Prospecting Pros: Taylor Griffith

Intro:

Taylor Griffith is an ex-SDR who was recently promoted to an AE.

He caught my attention because I saw a LI post about one of his emails where he used a burrito blanket to set a meeting. So I had to pick his brain for advice on personalized outbound emails.

Interview:

How’s being an AE?

It’s good, if you assume that everything inbound should get you to quota, and you have skills with outbound, all of your outbound meetings are icing on the cake. 

So I’ve been able to utilize everything I’ve learned from being an SDR. Our sales process is really good, all I have to do is follow it and add a human twist. It’s fun.

How did you get into sales? 

I was a health care provider and I had a passion to help people. When I was a provider, you have to treat people as they come in. The only problem is everyone is so different. In sales, there are reproducible patterns. I like that tech sales is team based and social. 

I actually still have my own practice, I see patients in the afternoon. 

That’s crazy! You’re doing both? 

Yeah, now that I have a different job, I actually enjoy treating people and it doesn’t feel like work. I see a few patients every night. 

What made you successful as an SDR?

Openness to learn, learning the tech stack, and being able to take advice. A-B testing is important since there is so much advice, you need to figure out what works for you. 

It’s important to have a short term memory, to forget about things like rejection while still remembering what works or doesn’t work. 

Also, putting in the extra work. Plan your day and execute while everyone is just getting started.

I set boundaries. I force myself to be done by 5 so I have to stay focused and get things done on time. Create boundaries that create strict time management. 

What were some of your accomplishments as an SDR? 

I think the biggest accomplishments as an SDR are creating repeatable processes and helping others. 

If you had an insane blow out month, I always wonder if it's sustainable.

Booking meetings is important, but are they meaningful meetings? Or just meetings. 

My advice is to learn a skill and be able to teach it to someone else. Help other people on your team to quota. Quality over quantity.  

What’s the craziest or weirdest thing you’ve said/done to get a prospect’s attention? 

I think I’m more quirky than crazy or weird. 

But the funniest ones I do are emails about sports betting, if I find a sports fan, I drop a sports bet. 

“If your team wins, I won’t bother you again. But if my team wins, you have to take a meeting with me.”

Most of the time they will take the meeting with me because they think the email is funny and inventive. 

How do you write those creative one offs I’ve seen posted on LinkedIn? 

I like to find interesting things about people and make puns that tie back to the product. 

My strategy is “Dad jokes.”

I saw somebody was a magician and said “Wouldn’t you love to spend less time practicing magic tricks?” and tied it back to saving time with our tool. 

You can also create templates, and I’ve done it for our team. Make the first line personal, second line is a value prop and third line is a call to action. Simple. 

Is cold calling dead?

Cold calling is NOT dead. But don’t call 100 people at a time without preparation. You might not get as many pick ups now because of spam, but when you do get a pick up, you have a way higher chance of converting. 

It makes follow up so much easier, and the more you do, the better you get at it. 

When you become an AE, you do demos all the time, so learning how to verbalize is super important. 

Would you rather cold FaceTime a prospect or miss quota? 

I don’t think anyone is realistically going to answer a FaceTime from a stranger, but if a cold FaceTime is what would get me to quota, I have no problem doing it.

Final Thoughts:

Personalized outreach works! And it's the best way to set a meeting.

Want to chat about creative ideas for your team?

Email me at giano.fiore@sendoso.com or book time with me using this link.