As a Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Business Development Representative (BDR) in the Sales Development Organization you need to have an understanding of not only product and industry knowledge, but also sales soft skills, and internal tools and processes. This handbook page will act as a guide to those topics as well as general information about the Sales Development Organization.
#sales_dev_global
#sales_dev_fyi
Global
#comm_sales_dev_global#bdr_global_mm#sdr_global_inboundAMER
#sdr_amer_inbound#bdr_amer_mm#bdr_entg_amer_cent#bdr_entg_amer_west_latam#bdr_entg_amer_east#bdr_entg_amer_pubsecEMEA
#sdr_emea#sdr_emea_apac_inbound#bdr_comm_emea_mm#bdr_entg_emea_dach#bdr_entg_emea_neur_meta#bdr_entg_emea_seurAPAC
#sdr_emea_apac_inbound#bdr_entg_apacPlease acknowledge any Slack messages from your managers in your Slack channels, if you have nothing to say at least be creative and funny with emoji so they know you are seeing their requests and updates and are not talking to an empty room!
In your first month at GitLab we want to help ensure you have everything you need to be successful in your job. You will go through enablement videos, live sessions, and activities covering a wide range of getting started topics.
The Sales Development Organization will conduct enablement and training on a wide range of topics such as workflow/processes, campaigns, alignment with other teams, tool training, product training, etc. BDR/SDR enablement sessions are scheduled on an as needed basis and will be made available for BDR/SDR teams to consume asynchronously.
To view previously recorded BDR/SDR Enablement content, you can view the BDR/SDR Enablement Video Library here (must be logged in as the GitLab Unfiltered YouTube user).
As part of your onboarding, you will begin an Sales Development Technical Development course with our Senior Sales Dev Enablement Manager. The goal of this course is to enable you to be more comfortable have technical discussions - specifically when it comes to GitLabâs use cases. Each level of the course is tied to our levels in the BDR and SDR roles.
| Sales Development Resources | Description |
|---|---|
| Territory Alignment | Currently the single source of truth for BDR and SDR/Territory Alignment, Public Sector BDR territory |
| Enterprise BDR Outbound Process Framework | Outbound process framework for the Enterprise BDR team. Note: These vary by team and geo |
| Sales Development Enablement Videos | Enablement videos and how-tos for BDRs and SDRs |
| Outreach sequence naming convention | * BDRs and SDRs should leverage the naming convention structure and speak to their team about whether the sequence should is approved to be a part of their team's collection of sequences |
| Marketing Resources | Description |
|---|---|
| Lead Lifecycle Handbook Page | Handbook page that details the different lead statuses and how we manage our lead lifecycle |
| Marketing Resource Links | GitLab whitepapers, ebooks, webcasts, analyst reports, and more for Sales & Sales Development education |
| Marketing Events + Gated Content Assets + Webcasts | BDRs and SDRs can use this sheet to refer better understand the marketing assets that are being consumed by prospects. To view the ungated content, click on the link in the Pathfactory or PDF/YouTube columns. Note: Sharing non-gated assets requires manager approval |
| GitLab Buyer Personas | Resource to help GitLab sellers better understand our buyers and audiences |
| Sales Resources | Description |
|---|---|
| Sales handbook page | GitLab Sales team handbook |
| Sales resources page | Link to the Sales quick reference guide with links to learn more about the various sales teams & initiatives |
| Weekly sales enablement | These sessions take place every Thursday and BDRs/lSDRs have an open invitation to participate |
| Sales Training handbook page | Link to GitLab sales training |
| Command of the Message | "Command of the Message" training and the GitLab value framework |
| Most commonly used sales resources | Sales resources page |
| Flash Field newsletter | Learn more about sales' weekly newsletter |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accepted Lead | A lead that an SDR or BDR agrees to work until qualified in or qualified out |
| Account | An organization tracked in salesforce.com. An account can be a prospect, customer, former customer, integrator, reseller, or prospective reseller |
| AM | Account Manager |
| AE | Account Executive, can be Major or Strategic in AMER/EMEA Enterprise |
| APAC | Asia-Pacific |
| BDR | Business Development Represenative - focused on outbound |
| CAM | Channel Account Manager |
| CS | Customer Success |
| DACH | Germany, Austria and Switzerland region |
| EMEA | Europe, Middle East, and Africa |
| EULA | End User License Agreement |
| High intent | an event, webcast, demo that is a strong indicator of purchase or evaluation |
| Inquiry | an Inbound request or response to an outbound marketing effort |
| IQM | Initial Qualifying Meeting |
| LATAM | Latin America (includes all of Central & South America) |
| META | Middle East, Turkey and Africa Region |
| MQL | Marketing Qualified Lead - an inquiry that has been qualified through systematic means (e.g. through demographic/firmographic/behavior lead scoring) |
| MVC | Minimal Viable Change (not Model View Controller) |
| NEUR | Northern Europe Region |
| NORAM | North America |
| Qualified Lead | A lead that a BDR or SDR has qualified, converted to an opportunity and assigned to a Sales Representative (Stage 0-Pending Acceptance) |
| RD | Regional Director |
| ROW | Rest of World |
| SAE | Strategic Account Executive |
| Sales Admin | Sales Administrator |
| Sales Serve | A sales method where a quota bearing member of the sales team closes the deal |
| SAO | Sales Accepted Opportunity - an opportunity Sales agrees to pursue following an Initial Qualifying Meeting |
| SDR | Sales Development Representative - focused on inbound |
| Self Serve | A sales method where a customer purchases online through our web store. Also known as a "web direct" |
| SEUR | Southern Europe Region |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SQO | Sales Qualified Opportunity |
| CSM | Customer Success Manager |
| TEDD | Technology, Engineering, Development and Design - used to estimate the maximum potential users of GitLab at a company |
| Won Opportunity | Contract signed to Purchase GitLab |
Hyper-personalization - This is the concept of combining real-time data extracted from multiple sources to create outreach that resonates with prospects on an individual level. The desired outcome is to establish relevance with a prospect as a first step towards a conversation.
VIP (prospect) - A Very important top officer, executive buyer, C-level prospect, or important influencer. For these individuals, hyper-personalization is required. Examples: CTO, CIO, CSIO, C-level, IT Business unit leads, VPs, strategic project leaders.
Influencer (prospect) - An individual prospect that is suspected to be involved with IT decision-making, tooling, teams, roadmap, strategic projects, and/or budgets. Examples: Director or Manager of DevOps / Engineering / Cloud / Security, Enterprise Architects, IT buyers, SysAdmins, purchasing managers, and product owners.
User (prospect) - A prospect that has limited influence within an IT organization. Examples: Developers, Engineers, QA, consultants, and business users.
Groundswell - An outbound strategy focused on filling the top of the funnel by generating engagement, opt-ins, MQLs, and uncovering intent signals. This strategy typically incorporates more automation than other more direct outbound prospecting tactics. The strategy should be used with lower-level prospects and lower-tier accounts.
Snippets - Content created for BDRS and SDRs to use to create hyper-personalized sequences, one-off emails, or to use for reaching out to prospects via LinkedIn.
Warm Calling - The method used to strategically incorporate phone calls and voicemails into an outbound prospecting workflow. The idea is to optimize outbound productivity by only using the phone to call engaged, validated, and/or VIP prospects.
BDR Team Breakdown * PubSec * AMER Mid-Market * AMER West * AMER Central * AMER East * EMEA Mid-Market * EMEA NEUR * EMEA DACH * EMEA SEUR * APAC Large/MM
Attributes of team:
Attributes of team:
The Business Development team aligns to the Commercial, Large, and PubSec sales teams. These teams are broken down into three segments: Large, Mid-Market and SMB which are based on the total employee count of the Global account. *Note: The commercial sales team includes both Mid-Market and SMB. This segmentation allows BDRs and Sales to be focused in their approach and messaging. The segments are aligned to a region/vertical and then divided one step further via territories in the regions. Our single source of truth for determining the number of employees is Zoominfo.
We hold our Sales Development Org accountable to three pillars:
Uphold daily activity metrics, in terms of sequencing new leads, researching outbound accounts and actioning sequence steps in time.
MQLs to be sequenced within expected activity metrics.
Work lead records within Salesforce by leveraging relevant sequence libraries in Outreach.
Use our Business Intelligence platforms like ZoomInfo or LinkedIn to verify the validity of inbound lead datapoints. Take appropriate actions to clean up and assure accuracy and consistency of SFDC/Outreach data. Add any additional information sourced from your research, or correct wrong data altogether.
Maintain a sense of ownership of data integrity in Salesforce and Outreach. Clean up and assure accuracy and consistency of data. Add any additional information gathered from our Business Intelligence platforms, ZoomInfo or LinkedIn for example. about a LEAD, CONTACT, or ACCOUNT from our data source Zoominfo where you can into SFDC.
Sequence steps to be actioned within the same day of them being due. Move steps to a further date only because of national holidays affecting outreach (ie. Christmas day)
Maintain SFDC data integrity by following the outbound workflow in researching and prospecting accounts.
Maintain cross-functional relationships in terms of outbound account planning. Attend each initial qualifying meeting (IQM) with the AE/SAE you work with. Document accurate up-to-date notes in SFDC, including adding the Contacts you have been in communication with and attaching all corresponding connects and attempts to the Contact record. Communicating with the AE/SAE teams before and after the meeting to ensure accurate briefs are provided and tangible mutually agreed-upon next steps are set.
Displaying business and sales accumen in terms of appropriate use of sales methodologies and strategic preparation prior to each touchpoint with prospects.
Display business accumen and sales skills in personalizing inbound/outbound leads, in accordance with our CoM email writing principles.
Display business accumen and sales skills is preparing for cold-calls, in accordance with our CoM cold-calling principles
Display business accumen and sales skills is preparing for scheduled discovery calls, in accordance with our CoM sales training
Outbound accounts to be added in a weekly cadence, according with the expectations set within each regional team, in terms of outbound cycle (monthly, weekly) and volume of accounts.
Maintain cross-functional relationships, with the relevant stakeholders of your territory or segment, while enforcing the principles outlined above.
Collaborate with the Sales team in terms of account planning
Collaborate with the Field Marketing team in terms of event outreach
Quota is made up of the following depending on sales segment:
Team Member OTE (SDR/MM BDR, APAC BDR, & Pub Sec)
Team Member OTE (ENT BDR Strategic)
Team Member OTE (ENT BDR Major)
While the below measurements do not impact your quota attainment, they are monitored by Sales Dev leadership.
Results
Activity
Daily outbound metrics * We aim for 45 touchpoints per day using the various methods above. This is a broad expectation and may vary per team given the segment, functionality and strategy of the team manager.
Promotion Criteria for Each Sales Development Position
Some examples of potential next roles after the Sales Dev Org are Inside Sales Rep, SMB Account Executive, Associate Solutions Architect, Customer Success Manager, and many more!
After being promoted from SDR to BDR or BDR to an external department, your existing pipeline will not move with you but rather will be reassigned to the team you are leaving. This includes:
At GitLab we have flexible working hours. This means that you can organize your working day as you like and are not expected to arrive and leave at a set time every day, but we do expect MQLâs to be followed up within 1 hour (during business hours) so communication with your manager will be necessary if you plan to be out for an extended period of time. Managers will provide direction on the routing of leads during that time.
With a prospect-facing role in Sales Development, do keep in mind when you are calling and emailing prospects:
In short, working at GitLab means that if you start the day early you can take a long lunch break to hit the gym or go grocery shopping in the middle of the day when itâs quiet, yet you can still do a full dayâs work around that and donât need to be accountable all the time, as long as you are available to call prospects and be available for prospect meetings during normal working hours for your region/territory.
You can find a detailed breakdown of the Sales Development Organizations tools and best practices on this page of the handbook
As a BDR or SDR, you will be focused on leads - both inbound and outbound. At the highest level, a lead is a person who shows interest in GitLab through inbound lead generation tactics or through outbound prospecting.
The GitLab marketing team uses digital channels - social media, email, mobile/web apps, search engines, websites, etc - as well as in-person marketing activities to meet potential buyers where they are. When people interact with GitLab, we use lead scoring to assign a numerical value, or points, to each of these leads based on their actions and the information we have about them. Once a lead reaches 100 points, they are considered a Marketing Qualified Lead or MQL.
SDRs are responsible for following up with MQLs by reviewing their information, reaching out, and working with them to understand their goals, needs, and problems. BDRs have the same responsibility for MQLs that come from one of their âactively workingâ accounts. Once you have that information, you can use our qualification criteria to determine if this is someone who has strong potential to purchase our product and therefore should be connected with sales for next steps. As you are the connection between Marketing and Sales you want to make sure every lead you pass to the Sales team is as qualified as possible.
These MQLs will show up in your S1 or B1 lead and contact views in Salesforce. The other views, listed here, allow you to see your leads in a categorized way to simplify your workflow. Leads are routed to you and flow into your views via the tool Traction Complete which takes each lead through a series of conditional questions to ensure it goes to the right person. Even though all SDRs leverage the same views, they will only show you leads that have been specifically routed to you. You will be responsible for following up with all of the leads in your MQL views by sequencing them using Outreach.io. Once sequenced, their lead status will change and they will move from your MQL views allowing you to have an empty view. Managers monitor all views to ensure they are cleared out. If you choose not to work a lead please unqualify it and state your reasons in the lead record.
The SDR Managers will be responsible for facilitating lead routing level changes at the beginning of each new month (when applicable) by making the requisite moves in Traction and Qualified.
Disclaimer: for SDRs that start mid-month (third Monday or later), their first (partial) month will be deemed âmonth 0â for the purposes of these rules of engagement.
SDR Managers will monitor key metrics and ensure they are being handled effectively before advancing an SDR from Ramping to Expert:
Contact ownership is based on the BDR Assigned and Account owner fields. If you are the BDR Assigned on the account, you will be the owner of all contacts associated with that account. If there is no BDR Assigned, the account owner will be the owner of the contacts.
