# Top 15 SDR Interview Questions (Full Breakdown + Real Answers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiAfsfkvOG8

[00:00] Tell me about yourself.
[00:01] What led you to the interview today?
[00:03] How do you handle rejection?
[00:04] Tell me about a time you worked in a team setting.
[00:06] These are the kinds of questions you're pretty much guaranteed to get in an SDR or BDR interview.
[00:10] I'm a former SDR manager myself and I've interviewed well over a 100 candidates and hired dozens of reps.
[00:16] So, I know exactly what these hiring managers are looking for and how it works behind the curtain.
[00:20] So, in this video, I'm going to walk you through the top 15 questions and answers, the real reasons why you're being asked the questions, and how to craft a standout answer for each one.
[00:30] So, let's get right into it.
[00:32] All right, so tell me about yourself.
[00:34] So, what do I mean when I say there's a real hidden question underneath the surface level questions that you're getting asked?
[00:39] So, when they ask or say, Connor, tell me about yourself at the start of the interview, what they're really asking underneath is, "Show me what you got."
[00:46] Can you make a good first impression?
[00:49] And did you come prepared and ready to play ball?
[00:53] So, they're not actually asking you, oh yeah, I want to know about all your hobbies and your interests and we can talk for 20 minutes and get to know each other.
[01:00] Yeah, that would be nice and
[01:01] There's going to be time and place to do that if you progress throughout the interview process, but especially if this is an entry-level interview where you're meeting the hiring manager the first time.
[01:09] These are the real questions they're asking underneath.
[01:11] It's, did this person come prepared?
[01:13] Because they know this is the type of question you should be expecting at the outset of the interview.
[01:19] It's going to sound something like, "Tell me about yourself, what led you to the interview today?"
[01:25] Pretty broad and open, and they want to see if you can take control because how you prepare for that is probably how you'll prepare for calls on the job.
[01:30] So you want to have a good answer prepared for this.
[01:33] I think it's the most important question in the interview process.
[01:37] So, an answer framework that you can use, and then I'm going to deliver my how I would answer this question, is yes, you can give a light background on yourself.
[01:45] So, you can tell them about where you're from.
[01:47] You don't have to be robotic.
[01:49] You can say where you're from, what you studied in school, maybe some past work experiences that you have.
[01:52] But then within 30 seconds, you really want to start getting into what led you to the interview today, why you're looking to move into a sales career, and why you're.
[02:02] Excited about this specific company or opportunity.
[02:04] These are the next questions that they're going to ask and you don't want to make them ask you that.
[02:09] You want to take initiative and in about 90 seconds you can deliver all of this and really set a strong tone at the outset of the interview.
[02:16] So if I was back in college and I was applying for an entry-level role to break into tech sales like I was about 7 years ago at this point, I'm going to make up a company for all my example answers throughout the video called RevSync.
[02:29] It's a CRM company, a SAS CRM company.
[02:32] So if they said, "So Connor, what what led you to the interview today?"
[02:34] Or, "Conor, tell me about yourself."
[02:35] I would say, "Yeah, really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today."
[02:41] So I'm from the Boston area.
[02:42] I've lived here my whole life.
[02:44] I grew up a big Boston sports fan.
[02:46] I played a lot of sports myself.
[02:48] I played basketball, soccer, baseball, and football.
[02:50] I've always liked competitive environments.
[02:52] And then I stayed local for college as well.
[02:54] I went to Boston College and was a finance major.
[02:56] I've always been interested in the markets and keeping up with what's going on in the world.
[03:01] And I think that gave me a good base skill.
[03:03] Set, but I'm really looking to move into a sales career because I've always been someone who works hard and likes to get ahead.
[03:08] And I like the idea of a performance-based career and understand that's the type of role this is where the harder I work, the more effort I put in and the more I uplevel my skill set, the more I can advance both from an income standpoint and a career standpoint.
[03:23] So, I'm really looking to move into an organization where there's upward career growth.
[03:27] And I'm really thinking about this from a 3 to 5year perspective of where I want to be.
[03:31] So that's what excites me about RevSync particularly is that you all have a proven track record of hiring promoting SDRs into AE roles which is where I'm looking to go.
[03:42] And then I also want to sales is great but you don't want to go into the wrong industry obviously and I know RevSync has a really strong position in the CRM space.
[03:50] It's competing really well against HubSpot and Salesforce.
[03:55] So, I want to be at a good company in a good industry where there's opportunity for career growth.
[03:59] And that's really what led me to the interview here today.
[04:04] So, you can see how I took tell me about yourself and I very lightly talked about, yeah, these are the sports I grew up playing.
[04:11] You can give them a flavor like you want to be human, but I wanted to show like I get why I'm here right now.
[04:18] And I immediately pivoted into why I'm looking to move into a sales career particularly and why I'm excited about RevSync in particular.
[04:25] And if you do this right, they'll be like, "Oh, really, I appreciate all the detail that you shared and you answered some of my next questions."
[04:33] So that's how you can set a really strong tone.
[04:37] And the great part about this is you can prepare for that.
[04:40] Like after this, you never know what questions they're going to ask.
[04:44] Tell me about a time you did this.
[04:46] They can throw curve balls, but this is one question that's entirely in your control.
[04:50] So, you really want to make sure that you nail this one.
[04:52] So, that kind of takes me into my next question, which I kind of answered the next couple questions I'm going to review in that initial answer.
[05:02] If you can, you want to answer all three of those in one.
[05:04] It's not always possible.
[05:06] Though.
[05:06] So, you want to have real like specific answers prepared for why sales and why this company in particular.
[05:13] So, if they really press, they might even ask you again.
[05:14] So, you say you want to pivot into sales.
[05:16] You like the idea of a performance-based career.
[05:17] Can you tell me more about why you want to work in sales particularly?
[05:21] The real question underneath is, do you actually understand what this job entails?
[05:25] You say you want to go into sales, but do you actually get what a sales job and a sales career entails?
[05:31] Because a lot of people don't.
[05:34] You'd be surprised.
[05:35] They actually think when they're applying for SDR jobs, they think it's more of a consulting job.
[05:38] They don't get like the rejection.
[05:41] You got to stay on point every single day.
[05:42] How you have to time block and time manage things like that.
[05:46] They want to understand are you driven by the right kind of motivation and will you last when the rejection and grind kicks in.
[05:52] So they yes surface level question but there's real questions they're asking underneath.
[05:56] So I kind of did this in my last answer but my answer framework for this is that you like the idea of a performance-based career because this is what a sales career is.
[06:07] Generally half your comp is going to be about base salary and the other half is going to be earned through commission.
[06:12] That to those together make your ontarget earnings.
[06:14] And that's why people are drawn to sales careers is because they they don't like the idea of just having a 9 to5 and no matter how good they do.
[06:22] They don't get any any additional benefits or extra pay.
[06:27] Like that's what that's what genuinely why I wanted to go into a sales career.
[06:30] I like to work hard.
[06:31] I like to get ahead and I like to be able to earn more or have more upside because of that.
[06:35] So, you want to show them you understand that this is a performance-based career.
[06:38] You like the idea that the harder you work, the more effort you put in, the more you uplevel your skill set, the more you can advance both from an income standpoint and a career standpoint.
[06:48] I want to call this out particularly because a lot of people say, "Why do you want to go into sales?"
[06:53] And I, trust me, I asked this question a lot and the answers I got were, "Oh, I want to make a lot of money."
[06:58] It's like, that's cool.
[07:01] it like we all are going into sales like 99% of us because we understand there's high income potential but this is your chance.
