memoryBlue Insights – 10/25/2021

Below is the memoryBlue weekly bulletin, delivering sales development insights every Monday to our entire slate of high-tech clients. The updates span all six memoryBlue offices, encompassing 150+ sales development campaigns and 275+ SDRs working relentlessly to generate net new revenue for these businesses.

As you know, we offer a wide array of avenues for direct client feedback at memoryBlue. Asking the right questions and listening to unfiltered responses uncovers a phenomenal amount of insight that benefits everyone involved in a campaign. That’s exactly why we do the same thing with our staff through a dedicated employee survey program. We survey our entire team starting with their initial time during the memoryBlue Academy experience running through additional key inflection points throughout their tenure.

Our goal is simple: we want to understand everything about the memoryBlue experience through the eyes of our employees so that we can continuously improve every aspect of their time here. No organization gets everything right, but the practice of perpetual improvement creates a positive culture and a more connected team.

Notable Numbers

• Leads booked via email last week had an impressive hold rate of 77.7%. We’re seeing a 69.5% weekly average hold rate for all channels combined through the second half of 2021, but email-based leads are really setting the bar high right now.

• memoryBlue SDRs are averaging an 8.6% weekly prospect conversion rate in October as we near the end of the month. That’s very similar to the 8.8% weekly average in Q3 2021, one of the strongest quarters of all time for this metric.

• 76.6% of all scored leads last week earned a score of 7 or better (scale of 1-10). Lead quality remains extremely high right now across all memoryBlue campaigns, with positive marks coming in for the vast majority of all leads occurred.

Highlight of the Week

Henry Cunningham, a Sales Development Representative based in our Boston office, generated a lead with the potential to open a whole new market for his marketing tech-focused client.

In just over a month after the initial prospect meeting Henry locked in, a deal was closed, making it the first US market deal ever for the business. The company, operating in the children’s toy industry, signed a $35K contract as they aim to be on the cutting edge of marketing technology with this new online video platform solution. This win marks a pivotal point in growth potential for our client, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to congratulate them, Henry, and the entire team in Boston.

Spotlight on Training

Jackson Hawkins, the Managing Director of our Austin office, ran a vital staff training session last week focused on SDRs adding value when closing with a prospect by tailoring talking points and being relevant. As an SDR, the right questions open up understanding of the primary roadblocks and key points of interest for the prospect. Addressing and prioritizing these two crucial elements in the close communicates conversational engagement and offers validation to diffuse objections.

The prospect’s time is valuable, and Jackson implored the team not to waste it reciting an overly rehearsed script or by talking too much in an attempt to “personalize” the close. They key is to acknowledge the most salient points, then provide value through specific use cases, answers to questions or concerns, and the potential solutions you can offer. Conquer the close and secure viable leads by imparting the impact a next steps meeting will have on knocking down roadblocks and charting a path forward.

Lead Scores

These client-based lead scores drew serious applause last week:

10/18/2021 – 4:22PM – 10/10 – Stephanie
“Great work! Took some doing to get this one back on the books and to happen, but great job! Right contact, right size school, pain, interest, etc.”

10/20/2021 – 10:14PM – 10/10 – Jessica
“Jess was awesome. She was able to get all the information I needed before the call. They were ready, excited and are a great fit. Nice work Jess!”

10/18/2021 – 1:14PM – 10/10 – Clay
“Probably one of the best calls I have had in my 18 months here. SVP of SC is awesome. He was completely engaged and forthcoming with information. He will be having his SC Strategy Team leader follow up with me.”

Making the Most of an Opportunity

As part of our commitment to offer increased career opportunities to individuals who may lack a clear path into the business world, memoryBlue maintains a corporate partnership with the Year Up organization. We outlined the details around the Year Up program and the memoryBlue connection in a prior blog post:

At Year Up, young adults with talent and motivation, but sometimes lacking in traditional access to the business world, are put in a one-year, intensive program that provides the coursework to develop business skills and an internship to facilitate strong career opportunities. memoryBlue partnered with Year Up in an effort to be a part of this meaningful process.

We have employed Year Up interns and hired them into full time roles over the years with success, and today there are three more outstanding interns here actively developing professional sales skills. One of these interns, Ana Bonilla, was featured recently in an online article that details her positive experiences with memoryBlue and Year Up. Ana was the fastest intern in her group to achieve quota and she has an incredibly bright future in sales or in any professional path she ultimately chooses.

You can read the entire interview with Ana here. We’re extremely proud of her hard work and commitment to career success. All three current Year Up interns have a bright future ahead!