Rules of Engagement (RoE): Defines who has ownership over a lead, who gets credit for the SAO, and how the SDRs and BDRs can work together to achieve goals.
BDR Prospecting Status: Salesforce status that will includ Queued, Actively Working, Worked in FY, and Restricted
Partner Prospecting Status: If this is populated, the lead/contact is being worked by a partner and the Sales Dev team should not proceed with outreach. Instead the rep should change the ownership to Marketo Integration. BDRs should not bring these into their outreach on AWAâs.
Yes: Check for Activity
Next Steps: SDR chatters the BDR Assigned and lets them know you didn't find activity and will go ahead and sequence the lead. FYI's the BDR Manager. BDR Manager will work with the BDR to put the account into the correct BDR Prospecting status. If a BDR is able to relay information that was not picked up in the SDR's research, the SDR should end the sequence if the prospect hasn't engaged and change lead ownership to BDR so the BDR can reach out. If the SDR has engaged with the prospect, there will need to be a coordinated handoff worked out between SDR and BDR. Note: Only activity logged in SFDC will be recognized as activity.
After determining an MQL is to be worked by the SDR team:
Is the new MQL related to an existing MQL that is part of the same account?
No: The MQL can be worked by the SDR that received it through the round robin
Yes: Check the status of the existing MQL
Is the existing MQL in Accepted or Qualifying status?
No: The MQL can be worked by the SDR that received it through the round robin
Yes: Check the activity on the existing MQL
Is there activity in the last 30 days or a follow up task scheduled for the future?
Yes: The MQL should be worked by the owner of the existing MQL
No: The MQL can be worked by the SDR that received it through the round robin. If you are not sure, double-check with the related SDR.
If the related SDR relays information that was not picked up in the new SDR's research, the new SDR should end any active sequence if the prospect hasn't engaged and change lead ownership to the team member who has been engaged so they can reach out. If the new SDR has engaged with the prospect, there will need to be a coordinated handoff worked out between the new SDR and the related SDR. Note: Only activity logged in SFDC will be recognized as activity.
| Problem | Who to Chatter |
|---|---|
| A SMB/MM Contact Request and the account is a customer | Chatter the Account Owner and inform them of the context of the message. *there is an exception if the account has only bought CI/CD or storage |
| A BDR recieves an MQL Lead that is not from an Actively Working Account | Chatter @mktops |
| If you feel a lead has been misrouted | Chatter @mktops |
| There is a Duplicate Account | Chatter Sales Support and ask them to merge the accounts. The chatter should be on the account that is more active |
| An Opp has moved into Stage 1 but has Incorrect Data | Chatter your manager who will then reach out to someone in Sales Dev Operations |
| Unclear Territory Assignment | Chatter an AE from each of the potential territories |
| Requesting SAO Credit on a Web Direct Opp | Chatter your manager and use this format |
| Account is in Restricted Status | Chatter the SAE and ask permission to reach out |
When a territory moves from one BDR to another but the previous BDR remains with the same team (ex: moves from one MM territory to another) the BDR vacating the territory will have the chance to temporarily retain ownership of accounts with which they have generated ongoing engagement (subject to manager approval). At the time of the holdover, an issue will be created that will be reviewed in 30 days to verify account ownership. This includes:
The new BDR assigned to the territory is free to work any account (by moving them into Actively Working Account status) that was previously engaged with by the outgoing BDR but does not have an existing stage 0 opportunity, nor is part of the 30 day holdover, and will receive SAO credit for any opportunity that is generated from their activity based on normal rules of engagement.
Begin with Enriching and using Find Duplicates
Matched Account section to see if the BDR prospecting status is âActively Workingâ. If so, they will need to transfer to BDR.Matched Leads or Matched Contacts that are a match. If so, then our merging process here will need to be followed.Matched Opportunities Section to see if there is an active Opportunity for the account be it SAE/AE-owned or Channel owned (Resale Partner last column) The lead owner should determine if this lead is related to any active opportunity and then pass along the lead if relevant.Outreach & Marketo
If the lead is yours to work based on all of the above, sequence them in Outreach using the FY24 inbound sequence that correlates with the Last Interesting Moment. You can also look at the initial source and Marketo insights to get a holistic view of what a lead is looking into. There is an Outreach collection of sequences for inbound leads for each region. These collections contain a primary sequence for nearly every inbound lead scenario.
A high touch sequence should be used for higher-quality leads. High touch sequences require you to add in more personalization and have more touch points across a longer period of time, including phone calls and LinkedIn Connect requests. Low touch sequences are typically automated and run for a shorter period of time. We define higher quality leads based on the volume of inbound you have to manage as well as whether the lead has has 1-2 of the following for MM/Large accounts:
Technical questions from leads?
Every so often you may be assigned a lead that has no value to GitLab and is not worth keeping within our database. Qualities that define these types of leads include:
Batman Batman are very lowWhen you come across leads that fall into this category, it is best to remove them from our Salesforce database entirely. The process to remove leads is to add the lead to the SPAM DELETION Salesforce campaign. A few details about this process:
campaign member status used when adding to the campaign does not matter, only campaign membership matters for this processMarketo, runs once a day at 12:05am PDTmktgops Slack channel. Please keep unscheduled requests to a minimumLead/contact statuses allow anyone in Salesforce to understand where a lead is at in their journey. The automation mentioned below is all done through an Outreach.io trigger.
Inactive lead or Inactive contact checkbox, signifying that this person no longer works at the company, any running sequence will automatically be marked as finished.For SDRS and BDRS that want to sequence leads in their qualifying views we created this video to help you create a workflow around this follow up sequence
The same video also showcases the Auto Follow Up to Book a Meeting Sequence SDRs and BDRs can use when a prospect responds to one of their sequences.
Whether it be from inbound follow up or outbound prospecting, youâre going to be engaging with prospects who are directly involved in a project or team related to the potential purchase of GitLab within a buying group, either as an evaluator, decision-maker, technical buyer, or influencer. During those interactions, youâll be looking to gather information related to the SAO qualification criteria.
Qualification criteria is a minimum set of characteristics that a lead must have in order to be passed to sales and become a Sales Accepted Opportunity (SAO), these are split into Inbound and Outbound Criteria.
As an SDR or BDR, you will work to connect with inbound/outbound leads that you get a response from to obtain the applicable information required. This information is tracked on the qualification criteria on the LEAD, CONTACT, and OPPORTUNITY objects in Salesforce. In order to obtain an SAO, you will need to have the 'required' information filled out on the opportunity including documented 2-way communication on the Contacts in the Opportunity. Professional Services opportunities are not credited to sales development, these need to be passed straight to the account AEs for them to qualify.
You have scheduled time with AE/SAE to speak with the prospect.
If you are scheduling time with an AE/SAE to speak to the prospect based on a qualifying conversation you have had with the prospect, an opportunity needs to be created and placed in stage 0. On the opportunity, all "required qualification" fields need to be filled in.
You have obtained a commitment/willigness from a prospect to discuss further.
