Episode 55: LeadIQ’s Top SDR - Jeremy Leveille

Scott Ingram welcomes Jeremy Leveille to the podcast. Jeremy just became Team Lead of Sales Development at LeadIQ, a company specializing in prospecting tools. LeadIQ looks to make prospecting fun and easy by providing software technology that assists sales development representative (SDRs) in generating more leads and closing more deals. Prior to becoming Team Lead, Jeremy worked as LeadIQ’s top Senior Sales Development Representative. He has been an expert in the field of sales for over ten years and was recently named ‘SDR of the Year’ at David Dulany’s 2018 Sales Development Conference.

In this episode, Scott and Jeremy talk all about the role of sales development representatives, or SDRs. As a long-time SDR, Jeremy has found much success in his field. He identifies the three things he attributes to his success, which include embracing prospecting, building a personal brand and immersing one’s self in the industry through networking and self-education. They talk about the topic of targeting and knowing what types of accounts, companies and people SDRs should be contacting. They touch on the importance of messaging and being able to know what to say to those targeted accounts, companies and people in order to get them to respond in a positive manner through either a phone call or an in-person meeting.

Jeremy speaks to the style he likes to employ when prospecting potential buyers. His informal nature combined with a direct, concise, no-nonsense attitude have allowed him to land meetings and complete sales. He utilizes screenshots of positive reviews and personalizes the messages he sends out to prospective clients. Jeremy also gives advice and breaks down how to build a personal brand from scratch in this three-step process. First, he urges sales people to spend the first few months at a new company observing and learning about the organization. Next, he suggests following people in the organization on LinkedIn to gain their perspective on matters within the industry. Finally, he advises posting industry content and providing opinions on the subject matter. By engaging thought leaders within the industry and posting intelligent, thought provoking content, a personal brand will begin to take shape and start to be noticed.

Jeremy takes listeners through his typical day, from conferring with his calendar to see which meetings he has to attend, to writing upwards of thirty personalized emails to prospective clients. Jeremy approaches every day as an opportunity to get better. He also provides his recommendations on other useful knowledge tools that SDRs can utilize, including CXO Talks, which Jeremy credits as the number one reason he crushed his quota in his old role as an SDR. Jeremy speaks to the importance of differentiate one’s self in order to stand out as a top performer. Finally, Jeremy leaves listeners with parting words of advice. Be humble. Have confidence in your product and yourself.

What We Covered:

00:24 – Scott Ingram welcomes to the podcast, Jeremy Leveille
01:02 – Jeremy’s recent award
01:38 – The three things Jeremy attributes to his success
01:46 – Number 1: Embracing the role of an SDR (sales development representative)
02:17 – Number 2: Building a personal brand
02:38 – Number 3: Quality over quantity when it comes to outreach
03:13 – How Jeremy measures the quality of meetings
05:31 – Jeremy’s sales background
08:28 – What Jeremy would do differently in his career if given the chance
11:09 – Scott promotes the Sales Success Stories book
11:47 – Jeremy discusses his results and what it’s taken to become a top performer
15:38 – How Jeremy starts the sales conversation
16:58 – The opening question Jeremy asks companies
17:55 – What the rest of Jeremy’s year looks like in terms of meetings
19:23 – Jeremy’s sales playbook
21:42 – The importance of targeting and messaging
26:44 – The sales channels that have the best conversion rate
33:10 – Building a personal brand from scratch
39:41 – Jeremy recalls the hardest meeting he ever landed
43:04 – What motivates Jeremy
44:55 – Unique ways for SDRs to get responses
50:01 – The hardest part of sales, according to Jeremy
51:39 – Jeremy describes a typical day in the life
57:21 – The hard work required to be successful in sales
1:00:13 – Other habits and routines Jeremy applies daily
1:01:44 – The industry trades, news, and information that Jeremy consumes
1:05:01 – The tools and apps Jeremy utilizes
1:08:56 – One of Jeremy’s beliefs that the average sales professional thinks is crazy
1:10:34 – An average sales professional’s belief that Jeremy believes is crazy
1:13:04 – Advice Jeremy would give to an upstart sales professional
1:20:04 – Advice Jeremy would give to a sales professional who feels stuck in an SDR role
1:21:32 – What Jeremy would want to know about top SDRs in other organizations
1:24:26 – Parting words of advice from Jeremy
1:26:15 – Jeremy’s challenge to the Sales Success Stories Podcast audience

Tweetables:

“I kinda feel like SDR, AE, or like a sales manager, they’re all kinda equal.” (07:28)

“I live on LinkedIn. I see somebody I want to reach out to. I call them. I book the meeting.” (20:10)

“You have to have patience and never stop adding value.” (42:32)

“I find that, in order to be successful as an SDR, you have to put in a little more time.” (57:21)

“So, always think about: A.) ‘What am I good at?’ and B.) ‘What would I be happiest doing?’ And where those both of those intersect is what you should then go for.” (1:21:04)

Finally, here’s Jeremy in his Flamingo Suit:

What We Covered:

Tweetables:

Links Mentioned: