The First 30 Days: 4 Tips for Surviving (and Thriving) as a Rookie BDR

Congratulations! You landed that elusive, coveted, first BDR role. The first step to a highly profitable sales career. Cheers!

Now that you're set up with your fresh MacBook, company t-shirt and 32 names you've already forgotten, it's time to get to work. The next few weeks will determine if you can cut it in this wild industry.

If you're smart, you'll spend the next weeks learning everything you can - from managers, colleagues and of course, YouTube. In the meantime, here's a quick place to start. Here, are 4 Tips for Thriving in the next 30 Days.

#1 Shoulder Taps:

You're a little nervous. You don't know anyone, you're the new kid, and frankly, you have no idea what you're doing. That said, being in sales, you're probably competitive and generally self-motivated; so you'll be tempted to grind it out on your own. Figure it out yourself. Make it happen.

Don't do that.

As a junior BDR, anything you can do someone can do better. From prospecting and outreach to scheduling, tools and even morale management, there's other soldiers on your team who have fought this war before. Don't be shy, don't be proud, lean on them. Tap them on the shoulder and ask your question. As salespeople, we live a stressful life, and with it comes a camaraderie you won't find in many other disciplines. As the new rep, you have a green light to be as annoying as you want - don't waste it! Absorb as much knowledge as you can, so you can crush your numbers and start paying it forward to the newer reps.

BDR's...they grow so fast.. ??

#2 Play Around in the Toolbox

Not to be confused with the foosball table, the Toolbox will be your weapon for hitting your targets. Get to know all of the tools in there, quickly.

Depending on your company, you might have 10, 15 or even 20 tools that you use on a daily basis (think: Salesforce, Dooly, Slack, Outreach, Vidyard, Gong, HubSpot, etc.). When you start out, you'll be so overwhelmed by information on your company, your products and your team that you'll be tempted to push these to the side. In your defence, it's 2020, you'd think these programs will be user-friendly enough that you can figure them out on the fly.

Don't do that.

Why? Well, consider this. Say you have a ton of gardening to do today, and you're worried if you'll have time to finish it all. You wake up, get ready, make it all the way outside and realize you've forgotten your belt. Your pants are pretty loose, but you don't know if it's worth the time to go back and get it.

PSA: With the belt, as with the sales tools: it's always worth it. The time you spend early-on, figuring out these programs, asking questions, tightening that belt, the more time you'll save later. If you skim through this part now, you'll catch yourself months later (with a fully-ramped quota, by the way) struggling to keep up as you constantly pull up your baggy pants. Not smart, not worth it. Belt up!

By the way, the same applies to tip #1. If you're smart, you'll always lean on your seniors for information, but at this stage you have the most free time to do so, and they have the most sympathy for you - so take advantage, young blood - ask away!

#3 Don't Beat Yourself Up

The toughest part of sales, no question, is the inevitable "no". No one likes rejection, we know that, yet salespeople literally make a career out of it. We tell ourselves we're immune to the anxiety, but as social types we're most definitely not - least of which junior reps. You can just grind through it, take it on the chin, press forward but.. (and you might notice a trend here)..

..don't do that.

There are a bunch of healthy ways to get comfortable with rejection and/or failure. With all of them, the name of the game is this: separating your ego from your results. Not to be confused, you should be proud of your accomplishments and you should address your shortcomings to grow as a rep. However, you don't need to take every "no" as a slap against your ego, or yourself as a person. But how to separate the two?

My favourite way, and mind you this is personal preference, is sports & fitness. Try running, try yoga, jiu jitsu, Crossfit, even taking walks around the neighbourhood. Whatever it is, the process is the same. You try something, you realize what you can and can't do. You inevitably fail, you try again and you slowly get better. This type of exercise is critical for balancing your emotional state and embracing setbacks as a prerequisite for progress. As a bonus, you de-stress and get in better shape, which makes you an even more powerful person altogether!

Yay, sports.

Disclaimer: If sports really aren't for you, you can try other means of embracing difficulty and rejection, some try meditation, dating, even counselling. Whatever it is, it's worth a shot.

#4 Two Hands on the Wheel!

The first few months as a BDR are a bumpy ride. You're learning a million-and-one things, meeting an entire team and trying to hit your ramp target. It's chaos.

As an ambitious rep, you're trying to learn everything at once, before the rest of your cohort does. Honestly, fair enough. But don't bite off more than you can chew.

Picture this:

You're 2 weeks in, on-boarding is over, and your schedule is completely open. You want to learn a bit about the product, listen to some calls, get to know the AE's and do some sales training. You pop open your new MacBook, you pour a coffee and you're ready to rock. Before you know it, it's three hours later, you have a tab open for each of the above tasks, Slack is pinging in the background, yet somehow you've accomplished next to nothing.

What happened?

As your Driver's Ed instructor would have said, you didn't have your hands at 10 and 2. You were dabbling in every task. Driving with one hand, while the other was messing around in all the others. Sure, you were dripping some progress into every bucket, but overall, nothing was finished.

..Don't do that.

But how do you keep both hands on the wheel?

**Time Blocking enters the chat**

A few weeks into my last role, I consulted with my BDM on how to maximize my productivity. She was adamant about time blocking and assured me it would change my life. Did it ever..

Time-Blocking 101:

1. Every day, decide what you want to accomplish.
2. Set a specific time block for each task.
3. DO NOT deviate from your plan. Do the task in the time allotted. If you run out of time, move on and block more time to continue later (or even tomorrow).
4. When you're doing a task, do only that task (hands on the wheel). If you're easily distracted, turn off your email notifications, turn off your Slack notifications, put your phone away. Don't worry, your colleagues can see your schedule and know you're busy.
5. Assess and Optimize. You won't get your time-blocks right the first time. Adjust accordingly. Are you doing too much of one thing? Not enough of another? Be mindful of your progress in the first few weeks, and adjust where needed. If it helps (trust me, it helps) consult with your manager. Explain your time blocks and get their feedback. The quicker you nail this, the quicker you get paid!

We'll end things right where we started them: it's time for you to learn everything. In the next month, knowledge will be your weapon of choice. You've started by taking some tips from me (great start!), now keep up the momentum. Ask your peers, ask your managers, ask your fellow alumni at other companies. Find a mentor, bug them to no end. Find people on LinkedIn and ask them for advice. As cliché as it sounds, knowledge is power, and with great power comes great progress. (Yes, progress is a metaphor for awesome commission cheques).

Happy selling, rookies!