If you have a meaningful two-way communication with a prospect, but have not had the required qualification criteria to move to the Sales team, you can create an opportunity under your name so that you better track your warm conversations. These opportunities may also be used for better collaboration with your team, as they can be reviewed and brain-stormed upon during team meetings.
You have scheduled time with AE/SAE to speak with the prospect.
When you have entered the qualification criteria onto the opportunity, and have received calendar confirmation from all parties for the intro call with sales, you will change ownership to the AE/SAE. After you have saved opp owner, you will add yourself to the BDR/SDR field. The opportunity will remain in stage 0.
You have obtained a commitment/willigness from a prospect to discuss further.
At this point, the opportunity will be in your ownership but you can not have yourself listed in the Business Development Representative or Sales Development Representative field. There is a validation rule that will not allow the opp owner and the SDR/BDR representative field to be the same member.
After the AE/SAL meets with the prospect to verify and supplement qualification criteria, they will move the opportunity into Stage 1 Discovery. The AE/SAL is expected to move the opportunity into the correct stage within 48 hours of the meeting reflected in the "Next Step" date field.
If an opportunity has incorrect data after it has moved into Stage 1 - Discovery, please Chatter your manager about the required changes, they will then Chatter someone from Sales Dev Operations (Ramona, Panos, Ed) once final changes are agreed upon. No one else from Sales Dev can edit opportunities once they are in Stage 1, so please try and ensure you have all the information on the opportunity before you ask the AE/SAL to accept it.
If the opportunity is for a new group of users in a Large account where sales is working on a large "central" opportunity, then your opportunity should be merged to that opportunity for you to get credit for the users you have brought to the deal. See under Stage 8 in the Sales Go To Market Handbook
Before scheduling the meeting with the AE/SAE, you will need to verify the sales organization RoE
Before proceeding, please familiarize yourself with our Account Creation Policy and Sales Segment and Hierarchy Review Process.
Our data isn't perfect. There will be times when ZoomInfo is not reflecting the proper address or employee count for the organization you are working or a parent-child relationship is not properly documented. We have an established workflow through which you can get your accounts assigned to the proper territory and sales team member in these situations.
Please note that as a standing rule, SDRs and BDRs should never directly Chatter Sales Support with these issues.
What do I do when ZoomInfo has improper data on an account?
The first (and most timely) opportunity to override incorrect ZoomInfo data is when working with a Lead record in Salesforce. When you have verified a correct address/employee count through an accepted source, you should navigate to the Lead/Contact Review Admin section on the lead record. Here you can input the correct address and/or employee count, along with the source by which you verified the information. You should always try to input a full address including street number, but in order for the record to route correctly, a postal code, state (when applicable) and country are required. Vital to this process is that you check the box labeled [Admin] Exclude from Enrichment. Failure to do this will result in the ZoomInfo data overwriting your changes. This process is modeled in this video courtesy of our Marketing Ops team.
If your Lead record override is unsuccessful, you just have an existing account record that you need overriden, or you need a parent-child relationship adjusted, Chatter the appropriate Sales Dev Director to assist you: Brian Tabbert (Global Commercial and ENT AMER), Elsje Smart (ENT APAC/EMEA) or Mona Elliott. In your chatter you need to include the full company address and/or employee count as well as your source for the correct information. The Director will then complete the appropriate Account Review Admin fields on the account record. After completing the override, the Director will Chatter you letting you know. At this point, the SalesForce automation process takes effect. This process consists of the following:
This process could take up to 72 hours before completing the reassignment. If after 72 hours the account is still not properly assigned, the Director will reach out to a member of the Territory Ops team to assist.
There will be times when an SDR or BDR is working a prospect and, after connecting with the prospect, discovers that the corresponding account actually belongs to a different segment than originally thought. This could be due to newly uncovered information regarding employee count, HQ location, or parent account relationship. SAO credit in these situations will vary based on the circumstances and will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Specifically:
In situations where an SDR or BDR has received conflicting information and it is unclear what the correct territory is for an account, they should Chatter the AEs assigned to the potential territories and have them figure out who owns it.
On the opportunity record in Salesforce, compose a new Chatter message that includes the following:
Your manager will review the information and decide whether SAO credit is warranted. If confirmed, they will Chatter Sales Support to add you to the opportunity. If rejected, they will communicate to you the reasoning for their decision.
BDR outbound lead generation is done by prospecting to companies and individuals who could be a great fit for our product. Prospecting is the process of finding and developing new business through searching for potential customers with the end goal of moving these people through the sales funnel until they eventually convert into customers.
BDRs will work closely with their dedicated SAE or AE to choose which accounts move into âActively Workingâ. Together they will build a strategy for those companies. It is crucial that outreach is very intentional and strategic. When reaching out, we want BDRs to offer value and become a trusted advisor, ensuring a positive impression is left whether there is current demand or not.
| In additional to our B2B database toolstack, we also use 6Sense to pre-qualify the accounts that should be considered for our | pipelines since 6Sense scores accounts based on their market and profile fit. |
There are two ways utilize 6Sense:
The dashboard will now display the top actively working accounts in your name. Do note that these are only accounts that we currently have on our database, while you can find greenfield accounts by visiting the SaaS platform (instructions in section 2B). Section 3 below explains how you can review and utilize this data.
(In each folder you will find a saved template that can be cloned and edited for your individual territories.)
| Folder | Usage |
|---|---|
| 1. AWA'd Accounts | These segments will display the top accounts in your current actively working list according to 6Sense intent data. By manually investigating each of those accounts you will be able to uncovered further prospect engagement data, and adjust your strategy in converting this account. This report has the same functionality as the SFDC dashboard outlined in step 2A. |
| 2. Non-AWA Greenfield Accounts | These segments will display the top accounts in your territory that we do not have on our SFDC database. These accounts should be manually investigated and considered for adding to your outbound pipeline. Note that we have approx. 15% of our TAM on our SFDC database, while these reports are an automated way to identify great accounts from the other 85% of the TAM in your territory. Please note that the Sales Dev Ops team is here to work with you to generate these reports, as the particularities of our Sales Territories require some editing with the filters. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us so we help you work through these. |
| 3. Non-AWA SFDC Accounts | These segments display the accounts that currently hold on our database that display high 6sense intent scores, but are not part of your actively working list. |
After choosing the type of report you'd like to work, please follow the steps below:
No matter how efficiently we're trying to use our toolchain, these tools are still prone to error, and manual research is required to best shortlist the prospecting lists that cross-referencing will provide.
Manual research will also provide additional context that can be used to hyper-personalize your outreach to your prospects.
For each account that you want to investigate, start with SFDC to make sure that there are no duplicate accounts. The report templates in 6Sense should exclude existing customers or accounts actively prospected, but we cannot automatically exclude accounts that have a different naming or domain on salesforce (ie. GitLab and GTLB)
The importance of diligent manual research will lead to the below efficiencies:
â Better use of time in the long-run by making sure accounts are indeed within your segment and territory, or are not duplicates.
