria on LinkedIn
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Enterprise Sales Development with Rakhi Voria | Enterprise Sales Development (CIENCE) podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
