The Ultimate SDR Stories

The Ultimate
SDR Stories
India's First Official Guide to crack the SDR Role
Interviews from Top 30U30 SDRs in India
Finding a job is tough. Finding the right job is tougher. But it doesn't have to be
anymore. At least for an SDR role. This ebook contains interviews from the TOP 30
UNDER 30 SDRs in India! Our goal with this eBook is to help people understand if
an SDR job is right for them. It’s also a good refresher for existing SDRs who want
to learn and network with others from the space.
The SDR job is one of the hottest jobs in the market right now. It is in huge
demand and it is only going to grow. This is because of many reasons.
One reason is that India is producing startups at a faster rate than any country.
A huge chunk of these startups are operating in the SaaS industry and the
majority of them need SDRs.  
Also, VC money is flowing into India (albeit it has reduced over the last quarter
because of external factors) because of the emergence of many unicorns over
the past 3 years.
 
The best part about this demand is that we have the supply to match it.
 
Anyone in a client-facing role in hospitality, events, retail, manufacturing,

teaching, etc., can easily make a switch to an SDR role by learning a few things.
Graduates from any field can apply for it as well. Some companies will even hire
people that don’t hold a graduate degree (Including Outplay!).
Questions, Concept & Editing
Kabir Krishn / UpTalkk
Distribution & Design
Outplay
1
Kabir Krishn
UpTalkk
Kabir is an experienced B2B sales leader who believes that people buy from
people they trust. He is passionate about the SDR role and expects India to
produce the next generation of salespeople. Currently, he works with executives
and salespeople who want to be seen as trusted leaders in their industry. You
can think of him as a go-to person for personal branding and demand generation.
Outplay is a modern sales engagement platform that helps sales teams engage
and acquire more prospects, and accelerate their revenue. The perfect sales
buddy to keep your pipeline full, personalize and automate your outreach, and
get more meetings booked!
With Outplay, you can sit back and put all your focus on talking to prospects and
let the platform handle all the non-revenue generating tasks. Multi-channel
prospecting, live call monitoring, impressive analytics, powerful integrations,
website tracking, and so many other features to help you scale your sales.
2
Table of Content
Intro
01
About
02
Part 1 - SDR 101

04
Part 2 - Interviews
07
Chapter 1 : The What - from people working this job daily

08
What do you love/hate about being an SDR?

09
What does your day as an SDR look like?

14
What do you think makes a successful SDR?

30
Chapter 2 : The How - hustle, persistent, growth mindset

42
How did you get your current job?

43
How can someone with zero SDR experience get a job?

54
Which sales influencers are you following right now?

67
Chapter 3: The Change : Surprises

86
Is the SDR role what you expected it to be?

87
One thing you wish you knew before starting out as an SDR?
97
Part 3 - Editors' Note 106
3
Part 1
SDR 101
Part 1 - SDR 101 4

Definition
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) or a Business Development Representative
(BDR) is an individual who is responsible for filling the top of the sales funnel by
prospecting and qualifying leads.
SDRs are sales specialists that establish the foundational relationships with new leads
before handing them over to the Account Executives who are responsible for making the
sale.
Importance
They are important because they are usually the first ones in the company to interact
with the prospect.
Not just that, SDRs create sales opportunities for Account Executives and unburden them
from prospecting so that they can focus solely on closing deals and generating revenue.
Career Path
An SDR/BDR can grow vertically into an SDR manager where he/she leads a team of
SDRs OR moves into an Account Executive role where they are responsible for bringing
sales.
They can choose to grow horizontally into RevOps and Customer Success roles as well.
RevOps is a back-end role that is responsible for creating a high-
5
performance sales team through standardizing and optimizing their tasks. Customer
Success is a client-facing role that is responsible to ensure that the project is being
delivered smoothly.
SDR in Tech
SDRs/BDRs hold a critical position in companies across all industries, especially in the
Software as a Service (SaaS) domain.
An SDR in tech is a fulfilling job where you get to solve challenges for a diverse group of
people. You will constantly interact with new folks and learn about their companies and
roles.
There’s also no technical qualification needed to become an SDR in tech. Your soft skills
will determine how successful you can become in this role - doesn’t matter if you hold a
degree or not.
Earning potential
The starting base salary of SDRs/BDRs in India is INR 4-10 lakhs, per annum, including
variable pay. Senior SDRs can earn a base of between INR 10- 20 lakhs per annum.
6
Part 2
Interviews
Part 2 - Interviews 7
Chapter 1
The
What
From People
Working This
Job Daily
Chapter 1 : The What - from people working this job daily 8
What do you love/hate
about being an SDR?
Turns out that the Top 30 Under 30 have a bunch of common love/
hate things to share about their role. Therefore, we decided to collate
all individual answers to a macro answer that summarizes their love/
hate relationship with the SDR role.
9
Things that the SDR’s love
1. Creativity
The most common answer. SDRs loved that they can try out
different ways to reach out to their prospect. There’s complete
freedom to experiment with messages and responses.
2. Research
Some people liked researching about the company and the

prospects in order to help them out.
3. Speaking to new Executives
The job teaches you how to talk to busy executives and get
their attention.
4. No boring day
Every day is a new day and no day is dull since you are
reaching out to new people and also talking to new people
from different cultures on a daily basis.
What do you love/hate about being an SDR? 10

5. Building a network
SDR’s realise that their network will stay with them forever.
Therefore they focus on building relationships and helping
their prospects.
6. Genearting Revenue
There’s a thrill that comes with generating new revenue for

the company. They love that this comes with insane
monetary incentives and recognition from peers.
7. Adrenaline Rush
The SDR role gives a huge dopamine rush when a prospect

agrees for a meeting.
8. Lifelong learning
The SDRs recognize that the role teaches them new things
every day. It also teaches you how to handle rejection and
the best part is that you don’t need to have a technical
background or a college degree to learn and grow in the role.
11
Things that the SDR’s hate
1. Prospects Ghosting
Aligning meetings involves blood, sweat and tears and when

a prospect stops responding- it is painful. SDRs hate it when
a prospect who has agreed to meet doesn’t show up.
2. No meetings scheduled
SDRs don’t like it when a week goes by and they haven’t

scheduled any meetings. There’s a similar feeling when the
Quarter is ending and they haven’t hit quota.
3. Updating CRM
While SDRs recognize that this is essential to track prospects and

predict revenue, it is not something that every SDR is fond of.
4. Rejections
Some SDRs don’t like rejection and find it difficult to pick

themselves up and stay motivated. The job involves
uncertainity so it is difficult to predict when they’ll get their
next meeting on the calendar.
What do you love/hate about being an SDR? 12

5. Misconception of an SDR role
The SDR role is super important as they are the face of the
company and not ‘pawns’. It’s not even an entry level job as
people label it to be.
6. Bad data
Dealing with Bad Data in closing deals are also some things
that SDR’s don’t like about their roles.
13
What does your
day as an SDR
look like?
14
Shefali Jain
Slintel
I'd start my day with
LinkedIn and Slack - see if anybody on Li or on any of the Slack communities

had talked about a problem Slintel could solve for- in the last 12 hours. If yes,
research on them and their use case, send an email/message talking about
how Slintel can help! Only offer to help, don't try to book a meeting, it's a turn
off :)
Next, I'd pick the best 15 accounts to reach out to. Research on those
accounts, see if we're working with any of their competitors, etc and get my
sequence ready.
Check if anybody opened my emails more than twice, if yes, set some time
later in the day to call them, drop a VM if they didn't pick up, followed by an
email stating I'd just called/dropped a VM. If they pick up, I mostly end up
booking the meeting.
Reaching out to folks on Li from the list of accounts I'd reached out to on email
the previous day.
Connecting with peers, and brainstorming ideas on what we can do better

(we do this religiously at Slintel, and it helps a lot).
Throughout the day stay proactive on Slack Communities and LinkedIn - reach
out to anyone and everyone that needs a data provider.
Replying to responses I get on emails and Li.
Send personalized videos to prospects on Li; sometimes even on email if the

prospect didn't take my call but opened my emails multiple times.
Connecting with AEs to brainstorm if there's a new segment we can tap into.
Ending my day with a team standup, discuss what worked, exchange ideas etc
What does your day as an SDR look like? 15

Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
10:00 AM - Show up to work well-rested, meditated and fed
10:00 10:30 - Blocking the calendar based on priorities which include meetings,
email replies, followups, prospecting and brainstorming
10:30 to 11:30 - Prospecting + Email Reply's
11:30 Attend standup with the team to gather information and communicate
the priority tasks of the day to ensure progress (Small Wins)
12:00 - 3:00 Asia customer sales calls (1ST, follow-up and closing calls)
3:00 - 3:30 - Lunch Break
3:30 - 4:00 - Reading and watching informative books and videos to support
my sales activities
4:00 - 5:30 - Team meetings to decide on the next steps with prospects to
turn them into clients and to up-sell for existing clients
5:30 - 7:30 - Prospecting +Scheduling meetings for the week
7:30 - 8:30 - US Sales calls (1ST, follow-up and closing calls)
Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
Checking personal Documents/Notes from the last day.
60% Research - Accounts, ICPs, Target Persona, Prioritizing, Latest news related to
my accounts, documenting these details on Excel.
40% Getting Shit Done - Outreach - Hyper personalised emails, calls, inmails,
messages, etc. Finally - wrapping up my work by documenting whatever I did
and getting ready for the next day and reporting to my manager.

Rashika Garg
Chargebee
My day is divided between scheduling new meetings, nurturing the existing leads
with follow-ups, generating traction from marketing campaigns and making
sure interested leads show up on demos. I keep aside 2 hours in the first half and
2 hours in the second half for back-to-back calling on my leads (inbox is shut, no
internal meetings) and the rest of the time is used to completing other tasks. As
an SDR, you have monthly/quarterly targets, but it’s imperative to complete your
daily tasks (activities and cadences) so that the end goal is achieved.
Nikhil Palve
Recro
You never know, and that's the best part about it:)
But generally, it comprises identifying TG, persona research, creating lists,

prospecting, talking with a lot of people ( ), following up with leads, and at the
EOD thinking about the pros and cons of this career:)
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar

Zendesk
As an SDR!! my day start's with planning my priorities, like what are the follow-
ups that I have ( not to miss that ) as follow-ups are the key to SDR success.
Focusing on accounts, understanding their trends and analysis, doing active

research about the accounts that I am focusing upon, sending customized
emails, LinkedIn requests and updating myself on every industry vertical. Calling
customers to market the brand and introduce them to the offerings.

Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
A day filled with immense strategic thinking and creativity. Each day has a
similar list of activities and to-do's to be executed which I'm sure everyone in the
SDR industry is very well versed with. My day consists of prospecting, drafting
hyper-personalized emails and follow-ups, attending internal sales meetings/
external client calls and of course targeting the correct set of accounts.
Prospecting is the base and the strongest foundation coupled with ample
research to ensure that the right message reaches the right stakeholder. This
takes the most time along with drafting emails. This in turn leads to positive
replies (on a few lucky days) and then client meetings (on super lucky days).
Think of it as a cake, prospecting is the base, research is the layer of chocolate,
positive responses are the cream and as you might have guessed, meetings are
the cherry on the cake!!
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
I work as an inbound SDR. My job is to get on a discovery call with the prospects
who are interested in our product and check for their use case, project scope,
current scenario and intent. My day is mostly getting on these calls with the
prospects who have directly booked time with me. Post that, I begin following up
with the ones who just raised a request but are yet to book time. After that
begins the nurturing of the prospects who might be uncertain of the value
proposition that our product might have for them. This usually requires going
back and forth on calls with them and sending them relevant collaterals. The last
part of the day is the one I look forward to the most, which is creating
opportunities on our CRM for all the prospects who are converted and will be
pushed forward in the sales cycle. Internal documentation is important to help
the account executives take care of the next steps!

Rajeev Abhilash
Deel, ex- Freshworks
I break my day down into three parts:
Prospecting : I have slots marked in for the three major channels I use in calls,
social and email. Prospecting never stops.
Follow-ups: This I believe is the most important part for a SDR. By follow-ups, I
don't only mean prospects who have not responded but also customers who
could provide referrals.
Perspective: Lounge back, listen to cold calls, run analytics, figure out areas of
progress and things to experiment on the next day.
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
Typically, my day would be split into 20% prospecting and 80% working on OKRs,
AOPs, GTM strategies, process flows, identifying gaps, suggesting improvements,
and managing the team.
However, during my tenure as an Individual contributor, my day usually started

at 9 am, checking my emails and responding to prospects, which took about an
hour or so. Post that would be the one-on-one reach outs on Emails and LinkedIn
through SalesLoft. This typically took about 3 to 4 hours before I broke for lunch.
My second half usually revolved around shortlisting new accounts, writing new
email templates, checking in with the LDR on the new database, and sending
LinkedIn connection requests. Also, spend some time researching prospects and
checking on the associations and groups I'm part of.
I would then update salesforce and wrap up with some evening snacks and a
few games of pool before the long drive back in the good old Bangalore traffic.

Rajdeep Singh Bhatia
Haptik
I begin each day with a positive attitude and plenty of energy. First, I go through
the daily plan and remind prospects about the meeting later that day. After that,
I get into the hustle of Research, Personalization, and Reach out to key prospects
to grasp their problem issues. After a few "Cold Prospects," "No," and "Not
interested," I eventually receive a few "Let's set up a time to talk about this". The
day is then concluded with a team standup where we brainstorm on key
objections and exchange ideas.
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
I start my day by revisiting everything that happened the day before. Checking
my mailbox, LinkedIn inbox, Slack communities (for leads, responses, messages).
I then sit organizing my calendar - removing/adding any unwanted meeting/
blocks.
I start my day by choosing the accounts I want to pursue that day (typically 4-5
acc/day) I spend good time learning about these companies and making a list
of prospects I should get in touch with. I make notes on the triggers (company
based/Prospect based) then I start dialling within an hour of my research. I then
pull out the prospect list into a/multiple CSV/s and push them to my Outplay
tailored Sequences for my emails to go out. I spend 4 hours on Prospecting,
Emails, LinkedIn and Calls. I make sure I spend at least 30 to 60 minutes
connecting with my team. This includes cross-functional conversations that help
me understand other functions in the company and my product better. This
reflects on my confidence while pitching the solution. 60-90 minutes are
dedicated to learning. This could be reading/posting on LinkedIn, listening to
podcasts, or a sales book our articles my manager and the team share.

Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
A typical day would start with looking at new prospects and opportunities to
discuss their organization in detail, what's best for them, their next goals, etc. As
an SDR, I've always believed in helping my clients achieve more than just selling.
Every firm has a different need, a different process, etc. So it's always important
to discuss in detail with the solutions team to get the best help out of there! Of
course, cold-calling takes a significant period of the day (with lots of market
research and planning behind it).
Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
During my time as an SDR, my day started with researching and prospecting for
the first half of the day, then focus on personalized emails to the prospects and
try linkedin reach outs, engage in training/mentoring the new BDRs and then
again prospecting at the end of the day.
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
My typical day involves 3 non-negotiables:
Making at least 75 cold calls.
Sending approximately 30 emails.
Researching 10-15 net new accounts.
I usually maintain a combination of cold calls and emails. It gives me better

control over my outbound effort. I also consume the content of sales influencers
who I look up to.

Dave Denny
Outplay
"My day always starts with a one-hour pre-work ritual where I get into a zone
where I prepare for the tasks I need to do for the day (Let’s call it an informal
type of meditation?
Since I work the US shift, the first thing I do is to make sure that my emails are
in my prospect's inboxes before they wake up and start their day.
Prospect new accounts to be reached out.
Team meetings and trainings
Huddle with my AE to gain clarity on meetings that happened or are going to

happen.
Call blitz (2 hours of personalized cold calling)
Wrapping up with the team meeting
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
As an SDR, I divide my calendar into different tasks like starting my mornings by

meeting up with the team. Then taking follow up from Clients, sharp from 11 AM to
1 PM. Then post that, I start hunting down my clients and looking for leads and
dial/send some Cold Calls/Emails to fresh clients. Sometimes in the evening, I
reach out to clients whom I have a good relationship with and if I think they can
give us future business. After finishing Client reach-out, I do some cross-
functional activities that are required from me or prepare reports and
presentations as a lot of my clients are from India and are not very active during
the evening. After this activity, I upskill myself through some short courses or
reading books that help me grow in my current domain, which is the most
important part for any professional."

Venkateswara M
Freshworks
My typical (and productive) day would be starting off with a morning coffee
alongside checking the emails & calendar to get an idea of what the day looks
like. Up next, I kickstart the day with a call blitz along with my team to gain the
momentum and volume of new opportunities. Post which, I follow up with the
prospects and also contact the warm/priority leads if any. After the second
round of caffeine, I start prospecting to have a good lead flow and spend time
on relevant social media channels – largely LinkedIn for social selling. Before I
break for the day, I connect with my team & Manager, to understand if there are
any pressing issues to be dealt with, challenges, focus areas, etc. Now it’s the
time to go offline and be well-rested as I have a big day tomorrow :)
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
Have colour coded blocks on your calendar, recurring for the entire year, they
may look like :
1. Check all the important emails/messages, and reply to them
2. Create a do-to-list with priority assigned
3. Pre-call research (2 Hours)
4. Calling (3-4 Hours)
5. Emails ( 1 Hour)
6. LinkedIn/Vidyard (1-2 Hours)
Always keep a buffer zone, and seek feedback from peers and the manager at
least twice a week.

Qazi Ikram
Slintel
Typically, It starts with creating a task list, which is another way of putting my
day on paper (I tend to go a bit old school instead of going the Todoist or Notion
way). This also includes taking a look at all my high engagement prospects, and
jot their reach out strategy in my to-do - which is either Video, phone Call, or a
Hyper personalized email. The first hour goes like checking out all my email
replies, any calendared meetings for the day, new meetings booked, Salesforce
Tasks etc. Followed by spending some time on LinkedIn, mostly reading content,
and sending out connection requests. And then comes the morning standup.
Then it’s a mix of executing my core task like Follow-ups, writing new sequences,
creating the lists of accounts for my outreach, researching the accounts, writing
personalized emails, sending LinkedIn connections, recording vidyards, making
cold calls, and attending my booked meetings along with my AEs. Mind you, not
all the tasks can happen on the same day(unless you’re God-level efficient), for
the rest of us mortals, that’s where spending time on a to-do list makes sense.
Prioritizing your tasks is important. People have dedicated timeslots on their
calendars for specific tasks, but somehow couldn’t make that work for me. And
then I log out satisfied that I have done my best! Some days you have results to
flex and some days you don’t, put your grind and leave the rest to God or
whatever your belief set is!
Srivaradha Vanamamalai
Zendesk
I add 10-15 accounts/day with anywhere from 3-5 contacts/account into my

CRM and add them to the respective persona-wise sequences. Once I've added
them, my SEP takes care of the rest, and it asks me to call them, email them, and
reach out on LI as per schedule. My job is just to complete those tasks. Post
sequence, every week I add prospects to nurture sequences which sends ~1
email/month to make sure the brand is fresh in their minds.,

Ryan Aneja
Slintel
4:00pm IST : Wake up, Yoga/Stretching, say a quick hi to my dog ( V IMP), Meal 1.
5:00pm IST : Listen to a podcast while scrolling through LinkedIn to find whom I
will reach out to that day.
5:30pm IST : At this point, I'm logged in and catching up on any emails I need to
respond to
6:30pm IST : Identifying a target sector/list/vertical to go after (using Slintel

Platform)
7pm IST : Syncing up with the team, see if I can help solve any challenges for my
teammates
8pmIST : Quick break for Meal 2
8:30pm IST : Where the real outbound hustle begins
11:30pm IST : Boxing/Jog (Cardio)
12:15am IST : Back to the desk, follow ups, setting the sequence for the next day,
LinkedIn outreach + post ideas
1:30am IST : EOD Call
2:30am IST : Personal development time (audiobook) + physio work
3:30am IST : 1 chapter - Illiad (Homer)
4:00am IST : Watch Sports highlights (football, NBA, cricket)
5:00am IST : Meal 3
6:00am IST : Beddie Byes zzzzz"

Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
It usually starts with checking the email and LinkedIn to see any responses from
the client. After that starting with the previous day prospected accounts to reach
out to the top personas. Once the outreach of the email is done, start with the
cold calling and then LinkedIn task at the end. Before ending the day, I usually
plan out my next day in advance :- preparation for any scheduled meeting,
prospecting of the account for next day reach out.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
My day as an SDR is to begin with replying back to emails then followups on

existing conversations and then fresh prospection. While this is key part of day-
to-day activity. I have alternative days set with few hours dedicated to list
building and CRM update on activities done.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
A typical day starts with an SDR War Room, where all the SDRs (and Managers)
gather to discuss meetings, interesting calls, results from the previous day. We
try to learn what's working, what we should stop doing and what we should
continue doing.
A major chunk of time is spent on prospecting — finding information to

personalize our outreach. This also means indulging in some ""professional
stalking"" on a prospect's LinkedIn and their company site.
Post which, I get to cold calling and writing personalized follow-up emails and
nurturing some of the warmer leads. "

Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
A typical day involves 3 kinds of activities.
Revenue-generating activities -
Cold calls, cold calling, attending demos, prospecting, and content creation for
LinkedIn.
Non-revenue generating activities -
Internal meetings, updating salesforce, interviewing candidates.
Serotonin generating activities -
Meditation, swimming, and petting my cat.
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
A typical day in the SDR role looks like compiling data of prospects to reach out,
Cold Calling, Emailing and leveraging social media for outreach basically for
booking a meeting with prospects/decision-makers of an organization who
might probably buy our solution if things go well which is called a 'closure' in
Sales dictionary. It also includes setting reminders for tasks like timely follow-ups
or if someone asks to call at a specific time, it also includes forgetting a lot of
things due to multitasking while on a call with prospects and suddenly it may
strike you that you missed following up with X on WhatsApp in the morning. My
day also includes forecasting and building a pipeline sheet to present to the
leadership weekly. Apart from that running demonstrations for prospects in the
meeting and driving the meeting in sync with the needs of my organization as
well as the prospect's organization and leveraging synergies.

Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
I start every day as my first day with so much excitement & exuberance
5.30 to 6.30 AM - Workout/Cycling with friends
9.00 to 10.00 AM - Commuting to office
9.30 to 10.00 AM - Reading Global, Regional and tech news and an Episode from
Shark Tank series! 🙇
10.00 to 10.30 AM - Stand-up Meetings 🚶
10.30 to 11.30 AM - Cold calls/Follow-up calls ️
11.30 to 12. 00 PM - Personalized Emails ️ ️
12.00 to 1.00 PM - Calls/LinkedIn Reach outs and Emails.
1.00 to 1.30 - Lunch time
1.30 to 3.00 PM - Calls/LinkedIn Reach outs and emails. ️ ️ ️
3.00 to 4.00 PM - Preparing the prospecting list and plan for the next day.
4.00 to 4.30 PM - Working on Initiatives to amp my SDR game/Handhold new

joiners
4.30 to 6.30 PM - Preparing the prospecting list and planning for the next day.
6.30 to 7.00 PM - Commuting back home
7.00 to 8.00 PM - Reading books, Scroll LinkedIn and Social Media 🙇
8.30 to 9.30 PM - Family time (Strictly no mobiles) ‍ ‍ ‍
9.30 to 11.00 PM - Netflix time
11.00 PM - Bedtime "

Amisha Raj
Freshworks
Well, it depends on my mood, (JK). Typically the day begins by planning the day
or the rest of the week. Go back and look at the previous day, fetch information,
do minute research, hunt for new prospects, strategize the day, have coffee,
coffee again and begin execution. Each day in the life of an SDR is different, it is
so dynamic yet gets monotonous at times but that's exactly the beauty of it.

What do you
think makes a
successful SDR?
What do you think makes a successful SDR? 30

Shefali Jain
Slintel
Persistence and hard work topped with creativity!
Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
Understanding the product/services that you sell in detail - You believing in

your product/services before anyone else is important to success.
Recognising the target market - You need to have crystal clarity on your
potential buyers
Persistence & Humble - Every SDR's need to be persistent in the approach and
staying humble which is the key as there will be more rejections then success
in this field
Customer Empathy - Having a sense of empathy towards the buyer and their
problem statement will help to sell faster and build long lasting relationship
Genuinely trying to help - This will help to creating a positive atmosphere and
builds trust with the prospects
Active listening - Listening to your customer and your internal team enables
you to navigate the deal towards closure and up-sell when required
Hunter Attitude - An SDR should always look out for an opportunity (problem
statements)
Excellent follow up skills - You should know the right frequency of value added
follow up and dont just bombard the prospects with mails and calls
Personalisation - The more you research the prospect and personalise the
pitch, the more high ticket sales you’ll generate

Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
1. Keeping a Happy Face always.
2. Everyday is a new day.
3. Research - big time.
4. Getting things done - Minimal Procrastination
5. Strong Discovery
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
Constantly evolving yourself and identifying what works for you is important.
Each sales rep has a different approach to work and while there are some
ground rules- there is no right or wrong answer in sales because we are dealing
with humans. It’s all about building relationships, trust and adding value at each
step of the way. Ultimately, it’s a mix of persistence, resilience, drive and innate
hunger for success.
Nikhil Palve
Recro
1. Excellent persuasion skills
2. Ability to create curiosity hooks during conversations
3. Never say die attitude

Venkateswara M
Freshworks
Thinking ahead of time is something that differentiates successful SDRs from the
masses. The best SDRs start laying the groundwork for the next month/quarter
during the last leg of the current month! This helps in gaining predictability and
consistency in hitting the numbers.
Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
According to me, consistency is the driving force behind any kind of success no
matter what job or role it is. We expect overnight results and blame external
factors like luck, timing and self confidence when things go down hill. Sales is a
dynamic graph, and one thing which can assure steady performance is
consistency. You might have one bad week followed by the other but trust me the
third week is for you to shine if you have been consistent. Consistently prospect,
consistently follow up, consistently work hard, there's no magic formula.
There will definitely be clients from previous quarters who will reach out to you
proactively if you have been consistent, and I'm genuinely speaking this from
experience!
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar

Zendesk
A successful SDR is someone who is an expert in research, who is always curious

to know the trends and analysis and keeps themselves updated every now and
then. They should know who their target audiences are. Also, have right
knowledge both on the product and process. And, last but not the least, who
thinks uniquely to perform their tasks to reach high results.

Zendesk
Ownership: I think there is always more to learn, and LinkedIn is the best medium
to get exposed to this. Sit in on those webinars, network with people, ask people
their time to understand how they're succeeding in their SDR roles, just keep
getting on calls with people you don't know asking them a 100 questions on what
they do, and how they do things differently - this will help you get a lot of
knowledge.
Creativity: It is like a muscle. You need to exercise it to strengthen it or it can

atrophy. Try drawing or painting lessons, solve puzzles, try wordplays, and always
try to think out of the box. This can give you an edge to stand out by being a red
X in a sea of white circles.
Consistency: I think creating success is one thing, but it is tough to repeat them.
A successful SDR is someone who can repeat their yearly performance atleast
twice or thrice before moving out of the role.
Rajeev Abhilash
The pride in associating my name to a call or an email. Also I believe my hunger

to just be a little better everyday helps me a lot.
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
Consistency + dedication + communication skills + product knowledge lead the

way to success for an SDR.

Dave Denny
Outplay
Every successful SDR should definitely possess these two qualities:
1) Curiosity to be learning more about the space they are in.
2) Grit/Consistency to strive to be the best in the field as it's never an easy road
to be an SDR.
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
I think not everyone can be successful all the time, but if I had to think of one
thing that leads toward success, I'd say the ability to keep prospects engaged
and knowing your craft. Especially in cold calling, it's pretty difficult to keep
someone engaged for even 5 minutes. Being able to handle conversations with
5/10 people on a cold call, signifies success for an SDR.
Amisha Raj
Freshworks
Personally, my idea of a successful SDR would be how many connects/

conversations you can have with your prospects. Prospect engagement is one of
the most important factor, even if it does not convert now, your relationship with
them will help you convert them at a later stage - so it's never a loss. So,
understand your prospect, empathize with them, hustle hard, believe in yourself,
be positive and think out of the box to keep up the engagement with your
accounts/prospects and you are good to go.

Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
Drive, Confidence, Resistance and Persistence
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
Empathy, honesty and patience! If you can understand where the prospect is
coming from and what their issues are, you are able to connect with them on a
more friendly level. You become not just another SDR pitching your product but
someone who is genuinely willing to solve their problem.
Additionally, be honest with them about what your product can and can not do.
If you already know that there might be a competitor which can solve their
problems while you can not, tell them. Don’t be afraid of naming competitors in
such cases. Trust me, people remember this and will actively seek opportunities
to come back to you and work with you.
And lastly, be patient. Understand that the prospects might have other priorities
as well. Be pushy but don't bombard them with your outreach. If they reschedule
a call, be understanding and never lose your cool demeanor.
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
A successful SDR is someone who is not only contributing to his/her current

Goals, but also going over and above their Targets, keeping the company's
vision & mission in mind. Don't always just try to grow horizontally, but also see
where you can grow vertically and make an impact in your organization.

Qazi Ikram
Slintel
An acumen for tying a business use case with how your product can make your
prospect's life easier. A good understanding of your product, buyer persona,
knowing what bothers them and what their short term and long term objectives
are, which an SDR should be able to word nicely in emails, callings or videos. For
me the magic starts with prioritising the accounts that I am chasing, then comes
the copy of your email sequence along with how you follow up based on
engagement metrics.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
Attention to detail and asking a lot of questions are my "big guns." I'm always
looking for ways to raise the bar and improve the overall standards. I find
creative writing fun, which makes prospecting emails and personalization easy,
and I'm grateful for that gift. Asking questions (to prospects, coworkers,
mentors, other industry folks) is a great way to prevent 'going through the
motions' after having been an SDR for 2 years. Showing up every day, and
showing my level and quality from the 'opening salvo' of emails at the
beginning of the month, right down till day 30. That's what it's all about. I believe
my upbringing and being exposed to a lot of nationalities from a young age
has helped me to communicate effectively with people of all walks of life. Being
naturally confident on calls, speaking freely in webinars, and understanding
cultural nuances are some of the perks I've noticed.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
Determination

Karan Kantharia
vFairs
3 things:
1. He/she should be able to go out of their comfort zone, and hit those activities
consistently.
2. A desire to innovate, and think out of the box. As there is lots of noise out there,
and prospects have become numb to traditional methods.
3. Ability to go above and beyond in every call, email, interaction, and task.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
When I first started, any negative email response or bad cold call (my first cold
call was terrible, as is the case with most SDRs) affected me quite a bit. With the
passage of time, I learnt to detach myself from the outcome (Thanks, Josh Braun).
I've learnt to embrace rejection and have understood that a prospect may have a
problem I can help solve — some are going to want to hear what I have to offer,
some are not.
As the famous saying goes, "It really do be like that sometimes.

Haptik
Good story telling skills, understanding prospects' pain points, and explaining
them how our product solves their pain points, included with a team standup
where we brainstorm on key objections and exchange ideas.

Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
Hardwork, Persistence, Creativity and inner drive to try out newer things.
Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
Assume you are the owner of the company and start interacting with the prospects.
Being Empathetical.
Draft messaging as the way you speak to people.
Eagerness to learn and unlearn.
Listen to fellow SDR calls on the floor.
Self discipline in doing activities.
Good Listener and avoid monologue
Building good rapport with Prospects, Internal stakeholders and AE's
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
Persistence, regular rejections, confidence, strong pitch, understanding of the

prospect's work to throw use cases which the SDR's organization can solve,
forecasting, patience, empathy, curiosity, absorb like a sponge and an ever
learning attitude, open for feedback nature, well structured coherent
communication. A good SDR learns how to laugh at a tough or non-productive
day. Taking rejection with a not-a-care attitude can help SDRs stay successful
and motivated.

Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
There's a story about the two woodcutters who were in a competition to see who
could cut down more trees. Let's call them John and Rick. They set out to chop,
and after about an hour, John sat down to take a break and invited Rick to join
him – to which he replied, "No way! I'm going to keep chopping, and I'm going to
beat you."
This pattern repeated itself several times throughout the day. At the end of the
day, when they compared to see who had chopped more wood, Rick was
astonished to find that John, who kept taking breaks, had chopped a
significantly greater amount of wood. He said, "How is that even possible? You
spent far less time chopping than I did. I'm stronger and never once stopped
cutting down trees. What is your secret?"
John explained, "every time I sat down, I was sharpening my axe."
I think the recipe for success for an SDR is similar – Hardwork is super important,
but smart work will do the trick more often than not. You need to be consistent
and aggressive, yes, but also smart, planned, and thorough.
In addition, my experience has also taught me that this role will have dry weeks
and some home run weeks - It's important to be cognizant of that. To be
successful for a longer period, you need to be empathetic, creative, think outside
the box, and always focus on what's in your control -- writing personalised
emails, creating high impact cadences, follow-up consistently, etc. Do this, and
the results will follow.
Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
Resilient mindset + Hunger to win + Curiosity to keep learning + Selflessness to

prioritise prospect’s needs over their own

Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
I believe it's the ability to try out new things and do the A/B testing to see what's
working for you and what's not.

Chapter 2
The
HOW
Hustle, Persistent,
Growth Mindset
Chapter 2 : The How 42

How did you get
your current job?
(how long did it take?)
How did you get your current job? (how long did it take?) 43
Shefali Jain
Slintel
I was working with an Ed Tech company before I got into Slintel. The culture there
was as bad as it could get. I found Pradeep Sridhar who was the SDR Director at
Ally.io at the time. He liked how I communicated and intro'ed me to his team and
they thought I was ""Too Green"" to join the team, no idea what that meant. XD.
Since Pradeep wanted to respect what his team felt, he intro'ed me to Anupreet
who was hiring too. My interview was scheduled and I prepped a LOT about what
an SDR did, about Anupreet- I read somewhere on Li that he liked that
candidates asked him a lot of questions. So I went in with the mindset to ask as
many questions as I could. Cut to the interview - We ended up talking about life,
about marriage and the most random things. I asked him 0 questions about the
job, he asked me nothing about what I knew about the job/Slintel. :D. He told me
on the call that I'd have to work on an assignment and then he'd intro me to our
Founder, Deepak. I got through the next round, and Anupreet intro'ed me to
Deepak. Deepak asked me if I was okay with night shifts, I didn't have a choice
but to say yes and I did!
And that's it, I got my first job as an SDR. :)
Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
During my masters one of my faculty who used to teach me Marketing and Sales
referred me when I was in the last semester to my current employer who wanted
a driven and persistent professional to build their sales process. I gave the
interview in just 4 days of introduction and it was a 1.5 hour call with the CEO in
London and a Co-founder based out of Bangalore. I joined in the next 10 days
post interview and completed my 3 months internship. Post that I successfully
joined as their full time employee to drive success.
44
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
LinkedIn helped me get this job. My network of peers from across the SaaS
industry helped me narrow down the right opportunities. The position at
Chargebee seemed like the right fit considering my interest in fintech, and
Chargebee being a fast growing Unicorn known for its culture. It took me exactly
9 days (between applying and getting an offer) to get this job.
Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
LinkedIn Easy Apply
Took around 4 months to get a call from recruiter and post that they scheduled
interviews for the next 2 weeks.
Nikhil Palve
Recro
I reached out to the company's founder on LinkedIn, expressing my interest in

joining after seeing his post about working from anywhere. It took 2 weeks to
complete the vetting process.
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
Although the hiring Manager reached out to me on LinkedIn, I literally had to

outbound and follow-up with the HR to get the updates on next steps. It took
almost a week for the interview process and…Voila! I made it :)
Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
I have always had a passion for sales but in my first job I played the role of an
Account Manager. Though it taught me many key aspects of customer
engagement and relationship building some part of me always wanted to give it
a shot at Sales. I thus decided to apply at Browserstack when I saw a Senior BDR
position opening. I was fortunate to be given a chance to work in a brand new
industry and role despite not having the typical sales experience. It's all about
the self belief and the passion to really do something. Give interviews for a role
you are passionate about but might not have much experience. You never know
how life changing it could be. For me, it definitely was!
Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
Campus placements
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
My previous manager Ruchi Mittal was heading the Inside Sales function here at
Locus. I reached out to her for a role in the Product Solutions team. However, she
had different plans for me. During my interview process, she showed me what
she was building and got me excited about the Inside Sales role. That's how I
became an SDR – one of my proud decisions.
I remember during my interview with the solutions head, Ruchi barges in and
says, 'If you don't hire him quick, he's mine!' Hahah, that's Ruchi and how Locus
happened, one of my best journeys.
46
Dave Denny
Outplay
Major props and shoutout to Mr. Rahul Wadhwa for the current job I have. His
event the Revenue Circuit was a career tipping experience for me in the SaaS
industry and I cannot thank him enough for it. I went to the in-person event and
networked with as many people as I could and got the job I have today.
Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
The recruiter reached out to me via a Linkedin DM. Her message was
personalised and relevant, so I paid attention. I checked out their website, fell in
love with the problem and the solution. The interview process took 2 weeks in
total and involved 4 conversations.
1st call was with the recruiter. She did an initial screening and moved me to the
next round.
2nd call was with an experienced AE in the team. (I developed good rapport with
him and he helped me navigate the process)
3rd conversation was with the VP of Sales. It was a task round - I was supposed
to make a cold call to him.
(Did some research and found out he’s a Liverpool fan. Used it as an analogy to
hook him into the call and won him over)
4th conversation was with the entire leadership team.
(I don’t remember the questions they had asked me, i just remember being
absolutely honest in all my answers.)
I was ‘being myself’ throughout, and it worked out :)
Amisha Raj
Freshworks
The organisation I currently work at reached out to me via LinkedIn and Phone
and I liked the opportunity they had in plate for me, so I went all in
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
I joined as the first SDR at a startup named Insent.ai. It was a huge leap of faith
on the founders as it was my first role in the SaaS space. We went through quite
a journey from figuring out the product market fit to facing COVID hitting the
market. Within 1.5 years, we were earning a decent revenue, and we ended up
getting acquired by ZoomInfo. This acquisition led me to my current role, giving
me the opportunity and privilege to be India's first SDR representing ZoomInfo.
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
It's all about network and personal brand building. How well do you sell yourself
in the market?I started building my network and started posting content on
LinkedIn to attract more and more professionals. And if you are good at it, trust
me, you won't have to apply for jobs, Recruiters will reach out to you with job
opportunities. In my current company, I was connected with 3-4 Leaders(CEO,
HR, VP etc.) from May 2021, even before joining the company, whereas I joined my
current company somewhere around in Sep 2021. So all the connections on
LinkedIn really helped me out in getting the jobs that I aspire for, you just need to
be proactive in what you do and have some patience, because good things take
time but they tend to happen, sooner or later.
48
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
My current job with Whatfix was straight out of my post-graduation. The

company was looking for some MBA grads to join their marketing team. The
process was very meticulous and lasted almost a week. It started with a basic
aptitude test and then a group discussion followed by a presentation round and
then multiple interview rounds. At each stage, they checked our aptitude
towards sales and how good we are at understanding the needs and matching
them with our product offering. In one of the rounds, an interview with one of
Whatfix’s VP, I was asked to sell a mobile phone to a customer who had just
walked into my hypothetical shop. A quick understanding of the customer’s
requirements, their persona and the suitable value proposition and some banter
later, I had landed the job.
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
If I got to talk about my current job I have no choice but to mention my

previous(also my first FT job) at Slintel.
I was fresh out of college and I wanted to build my LinkedIn presence so I posted,
engaged and wrote to people there. I reached out to Pradeep via cold LinkedIn
DM to tell him how much I was inspired by his content and would love for him to
be my mentor. He got back and told me I could work with him on his Think Tanks
project. He liked my enthusiasm and communication and thought I should have
a full-time job hence he referred me to Anupreet :) I was offered the SDR role
after 3 rounds and it took me 3 days to get the offer letter in hand.
Since I was performing well at Slintel, Pradeep wanted me to join Wingman and
build the Outbound Function as he was as well starting out here. I got the job in
3-4 days but technically it took me 8 months to build that trust.
Zendesk
My current job was through a referral and it didn't take a lot of time to get it
because I had previously worked with her.
Qazi Ikram
Slintel
My current VP of Sales was in my LinkedIn connections(that’s where LinkedIn

network can come handy), I sent him a 70 second loom video - basically telling
why I see Slintel as a good place to work and if you want to know why you should
hire me, how about you interview me.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
I was reached out to by the sales manager at the time. As I was also looking for a
move, it was a good fit. It took 1 week, consisting of 2 interviews, a long
assignment, and a quick numbers discussion.
Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
It has been a long road for me. In my 9 years of experience, I did the SDR role for
5 years. It took 3 years for me to get into an SDR Leadership role at Freshworks.
50
Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
One of my friend at my previous organisation told me about BrowserStack and

that he's applying for the BDR position. I searched about BrowserStack and the BDR
roles’ and responsibilities and applied the very same day. The whole interview
process had taken almost a month. But the journey was really amazing.
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
I used LinkedIn. It took me just 1 attempt to get the job. (No reference)
Aakash Hari
Almabase
I'm an accidental SDR like most salespeople out there. When most companies
usually require an MBA for a sales position, the good folks over at Almabase took
a chance on this BA graduate. I hope they don't regret their decision.
The interview process involved writing a cold email, making a mock cold call, a
culture round, and a round with our CEO. The entire process took 3-4 weeks. It
was worth it!
Rajeev Abhilash
2 months
Haptik
My current firm called one day to say they had examined my LinkedIn profile and
would want to talk about a vacant position. I immediately went for it after
reading about the product, company, and designation :D The entire procedure
took less than two weeks.
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
I joined Keka as an SDR last August. It took me a week for my interview. However, I
had done several internships for more than 6 months in similar roles that
smoothened the process.
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
I got it through LinkedIn. It was a month-long process including pre-screening of

my candidature and interview rounds that followed.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
It was an incoming call from a consultancy and it took a week to finalise an offer
letter.
52
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar
Zendesk
It took 7 years to reach here, I started my career with a Fortune 500 company as
an operational officer, from there with my interest towards connecting with
people, and talking to them, I too switched to another company as a Market
research analyst and as part of my career progression I built interest towards
this role.
How can someone with
zero SDR experience get
a job?
54
Shefali Jain
Slintel
Don't be afraid to ask for help. I did it and I got the help I needed, and boy did
that go a long way!
Don't take free time for granted- work hard if you're aiming to achieve 2x 3x
your targets.
Don't cold call random prospects and expect results, be strategic with every
account you reach out to and every prospect you call.
Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
Reachout directly to the company CEO and HR head who is hiring with a
personalised message - This will show you are a self driven, creative and have
the basic quality of an SDR which is sending cold emails/calls/messages (Your
chances of being considered is higher than others who apply normally)
Followup - Followup with the CEO and HR head with additional content on why
they should consider you based on the research you have done on JD/
Company. Ask for a call and suggest some schedules - 95% you will end up
getting the interview opportunity.
Network among the sales community - After establishing some connections
ask for referrals
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
Be confident, be a smooth talker, and make the sales conversation about the
prospect and not you
55
Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
Learn, Learn, Learn (Give hours, extra if it takes)