â Avoiding unecessary RoE conflicts by making sure there are no hidden parent accounts that would cause SAO ownership to be re-assigned to other segments in the future.
To double-check the account on Salesforce:
To hyper-personalize your messaging:
Please follow the steps below to understand how to research the data provided on 6Sense, and to cross-reference this data with our internal knowledge base so that you create your account strategy accordingly.
Understand and utilize 6Sense data.
i. Each segment has an accounts tab that displays all the accounts that correspond to this segment. This view can be shortlisted further by using the three analytics tabs as all datapoints in these tabs is clickable.
ii. Predictive Analytics filters accounts by their propensity to buy. This data can be used to split prospecting efforts between high-priority outbound campaigns and low-priority awareness campaigns
iii. Behavioural Analytics filters accounts by the intent/value-driver that they mostly focused on. This data can be used to split accounts into specific value-driver focused campaigns.
iv. Profile Analytics filter accounts by the demographic of each company in terms of location or size. This data can be used to run location-specific campaigns.
Search for past opportunities on SFDC
i. Check the qualification notes
ii. Check the unqualified reasons by the AE team
iii. Check past email communication on the activity records
Search for the account record on SFDC
i. Check Account Rank notes by the AE team
ii. Check the PathFactory, ZoomInfo, Marketo integration tabs
iii. Check their product usage information (if applicable)
iv. Check their LAM Dev Count
Search for relevant leads on SFDC
i. Check for past communication
ii. Check for Last Interesting Moment and how it connects to their title and lead source to determine their compelling events
iii. Check for Web Activity on Marketo and PathFactory to gauge past interest
Cross-reference with External sources
i. Search LinkedIn Insights for company growth, financials and recent news
ii. Search company webpage for recent news, career openings or specific technologies used
iii. Search online sources like newsletter or crunchbase
Cross-reference the above with HighSpot
i. Check for relevant playbooks based on company size
ii. Check for relevant messaging based on persona
iii. Check for relevant pain-points based on value driver
After having manually shortlisted the accounts that are applicable to your campaign, the next step is to determine the relevant prospects per account and export them to SFDC. It is important to add accounts to your outbound pipeline so that AEs and other SDRs/BDRs know this is an account that is already being touched, and to avoid confusion or multiple people approaching the same prospects. Before moving an account into âActively Working Statusâ, make sure there have been no MQLs or opportunities created from that account within the past 30 days, and there are no leads from that account in Qualifying status with activity in the last 30 days or with a future task date set. If you are not sure, double-check with the related AE, SDR or BDR.
To determine which prospects to enroll per account, please follow the steps below:
To export to CRM, please follow the guidelines below:
To fill in the BDR fields, please follow the guidelines below:
BDR Account Research field and populate accordingly.BDR Next Step Date to be at the end of the account's sequence length (typically one month out)To review your current pipeline, along with any leads with next steps, please refer to your segments dashboards by going to SFDC > Dashboards and searching for watch and help. Team specific variants of these dashboard components will also be found on your team's dashboard. These dashboards will give you a bird's eye view of what actions are required from to maintain a clean pipeline, in terms of:
i. Accounts with BDR fields past due
ii. Prospects with sequence steps past due
iii. Prospects that have been moved to Qualifying status but have not had any outreach since.
To utilize the BDR fields in maintaing an automated 1:1 outbound agenda with the AEs/SAEs that you collaborate with, please follow the link here for a list or report templates that may be cloned and customized.
Important Note You do not have to wait until the end of the month or quarter to change the BDR prospecting status, you just have to make sure you stay under the limit for your segment and move the account to either âQueuedâ or âWorked in FYâ based on criteria.
BDR Account views are to help with territory organization. It is very important for BDRs and their manager to update the BDR assigned field for their territory. Contacts ownership will be based on the BDR Assigned to the account. BDRs will be responsible for contact follow up should they MQL. BDRs will also be responsible for any leads that MQL when theyâre related to accounts where they are the BDR Assigned and the account is in âActively Workingâ status.
Account views
Before moving an account into âActively Working Statusâ, the BDR will make sure there have been no MQLs or opportunities created from that account within the past 30 days, and there are no leads from that account in Qualifying status with activity in the last 30 days or with a future task date set. If you are not sure, double-check with the related AE, SDR or BDR.
If a related AE or SDR relays information that was not picked up in the BDR's research, the BDR should end any active sequence if the prospect hasn't engaged and change lead ownership to the team member whose been engaged so they can reach out. If the BDR has engaged with the prospect, there will need to be a coordinated handoff worked out between the BDR and the related team member. Note: Only activity logged in SFDC will be recognized as activity.
Exception to the process:
Accounts should not be moved to âActively Workingâ until the BDR is ready to begin account research, strategy, and sequencing leads. There will be a set # of days that a BDR has to complete these actions before the account moves back to a BDR prospecting status of âQueuedâ
Ideas for account research and strategy: "coming soon"
Before calling any Lead or Contact, BDRs must ensure that the Do Not Call box is unchecked. If you speak to any anyone, including prospects and existing contacts, who ask you not to call them again, you must check this box. However, please do not delete the number as we need to know which number requested not to be called again. For any individuals who are opted-in to email, you may ask them if they wish to be called. If they express a desire to be called, you are then permitted to uncheck the Do Not Call box if it was previously checked. Also, if an individual expresses independently via email a wish to be called, you may uncheck the Do Not Call box. This email must be present in SFDC as proof of your authority to uncheck this box. You cannot send email requests to individuals not opted-in to email asking whether they would like to be called.
Our cold-calling best practices typically consist of 4 elements. A pattern interrupt, an elevator pitch and, if required, objection/trap-setting questions and Up-Front Contracts.
To be effective, these need to be customized to the individuals we call as per the logic below:
The main documentation may be found here and the library of resources here
Leads with certain criteria will be automatically labeled as Do Not Call and or Do Not Email shortly after loading into our database. It's understandable this can be frustrating for certain territories. Please keep in mind, the criteria behind this automation has been set in order to follow local law. Please see the Internal GitLab handbook for more information on the triggers.
Typically used for scheduled calls and Up-Front Contracts. UFCs can also be used as a defense mechanism when cold calling does not go as planned. For cold-calling, UFCs are used when the prospect can commit to 15â at the time of the call. If they commit to a 15â for a later time, UFCs are used to open the call and set the agenda then.
Explore the main documentation here
The questions below are suggestions to be used while doing a discovery call, in order to identify the decision making process, and to meet the outbound accepted SAO as per the guidelines here
The table below shows the Command of the Message Email Writing Checklist.