[07:07] To knock it out of the park, you don't want to just be another rep that's just like, "Yeah, I want to make a lot of money."
[07:13] That can be a feature of your answer.
[07:15] When I was a manager, I wanted people who were hungry to make money, but I also wanted people who understood that it wasn't just about this SDR job here.
[07:24] The real way you make money is by promoting and moving into either management or an enterprise account executive role.
[07:29] So, I made it a feature of my answer that I'm hungry to make more money, but I'm also thinking about this from a career and building a brand within their company long-term perspective.
[07:40] And then you want to communicate why your character strengths will make you successful in sales.
[07:45] So, again, my answer to this would sound something like, "So yeah, I've always been someone who likes to work hard and get ahead, whether that's school, sports, previous work experience, and I really like the idea of moving into a performance-based career, which I understand this would be."
[08:01] So, it's really that idea that the harder I work, the more effort I put in, and the more I uplevel my skill set, the more I can advance both from an income standpoint.
[08:09] And a career standpoint, which is really important to me because I'm really thinking about this from a 3 to 5 year outlook.
[08:14] My goal would be to come in and master the SDR skills, but then progress my career as an account executive.
[08:22] So, I just know I'm going to be that person because it's how I operate in school and sports that's going to show up early, work late.
[08:27] Hard work's always been my base and then I know I'm someone who likes to try things, get feedback, fail fast, and I consider myself coachable.
[08:37] So, we can go into that and that's why I think I'd be successful in a sales career.
[08:40] But curious to hear your feedback.
[08:42] So, that's an example of how you can apply the framework.
[08:44] You can make it your own based on your real experience.
[08:48] But if you do that right, a lot of times they'll get really excited and just start engaging with you there and kind of it takes them back to when they first got into a sales career.
[08:58] Cuz a lot of these people, they lose a little bit of that fire once they're in the career and they forget like, oh yeah, I forget what it was like to be just hungry and entering the industry.
[09:07] Like that's exactly how I was.
[09:07] And you.
[09:09] Can almost remind them of themselves a little bit.
[09:12] So last question on this.
[09:16] All three of these I almost put in the same category.
[09:17] These first three.
[09:19] Tell me about yourself.
[09:19] Why sales?
[09:20] Why this specific company?
[09:21] So they might dig in a little bit more as to so why RevSync?
[09:25] Like why do you want to work for this specific company?
[09:26] There's lots of I get that you want to work in tech or whatever industry it is, but why this company in particular?
[09:34] And again, the real hidden question underneath is, are you actually excited about this opportunity or was this just a resume?
[09:39] You you blast it out, you spray it and prayed and we happen to give you an interview.
[09:44] Um, because we have a lot of candidates and they want people who are actually they know what they're getting into and why they want to work for RevSync in this case.
[09:51] Did you actually do research or again, are you just spraying your resume out?
[09:54] And then this again signals how you're going to research and prepare for calls.
[09:58] If you were to cold call someone or set up a meeting and kick off the call, this kind of signals how they prepare for this type of question is how they're going to prepare on the actual job.
[10:08] So the answer framework is let them know once you.
[10:11] Decided on a sales career, your next step was you wanted to look for the best opportunities in the best industries to build your career.
[10:17] So first you started researching for the right industry that you wanted to work in and once you identified that the right company or organization within that industry and then that's why you're excited one about the industry as a whole and why you believe XYZ company is positioned well.
[10:33] So in the RevSync example you can kind of tie that into your previous answer about why you're excited about sales.
[10:39] So you can say something like so first yeah I decided I wanted to go into sales because I like this idea of a performance-based career and then it became what industry do I want to sell in because I want to work in an industry that's prime for growth and has a long runway of growth ahead of it and I very quickly came across the SAS tech sales industry and then the CRM space in particular I know there's a long long runway of growth in CRM there's a lot of companies that are still operating with either manual processes spreadsheets Excel or some basic tools and I can see.
[11:11] That this is a big pie and then it became about what are the best opportunities or companies within that industry and I very quickly came across RevSync because of how you're competing against Salesforce and HubSpot and how you're going after this part of the market.
[11:28] I was actually listening to one of the fireside chats from the CEO and some of the most recent earnings calls and I know you guys are growing at XYZ and launching these products.
[11:36] So, it's an exciting organization.
[11:39] Um, it's one I want to be a part of.
[11:40] I know I can grow my career here.
[11:42] And that's really what led me to the opportunity at RevSync today.
[11:44] So, I started riffing off a little bit.
[11:47] So, what you want to do is first like remind them first decision was I want to go into sales.
[11:53] Then it was what industry do I want to be a part of?
[11:56] Let them know you're basically signaling under the hood here's all the research I did.
[11:59] I understand the space that RevSync is in.
[12:02] I understand how they compete against your top competitors.
[12:04] You can almost show off a little and you should do this and go to their website.
[12:09] Go to their investor relations page.
[12:10] Watch a.
[12:12] 30 minute interview of the CEO talking.
[12:14] Read their most recent investor relations deck and you can just say, "Yeah, I was going through that."
[12:19] I really like the space that you're in.
[12:20] I think you're positioned well.
[12:22] Here's my understanding so far.
[12:24] You can get their feedback on it.
[12:26] But this is so much better than a lot of the fluffy answers where it's just like, "Yeah, it's a great company."
[12:30] I've heard good things.
[12:31] I've talked to a few people like you're really signaling here you understand this speci specific company and why you showed up for this interview today and this type of framework will really help you stand out.
[12:42] Now another important question and this might seem so obvious but you would be shock like these are the types of questions that you'll really hurt yourself if you don't have good answers prepared.
[12:53] You might think oh yeah I get what the STRBDR role is but then when you get asked you're like you freeze up a little bit.
[13:02] So they're going to ask you like what what is your so you want to I get why you want to go into sales why you want to work at RevSync in particular.
[13:09] What is your understanding of the SDR role?
[13:11] And the real question they're asking under the
[13:13] Hood is do you actually know what you're signing up for here?
[13:14] Can you clearly articulate what the role is and isn't?
[13:19] And are you prepared for the the types of things that make this job difficult?
[13:23] The consistent volume, the consistent grind, the consistent rejection you're going to have to face.
[13:27] Because again, I promise you, there's a lot of people who come in and they think this is either a consulting job or a marketing job.
[13:34] Or they're just like, "Yeah, I just like to talk to people."
[13:36] I've always been an extrovert.
[13:37] And that's their answer of like why they want to go move into an SDR role.
[13:41] And they're they're like, "Yeah, so I'll probably be setting up meetings and talking to people."
[13:44] But you can tell they just they don't really understand what the grind is.
[13:47] So the answer framework you want to use for this is share the research you've done.
[13:54] If you're on this channel, you probably have a good idea already hopefully of what an SDR BDR is.
[13:57] So, show you've done your research on the role, the specific position at this organization, and that you carefully read the job description, too.
[14:06] So, your answer can sound something like, yeah, so based on the research I've done and and carefully going through the job description, my
[14:13] My understanding is that I would be coming in and assigned a territory.
[14:17] I would probably be working with either two or three account executives and meeting with them on a weekly basis to plan and manage the territory, decide what accounts to go after, put together messaging and make a lot of cold calls, emails, LinkedIn messaging.
[14:31] I understand my job would be to set meetings and the KPIs that were laid out in the job description I saw were make 50 a day, 25 emails a day and that I would be measured on opportunities generated, meetings set and the amount of pipeline associated with those opportunities.
[14:50] So yeah, that's my understanding is that I would be coming in, have an assigned territory, support account executives, obviously work with you and my team and the extended team to really set meetings with our ideal customer profiles and try and convert as many of those meetings into opportunities as we can and grow pipeline for the organization.