Research hard
Get shit done - Try slow at first, gradually increase the speed - Quality is
important but do not underestimate the power of Quantity(depends on the
market as well as the product)
Nikhil Palve
Recro
Research the company before applying and understand the problem they
are solving.
Build your social profiles and use connections and networks as an asset.
Learn to build conversations, even with strangers.
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
Connect with fellow SDRs/BDRs from various Orgs to understand the nature of
the role and more importantly, learn from their knowledge & experience.
Be an SDR of your target/dream Org before you actually become one! Who
says no to a candidate who is already building conversations for the
business? :)
Seek mentorship from SDR Leaders and offer to work for free! Chances are,
you’ll be paid anyway and absorbed in the company.
How can someone with zero SDR experience get a job? 56

Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
I would say passion, research and self belief. This is exactly how I landed my
job in sales with zero experience. The passion would literally reflect during
your interview, if you really have a keen interest to try out sales. Research to
see which industry is best suited for you to practice sales and do some deep
dive about the company you're applying to and how the role could help you
better your skillset. Lastly, self belief that you can do it, even if it seems
intimidating at first. One rarely gets their first positive response or a meeting
just by sending the first few batches of emails. Each day as an SDR is to learn,
experiment and outdo yourself better than the previous day and previous
quarter.
Dave Denny
Outplay
If you are getting into a new industry, be super curious about the it and how
things work differently from where you were before.
Networking: Scout LinkedIn and look for 6 people on it who are crushing it or
have crushed it in the role you are aspiring to take up. Message them and try
to understand how they got to where they are today and if there are any
resources they can help you with.
Focusing on the learning part of the job for the first few months in the role
rather than the money. Set up a base for yourself in the industry in amazing
companies which will help you learn at a rapid pace. Be super feedback
friendly and build your skillset. People will start recognising your value
automatically.
Bonus point: Post on LinkedIn atleast once every week. Once you start posting,
you will know why this one is important.
57
Rajeev Abhilash
Creative: Show your creative side in your approach to the job hunt. Send
across videos or voice notes on LinkedIn. Show that you want it more than the
next candidate.
Network: Be active on LinkedIn, actively seek and share opinion.
Coachable: showcase your willingness to learn and grow and also
demonstrate how you have applied prior learning.
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar

Zendesk
Be pro active and plan your day before - this can give you great success
Time management is really important and you have to stick towards it diligently.
The most important part, think uniquely to perform your day to day tasks, to grab
more opportunities and keep your calls conversational.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
Work on your communication, people can teach you to sell if you can
communicate.
Put yourself out there, be willing to look stupid for the right reasons.
What works today, may not work tomorrow. (It's important, therefore, to adapt
and consistently improve your skillset on a daily basis.)

Zendesk
Be very curious. Curiosity can help you learn anything and everything. Most
star SDRs are undyingly curious about everything.
Put yourself out there. This is a job for the fearless and courageous. While you
don't need anything to start, these are qualities in your personality you need
to develop. The reason I'm asking you to add them to your personality is
because authenticity is important. Customers want to see the real you, and
not a fake you.
Be coachable & humble. No matter where you are in your journey, you have a
100 things to learn, and so do I. Coachability and being open to feedback is a
great positive
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
First and foremost, try to understand the roles and responsibilities of an SDR. It
helps you to prepare yourself accordingly, surf through sales blogs, sales
influencers, and sales interview questions to have a basic idea to engage
yourself during the interview.
Don't choose the SDR role if you need something not stressful. SDRs are prone
to lots of stress like targets, prospect interaction, cold-calling, etc. which is not
preferred by all.
Never leave with putting effort. A successful SDR doesn't stop just at achieving
the targets. They're known to take internal responsibilities like training new
hires, engaging with existing customers, planning new strategies for the
future etc.
59
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
Research the skills and write personalised emails to the recruiting manager
about why you would be a great SDR and make sure you follow up
Share who you are as a person. If you want to stand out as a top tier SDR
candidate, you must communicate what makes you uniqu
Create a LinkedIn profile if you haven’t already, and make sure it’s clean and
as detailed as you can get
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
Network with the right people.

Be persistent but professional.
Try to convey your points in fewer words and simple language.
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
Be Confident in whatever you do.

Start learning and growing yourself through micro learning courses and
books(not important to pursue a degree).
LinkedIn is a powerful tool, leverage it and grow your network with the right
people in the Industry.

Amisha Raj
Freshworks
If you are aiming for a SDR job, there could be multiple paths to take, one
being try to get involved in any kind of sales/marketing internship wherein
you can get a PPO and get into this domain and also it's a great learning
experience to begin the field. (if you are a fresher)
Start small, take baby steps. Try to understand the JD, connect it with your
current capabilities and try to speak in their language while you are
interviewing. Another thing to be mindful about is that if it's your first SDR role,
be open to feedback and questions - analyse the role, region and domain of
the organisation.
Be vocal. Be creative. Be out of the box - while pushing your boundaries to get
in a SDR job and be mindful that it's not easy. It comes with it's own
challenges and beauty so hop on the rollercoaster and enjoy the view from
the top.
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
Just be clear about the role and if you think it is what excites you every day,
just go for it.
Improve your communication because if your communication and
interpersonal skills are not up to the mark, you will most definitely screw up in
your role.
Get comfortable with talking to people and getting rejected in your practice
time so you don't bleed in the battle.
61
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
Be empathetic- don’t make your conversation pitch heavy. That is a mistake I

have noticed a lot of new SDR aspirants make. I might be guilty of doing the
same in my early days. A good SDR needs to be more interested in the
problems and the pain points of the prospect. Understand the impact these
problems might be causing in their life and then see if the product you are
selling is something that can actually help the other person and pitch along
those lines. This line of pitching will not only be more engaging but will also be
relevant to your prospect, be it in an interview or on a sales call.
Let the prospect speak- the more you allow the prospect to speak, the more
information you will have to work with. This also eventually helps in building
up rapport and gives you credibility. It also opens up new avenues to pitch
your product to the prospect. The more engaged you can keep your
prospects, the higher the chances of conversion.
Do not make promises you can’t keep- A lot of times, especially with a
technical product, the prospects might ask you questions that you are not
sure about. In these cases, don’t guess and make promises. Instead, own up
to it and tell them that you can check and let them know. Lying through your
teeth might backfire and not only churn the prospect out of your sales funnel
but also create a bad image for the organization or for you.
As long as you keep these in mind, I am sure bagging your first job as an SDR will
come easy.
Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
Try reaching out to multiple companies, get an internship as an SDR and convert
it to a full time offer.

Qazi Ikram
Slintel
Your Job as an SDR would be to bring in the meetings. So see those interview
meetings as your first assignment.
Allow me to draw some parallels for you. Create your ICP(like the list of
companies you'd like to work with), have as many of them as possible in your
Doc, Excel or Numbers. You could use LinekdIn job postings as your primary
source. It necessarily doesn't have to be only those companies that are hiring.
Why would you miss out on a chance to impress a sales leader from a company,
just because they aren't hiring!
Then comes your cold outreaches - Apply on LinkedIn, reach out to the hiring
managers, HR, etc. BUT most importantly start connecting with sales leaders/
managers from those companies(who think you'd be reporting directly/
indirectly). Once you're connected, send out a killer video. Do whatever it takes to
STAND OUT! If you impress them, Bingo! There's a 95% of the chance that you'll
score a call with the relevant folk in that company.
Do your magic in the assignment round and interviews. And close the deal.
Pro Tips: Understand the role as much as possible! Job descriptions, Sales blogs,
recorded webinars, podcast could be a great resource.

Haptik
Have active listening abilities

Improve your communication skills.
Be inquisitive.
63
Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
Empathy - Have empathy while you're dealing with the client and even in your
personal life. It'll take you places.
Persistence - SDR is a daily hustle profile. You've to do the work day in and day
out.
Resilience - This is something that you might learn during the journey. Not
getting enough replies, opens, no show during the meeting, etc. will make you
a better SDR everyday as you're learning from your mistakes.
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
Make sure that your efforts are of the TOP 1% quality, and you should have
faith that no-one else would put in this much efforts.
Reach out to the hiring manager, and prove your value by showing them a
cadence, sample emails, cold call talking track, or Vidyard, coz seeing is
believing.
Align your resume in a data drive quantifiable manner, and hone your tonality
too.
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
Be genuinely curious, explore and learn. Do your research. Consume content.

Keep working until you hit the spot.

Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
If you want to get a job as an SDR, you have to show them you can sell, by selling
yourself.
Don't get me wrong. What I mean is -

Do your research on the interviewer and company just like you would
research your prospects and their company.
Put your best foot forward by demonstrating what you're capable of : Send a
cold email to the hiring manager/CEO to apply for the role. Use video. Do a bit
of storytelling. Keep it about them, not you. Maintain a healthy talk to listen
ratio in your calls. Listen to understand, not to reply.
Be upfront about your flaws. Show them that you're not perfect, and you never
will be. But you're hungry to learn more, and you'll figure it out.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
You are a human and you will be reaching out to another human to offer your
service. Try not to sound like a robot and write emails to human first and titles
later
Get a hot water bottle for sure . Because you will be speaking a lot more than
what you imagined
All inputs you receive on how to do your job has to be partially considered.
What worked for ABC will not work for you. Measure and fine tune it for
yourself.
Not Interested is mostly NOT NOW.
65
Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
Positive Mindset : Half of the battle is over when we approach the SDR job with
a positive mindset.
Physical Fitness : This job requires us to be mentally fit facing rejections day in
and day out. I strongly believe only when we are physically fit we could be
mentally fit as well. I recommend my team to do any physical activity before
they start their day.
Be a true friend to Customers, AE's and all internal stakeholders.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
Join an SDR bootcamp where you'll be trained!

If you want to join a startup, cold email the CEO directly with your value
proposition and how you can make a difference at their startup.
Devour Josh Braun and Belal Batrawy's content on LinkedIn.
Bonus suggestion: Ask out a lot of people and get used to the rejection and
learn to detach yourself from the outcome.

Which sales influencer(s)
are you following right now?
The Top 30 Under 30 are constant learning machines. They
consume content and learn from the peers and managers ALL the
time. That being said, here are of the influencers that made it to
the answers multiple times:
67
Josh Braun
Founder • salesdna.co
Josh Braun is a renowned sales trainer, known for his

actionable strategies and tactics, which are loved by
many sales reps. He is the founder of ‘Josh Braun Sales
Training’ - helping sales reps start more conversations
with skeptical prospects. He is also known for creating the
Badass Growth Guide - teaching you how to start
conversations with prospects and making them feel safer.
Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
Right since I started my journey I have been following the content of Josh Braun
You must go through his posts on LinkedIn if you haven't yet already. There is some
excellent content on booking meetings, drafting sales emails, cold calling etc.
Anupreet Singh
Senior Director, GTM • 6sense
Anupreet Singh is the Senior Director, GTM, at Slintel, a

6sense company. He best describes himself as a coder
turned entrepreneur turned sales leader turned GTM
leader. He has experience in managing sales teams over
the years and has steered multiple startups into
hypergrowth. You’ll always find him encouraging sales
teams and sharing a bucketload of insights with them.
Which sales influencer(s) are you following right now? 68

Shefali Jain
Slintel
He's been my A1 coach from the get go. I just has a single 1-on-1 with him after I
booked 0 meetings in my first two weeks at Slintel.
There was no pep-talk. He literally worked with me in those 30 minutes and I

never had a month where I didn't over-achieve after that. :)
Qazi Ikram
Slintel
Because I can't get enough of him on EOD stand ups.
Kyle Coleman
SVP, Marketing • Clari
Kyle Coleman is the SVP, Marketing at Clari who routinely

shares his vast and practical knowledge on sales, helping
hundreds of professionals become better sellers. He has a
passion for people development, identifying & solving
problems, and building & scaling effective sales teams.
He is known for his ability to inspire others and his ‘can-
do’ attitude that empowers teams greatly.
69
Shefali Jain
Slintel
He gives real life examples of what he/someone else did to book meetings and
they're legit gold!
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
I have binged watched, read, and of course, actioned on their content! I am

where I am because of the learnings that I’ve had from him
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
Kyle is a senior professor in Hubspot academy. He's known for his excellent skills
in inbound operations, lead generation, etc.
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
For his approach on empathy towards SDRs. I admire his views/take on CXOs
offering constructive feedback to sales reps when they make mistakes.
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
I've learnt so much about "How SDRs should be treated" from him. I make sure
my prospects treat me right by being the right kind of SDR.

Ryan Aneja
Slintel
He always has something to say and share about the SDR community. There's
always something to learn in each of his post on LinkedIn.
Jason Bay
CEO • JB Sales
Jason Bay is the founder of Blissful Prospecting, who has

helped many professionals learn the ropes of cold
outreach. He has mastered the art of effective
prospecting and capturing the attention of ideal
customers. An outbound sales coach and trainer for B2B
reps & sales teams, who is on a mission to help teams
turn complete strangers into paying customers.
Rajeev Abhilash
Love Jason for the different perspective he brings. I have been an avid follower of
his webinars and LinkedIn content. His content is simple to understand yet
extremely effective.
Qazi Ikram
Slintel
The ultimate Sales DJ that brings the 'Best of the Best' on his webinars.
71
Justin Michael
Co-Founder • HYPCCCYCL
Justin Michael is the Co-Founder of HYPCCCYCL - the #1

GTM community. He is also the bestselling author on
HarperCollins, for his book ‘Tech-Powered Sales.’ He is
known for identifying outbound weaknesses and quickly
providing effective solutions that are scalable. Not to
forget his unique coaching style and modern-day
pipeline creation techniques that have helped in leading
many teams to success.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
What Justin does for the sales community at large by hosting the GTM Games is
truly spectacular. Aside from that, he runs HYPCCCYL, a sales community where
you can rub shoulders with true giants in the industry.
Nick Cegelski
Senior Account Executive • Time by Ping
Nick Cegelski is the Senior Account Executive at Time by

Ping, and he’s also the Founder and Host of the podcast,
‘30 Minutes to President's Club.’ He is known for being
creative and changing his approach to find new ways to
get to clients. His sharp tactics and sales advice never
fails to impress and educate all the sales professionals.

Ryan Aneja
Slintel
30 Minutes to President's Club will get you there. No fluff, 30 minutes of great
sales advice with clear takeaways and themed content. It's always on in my car
whenever I'm out and about.
Belal Batrawy
Head of GTM & Amateur Meme Maker • GTM Buddy
Belal Batrawy is the Head of GTM at GTM Buddy, and a

Saas startup advisor at Death2Fluff, who has the
experience of being on the founding sales team for seven
companies now. He has won several awards such as
‘Salesforce Top Sales Influencer’, ‘Top1 FM LinkedIn Sales
Star’, and many others. His content has consistently helped
professionals with their growth and advance their sales.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
Josh Braun and Belal Batrawy are a must for anyone who wants to up their
game. I'm also a huge fan of Armand Farrokh and Nick Cegelski.
Dave Denny
Outplay
Belal Batrawy and his death to fluff movement has always impacted my writing
and speaking style as an SDR.
73
Morgan J Ingram
VP, GTM Talent and Development
Sales Impact Academy
Morgan J Ingram is the VP, GTM Talent, and Development,

at Sales Impact Academy and the Creator of ‘1UP Formula’
Podcast. He was consistently named the “Top Sales Voice”
by LinkedIn in 2018, 2019, and 2020. His work on the art of
sales has been featured on Forbes, Harvard Business
Review, and other platforms. He has successfully trained
teams on how to use modern-sales techniques and
helped in building their confidence.
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
I have binged watched, read, and of course, actioned on their content! I am

where I am because of the learnings that I’ve had from him
John Barrows
CEO • JBarrows Sales Training
John Barrows is the Founder and CEO of ‘JBarrows Sales

Training’ where he believes that education and
continuous improvement are the keys to career
advancement and overall success. He is a celebrated
sales coach who helps in providing tactical sales training
to some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.
He unfailingly shares his sales experiences with the larger
sales community and helps people sell better.

Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
I follow a LOT of Sales Influencers tbh and it's difficult to name drop. I've been
personally coached by James Buckley and John Barrows Sales Training and
Drew Coryer from Webflow. Super grateful to them!
James Buckley
Chief Evangelist & Master of Ceremonies • JB Sales
James Buckley is the Chief Evangelist & Master of

Ceremonies at JB Sales and also the creator of
#Saywhatsales. With a focus on prospecting and
personal brand building, he uses his prior sales
experiences to teach teams how to create and then
leverage their personal brand to bolster pipeline, connect
with strategic accounts, build relationships, and add
value to the sales process.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
One of the kindest and most sincere people I've ever had the pleasure of
speaking with. He eats, sleeps, and breathes sales. No wonder JB Sales is my
number 1 recommended sales training!
75
Prakhar Jain
Assistant Vice President of Global Sales • Whatfix
Prakhar Jain is the Assistant Vice President of Global Sales

at Whatfix. He has a track record of overachieving quotas
(QoQ) consistently for the past 5+ years by 200-220% and
helps in consulting 25+ growing startups to help them
scale the Inside Sales function. He is known for his clever
sales tips and for sharing his hands-on experiences
regularly.
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
Another sales leader I have learnt a lot from is Prakhar Jain, also known as
TheSalesSurgeon. His social content is a goldmine for anyone in sales,
irrespective of whether they’re new to sales or have been in it for some time. His
content really made me rethink some things I had believed to be true in sales
and validated a few others.
Sarah Brazier
Mid Market Account Executive • Gong
Sarah Brazier is a mid-market AE at Gong, who wears

many hats. She’s an educator, actor, and passionate
about sales. She’s also a nationally awarded speaker with
experience in sales, social media marketing, event
hosting, and education. She is known for adding a lot of
value to the sales community with her impressive insights.

Shefali Jain
Slintel
She has good vibes all over her LinkedIn, it just helps me stay positive. I like what
she posts even as an AE.
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
Learning from their experiences has helped me evolve as an SDR and enhanced
my playbook.
77
Will Allred
Co-Founder & COO • Lavender
Will Allred is the Co-founder and COO of Lavender and

also among the ‘LinkedIn Top Sales Voice’ for 2021. He is
known for sharing sharp insights on how sales teams can
create great emails that have a high response rate. He is
everyone’s go-to coach for learning how to personalize
and create more impact when sending outbound emails.
Rahul Wadhwa
Director-Product Led Sales • Avataar
Rahul Wadhwa is the Director of Product Led Sales at

Avataar, and also the CEO and the Host of the podcast
‘Sales Spin.’ He is a mentor and teacher to a lot of sales
professionals and is known to have unmatched people
management and business development skills. He always
has tons of insights to share with the sales community,
helping them improve their sales numbers significantly.
Salman Mohiuddin
Strategic Enterprise Sales • Asana
Salman Mohiuddin is the Strategic Enterprise AE at Asana.

Having 15+ years of experience in sales tech, he is great at
coaching AEs and SDRs on prospecting, deal strategy,
interviews, and helping them build their brand. He is
widely recognized as a master prospector & hunter, who
is able to carry a deal all the way through.

Armand Farrokh
VP of Sales • Pave
Armand Farrokh is the VP of Sales at Pave, and the Founder

and Host of the podcast, ‘30 Minutes to President's Club.’ He
consistently crushes his quota repeatedly using practical
processes and by simplifying sales. He is also known for his
actionable sales tips, helping many with their outreach.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
I’m a huge fan of Armand Farrokh. Anyone who wants to up their game in Sales,
follow him.
Patrick Dang
Founder + Sales Coach • Patrick Dang, Inc.
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
He’s a sales trainer and shares many relevant SDR/AE prospecting knowledge
and tools.