It aims to outline the structure of the emails we write to prospects. Emails should be written in each personâs language and tone and make sure to include the CoM frameworks as per the outline below. You can find additional resources here
| Subject Line | Â |
|---|---|
| Personalized | Quote Familiar Names: Use Prospectâs name, Company name, or colleagueâs name. Relate to their situation: Use recent company initiatives, technologies they use, Projects they have planned etc. |
| Curiosity and Urgency | Provide an image of their future situation: Guide the reader to imagine how their situation could change. Use compelling events to give a clear image of where they are currently. |
| CoM | Proof Points: Quote Case Studies or other customers. How We Do it Better: Make use of our defensible differentiators. |
| Opening Line | Â |
| Avoid cliches | Stand out: Avoid losing email real-estate with cliche phrases like âjust following upâ or âhope all is wellâ. Brand yourself: Demonstrate that you have an understanding of the readerâs current situation and a clear idea of his required solutions. |
| CoM | Before Scenarios: Paint a clear image of their current situation and how that is causing them professional or personal pain. Ater Scenarios/PBOs: Tie the current situation with a clear image of a future situation thatâs beneficial for the business and the individual. |
| Main Body | Â |
| Addressing Questions and Information provided | No Free Consulting: Answer questions just enough to give a narrative to your email and tie into the CTA. No Transactional Answers: Donât make the reader feel like heâs interacting with an online form, a robot, or a sleazy salesman that doesnât care. |
| CoM | Discovery Questions: determine which discovery questions tie into their current situation, questions asked or information provided. Trap-Setting Questions: if competitor technology or objections come up, use trap-setting questions to guide the reader into understanding our differentiators. |
| CTA | Â |
| Clear Next Step, Agenda and benefit | Valuable: phrase your CTA in a way thatâs clearly valuable to the reader and his specific situation. Defined: outline what will happen in the next step and how long will it take |
| CoM | Measurable: present metrics or PBOs that will be covered in the next step |
| Additionally, you can use the matrix below as a quick-cheet to determine what datapoints can be used for personalization.
| Location | Information |
|---|---|
| Have they recently been promoted? - What are the specific responsibilities stated on their page you are trying to help them with? | |
| Company strategy from website | What are the company's strategic initiatives? (become more agile?, improve internal business systems?, focus on speed to market on delivery? Streamlining expenditure? |
| Google search name of contact | Do they have any blogs? Have they featured in any articles?, Have they any personal achievements celebrated?, Do they have any side projects? |
| Keyword search company | âCOMPANYâ AND (âAgileâ OR âdigital transformationâ OR âDevopsâ OR âbusiness process improvementâ OR âCloudâ OR âdigital strategyâ) |
| Leadership Focus | Find articles of leadership through boolean searches and ask propose how we can help them achieve these goals |
| Company News | Celebrate company achievements |
| Check support tickets | Are they experiencing issues that upgrading deployment options could help resolve? |
| Mutual Contacts | Do you have mutual contacts on LinkedIn you can talk about? |
| Use cases on website | Do they have the same customers as us? How do they help them? |
| Speak to a user of the tool to create personalised message to decision maker | Speak to someone who uses out tools everyday to uncover pain-points (performance degradation at peak times) and take that information to a decision maker |
The SFDC prospect database is split into five segments: Core users, free GitLab.com users, trial prospects, current customer "leads" and other prospects. We have checkboxes for these, most of which will automatically populate. However, the Core User checkbox in Leads and Contacts needs to be checked by the BDR/SDR or Sales rep once the prospect has confirmed in writing or on the phone that they are using Core as we cannot rely on our product analytics alone as it does not cover all users.
IMPORTANT: EMEA reps, old leads/contacts for EU nations can only be called or emailed if they were in our system from May 2018 or later. Any lead/contact that was brought into our system prior would need to optin to communication. Any new leads/contacts can only be called or emailed if they have been brought in from ZoomInfo. You can also leverage LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
| The [BDR | framework](https://drive.google.com/drive/search?q=%20Outbound%20Process%20Framework%22%40gitlab.com) (sample is linked) will walk you through both strategy and execution of outbound prospecting. |
When creating new prospects in SFDC these should be added as Leads to the system. New Leads can for example be prospects you are talking to on LinkedIn, prospects you are introduced to by someone at GitLab, or by other Leads or Contacts in SFDC. Everyone you are contacting should exist on SFDC so that you, your manager, and the Account owner have a full picture of who you are prospecting into. LinkedIn conversations can be sent to SFDC using the "Copy to CRM" feature within the LinkedIn Sales Navigator chat platform.
If you have a list you would like to import to SFDC please follow this List Import process on our Marketing Operations page which outlines how to import CSVs and ZoomInfo Prospects into the system.
Persona-based Messaging: Used for focusing on specific titles or personas
Business Resilience Messaging Revamped value driver messaging for companies impacted by the pandemic
Value Driver Messaging: Developed to align to the GitLab value framework
Situational Snippets Developed to help BDRs and SDRs respond to common prospect responses
Q: Should BDRs flag duplicate accounts? A: Yes. However, they do not have the ability to merge it themselves so should chatter @Sales Support to do it.
Q: How do we resolve a dispute over SAO credit?: A: SDR and BDR first try to talk through a solution If no agreement: Managers will determine a solution If no agreement between the managers: Escalate to Senior Leadership Double credit nor double compensation will be given
Q: Who will be handling inquiries from an SDR/BDR standpoint? A: Inquiries will go to an open queue. SDRâs will not work them. We want to give marketing time to progress these to MQLs. A: BDRâs can work leads in all statuses if they are related to their âActively workingâ accounts. Outreach to these leads would be part of their account strategy.
Q: What if a prospect comes back directly to the BDR much delayed, when the account is not marked as âActively Workingâ anymore, but resulting from personalized messaging? A: Yes, if they email, reply via LI, or call the BDR directly, the BDR will need to check that the lead is in queue ownership. If so, they must move the account back to âActively Workingâ, so that the lead can be put into their ownership.
To increase engagement at Field and Corporate events, itâs helpful to have BDRâs involved with pre-event outreach, on-site participation, or a combination of both. Learn more about Field and Corporate Events via their linked handbook pages.
The FMM Regional team & the AMER or EMEA/APAC Regional Senior BDR Manager will review the upcoming quarter event calendar to discuss which events needs BDR support and what level of support would be needed. The Regional Senior BDR Manager will sign off on the related event support by referencing the "BDR approved" column in the Marketing Calendar SSOT worksheet. FMMs will then open the related FMM/ISR/SDR issue mentioning the Regional Senior BDR Manager. The Regional Sr. BDR Manager will assign a Manager DRI who will then include related BDRs participating in the event's BDR pre and post tasks.
Best practices for selecting sales development team members to represent GitLab at field marketing events include:
Support might include pre event outreach by BDR's to help drive attendance/meetings. Also could include event booth staffing either in person or virtually by SDRs and/or BDRs.
BDRs should not support joint partner related events where there the routing plan is to have the leads worked by the partner. Additionally, the following routing should be taken into the routing workflow.
When our Field Marketing Managers (FMMs) begin preparing for an event or campaign, they will create an issue using a regional issue template. If they need BDR or SDR Support they will open an SDR Request issue and the FMM will fill out/ensure the following sections are accurate:
Once the sections are populated and up to date, the senior regional Sales Dev Manager is looped in. That senior regional Sales Dev Manager will assign a BDR manager to be the manager DRI for this event.
The BDR Manager DRI will:
The mentioned BDR(s) will:
The corporate process is the same as the field process detailed above with the exception that they have a separate issue when looping in the Sales Development Organization for assistance that will link to the larger event issue.