[15:12] If you say something like that, you're ahead of the game.
[15:13] You want to reference.
[15:15] Any specifics that you can from the job description because the job posting is going to oftentimes clearly lay out what your roles and responsibilities are.
[15:22] It'll give you a good idea of either the KPIs, the things you're measured on, what you'll be responsible for on a day-to-day.
[15:28] So, if they ask you this question and you're not well rehearsed or well versed in what that job posting is, they're going to be like, "Did they even read this before they got on?"
[15:37] So, this is more these types of questions are more about not shooting yourself in the foot and making a really good first impression.
[15:43] What I just said is a totally valid answer.
[15:45] You can do simple Google searches on what an SDR BDR role is.
[15:49] They're not expecting you to know all the intricacies and you can get their feedback in the end, but curious if there's anything you can add to that or anything that I missed about this specific SDR role at RevSync.
[16:00] But you want to have a good concise answer for what is the SDR BDR role?
[16:05] Because if you don't, they're going to hold that against you in their head.
[16:10] So again, everything up until this point has been primarily, let me get down here, has been primarily.
[16:16] What I would call intro and mindset-based questions.
[16:19] They're almost getting a gauge of like, is this person serious?
[16:22] Are they motivated?
[16:24] Do they understand what a sales career is?
[16:25] Have they done research?
[16:28] That's the most important part, what I just covered.
[16:30] Now is where we get to start to get into some of the trickier questions that tend to throw people off.
[16:35] But if you don't have these those basics down, everything after this point, I don't want to say is meaningless, but you're better off just focusing on those first few questions that that we just covered up to this point.
[16:45] So let's go over a behavioral question.
[16:49] So this question will either get asked directly like, "Can you tell me about your three best strengths?"
[16:55] And then separately they'll ask after for what's your greatest weakness that you're working on.
[16:59] Or it can come in the form of why do you think you'll be a good fit for the role or why do you think you'll be successful in sales?
[17:06] And the real question they're asking underneath is are you self-aware and are you coachable?
[17:10] So a lot of the questions I've asked up to this point are more around hard work and mindset.
[17:15] Now they're getting into coachability.
[17:17] Because these hiring managers, that is their job; they're essentially full-time coaches.
[17:22] So, do you know where your blind spots are and are you doing something about them?
[17:25] Do you actually believe and understand why you'll be successful in sales?
[17:30] So, I'm going to give you a cheat sheet.
[17:32] Some good strength options to name, and you want to have a good example of a story prepared for each individual one.
[17:39] I'd say pick three: that you're a hard worker, you're coachable, you're a team player, you're adaptable, you're ambitious, you're curious, or you're organized or have a good ability to compartmentalize.
[17:53] Any of these will be good character strengths that they're looking for.
[17:57] I think these first three are the easiest.
[17:59] These are the ones I usually recommend to people.
[18:00] Tell people you're a hard worker, you're coachable, and you're a team player.
[18:05] If you're a manager and you're hiring someone who's going to grind every day, who's going to take your feedback and apply it, and then when they apply it and start having success with it, they're going to make their whole team and the whole organization better.
[18:13] I just think that's a slam dunk candidate.
[18:15] So, pick three, the ones.
[18:17] You're most comfortable speaking to that you have good stories on and share why they will serve you well in the SDR role.
[18:22] And then for your weakness, be genuine.
[18:25] Don't give one of those weaknesses where it's like, "Oh, I'm just sometimes I'm a people tell me I'm a workaholic and I just like to work so hard and sometimes I just get too carried away and I have to learn to dial it back a little bit."
[18:36] Like, you don't want to give a weakness like that.
[18:37] Be genuine.
[18:39] Share weakness.
[18:40] I'll share mine in a second.
[18:41] And then most importantly, share what you're doing to proactively overcome this weakness.
[18:45] So for strengths, I would pick those first three and say, "I'm someone who, as I've said, I work hard."
[18:52] That is my base.
[18:53] When everything else is going wrong, I know I can show up, work hard, control what I can control, and I know I'm going to be that rep that shows up early, stays late, does what it takes.
[19:01] I'm competitive, and want to blow out my number.
[19:03] I'm going to show up every day to do that regardless of how I feel.
[19:07] Um, another good strength of mine is that I consider myself very coachable.
[19:12] I know the quickest way to learn is not just through sheer trial and error, but to first go to the people.
[19:18] Like you, the top SDRs, my account executives, people who have a proven track record of success and get a sense of what's worked for them and model after them.
[19:27] I know sales is one of those careers where plagiarism is okay.
[19:31] It's actually smart to go to the top performers and use what they've been using and adapt it and make it your own.
[19:37] And I'm always someone who's looking for good feedback and good coaching and I try and apply it as quickly as possible.
[19:42] And then lastly, I would say I'm a team player.
[19:44] I know when I come in, my first focus is just going to be mastering this SDR role and really learning the skill set, but I'm the type of person when someone's working for me, I know that there's more than enough room for everyone to succeed in a sales or yeah, there's a competitive nature, but I like to help out my teammates, the organization.
[20:02] If something's working for me, I like to share it with the org and help other people share in the success.
[20:06] So that would be my goal coming in is to work hard, take feedback and apply it as quickly as possible and then help make your team and the whole organization better.
[20:15] And that's good for strengths.
[20:17] And my answer for weaknesses would sound.
[20:19] something like I'm someone who always
[20:21] likes to be fully prepared, work hard
[20:23] and plan in advance before diving in and
[20:26] just attacking. It's how I operate in
[20:28] school. If I get an essay or something,
[20:30] I like to plan. If it's a five-page
[20:32] essay, I like to plan out each body of
[20:33] paragraph, how I'm going to structure
[20:35] it, and then attack it. And I know
[20:37] sometimes, and especially in a sales
[20:39] role, it's important to just be able to
[20:41] not overthink, not get analysis
[20:43] paralysis, and pick up the phone, rip
[20:45] dials, make emails, things like that. So
[20:48] coming in, I know I'm going to have that
[20:50] tendency to want to plan and be fully
[20:52] prepared before every cold call. So my
[20:54] way of overcoming that is I'm going to
[20:56] do all of that in advance. It's like
[20:57] when I'm showing up early and staying
[20:59] late, that's what I'm going to be doing
[21:00] is building my list, creating my scripts
[21:02] and my templates in advance so that when
[21:04] I'm actually on the job, I can just
[21:06] focus on ripping those dials and and
[21:08] making emails because I know that's
[21:10] really important in the SDR role. And
[21:12] it's something I'm aware of and will
[21:13] obviously be actively working on if I
[21:16] was to start it as an SDR here. So,
[21:18] that's an example of a genuine weakness
[21:20] where it's true. Like, I'm not the type
[21:22] of person who can just wing it and like
[21:23] you hand me a phone and and just say
[21:26] what comes to my mind. That's not how I
[21:28] sell. I sell by doing the preparation.
[21:30] You've probably heard me reference that
[21:32] coil the spring methodology in advance
[21:35] and then that allows me to just rip the
[21:37] dials and make the emails. So, that's an
[21:39] example for weaknesses. Be genuine.
[21:41] share a weakness, but then let them know
[21:44] you have the self-awareness in what
[21:46] you're doing to to proactively prepare
[21:48] yourself and overcome this weakness.
[21:50] That's what they're looking for in this
[21:51] type of question here.
[21:54] Next one is how do you handle rejection
[21:56] or failure? So, what's the real
[21:58] question? The real question is, will you
[22:00] last in a role where no is the default
[22:02] response that you get most of the time?
