Mastering Sales Development: Insights from Matthew Putnam, Founder of Sales Upskill

Matthew Putnam is the Director of Global Sales Development at Thomas and a sales trainer at Sales Upskill. In this podcast episode, he shares his experience and insights on sales development.

Matthew started his sales career selling raffle tickets in Australia to raise money for the surf life savers. This experience helped him develop his sales skills and gain confidence in face-to-face selling. He later transitioned into tech sales and began working as an SDR for a company in the oil and gas industry.

When asked about his focus on sales development, Matthew explains that he loves sales and enjoys working with SDRs to book meetings and build pipeline. He believes that success in sales development lies in a combination of quantity and quality. By tracking activity stats and understanding what works, sales professionals can improve their performance.

Matthew emphasizes the importance of trackable stats in sales development. He recommends using sales outreach software to track key metrics such as call and email response rates. This data allows salespeople to identify what is working and make informed decisions on their approach.

He also discusses the value of A/B testing and experimentation in sales development. By testing different strategies and messages, sales professionals can refine their approach and improve their success rates. Matthew suggests setting a timeframe for each experiment and giving it enough time to gather meaningful data.

In terms of handing off leads to account executives (AEs), Matthew emphasizes the need for a clean handover process. He advises SDRs to ensure that leads are qualified and provide as much information as possible to AEs. This includes understanding the prospect's pain points, timeline, and stakeholders involved.

Matthew also shares his approach to training SDRs. He recommends bringing SDRs and AEs together to establish agreed-upon criteria for successful handoffs. By aligning expectations and working collaboratively, SDRs and AEs can optimize their performance and achieve better results.

In conclusion, Matthew emphasizes the importance of embracing a learning mindset and being humble when starting a new sales role. He encourages sales professionals to continually learn, experiment, and adapt their approach based on data and feedback. He also recommends checking out the free training resources available on Sales Upskill to further develop sales skills.