Hey AE’s (mid-market, enterprise, strategic), what kind of inbound lead flow are you seeing from the BEST performers on you SDR/BDR teams? What tools are they using and what’s their approximate mix of email, calling, incoming lead follow-ups, event follow-ups, etc? Are they getting much response from email cadences? I ask because I’m seeing even the best, hardest working SDR/BDRs struggle because all these outreach automation tools result in receiving dozens of emails per day, so even the most carefully researched, custom outreach messaging is either blocked before it arrives or deleted. It’s tough out there and I think we’re seeing an evolution in which what was working even a few years ago is dead as disco. The best response we are seeing is from really good website content tied into a broader SEO and social media strategy. These are leads that are doing their own research on problems they are trying to solve…thus making them far better leads. Is this the only thing working now?
I'm a MM AE at a large software org and I'm seeing the same thing in terms of my emails being blocked or ignored. Can't speak much about our inbound lead strategy since my org is too big for me to influence that, but I just spoke with one of our top SDRs who is setting a ton of meetings and said old fashioned cold calling is how he's landing all these meetings. This probably doesn't answer your question but I'm seeing similar results. My inbound leads are usually poor but will get the occasional solid lead. I think we have outsourced SDRs who are tracking prospects who request info/sign up for trials.
You think it's an inbound lead issue or a product-market fit issue? Has it been an issue for a while or is it recent (i.e., from all the current economic uncertainty)?
Hey this is a great question and appreciate the insights. Frankly speaking we're seeing what we thought would play out, play out. The new AI tools tough the advantage being deep research and enrichment, which is great, but now pretty much everyone is doing that so all the emails look the same (again). Some things I think will matter more and more: 1. Founder brand through social and connecting with their market community (this is frankly what I try to do on LinkedIn for sales professionals and it drives a lot of awareness in our brand) 2. SEO yes, but think GEO (gen-AI engine optimization). The game is changing. Low quality content that used to work like Hubspots blog 'best sales books' or something is not gonna cut it. Need to be really specific to the product and not fluff. Also user generated content is doing really well. 3. Then you can pair some of these strategies with some traditional outreach like email and cold calling (well I just have to say at this point you just can't abandon it). 4. I also love just general social engagement with prospects from sellers (founder brand provides air cover). It's HARD out there right now, and don't expect it to get easy any time soon.