[22:04] A lot of people aren't used to this. Do
[22:06] you take rejection personally or do you
[22:08] try and learn from it? Can you bounce
[22:10] back quickly and can you stay motivated
[22:12] while you're getting rejected? So an
[22:13] answer framework to this question is
[22:16] acknowledge the rejection and failure is
[22:18] normal and something you faced many
[22:19] times. It's expected and it's a
[22:21] necessary part of mastering any any
[22:23] skill. You got to overcome rejection.
[22:24] And then when you face it, you first
[22:26] detach yourself from the rejection and
[22:28] try to extract the lesson so that you
[22:30] can make the right adjustments. It's a
[22:32] necessary and unavoidable part of
[22:34] growth. And then finish by sharing your
[22:36] understanding of handling rejection of
[22:38] why handling rejection and failure is
[22:40] critical to succeeding in sales. And
[22:43] then optional h and you should have a
[22:45] story prepared for this about a time you
[22:46] either came up short or failed in the
[22:49] past or faced rejection how you took the
[22:51] feedback and applied it moving forward
[22:54] because another variation of this
[22:55] question will just be straight that
[22:57] it'll just say tell me about a time you
[22:58] faced rejection or failure and how you
[23:00] handled it and moved forward. So, if I
[23:03] got asked this question, I mean, I
[23:04] pretty much wrote out how I would
[23:05] respond to it, but I would say, yeah,
[23:07] rejection and failure is something I've
[23:08] faced a lot in my life, whether it's
[23:10] school, sports, trying out for sports
[23:12] teams. I can go into any specific
[23:13] examples you've liked because lots of
[23:15] times in my life, I've had to receive
[23:17] and take tough feedback, but I've always
[23:18] used it as an opportunity to to apply it
[23:21] and grow and and become better moving
[23:23] forward. So, whenever I face it, I just
[23:25] first try and detach myself. I don't
[23:27] take it personally. I don't view it as
[23:28] rejection. I more view it as what lesson
[23:30] can I learn from this? what how can I
[23:33] take this feedback and apply it and make
[23:34] the right adjustments. I pretty much
[23:36] just view it as a necessary and
[23:38] unavoidable part of growth. You're never
[23:40] going to be a master or make no mistakes
[23:42] anytime you start trying something new.
[23:44] So you know rejections coming. So the
[23:46] the what all you can do is take it apply
[23:48] it and use it as feedback as a feedback
[23:50] mechanism to grow. So and I know in
[23:53] sales that this is important because
[23:55] defa by default no is is the answer. I
[23:58] know I'm going to make cold calls. I
[23:59] know I'm going to get a lot of nos. I
[24:01] almost view it like baseball where the
[24:03] best baseball players bat 300. They but
[24:05] they go back to their dug the dugout
[24:07] with their head down seven times out of
[24:08] 10. But that doesn't stop them. They're
[24:10] always just looking for little areas
[24:11] they can improve at the margin. And
[24:13] that's how I'm going to approach the
[24:14] sales role as well. I know there's going
[24:16] to be rejection. I know there's going to
[24:18] be failure, but it's my job to take the
[24:20] feedback, apply it, and use it as an
[24:22] opportunity to grow. And then from
[24:24] there, you want to have a story prepared
[24:25] just in case about a time you did that.
[24:27] whether it was trying out for a sports
[24:28] team and you didn't make the cut or you
[24:31] didn't get the grade you wanted on a
[24:33] project, things like that. How you took
[24:35] the feedback, applied it, and became
[24:37] better moving forward. So, that's that
[24:40] one. Another behavioral type question,
[24:44] tell me about a time you overcame a
[24:46] setback. So, this is on a similar topic,
[24:48] overcame a setback and mo moved forward.
[24:50] And the real question they're asking is,
[24:52] can you stay calm and resourceful when
[24:54] things go wrong? Because they naturally
[24:56] will in sales. You'll have tough
[24:58] quarters, tough months, things like
[24:59] that, even though you're doing the right
[25:01] things. Do you take ownership when this
[25:03] happens and try and figure out how to
[25:05] move forward or do you start pointing
[25:06] fingers? Are you resilient and someone
[25:08] who pushes through challenges to deliver
[25:11] on your results? And in sales, that's
[25:12] going to be your quota. So, the answer
[25:14] framework, this is one you can use for
[25:16] any any story or tell me about a time
[25:19] type question is the STAR framework. So,
[25:21] it stands for situation, task, action,
[25:24] result. So tell me about a time you
[25:26] overcame a setback. You want to have a
[25:28] situation where you faced the setback,
[25:30] what the task was, what you did to push
[25:32] past it, and then the result coming out
[25:34] of it. And then you want to finish by
[25:36] sharing how you'll take this a lesson
[25:38] and apply it to the SDR BDR role where
[25:41] setbacks are and challenges are very
[25:42] common. So a madeup example I'll use cuz
[25:45] I feel like it could could apply to a
[25:46] lot of you, but again, it's the
[25:47] framework that's important is getting
[25:50] cut from a sports team. So you could
[25:52] say, so yeah, the situation, you don't
[25:53] have to actually say all of these things
[25:55] out, but say, so yeah, I was trying out
[25:56] for the varsity soccer team as a
[25:58] sophomore. That was always a goal of
[26:00] mine. Soccer is my favorite sport, and I
[26:02] was really focused on making the soccer
[26:05] team as a sophomore. So I trained the
[26:08] whole summer. I took every day
[26:10] seriously, got in the best shape I
[26:12] possibly could because I believed I had
[26:13] the skill set, and I just wanted to put
[26:15] on some muscle, get in shape, and show
[26:17] them I was serious about joining the
[26:19] team. Ultimately during the tryyouts, I
[26:22] almost made it and got cut at the very
[26:24] end. And the feedback they gave me was
[26:26] they could tell I had trained, they
[26:27] could tell I worked hard, but my ball
[26:30] control wasn't where it needed to be.
[26:32] And I my footwork was a little bit
[26:34] sloppy. So I had a choice there to say
[26:36] either screw the soccer team, screw the
[26:38] coaches, I don't want to be a part of
[26:40] this anymore. But instead, I decided to
[26:42] take their feedback. I I did my year at
[26:44] junior varsity really focused on my my
[26:46] footwork and my my ball control. I did I
[26:49] took that seriously in the offseason and
[26:51] ultimately ended up getting way better
[26:53] ball control than I would have otherwise
[26:55] made the team as a junior and then
[26:57] ultimately was a much better soccer
[26:59] player my junior and senior year that I
[27:01] otherwise would have been had I not
[27:03] gotten that tough feedback and applied
[27:06] it. So that's how I try that's how I
[27:08] apply feedback anytime I receive it. I
[27:11] know it's tough. I don't take it
[27:13] personally. I use it as an opportunity
[27:14] to get better and I understand that's
[27:16] what it's going to take in the SDR role
[27:18] here as well. I know I'm not going to be
[27:20] great at everything out of the gate.
[27:21] Maybe there's a promotion I'm going for
[27:23] at some point that I'm not I'm not the
[27:25] first person they call up and I'm always
[27:27] going to use those opportunities as as
[27:29] learning lessons so that I can get
[27:30] better moving forward. That's an example
[27:32] where the situation trying out for the
[27:34] soccer team. Here's what I did in to
[27:36] prepare for that and here's what
[27:38] happened. um this is the action I took
[27:40] when I didn't make the team and and here
[27:42] was the result. So again, you just want
[27:44] to have a question prepared for this or
[27:46] sorry, a story prepared for this type of
[27:48] question because it's almost certainly
[27:50] going to be coming on the interview.
