How to add value as an SDR beyond templated emails

One of the greatest opportunities I see for the next generation of client-facing professionals: Being the ones who can read and exercise the norms, whether with colleagues or clients, and still infuse their own personality into the work. Those who can master this will be the ones who build stronger relationships and ultimately win more business. Sure, the pendulum has swung hard toward AI efficiency. And proficiency in it will likely be an essential skill. But over-relying on it? That comes with a hidden cost: it can dull the skills of empathy, discernment, and human connection. I suspect it might become tempting to believe that the safest path to employment and promotion is to keep your head down in automation:  Follow the prompt exactly, never straying from the template, and assume that originality is too risky. But customers can feel when you’ve disappeared behind automation… and it seems that they don’t love it. According to Salesforce, 52% of customers say they’re willing to pay more for a great customer experience, and they define that experience as one that feels more personal and less automated. That means the professionals who keep showing up with genuine connection won’t just feel different (in a good way!), they’ll be the ones winning more trust and more business. This humanness will be the differentiator. Some easy ways to practice this is to start by noticing the social norms, and then thoughtfully adding personality to them. Like: ☑️ Pay attention to how experienced colleagues communicate with clients. What tone do they use in emails, how do they open conversations, how do they handle pushback? How can you use that as a framework and then infuse your personality into it? ☑️ Notice how client meetings start. Do they jump right into business, or spend a few minutes building rapport? What do you know about the client that you can chat about beyond asking about the weather :)  ☑️ When you send a recap or follow-up, include a warm line or a small personal detail you remembered, instead of relying solely on a template. Because if more than half of your customers are willing to pay more for an experience that feels human, it’s a skill worth exercising to make sure they get it! #YouthSkills

Fact: Outbound sales is broken. Incentives and strategies are misaligned. Tools like Salesloft and Outreach didn’t cause it. They amplified it. Now marketing and sales need to work together to fix it. The real issue is that sales managers push SDRs to prioritize volume over quality, leading to generic outreach that no one wants to read. Fixing this starts with focus. Give SDRs a small set of accounts, 30 per quarter, and tier them into A, B, and C priorities (using tools like Clay, Tofu, Unify). This makes it clear who they’re targeting and allows them to spend their time understanding the industries, companies, and people they’re reaching out to. Instead of chasing volume, they can dive deep into the problems their prospects are trying to solve. With the right tools, resources and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, SDRs can educate themselves on the pain points, motivations, and challenges of their target audience. They can craft outreach that adds value and speaks directly to what matters most. Take me as an example. If you’re reaching out to someone like me at MoEngage, don’t send lazy, cookie-cutter emails like: “Does getting more pipeline keep you up at night” “Would you be interested in getting more qualified meetings” “Do you want customer lists of your competitors?” “Are you still interested?” “I haven’t heard back. I’ll assume this isn’t a priority.” These don’t work. They’re noise. If you want my attention, show me you’ve done your homework. Understand that I’m focused on growing in North America. Recognize the challenges of expanding into a crowded market. Tell me something valuable about how companies like mine are navigating those problems and how you can help. This approach may lead to fewer meetings overall, but the meetings you get will be better. SDRs and AEs will know their audience. They’ll understand the pain points. They’ll deliver messaging that lands because it’s relevant and thoughtful. And this isn’t just a sales problem. Marketing has to help. Marketing should train SDRs and AEs with insights about the market, the ICP, and the problems worth solving. Outbound sales works best when sales and marketing are aligned, working together to get the right message in front of the right people. Stop trying to get more meetings. Focus on getting better ones.