Christian Krause
Account Executive • Salesforce
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
He is motivating and talks about SDR/AE best practices and effective ways to
personalise the reach outs
Justin Welsh
Founder • The Saturday Solopreneur
Nikhil Palve
Recro
I love his content and tips on personal branding.

Charles Muhlbauer
Lead Enablement Manager • CB Insights
Rajeev Abhilash
His discovery pointers are second to none. I love this since I run my discoveries.
But any sdr wanting to progress to AE or better results should follow Charles.
Ryan Reisert
Brand Ambassador • Cognism
Dave Denny
Outplay
But recently I have been hooked on to the content that Ryan Reisert has been
posting. His content has shown me what it's like to think out of the box while
reaching out to people.
81
Chris Voss
Advisor • FIX : Fitness Interactive Experience
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
An avid influencer who speaks about sales, SDR, etc. Known for his avid writings
about SDR success and how to grow further...
Daniel Disney
Author • Daniel Disney - Speaker/Trainer/Author
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
Although there are many talented and skilled sales leaders, I follow Daniel Disney
very closely. His LinkedIn profile has great educational and motivational content
and what’s more, he conveys key insights using funny memes. Truly the King of
Social Selling.

Tom Slocum
VP of Sales • Daniel Disney - TrainYo
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
RevGenius is a great community of sales people and Tom is a massive advocate

for SDRs. His passion really comes through and he's always willing to provide
mentorship and advice. You the real MVP Tom! Shoutout to Jared Robin!
Daniel Ryan
Account Executive • Dooly
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
Not just cause we share a name, but more for the relatable content. I had a
great conversation with Dan once and seemingly the next month, he blew up
over LinkedIn! Just found out he comes from a family of talented sales people.
He's the next one to watch, in my opinion. Pip-pip-cheerio!
83
Zoe Hartsfield
Community Manager • Spekit
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
Been loving her recent posts where she advocates for mental health for
salespeople, which is often not talked about nearly enough. Her content reminds
me that it's ok to slow down and take time for yourself.
Erica Stacy
Growth Marketing Lead • Clearfind
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
I had the pleasure of watching Erica create live email copies and edit templates
for others. Her thought process is unique and she makes it look EASY!

Mor Assouline
Founder • FDTC (B2B Sales)
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
I follow Mor Assouline, Morgan J Ingram, on LinkedIn for their heart to heart
objective analysis of the Sales process and read Dale Carnegie's books as they
help you master the art of communication.
Florin Tatulea
Head of Sales Development • Plato
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
He speaks a lot about the SDR process and specific skills to improve
performance and mindset

Chapter 3
THE
Surprise
All roads lead to Rome but it’s not necessary that all roads are
the same.
They could have different materials, vegetation, length and

breadth, etc.
Again, I hope you get the picture!
However the road might be, if you know about its condition in
advance you can decide the best vehicle to take.
In this chapter, the Top 30 talk share how they are navigating
through this role and what they wish they knew before.
86
Is the SDR role
what you expected
it to be?
87
Shefali Jain
Slintel
Not at all, I never thought being creative with your outreach would be part of the
job.
In fact I never knew that booking qualified meetings would be such a big
challenge. I almost thought it would be the easiest thing to just book meetings
and pass 'em on to an AE to close them!
It's only after having booked 0 meetings after 2 weeks of being on the field did I
realise what it takes to be good at it and that it's not that easy at all! :D
Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
Yes, the SDR role is exactly what I expected it to be and I am enjoying adding
value to my clients with solutions and to my employer with high ticket closure
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
Being an SDR is a lot more than what I thought it would be! The processes, tech
stack/tools, success metrics, channels of outreach, etc., have all evolved over
time.
Gone are those days when SDRs merely fix meetings. They now own the first half
of the sales funnel and generate qualified opportunities that fuels the
Organization’s bottom-line growth.
From researching the accounts, decision-makers, curating and personalizing the

content, digesting NOs and wearing a smile for the next call, etc etc etc., are
some of the things that have levelled me up!
88
Zendesk
Not at all. I never knew the SDR role is this extensive, deep with so many
intricacies around SDR <> AE relationships, time management, account
management strategies, and cultural nuances. It's a lot more than just cold
calling and asking for people's times.
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
It is and much more. What might look like a task of “booking meetings” on
surface is actually a team of really smart people holding the fort for businesses,
globally. An SDR wears many hats on a call before passing on a lead to an AE -
such has understanding the product market fit, target audience, competitors
while practicing methods like MEDDPICC, BANT etc. In any business there are two
functions: sales and support to sales, if SDRs don't identify the right leads, sales
wont come through. Lucky that I got an opportunity to be an SDR very early in my
career, I truly love my job!
Nikhil Palve
Recro
I used to think an SDR is someone who sells the company products. But this is an
entirely different game; when you understand SDRs build the rapport for the
company, create awareness, and educate the prospects - they do not sell
anywhere in this journey.
So, the SDR role is entirely different from what I expected before starting.
Is the SDR role what you expected it to be? 89

Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
Yes absolutely! Right from the hustle to the constant chase, I feel like the life of
an SDR is power-packed and ofcourse challenging (in a good way though). It
does get a little overwhelming with the targets and the revenue numbers but
ultimately seeing those met at the end of the quarter gives a sense of
accomplishment that is very difficult to express in words. Sales is the driving
force of every company and being a part of the team makes every contribution
super worthwhile.
Rajeev Abhilash
Absolutely. Although I landed in this role by circumstance, I did read up quite a

lot before I accepted the role. There have obviously been a little differences in
expectations but overall it's been up to my expectations.
Qazi Ikram
Slintel
I always thought it was a volume game, being more robotic, while I still see it as
a volume game and being robotic at time helps, but I believe most of my
success comes from laying emphasis on planning, strategy and the creativity
part of it.
It takes time, and that's why it is important to associate yourself with a 'positive
culture' team, because they'll back you even if your inputs are not getting the
desired outputs. I had my learning curve in both the companies(Wingman being
the previous one) but the team around me believed in me. And it was just about
the time till the ball got rolling.
90
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar
Zendesk
Yes, Everyday as a SDR is very exciting for me!! as we reach out to new prospects
everyday which helps in building our network connections. Calling and talking to
them helps me understand what their expectations and route them rightly.
Researching is my favourite part.
Dave Denny
Outplay
The training I received in the initial companies I worked for prepared me to face
what is expected off of this role.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, I chose sales because personally it felt like the

same mental traits are required to be an excellent SDR and it was in par with
those expectations.
Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
Yes
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
Yes, it is. I wanted a role which gave me the authority to lead from the front and
communicate with the decision makers of the Enterprises. I am doing that every
working day and I love my job.

Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
Certainly! I just love being the SDR I've dreamt of... It has always been challenging
which helps me grow more than yesterday!
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
Not at all. I used to think that people would willingly want to hear about solutions
to their problems, but it's not as simple. Not everyone is ready to make a
purchase. It gets trickier when you need to demonstrate your relevance in a very
short time.
It's much more competitive than my expectations–not just against other

products but also the quest of competing for people's attention. Cutting through
the noise gets pretty challenging as an SDR.
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
Yes, it is as I get to make new clients and cultivate relationships with the current
ones which I eventually wanted out from my current role.
Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
I was not sure at the initial stage but after spending a wonderful year with
BrowserStack, I guess I made the right decision:)
92
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
Yes! I'm usually attracted to challenges and what's more challenging than being
an SDR? I've had highs and many many lows. I've cried, been angry, frustrated
and what not. But at the same time I've rejoiced every time I landed a meeting (I
still ring up my favorite person and brag when I land a meeting :P), celebrated all
my closed won deals, lunched and dined with my fellow SDRs, above all enjoyed
my paycheck and love the confidence I get when I'm able to take care of my
family and friends.
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
It’s pleasantly surprising. Throughout my college years, I was not very keen on
getting a people-facing job. In fact, I always thought I would go into the
marketing automation field. However, that all changed during my internship.
Although I was hired as a social media marketing intern, the lean nature of the
organization gave me the freedom to dabble in all the fields of marketing. While
interning, I decided to give the business development field a try as well. I had
never been an extroverted person, so honestly, I was a little apprehensive about
the rejection or rudeness I might face. However, to my surprise, this challenge led
me to come up with alternative solutions. I decided to leverage my network
instead of just cold calling random numbers. I was a student interning in a batch
of over 200 students. That meant I had about 200 contacts spread across
various organizations. So I made a list of all of them and shortlisted about 35
organizations that might be able to use our product and I started reaching out
to my batchmates to understand the decision-making structure and do the
basic need analysis. Using these known contacts, I was able to set up meetings
with around 10 interested prospects with my sales team in just 2 weeks. These 10
opportunities made me believe that the SDR function might just be something
for me and well, here I am.

Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
Yes.
Amisha Raj
Freshworks
Definitely. One thing I expected out of the role was exposure, knowledge of the
industry trends, buyer personas, idea behind building of a product and I am so
full and excited with the exposure and learning I am gaining currently and will
continue to get in the future.
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
Yes it is. It's like being the CEO of your own territory. You've complete ownership to
prioritise things and then act upon them. Then you should measure the results,
and iterate accordingly.
Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
It was what I expected it to be, plus so much more. I got the opportunity to
interact with some of the brightest minds in the industry, and I’ll forever be
grateful for it.
But I had no idea that I’d be able to use my inter-personal skills to earn more
money than most of my peers my age.
94
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
I had no expectations from the sales role! I ended up taking a sales job straight
out of college, but actually just meant to sit through an interview process to see
what that was like.
I never wanted that first job. But after struggling for nearly 1.5 years, I took the
next step into a more 'SDR Centric' organisation. It was here at Slintel that I grew,
gained a sharper skillset, and grew both personally and professionally.
If you told me back in college that I'd be on a 30Under30 list, I'd ask you to cut
down on the hard stuff!
It's been a great journey and I'm excited to see what comes next!
Aakash Hari
Almabase
Yes and no. While I expected rejections, I did not think I would make good
relationships with people, some of whom even asked me to visit them if I ever
travelled to their country.

Haptik
SDRs must be tenacious and excellent communicators. I believe it is just what I

had hoped for and expected it to be.
The role has given my snoopy mind a purpose and vast opportunities to flourish.

Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
Absolutely. Right after my MBA, I decided to be an SDR and continue to grow in

the same function.
Out of 240 MBA passed out students from Sairam college in 2013, I was the only
one to pick up the SDR role.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
70% yes. Then I had to look after lot of activities which ideally doesn't fall under
SDR role.
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
Not really! Back then, I never consciously would've applied for an SDR role! I
thought it was about making unlimited calls, sending endless emails, and work-
from-the-desk job. Covid has made sure it's more of a desk job in the last couple
of years though – damn you, covid!
However, I've learned that it's a lot more strategic, planned, and super
challenging! I've gotten to travel within the role, sharpen my interpersonal skills,
cross-team collaboration, and speak with new people daily. It's been crazy, and
I've absolutely loved it!
I also think where you work always plays an important role. For me personally,
Locus has kept up with with all the high standards and made it an awesome
plays to work. I've had a pivotal experience here -- enjoyed, grown and loved
every single day!
96
One thing you wish
you knew before
starting out as an
SDR?
97
Shefali Jain
Slintel
I honestly knew nothing. I just knew that the SDR function has 2 roles- inbound
and outbound, and that I'd be doing both.
I learnt everything on the job :)
Anush Joy
Akrity Computing
I wish i knew the importance of staying humble and grounded after closing a
massive deal. - Because sales is a roller coaster and you can be on the floor
immediately on the next day.
Zendesk
A lot of people have asked me to trust the process and not focus on outcomes. It
took me a long time to realize what they meant - process is very important in the
SDR role and ultimate focus on SDR process and improving it can help reap huge
benefits.
Rashika Garg
Chargebee
Always smile while dialling, even on Mondays. You’d be surprised with how
receptive prospects can be. :)
98
Nikhil Palve
Recro
There is no going back once you develop a sales mindset. After that, you
automatically start noticing marketing strategies and opportunities around you,
and this becomes a 24/7 job out of passion and curiosity.
Venkateswara M
Freshworks
The role itself! I wish I knew about the SDR role early in my career so that I
wouldn’t have spent my time understanding computers and coding languages.
Roohi Chawla
Browserstack
I wish I would have spoken to more people in the SaaS industry, read about
experiences from other SDR's before starting out. At times, even normal things
could feel out of place if one hasn't been exposed to it or spoken about it
enough. For instance, I thought that getting replies and meetings was not as
hard as conversions, but eventually I realised how challenging it all is. I think it's
great how Outplay is taking the effort to create an ebook that can be a great
starting point for every person who wants to start their career in sales.
Rajeev Abhilash
Relevance >personalization
One thing you wish you knew before starting out as an SDR? 99
Sowmya Ramesh Kumar
Zendesk
One thing I wish I knew before starting as an SDR is to motivate yourself and stay
positive as there might be lot a of objections that we may have to face.
Ryan Aneja
Slintel
I wish I knew how to leverage LinkedIn. Only recently I've seen the true power
behind the platform, especially when it comes to sales.
Also, cold calling. Can never have too much experience as far as that goes! ;)
Dave Denny
Outplay
Even though I knew that this is what is required to make it in this role, it's tough to
stand by them through tough times.
Going through adversity but having faith in the process while going through it.
Waiting patiently for your efforts to pay off even on rougher days, weeks or
months.
The importance of networking and posting content on social media platforms.
Harshit Rajpurohit
BrowserStack
That it takes blood and sweat with sleepless nights AND ITS OKAY!!! WE GOT THIS!!
100
Vinith Srinivasan
Keka HR
Frankly speaking, I was comfortable right from the beginning as an SDR. I had
zero experience and had the fire to learn. I think that's enough.
Things I hate being an SDR, some quarters are good, some are bad. There are
various factors for a dip. Might be policy changes, FY end audits, etc. We need to
be consistent and perform our responsibilities with self motivation, as the results
will be back again.
Prabhakar Rajendra
Locus
Reaching out to 10,000 people and generating meetings doesn’t make you a
great SDR. Infact, after a point, you run dry.
But being targeted and personalised will help you achieve more predictable and
consistent results making you a top performing SDR.
Ruben Sharma
Hero Vired
SDR Roles gives you an overview of the whole organization. What's happening
with different cross functional departments, what's happening with your clients
and your colleagues. Best Role if you want to be an Entrepreneur/Intrapreneur.
Rajesh Patel
Web Geo Services
Grow your Network.
Kalpesh Bhalekar
Zoominfo
A few things I wish I knew - The initial few months will need some unlearning and
there will be a massive learning curve. No matter what stage you're at, rejections
will always be a part of your day.
Also that Sales is the only function where you can control your income according
to your performance.

Haptik
The profession necessitates a great deal of self-motivation and discipline, one

should not wait for someone else to motivate them.
Jagrit Gambhir
inFeedo
If I knew that the SDR role is one of the toughest roles in an organisation, I
would’ve developed a thick-er skin much sooner.
Tushar Khanna
Skit.ai
I wish I knew about the SDR role a little earlier so that by now I could have shaped
my career in an even better way with lots of learning and gained experience a
earlier :).
102
Apoorv Verma
Whatfix
Do not get too attached to a promising prospect, they might churn. Even if they
seem super interested and you might have put your heart and soul into
nurturing them but a lot of times, they might decline to go forward with buying,
go ahead with another competitor or just start ghosting you because of reasons
that nobody could have controlled. It can range from budgetary shortfalls to
them just having shelved the project. You might not always hear back from them
to explain why they do not want to proceed and that is just part of the game.
Qazi Ikram
Slintel
Nothing as such, but in my earlier days, I hustled more than required. I would
always suggest time outs and rest.
Karan Kantharia
vFairs
How to handle rejections in this much quantity on a daily level, and how to
manage/prioritise things/time effectively.
Ankit Bhaskar
BrowserStack
I wish I knew how amazing it feels being in the SDR community , I would have
started earlier :)
Akshaya Sampath
Wingman
I wish I knew how addictive this role might be that once you start making sense
of it you want to stick to it. It's hard especially (if you're like me) when you're
hungry to move forward and explore more in sales.
Sometimes I wish I knew I would be a great SDR when I started out. It would have
saved me from those sleepless nights and frustrated days in the early days.
Aakash Hari
Almabase
"You miss 100% of the calls you don't make.“ - Aakash Hari
Rishabh Sanghavi
Whatfix
The sheer number of follow ups and emails it takes to get one meeting in an
outbound scenario.
Sankara Narayanan
Freshworks
Will I be able to make a living out of this job.
Will anyone marry me
104
Amisha Raj
Freshworks
There are many things, but if I have to pick one it'd be - It's okay to fail. It's okay to
have a bad week, bad month, bad quarter. Your targets don't define you. You
could be very hardworking and you would still not be able to get your targets
done and that's okay. What matters the most is how much honesty, dedication
and efforts you have put into it. Give your 101% and that's about it.
Part 3
Editors' Note
Part 3 - Editors' Note 106

When I first heard about Outplay’s 30 Under 30 initiative, I thought right away
that I want to be a part of this campaign.
I was motivated to do something for the SDR community in India and provide
non-SDR folks with information that helps them decide if the SDR role is right for
them.
I also wanted to learn from the best SDR’s in India and the best way I could think
of was to interview each of them.
So I reached out to Laxman (CEO of Outplay) and told him about my idea.
He connected me with Prateek Sethi. As an Outplay user, I was familiar with

some of the folks there. Everyone was super helpful and Prateek was just the
same.
I told Prateek that I wanted to interview the Top 30 Under 30 SDRs, and my goal is
to help people break into technology sales in India. Prateek liked the idea and we
decided on the timeline to launch this ebook in our first meeting itself.
50 days later, we put together this mammoth ebook containing answers from
the top SDRs in India.
Hopefully, the experiences of Top 30 Under 30 SDRs can help you break into tech
sales.
Happy selling!
Kabir Krishn
107
Special Thanks
to Outplay 30U30 SDRs in India Jury
Prakhar Jain
Assistant Vice President of Global Sales
Whatfix
Anupreet Singh
Senior Director, GTM
6sense
Archana Lokesh
Head, Sales and Business Development Leader
Zendesk
Kartik Mandaville
CEO
SpringWorks
The Ultimate
SDR Stories
Visit : outplayhq.com

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The Ultimate

Anyone in a client-facing role in hospitality, events, retail, manufacturing,

Questions, Concept & Editing

Kabir Krishn / UpTalkk

Distribution & Design

Part 1 - SDR 101

Chapter 1 : The What - from people working this job daily

What do you love/hate about being an SDR?

What does your day as an SDR look like?

What do you think makes a successful SDR?

Chapter 2 : The How - hustle, persistent, growth mindset

How did you get your current job?

How can someone with zero SDR experience get a job?

Which sales influencers are you following right now?

Chapter 3: The Change : Surprises

Is the SDR role what you expected it to be?

Part 3 - Editors' Note 106

Part 1 - SDR 101 4

A Sales Development Representative (SDR) or a Business Development Representative

prospecting and qualifying leads.

with the prospect.

RevOps is a back-end role that is responsible for creating a high-

Some people liked researching about the company and the

3. Speaking to new Executives

What do you love/hate about being an SDR? 10

There’s a thrill that comes with generating new revenue for

The SDR role gives a huge dopamine rush when a prospect

Aligning meetings involves blood, sweat and tears and when

SDRs don’t like it when a week goes by and they haven’t

While SDRs recognize that this is essential to track prospects and

Some SDRs don’t like rejection and find it difficult to pick

What do you love/hate about being an SDR? 12

I'd start my day with

LinkedIn and Slack - see if anybody on Li or on any of the Slack communities

Connecting with peers, and brainstorming ideas on what we can do better

Replying to responses I get on emails and Li.

Send personalized videos to prospects on Li; sometimes even on email if the

What does your day as an SDR look like? 15

10:00 AM - Show up to work well-rested, meditated and fed

10:30 to 11:30 - Prospecting + Email Reply's

3:00 - 3:30 - Lunch Break

5:30 - 7:30 - Prospecting +Scheduling meetings for the week

7:30 - 8:30 - US Sales calls (1ST, follow-up and closing calls)

Checking personal Documents/Notes from the last day.

What does your day as an SDR look like? 16

But generally, it comprises identifying TG, persona research, creating lists,

Sowmya Ramesh Kumar

Focusing on accounts, understanding their trends and analysis, doing active

What does your day as an SDR look like? 17

What does your day as an SDR look like? 18

I break my day down into three parts:

However, during my tenure as an Individual contributor, my day usually started

What does your day as an SDR look like? 19

What does your day as an SDR look like? 20

My typical day involves 3 non-negotiables:

Making at least 75 cold calls.

Sending approximately 30 emails.

Researching 10-15 net new accounts.