[27:52] Another one, another tell me about a
[27:54] time you worked in a team setting. This
[27:56] is a common question and the real
[27:58] question they're asking is are you
[28:00] someone that others will actually want
[28:02] to work with? Do you find ways to bring
[28:04] value to a team or do you just blend in
[28:07] and can you collaborate without needing
[28:09] to completely take over? They want to
[28:11] see how you how you approach team
[28:13] settings because the sales job a lot of
[28:15] people come in thinking it's just a ride
[28:17] or die solo type job like if I hit my
[28:20] quota I'm good. But there's lots of team
[28:22] members you got to work with. It's your
[28:24] manager, your account executives, people
[28:26] in marketing for campaigns, things like
[28:28] that. Eventually, when you become an
[28:30] account executive, the amount of
[28:32] stakeholders to get a deal done grows
[28:35] even more. So, working in teams is
[28:37] really important. You don't always have
[28:39] control, and they want to see how you
[28:41] approach these types of situations. So,
[28:42] again, STAR framework is what you want
[28:44] to use. Make sure your example
[28:46] highlights the value you brought to your
[28:47] team, how you may have maneuvered a
[28:49] disagreement amongst the team where
[28:51] everyone wasn't on the same page, and
[28:53] then how you worked collaboratively to
[28:56] achieve a certain objective. So an
[28:57] example you can use and I think it would
[29:00] apply to a lot of you is a school
[29:01] example of working in a group project.
[29:03] Let's say you can talk about time you
[29:05] worked in a project of four people and
[29:07] there was a disagreement on how to
[29:09] approach the project who were split
[29:10] 50/50 and how you overcame it. So you
[29:12] can start off saying something like yeah
[29:15] so anytime I work in a team setting my
[29:17] first mindset is just how can I bring
[29:18] value to the team? I just want to make
[29:20] sure I'm I show up I'm prepared for
[29:22] every time we meet so that if I do have
[29:25] an opinion and it maybe differs from
[29:27] someone at least if I'm prepared they're
[29:29] going to take my opinion more seriously
[29:31] because they know I've done the work and
[29:32] I I've built a good brand for myself. So
[29:35] that's my goal but I'm always I always
[29:37] want to listen to everyone else and and
[29:39] work collaboratively. So one example is
[29:42] I was working in a group project. We had
[29:43] to put together a three-hour
[29:45] presentation on XYZ topic. It was going
[29:47] to take a lot of research and we were
[29:49] kind of split 50/50 on on how to
[29:52] approach the project. There were a lot
[29:54] of we we were in agreement on some stuff
[29:56] but towards the end and the final
[29:58] outcome what we wanted to produce there
[29:59] was a little disagreement. So what we
[30:01] decided to do was just focus on the
[30:03] areas we agreed and tackle that
[30:05] together. And once it that part was
[30:07] actually done which was about 80% of it
[30:09] and we could actually see what it looked
[30:11] like how we structured it. We agreed at
[30:14] that point that's when that we would
[30:16] decide how we wanted to finish off that
[30:18] last 20% of the project. And this was a
[30:21] case actually where we got to that point
[30:23] and I actually had changed my mind
[30:25] throughout the process and and kind of
[30:26] agreed with their vision once we were
[30:28] able to get the pieces in place that we
[30:30] agreed on and we actually we ended up
[30:32] getting an A on the project. So that's
[30:34] an example. I know that's important in
[30:36] the SDR job too. I know it's not just a
[30:38] solo job. There's a lot of internal
[30:40] stakeholders. I work with my account
[30:42] executives. Maybe we're not always in
[30:44] agreement on what accounts to approach.
[30:46] So, I always take the collaborative
[30:48] approach. I want to show up prepared,
[30:50] but always want to find ways to add
[30:51] value to the team. And I know it's a
[30:53] critical part of the STR job. It's a
[30:55] basic answer. It doesn't need to be a
[30:57] fancy example. Like, if you have better
[30:58] examples than group projects, go for it.
[31:00] It's not really that the story needs to
[31:02] be perfect. They just more want to see
[31:05] you can use this STAR framework. you can
[31:07] clearly and concisely articulate and
[31:09] answer how you approach in this case
[31:11] approach team settings and and then
[31:13] convey why you understand that this is
[31:15] important in the SDR job
[31:18] tell me about an your experience in
[31:20] competitive environments the real
[31:22] question are you intrinsically motivated
[31:25] will you thrive in a competitive sales
[31:26] environment where there are stack ranks
[31:28] you're literally ranked against your
[31:29] peers and quotas to hit and simply do
[31:32] you want to be the best like is is this
[31:34] the type of environment that will suit
[31:36] Well, so some good answer frameworks,
[31:38] some good topics you can use are sports,
[31:41] schools, clubs, work experience,
[31:44] fitness. If you've ever followed a
[31:45] workout routine or lost a bunch of
[31:47] weight or put on a bunch of muscle,
[31:48] whatever it is, you can talk about how
[31:50] you enjoy competitive environments and
[31:52] that it motivates you to perform your
[31:54] absolute best. You want to emphasize
[31:56] that your focus is on controlling what
[31:58] you can control and performing to the
[32:00] best of your ability. That you're
[32:02] competitive, but you also like to have
[32:03] fun in the process and and that while
[32:05] you're competitive, you also think
[32:06] there's more than enough room for
[32:07] everyone to succeed. It's not a zero-
[32:09] sum game. And that the real competition
[32:11] and that that's like a funny thing. You
[32:12] can I I get the real competition is
[32:15] HubSpot or Salesforce in this case, not
[32:17] my internal peers. So, for an answer,
[32:18] you can really pick whatever topic
[32:20] speaks to you. Like again, all these are
[32:21] good topics. sports, school, fitness,
[32:24] like let's take fitness for example. You
[32:25] could say something like I'm someone who
[32:27] I'm super competitive. I love to
[32:29] compete. One area where I am in a
[32:32] competitive environment almost every day
[32:34] is when I go to the gym. Um I have a lot
[32:36] of friends in there, but I want to be
[32:38] the one putting up the most weight or
[32:40] hitting the workout class like getting
[32:42] the best time on whatever it is. And I
[32:45] focus on controlling what I can control
[32:46] and performing to the best of my
[32:48] ability. and I have fun with everyone I
[32:49] work with, but I want to win when I go
[32:51] in there, but I also realize it's not
[32:54] just about me. There's more than I want
[32:56] everyone to succeed as well. I want
[32:57] there's more than enough room for
[32:59] someone else to put up more weight than
[33:00] me. And part of what makes it fun and
[33:02] why I like that environment so much is
[33:04] yes, we're competitive, but we're also
[33:06] all helping each other out, trying to
[33:07] motivate each other. And that's the type
[33:09] of culture I'm trying to bring to a
[33:11] sales organization is I'm going to come
[33:13] in, I'm going to be the hardest worker.
[33:14] I want to be number one, but I'm going
[33:16] to control what I can control. do the
[33:18] best that I can and when something's
[33:19] working for me, I get that this isn't a
[33:21] zero- sum game and that there's more
[33:23] than enough room for everyone to win and
[33:24] I'm going to help out other people any
[33:26] way I can if there's things that are
[33:28] working for me. So that's a basic
[33:30] example, but you basically want to
[33:32] signal that you like competitive
[33:34] environments, that you're a competitive
[33:36] person, but that you also are going to
[33:38] bring a good culture of, yeah, I'm going
[33:40] to be competitive and thrive in a
[33:42] competitive culture, but I know there's
[33:44] more than enough room for everyone to
[33:45] succeed and and I just want to have a
[33:47] good positive competitive winning
[33:49] culture and that's what I want to bring
[33:50] to your organization.