SDR leaders – funnel metrics are the key to hitting your team’s goals. I recently helped an SDR who was struggling to produce results. Their activity metrics looked like this: → 200+ emails per day. → 20+ calls per day. The outcome? Underwhelming. Rather than giving generic advice like “make more calls” or “personalize your emails” we dove into their funnel metrics. Here’s what we found: → Email reply rate: 0.7% (well below benchmark) → Call connect rate: 7.3% (strong) → Meeting conversion rate: 30% (good). The problem? They were spending too much time on low-performing email activity and underutilizing a strong call strategy. Together we created a data-driven game plan: 𝟭. 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 We reduced email volume and doubled down on call blocks. 𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 Emails became fewer but hyper-personalized, focused on key decision-makers. 𝟯. 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 We focused on reaching the right prospects at the right times and doubling down on follow-ups after positive connects. The results? → A 5x improvement in email reply rate → A 35% increase in call-to-meeting conversion → A 129% quota attainment the following month The takeaway: Funnel metrics aren’t just numbers—they’re your roadmap to success. Use them to guide smarter decisions and unlock your team’s potential.

𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁. What many delivered instead? 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰-𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 or "𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘈𝘐" as I like to call it. For teams selling into a small universe of high-value accounts (think anything <10,000 named accounts per year) this approach is a non-starter. Every touchpoint matters. Especially when that email is landing in the inbox of a Fortune 1000 CRO. This was a key takeaway from my recent conversation with Ian Kistner, Sales Development Leader at HG Insights, on MadKudu's 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 episode. Ian shared how his team tested some of the well-known AI email tools. One particularly interesting insight was around the “grades” they would assign to outbound messages. The red flag: SDRs were showing him emails that 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, but were graded as a “C.” Meanwhile, the AI recommended a 12-word “A+” email… to a CRO. No context. No insight. Just vibes. While that might fly in a high-velocity SMB motion, in enterprise that email’s not getting opened. Worse—it damages your credibility and brand. My take on the issue is that these tools are often trained to optimize for open rates and structure—not trust, insight, or real engagement. The vast majority of training data is listicle posts on "emails that get opened" not actual emails that landed enterprise-account meetings. So what’s the better play? Don’t use AI to 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 the email end-to-end. Use it to: • Gather context and account-level insights • Summarize relevant news, product launches, or leadership shifts • Suggest hooks based on mutual connections or tech stack signals • Draft angles to use for the outreach and possibly the email based on 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗢𝗨 Then let your reps put it together—with intent and care. It’s not 𝘴𝘦𝘵-𝘪𝘵-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵-𝘪𝘵. It’s 𝘤𝘰-𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵. This story might sound familiar. I've spoken to many sales leaders disappointed with the output of these AI SDRs. There's no doubt they will get there but it's also clear they aren't yet. #salesdevelopment  #b2bsales  #salesconfessions  #personalization  #AI

I just deleted 85 cold emails today without reading them. Here’s what they all got wrong: ❌ No clear ask – Rambled for paragraphs without ever telling me what they wanted. If I can’t understand your ask in 5 seconds, I won’t read further. ❌ Buried the point – Put the actual purpose halfway down, after fluff about themselves or their company. I don’t have time to dig. ❌ One-sided pitch – Treated the email like a billboard. Business isn’t charity. If you’re only talking about what you want, I’m gone. ❌ Zero personalization – Obvious copy-paste sent to 500 people. If you don’t know who I am or what I do, why would I reply? ❌ No mutual value – Failed to answer the most important question: Why should I care? As someone who posts a lot of content, I end up top of mind for many people and my inbox is flooded with thousands of messages every week. It’s unrealistic to respond to most of them, but of course there’s always a few I end up replying to. The biggest difference? Those emails make it obvious why replying is worth my time. They don’t just ask for something, they give something. And everyone has value to offer, as long as you state it upfront. Here are some ways you can actually add value in a cold email: ▶️ Comment on or engage with my content so I already know your name ▶️ Introduce me to someone in your network who’s relevant ▶️ Share a resource, tool, or insight that solves a real pain point ▶️ Show you’ve done your homework and know what I care about Want to see what a successful cold email looks like? Drop your email below and I’ll send you an example 👇