Event Promotion
BDRs have found particular success when organizing campaigns alongside regional Field Marketing Managers to ensure repeatable tactics and measurable results. The workflow below outlines what that process would entail should it be determined that you leverage this motion.
Process Steps
Step 1: Speak with your BDR Manager to identify the Field Marketing Manager (FMM) assigned to your SAEâs & AE's/Territory/Targeted Accounts. Set a meeting with the FMM to discuss existing Campaigns in motion, your ideas for Campaigns, and previously successful Campaigns (15-minute meeting over Zoom). Example of a Successful Campaign
Step 2: Once you've identified a Campaign to launch, work closely with your FMM (FMM will create an Issue in GitLab related to the campaign), and then go into Salesforce Reporting to generate a targeted Contact list for the campaign.
Workflow for creating a Salesforce report (Screenshots below): Go to Reports -> Create New -> Make a Report under Contacts & Accounts -> Add Field Filter Logic (BDR Assigned equals BDR Name, Contact Status does not contain Unqualified & Title Contains: Software Development, DevOps, Engineering, Security, Operations) -> Custom Date Range = from: last two years up to: the last two weeks and type in Last Interesting Moment into the field section and drag/drop the field into the Column Preview.-> Tip: - Organize your fields on the report to make it easier to read (First Name, Last Name, Account Name, Title, LIM, State, Country, Phone, Mobile, Email, Account Owner -> Run Report.
Please note, you can use this same Report workflow for generating a Lead Report. Simply select Leads from the New Report Options. Before you run the Report, please make sure that the Report Options -> Show is showing All Contacts/All Leads not My Contacts/My Leads by clicking the drop down and selecting All Contacts/Leads.
Save your Report by clicking the Save As tab. Make sure to Save Report under Business Development Representatives folder and add a Unique Report Name (see example)
Add Campaign name from SFDC Campaign that is listed in the Field Marketing BDR specific Issue. Example: 20200909_TShirtSurveyOutreachCa -> Member Status = Member -> Click Add.
Your Report for your FMM Campaign is now complete! Keep your Unique Report Name in mind for when you upload Report to Outreach (see Step 4).
Step 3: It's time to generate content for your Campaign in Outreach. Note, if the Campaign previously ran, use existing content (FMM will confirm). Otherwise, work with your FMM and BDR/SDR Manager to delegate the resources you need to create content for the Campaign. Outreach Campaign Example
Step 4: Bulk add Contacts or Leads pulled from Step 2 to the Campaign in Outreach (ensure Campaign content is revised and reviewed by BDR Manager and FMM). Workflow for Bulk Creating an SFDC Report in Outreach for Sequencing: In your Outreach 360 view, in the top left corner select Actions -> Select Bulk Create -> Select SFDC Report and type in your Unique Report Name
Select Next, then re-map any missing fields. Once Report is Uploaded and you are in Prospect View, select the Prospects you want to Add to Sequence and then add to the Campaign Sequence. You have now uploaded your Target Contact or Lead List SFDC Report into Outreach and Sequenced List into Campaign for Outbound prospecting!
Step 5: After Contacts or Leads are loaded into the appropriate Campaign Sequence, alert your Manager and FMM in the appropriate issue for review before activating (FMM approval recommended to start Campaign in Outreach).
Step 6: Check the Campaign daily in Outreach throughout the duration to ensure all tasks are completed. Provide updates in the Issue created in GitLab by the FMM related to the campaign (updates can include IQM conversion rate, Open rates, IQM to SAO conversion rates, etc.)
Step 7: Upon commencement of the Campaign, post a final update in the Issue that includes your results (updates can include the number of IQMs, Open rates, IQM to SAO conversion rates, etc.)
Step 8: Recommended to schedule 15-minute meeting with FMMs to recap the Campaign and provide feedback (this meeting can focus on final results, and if the Campaign should stop, continue, or be revisited in the future).
Optional Post Event Follow Up: Continue to monitor Contacts and Leads uploaded into the Campaign for lingering results (there are sometimes stragglers on Campaigns that respond after the Campaign has concluded). An easy way to monitor is setting one or two tasks in Outreach for 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the Campaign has concluded.
The US PubSec team covers all US Agencies, US Government Contractors (Federal Systems Integrators), and US-based Universities. For interal questions about PubSec Lead routing, please contact Josh Downey.
A Federal Systems Integrator (FSI) is a private company whom requires US-based support and/or has 75% or more of their business coming from the Government. In the case that a commercial SDR/BDR comes across a company that may or may not meet this ROE because they do both Government and Commercial work, they should work with the FSI BDR to determine if it meets the ROE. If it is not possible to determine if it meets the criteria and the prospect is definitively discussing Government work, the Commercial SDR/BDR must air on the side of caution and let the FSI BDR handle the lead until the criteria can be determined.
The US PubSec team does not cover Universities, Agencies, and Contractors who are not based in the US. These prospects will be routed to the respective Commercial BDR/SDR covering that territory.
The PubSec BDRs will work closely with PubSec FMM's and MPM's on pre and post-event outreach. For events that are limited in attendance capacity, the PubSec ISRs & SAEs will own pre and post-event strategy, not the BDR's.
SDR PubSec Issue Board - used to track relevant GitLab issues involving the PubSec BDR team. This is a global issue board and will capture all issues in any group/sub-group in the GitLab.com repo when any of the following scoped labels are used.
SDR Pub Sec- Issues concerning the PubSec BDR team. When PubSec FMM's/MPM's add this tag to an event, these issues will appear on our board. When applicable, the PubSec BDR manager will create a BDR follow-up issue and relate it to the event issue so that marketing members can easily track our work.SDR Pub Sec:: FYI - Needs attention.SDR Pub Sec:: In Progress - Related work needed is in progress.SDR Pub Sec:: Completed - Related work is completed and ready for BDR manager to review/close.SDR Pub Sec:: Revisiting - Campaign is being revisited and additional outreach is being done.SDR Pub Sec:: Josh FYI - Issues pertaining specifically to Josh.The Enterprise Land BDR team is responsible for creating qualified meetings and sales accepted opportunities with net new customers in the Large - Enterprise Segment. The team is composed of BDRs who focus on account-centric, persona-based outreach, strategic outbound prospecting, social selling, and creative outreach to educate and create internal champions that align with the GitLab value drivers and use cases.
AMER Enterprise BDRs are aligned by accounts - see Salesforce report.
If you are trying to route a lead and the account is First Order Available and does NOT have an BDR Assigned on the account, please chatter Shamit Paul and she will assign to the BDR via round robin routing.
| Role | BDR | Lead & Account Assignments |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Europe - Land | Kalyan Nathadwarawala | UKI |
| NE & MEA - Land | Wasan Al-Nahi | UKI(Warren), Benelux(Nasser), Middle East, Africa |
| Nordics - Land | Sarah Van Damme | Nordics, Benelux(Aslihan) |
| Southern Europe - Land | Romain Santos | France, Southern Europe |
| DACH - Land | Christopher Allenfort | DACH (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) |
Land BDR
Named BDRs are responsible for:
Requirements:
BDRs and SDRs should be in regular communication with the SAEs that they support. When taking on new accounts or supporting a new SAE, it is the responsibility of the BDR/SDR to set up a kickoff call to:
Recurring SAE<>BDR/SDR meetings can be scheduled or take place on an as-needed basis. As BDRs/SDRs are not directly aligned with SAE we encourage async updates as much as possible
Slack is encouraged for informal communication, but anything related to strategy, approach, or outreach should be documented.