[33:53] All right, so now let's get into
[33:54] coachability and growth questions. So
[33:58] beyond the behaviorable behavioral
[34:00] questions. So here's a common question
[34:03] you may get asked is how do you like to
[34:06] receive feedback andor why is feedback
[34:09] important? And the real question they're
[34:11] asking is are you coachable? Will you
[34:13] apply feedback when it's given? Do you
[34:15] have a growth mindset? So the answer
[34:18] framework is to tell them you you seek
[34:19] it out whenever possible and that you
[34:21] understand the quickest way to improve
[34:22] and grow is to learn from the people who
[34:24] have a proven track record of success
[34:26] and have been in your shoes before and
[34:28] that's the fastest way to ramp up and be
[34:30] successful and roll. So you like to come
[34:33] with a plan. You want feedback on your
[34:35] plan and then you want to execute on
[34:37] that feedback and report back and repeat
[34:39] the process. So while you seek feedback,
[34:41] you're not just sitting around and
[34:42] waiting for it. You're someone who
[34:43] brings something to the table and that's
[34:45] what you'll do with them, whoever you're
[34:47] speaking to, the manager and with your
[34:48] AES as well. So, this is an important
[34:51] question because this is the manager's
[34:53] whole job. Like, if they hire you on
[34:54] your team, this is what they're going to
[34:55] be doing with you for the next 12, 18,
[34:58] 24 months is giving you feedback, hoping
[35:01] that you apply it, and then coming back
[35:03] to them. So, if they know you have the
[35:05] right attitude, and maybe they think
[35:06] you're a little raw from a sales
[35:08] standpoint, which is fine. If they
[35:10] believe that you're hungry, you're
[35:11] coachable, and you're going to take
[35:12] their feedback, you're going to be a
[35:14] really attractive candidate in their
[35:16] eyes. So, if I got asked this question,
[35:18] how do you like to receive feedback, and
[35:19] why is it important? I would say
[35:22] something like, well, first, feedback's
[35:24] important and it's what I'm looking for
[35:25] coming into a role like this because I
[35:27] know I'm going to come in and there's
[35:29] going to be a lot for me to learn. and
[35:30] I'm going to be making mistakes and I
[35:32] want people like you and my account
[35:35] executives and other tenur senior SDRs
[35:38] in the org to point out the areas I can
[35:41] improve because that's the quickest way
[35:42] to learn and get better and ultimately
[35:44] ramp and roll if you don't receive
[35:46] feedback. It's hard to figure out on
[35:48] your own what's going on and and you can
[35:51] through trial and error, but you can
[35:52] really accelerate the process through
[35:54] feedback. And I know that's an important
[35:56] part of your job and why I'm looking for
[35:58] a good coach. And I'm the type of person
[35:59] who takes feedback and applies it. So
[36:02] the way I like to receive feedback is I
[36:05] like to receive it as as much as often
[36:07] anywhere where there's opportunity. But
[36:09] um if we're meeting on a weekly basis or
[36:12] anything like that, I like to come first
[36:14] with a plan and not just expect you to
[36:17] give me feedback and tell me what to do.
[36:19] I like to put as much thought into it as
[36:21] I can. come with a plan for how I'm
[36:24] going to attack the week or the
[36:25] territory and then receive your feedback
[36:28] on that plan. I know that's an important
[36:30] part of the job whether it's meeting
[36:31] with you or my account executives that I
[36:34] want to come with a plan first, put in
[36:36] the put in the upfront work and show
[36:37] them I brought something to the table,
[36:39] get their feedback on it to course
[36:41] correct and then apply that feedback and
[36:44] report back the next week. So that's
[36:45] kind of the cycle I like is to come with
[36:47] a plan, take the feedback, implement it,
[36:50] and then repeat the process. And it's
[36:52] kind of a a circle and a cycle that I
[36:54] follow and it I know it's an important
[36:56] part of the job and what I'm looking to
[36:58] do as I start as an SDR in this
[37:00] organization.
[37:02] Something like that. Um really this is
[37:04] just really important to them. One
[37:06] because yeah, they're a coach. And then
[37:08] that's the other thing I referenced in
[37:09] the answer if you can is that you
[37:11] understand you're going to get feedback
[37:13] not just from your manager but the
[37:14] people you work with, the account
[37:15] executives you support, people like
[37:18] that. And it it kind of signals how you
[37:20] work in teams too. It it's almost a two
[37:22] birds one stone question. If you receive
[37:24] feedback well, it kind of signals that
[37:26] you work well in teams. So that's an
[37:29] important coachability question. Another
[37:31] time is tell me about a time you took
[37:34] feedback and applied it. So the real
[37:36] question is are you someone who just
[37:38] listens or actually learns when you're
[37:40] given feedback? Can you take
[37:42] constructive feedback and apply it? Do
[37:44] you improve quickly or stay stuck in old
[37:46] habits? and then the answer framework.
[37:48] Again, use the STAR framework,
[37:49] situation, task, action, and result.
[37:52] Emphasize a time you sought out the
[37:54] feedback and applied it immediately. And
[37:56] then try and use an example that wasn't
[37:58] an easy fix, one where you really had to
[38:01] persevere and and overcome adversity if
[38:04] you can. So answers for this you can
[38:06] give you can honestly use a similar
[38:08] example that I did earlier in the video
[38:10] regarding the the soccer tryyouts or
[38:13] trying out for a sports team getting cut
[38:15] and then applying the feedback and
[38:17] making the team the next year. Other
[38:19] examples I've heard are people talking
[38:20] again about group projects or it could
[38:23] be a work situation, maybe previous work
[38:26] experience where you were working on a
[38:28] project that was a three-month project
[38:30] and you were working hard on it and
[38:32] about one month in you showed your
[38:34] progress to your boss and they told you
[38:36] you are way off here. You have to start
[38:38] from scratch and your first your first
[38:41] reaction was to just throw your hands up
[38:43] and say why you put in so much work. You
[38:45] thought you were on the right path and
[38:46] now you're starting from zero. But
[38:48] ultimately, you took it, you applied it,
[38:50] you know that they've been, they're the
[38:51] expert in the space who's been doing
[38:52] this and they're pointing you in the
[38:53] right direction. You used it as a
[38:55] learning experience. And then the final
[38:57] outcome was way better than the
[38:59] direction you were currently on. So,
[39:01] this is an important one to just have a
[39:03] good you want to be able to share why
[39:05] feedback is important to you and why you
[39:07] seek it out and then have a good example
[39:08] of how you took feedback, applied it,
[39:11] and what the outcome was using the STAR
[39:14] framework. Another question you might
[39:17] get asked and you can signal this in
[39:20] your tell me about yourself answer why
[39:22] sales like you can see in those early
[39:24] answers I'm almost already answering a
[39:26] lot of these questions proactively but
[39:28] they'll say something like where do you
[39:30] see yourself in one to two years it
[39:31] could be three to five and the real
[39:33] question they're asking is are you
[39:35] committed to growth within this
[39:36] organization or are you just testing the
[39:38] waters or using this as a stepping stone
[39:40] are your goals aligned with the SDR to
[39:43] account executive path are Are you
[39:45] ambitious but realistic? They kind of
[39:47] want to see are you thinking long term
[39:49] here? And also I see this a lot where
[39:52] people get hired when I was a manager
[39:54] people get hired for an STR role and
[39:56] within two months they're already asking
[39:58] so what about other opportunities within
[40:00] the company and like marketing or sales
[40:02] operations and it's like oh boy how did
[40:04] we how did we miss so bad here? Like if
[40:07] you're already hearing that and they're
[40:08] barely out of training yet, you want to
[40:09] make sure they understand what the next
[40:11] role is and the next role after that and
[40:13] that they're actually in alignment with
[40:15] progressing in down a sales career. So
[40:18] your answer framework is that you're
[40:19] someone who's thinking about your career
[40:21] long term and that's why you're excited
[40:23] about this specific opportunity at this
[40:26] company. So your answer framework you
[40:28] can use is that you're someone who's
[40:29] thinking about your career long term and
[40:31] that's why you're excited about this
[40:33] specific opportunity at this specific
[40:35] company that you believe is positioned
[40:36] very well. That your goal is to come in
[40:38] and master the skills that are required
[40:40] for the SDR role and naturally promote
[40:43] to account executive when the time is
[40:45] right. You understand that the SDR role
[40:47] is about mastering the front end of the
[40:49] sales cycle. So things like territory
[40:50] management, planning, prospecting,
[40:52] pipeline generation, getting familiar
[40:54] with the company, working internally,
[40:56] etc. And once you've done so, taking
[40:58] that next step to account executive to
[41:00] build on your SDR skills and run full
[41:03] sales cycles is where you want to go
[41:04] next. And ultimately, even at that in
[41:06] that AE role, your goal would be to
[41:08] master the skills to a point where other
[41:10] AES are seeking your advice so that you
[41:12] could coach others. And that's the
[41:14] natural way to promote, but your
[41:16] immediate focus is on mastering the
[41:18] fundamentals of the SDR role and being a
[41:20] top performer. So that's essentially
[41:21] what my answer would sound like is that
[41:23] in 1 to two years I want to be an
[41:26] account executive and I'm honestly
[41:27] thinking about this 3 to 5 years out I I
[41:30] want to move to mid-market and
[41:31] enterprise and I could even see myself
[41:32] in a management job, but I'm obviously
[41:34] not getting ahead of myself. My goal
[41:36] right now is to come in and just master
[41:38] this SDR role, master those skill sets
[41:41] at the front end of the sales cycle. So
[41:43] territory planning, territory
[41:44] management, working with my team,
[41:46] prospecting, pipeline generation. And
[41:48] once I have that down second nature, I
[41:51] know that's when I'll be ready to move
[41:53] to the account executive role where I
[41:54] want to learn more full sales cycle
[41:56] closing skills and do the same thing in
[41:59] that role and and master the skill set
[42:01] to that role where I could either have
[42:03] the option to become a manager or move
[42:06] into an enterprise account executive
[42:07] role. So, that's how I'm thinking about
[42:09] it and how I approach each role is to
[42:11] just go in and master the skill set to
[42:12] the point where I naturally promote. I
[42:14] could I know it wouldn't be one to two
[42:16] years, but I could I've always liked
[42:18] coaching other people and helping other
[42:20] people out. I could see myself moving
[42:21] into a management role down the line,
[42:23] but really these next these first one to
[42:26] two, even three years, I I really want
[42:27] to master the SDR role and then master
[42:29] the account executive role as well. So,
[42:33] you can make that answer whatever you
[42:34] want if it's truthful. Like I I remember
[42:37] saying that as an SDR in my interview
[42:39] that I have an interest in moving into
[42:40] management eventually. You just don't
[42:42] want to sound um cocky like, "Oh, I'm
[42:45] going to move into a management role."
[42:46] You want to understand like, "I'm here.
[42:48] I'm new. I got to come in. I got to
[42:50] master the SDR role and the account
[42:52] executive role." But you want to show
[42:53] you're also thinking long term here
[42:55] because it answers these questions for
[42:56] them. Like, are you committed to growth?
[42:58] Are you just testing the waters? Do your
[43:00] goals actually align with the sales
[43:01] track that they prefer the SDRs to go
[43:03] down? Are you ambitious but realistic?
[43:06] That's an example of how to approach
[43:08] that type of question. And then lastly,
[43:10] we have some more technical sales skill
[43:14] related questions. So they want to get
[43:17] an idea of how you think with some of
[43:18] these questions. How would you go about
[43:20] managing and organizing a territory?
[43:21] They might ask you a question like that.
[43:23] So the real question is how do you
[43:25] think? Do you ask the right questions?
[43:27] What's your thought process? Do you have
[43:29] a plan or do you just wing it? Are you
[43:31] proactive and organized? The answer
[43:33] framework you can use, you'll hear it
[43:34] when I deliver my answer, is the coiling
[43:37] of the spring. I talk about that a lot
[43:38] on my channel. Identifying lowhanging
[43:40] fruit first, working with your account
[43:42] executive, identifying your top ICPs,
[43:45] and then making all of your lists
[43:46] upfront, creating the email templates,
[43:48] call scripts, etc. So, if I got asked
[43:51] this, how would you go about managing
[43:52] and organizing my territory? First, you
[43:54] could ask clarifying questions like, so
[43:57] what does my territory look like? How
[43:59] many accounts does it have? of are these
[44:00] existing customers or is it pure net new
[44:03] customers? Are there any inbound leads?
[44:05] And it's okay to ask these types of
[44:07] questions. You don't want to overdo it,
[44:08] but it shows your thought process like
[44:11] what what does my territory look like?
[44:13] And and they'll be impressed with
[44:14] something like that. And then I would
[44:15] talk about the order of operations of
[44:17] how I would approach everything. So
[44:19] first I would identify lowhanging fruit.
[44:21] So look in the system for past
[44:22] opportunities, opportunities that may
[44:24] have stalled, warm leads. If there's
[44:26] warm or excuse me, lowhanging fruit to
[44:29] go after, I'm going to identify that
[44:30] lowhanging fruit and start there. Then
[44:32] I'm going to be working with my account
[44:34] executive to identify strategic target
[44:37] accounts to go after and working closely
[44:39] with them, meeting with them on a weekly
[44:40] basis. And that's going to be a
[44:42] continuous process. And then from there,
[44:44] I want to coil the spring and do a lot
[44:46] of the heavy lifting up front and come
[44:49] each day with a plan. So I first I want
[44:52] to identify my top ICPs, my ideal
[44:54] customer profiles. So what are their job
[44:56] titles, departments, industries, buying
[44:58] triggers? If you have an idea, like at
[45:00] RevSync, I know we go after VPs of
[45:02] sales, people in sales leadership,
[45:04] marketing leadership. I know we play
[45:06] well in retail and uh manufacturing, and
[45:11] here are some of the buying triggers I'm
[45:12] familiar with, etc. So then I would make
[45:15] lists up front of the top accounts I've
[45:17] reviewed, the lowhanging fruit, all of
[45:19] those ICPs, and then I would create
[45:20] email templates and call scripts in
[45:22] advanced as well as LinkedIn messaging.
[45:24] So that after that's all set and I've
[45:26] built that base, then I can go after and
[45:29] create messaging for VPs of sales in
[45:32] retail or VPs of marketing in
[45:34] manufacturing, have my templates ready
[45:36] to go and just really focus on
[45:38] execution. So that's how I'm thinking
[45:40] about it before actually getting in. So
[45:43] curious to hear your feedback and if
[45:44] there's any other ways you think I
[45:46] should be approaching a new territory.
[45:48] Something like that. Well, you don't
[45:50] even have to go in that much depth. You
[45:52] kind of just want to signal that you
[45:53] know how to compartmentalize cuz you
[45:56] have a quota as an SDR and in sales, but
[45:58] there's an infinite amount of ways to
[46:00] hit that quota. There's no right answer.