Please add the above ICP Notes to your Account Research Fields on Salesforce
The next step after identifying all of the Net New focus accounts in a region is to prioritize them. The scoring model below should be used to determine the Priority level of the Net New Account which will help guide prioritization and prospecting efforts using the Outbound Prospecting Framework (below).
Priority 1 Actively Working Accounts (15%)
Priority 2 Actively Working Accounts (35%)
Priority 3 Actively Working Accounts (50%)
Other Good Account Scoring Qualifiers:
** Outbound Prospecting Framework**
| Priority Level | Account Strategy Includes | Next Step Date | Next Step Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority 1 | Priority #, Any Details | Future based next steps | Hyper-personalized, simultaneous outreach, creative, direct mail, ads, groundswell, events |
| Priority 2 | Priority #, Weekly Plan or Length of Sequence | Future based next steps depending on account strategy | Include the weeks outreach and overall strategy |
| Priority 3 | Priority # | Update Next Step Date to next months outreach | BDR Next Step, What kind of nurture (Product Updates, Events, Ect) |
Examples of the Outbound Prospecting Framework Can be found here
BDRs should prioritize communication with the SAEs within territories they are aligned to. BDRs will organize and schedule a kickoff call to:
| Recurring SAE | BDR meetings can be scheduled or take place on an as-needed basis. |
Slack is encouraged for informal communication (team slack channel), however, anything related to strategy, approach, or outreach should be documented.
A Professional Services Opportunity will be used to cover any integration, consulting, training or other service that a Sales rep will sell to a prospect/client and needs or wants to be invoiced separately. To invoice separately a new quote and opportunity must be created.
More information on the steps needed to create a Professional Services Opp can be found here
The manager will create a list of their focus area and criteria similar to what's outlined here. Past Business Development Representatives have shared their best practice steps related to the sourcing process here.
While we have a "no ask, must tell" PTO policy we ask that, in accordance with the Time Off Policy, you give your manager a heads up early of your intended time off so that they can help arrange cover for your tasks, if necessary. We want to help our team members being able to fully unplug from work during their PTO, while not having to worry about their workload or target attainment. Based on this, we have created this PTO Territory Planning Issue that you can use to strategize your work and be aligned to the GitLab value of being a Manager of One.
To help BDRs and SDRs who are on PTO please review this video on how to sequence on behalf of your teammembers.
Please also review this video on how to clone a teammates B1 or S1 lead view in order to sequence MQL leads for them.
To log a PTO Territory Planning request, please go to the Issue list on the SDR GitLab project here and choose PTO_Planning_Issue from the Description drop-down list.
| Decision Grid | Not Time Sensitive or Important | Important and/or Time Sensitive |
|---|---|---|
| Impacts Multiple Teams | Email Newsletter, Weekly Team Meeting | Sales Dev FYI Slack, All Hands Meeting, Weekly Team Meeting, Email Newsletter |
| Only Impacts a Select Team | Weekly Team Meeting | Sales Dev FYI Slack, Team Channel Slack, Weekly Team Meeting |
Qualifiers by Channel
| Channel | Qualifier(s) |
|---|---|
| Sales Dev Global Slack | Shoutouts, Questions, Concerns, Share something that's working, Fun for Multiple Teams, New Team Members |
| Sales Dev FYI Slack | Announcements and Reminders that involve multiple teams or are of high importance |
| Email Newsletter | Impacts Multiple Teams |
| All Hands Meeting | Important updates that affect multiple teams |
| Weekly Team Meeting | Any updates that affect that specific team |
| Team Slack Channels | Important or Time Sensitivem, but only related to that specific team |
Sales Development Org Issue Board: used to track relevant GitLab issues involving the Sales Development Org. This is a global issue board and will capture all issues in any group/sub-group in the GitLab.com repo when any of the following scoped labels are used.
Sales Development Org Event Tracker: used to track upcoming events globally.
SDR - issues concerning the Sales Development Organization. This label will typically be removed and changed to one of the below labels once accepted by our team.SDR::Priority - projects that we would like brought into RevOps meeting for feedback/next steps from other teamsSDR::Planning - Discussion about next steps is in progress for issues concerning the Sales Development OrganizationSDR::In Progress - BDR/SDR action item is presently being worked onSDR::On Hold - Project is put on hold after agreement from BDR/SDR leadership teamSDR::Watching - No direct SDR/BDR action item at this time, but BDR/SDR awareness is needed for potential support/questionsSDR::Enablement Series - Label to track and monitor upcoming topics for the Sales Development Org enablement series. All of these issues roll up to this epic.SDR::AMER Event Awareness - Americas Sales Dev Org awareness is needed for potential support/questions in regard to eventsSDR::APAC Event Awareness - APAC Sales Dev Org awareness is needed for potential support/questions in regard to eventsSDR::EMEA Event Awareness - EMEA Sales Dev Org awareness is needed for potential support/questions in regard to eventsSDR Pub Sec - PubSec Sales Dev Org awareness is needed for potential support/questions in regard to eventsSDR West Staff Request - Utilized when a West BDR needs to be assigned to an issueIn an effort to better iterate, and refresh, our outreach content and workflows, we have a structured process for BDRs to create/measure new Outreach sequences. Please log an issue here by selecting the template BDR_Sequence_Clone_Request. The issue description will walk you through all the next steps.
Video Walkthrough of how to make changes to the GitLab Handbook for the Sales Development org
One of our Values is being handbook first. In order to align the SDR organization more closely to this ideal, below are suggested steps. Please remember that the Handbook is a living document, and you are strongly encouraged to make improvements and add changes. This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to net new solutions that should be shared so the whole organization has access to that process. (aka The DevOps ideal of turning "Localized Discoveries" into "Global Knowledge".)
Steps:
The end-user account determines the BDR/SDR alignment: If you are the SDR assigned to the 3rd party lead, please gather the information in point 1 and pass the lead to the correctly assigned BDR (the BDR assigned to the end-user account) who will complete points 2-6
The Developer Relations team owns GitLab's Education, Open Source, and Startups programs. When a lead fills out the form to apply for one of these free community programs, Salesforce Lead ownership will automatically change to the Community Advocate Queue. If this Lead was in an Outreach sequence, it will automatically be marked as finished.
The Community Programs team (a sub-team of Developer Relations), and the Program Managers for each program, will then work to qualify the lead. If the Lead does not end up qualifying for one of the programs, they will be passed straight to sales.
@Alex Karsten for OSS @Bryan Behrenshausen.#community-programs