[46:03] They might like you can they'll probably
[46:05] say that like there's no right answer,
[46:06] but just how would how would you first
[46:08] start thinking about it? And you can
[46:09] just those identify the lowhanging
[46:11] fruit. Work closely with your team.
[46:13] Start with your top job titles and
[46:15] personas that you tend to go after. Do a
[46:17] lot of the heavy lifting up front. This
[46:19] is going to blow them out of the water
[46:21] compared to most SDR answers. They're
[46:24] used to getting for in these types of
[46:25] interviews.
[46:28] And then something along the lines of
[46:30] how would you prepare for a cold call?
[46:32] They might say something like that. So
[46:33] the real question is do you know how to
[46:35] balance preparation with action? Are you
[46:37] going are you going to get analysis
[46:39] paralysis and overthink it? Um and are
[46:42] you structured and processoriented? So
[46:45] your answer framework you can
[46:46] acknowledge you understand you'll never
[46:48] be fully prepared to cold call. So
[46:50] you'll leverage the invit information at
[46:52] your fingertips but avoid the analysis
[46:54] paralysis. You'll pull up useful
[46:56] information that's in your CRM, their
[46:58] LinkedIn, um, and you understand their
[47:00] job title and persona so that you can be
[47:02] ready to understand their pain points
[47:03] and challenges and how your solution may
[47:06] align to those. So that's the framework.
[47:08] If I got asked, how would you prepare
[47:10] for a cold call? That's probably how I'd
[47:11] start. I I would say, I know you can
[47:13] never be fully prepared for a call. So
[47:15] my goal would be to leverage the
[47:17] information that's at my fingertips and
[47:19] have a process in place so that I'm as
[47:21] well equipped as I can going into every
[47:23] call. But I know you can't overthink
[47:25] cold calls. The goal that you set is 50
[47:27] dials a day. In order to do that, you
[47:30] have to sometimes make cold calls off
[47:31] limited information. So my process would
[47:34] be to pull up information about the
[47:36] contact I'm calling and the account in
[47:38] our CRM and have that up. I want to pull
[47:40] up their LinkedIn to see if there's any
[47:42] useful tidbits about their specific
[47:44] experience or job responsibilities that
[47:46] would align well with um RevSync. And
[47:49] then I want to understand what type of
[47:52] persona I'm calling to. Are they in
[47:54] sales or marketing? And how does RevSync
[47:56] apply to one persona versus another? And
[47:58] if I know all that, I can understand
[48:00] their pain points and their challenges
[48:01] and how Revsync may align to those and
[48:04] be as well equipped as I can and be
[48:06] prepared for the cold call, but be ready
[48:08] to change my thesis based on how that
[48:11] call is going. So really, what you're
[48:13] signaling is that you have an idea of
[48:14] what your process could look like.
[48:16] Again, you could ask them for for their
[48:18] feedback on that and if there's anything
[48:19] they'd recommend at the end, it it
[48:21] signals your coachability and that you
[48:22] like feedback. Um, but you want to
[48:24] signal, yes, I have a process, but I'm
[48:27] not going to get analysis paralysis and
[48:28] overthink. I'm going to balance
[48:30] preparation with action in that answer.
[48:35] And then, how would you structure your
[48:37] day to hit activity goals? You're we
[48:39] have a daily requirement of 50 dials, 25
[48:43] emails. There's going to be a lot put on
[48:44] your calendar. meetings. It gets
[48:45] overwhelming for a lot of new SDRs. How
[48:47] are you going to manage that? The real
[48:49] question, are you disciplined,
[48:50] structured, and processoriented? Can you
[48:53] manage time without h needing your
[48:54] handhold and held and being told what to
[48:57] do? And do you treat sales like a system
[48:59] or you do you just kind of wing it? So
[49:01] the answer framework you can use is talk
[49:03] about time blocking, aligning your
[49:05] activity with peak hours, completing
[49:08] your higher leverage tasks first while
[49:10] your energy is high, protecting your
[49:12] time and avoiding busy work. And then
[49:14] you can share a brief example of how you
[49:16] already do this in school, work, family,
[49:18] etc. So they asked how do you structure
[49:22] how how do you think you'd structure
[49:23] your day to hit these pretty ambitious
[49:25] activity goals? You can say, "Well,
[49:27] first thing I know I'm going to do
[49:28] because it's something I do right now in
[49:29] school or with work is block my calendar
[49:32] off. I'm I like to color code my
[49:34] calendar. So, I want to make sure I have
[49:36] undisputed time for prospecting and and
[49:39] make sure I'm I'm hitting those
[49:40] important activities and leaving time
[49:42] for those every single day. So, cold
[49:44] calling, emailing, LinkedIn, preparing
[49:46] my list for the next day, things like
[49:48] that. I'd also want to be aligning this
[49:51] activity with peak hours. From my
[49:53] research, I understand that the best
[49:55] time of day to prospect can be early in
[49:57] the morning and end of day. So, those
[50:00] are two time blocks I'll definitely have
[50:02] set for prospecting. And obviously, I'll
[50:04] be prospecting throughout the middle as
[50:05] well, but those are two I definitely
[50:07] want to be ready and prepared for. Every
[50:09] day, too, I want to make sure I'm when
[50:11] my energy is high, and this is how I
[50:13] approach it in in school and in sports
[50:15] right now, is is getting the most
[50:18] important high lever task done first.
[50:20] So, in this job, it will probably be
[50:23] prospecting. While my energy is high, I
[50:24] want to make sure I'm getting those
[50:26] dials in and the emails done, the really
[50:28] important tasks that are going to get me
[50:30] to my number. And then I want to protect
[50:32] my time, too, and make make sure I'm not
[50:34] just filling my calendar with busy work.
[50:37] And that's how the time blocking really
[50:38] helps me. It makes me make sure I'm
[50:40] focused on just the most important tasks
[50:42] every single day. And an example where I
[50:44] do this now is is in school where I play
[50:47] sports. I I'm in clubs. I have a lot of
[50:50] classes I need to attend. My day can get
[50:52] pretty hectic. So, I block time to make
[50:55] sure like I am going to do homework or a
[50:58] group project during this block. I have
[51:01] it on my calendar. I get the
[51:02] notifications and it's just a good way
[51:04] for me to stay organized and I'm going
[51:05] to use the same structure as an SDR if I
[51:08] was to join as an SDR rev sync. So, an
[51:11] answer like that signals that you
[51:12] understand the sales and SDR job is
[51:15] hectic. There's a lot you have to get
[51:16] done every day. Not every day is going
[51:18] to look the same, but you have some sort
[51:20] of plan and idea. And again, they're not
[51:22] looking, there's no right answers here.
[51:24] They just want to see that you're
[51:25] thinking about it the right way. You
[51:26] understand some of the challenges you
[51:28] may face when you're starting an SGR job
[51:31] and and how you're proactively thinking
[51:33] about it and how you're going to address
[51:34] it coming in. So, hope you all got value
[51:37] out of this one. I'm out of breath. 15
[51:40] questions and answers that you should
[51:42] feel pretty good going into an SDR
[51:44] interview if you're prepared for every
[51:46] one of these questions. If you want more
[51:48] hands-on guidance throughout this
[51:50] process, you can check out the links in
[51:51] the pin comment and description below to
[51:53] Tech Sales Ascension. We've literally
[51:55] helped well over a thousand reps break
[51:57] into some of the top companies in the
[51:59] industry and and guide them throughout
[52:01] the interview process. I'm a coach in
[52:03] there. So, hope to see you in there. But
[52:05] with that, hope you got some value and I
[52:07] will see you all on the next