memoryBlue Insights – 2/9/2021

Below is the memoryBlue client bulletin, delivering sales development insights every Monday to our entire slate of high-tech partners. The updates span all five memoryBlue offices, encompassing 100+ sales development campaigns and 175+ SDRs working relentlessly to generate net new revenue for these businesses.

Last week, company Cofounder and Managing Partner Chris Corcoran highlighted the sensational impact college sales programs have on future generations of professional sellers through a post on LinkedIn.

In particular, he surfaced the following facts: “Students graduating from university sales programs see ~ 100% placement rates and haul in multiple offers. More than 50% of college graduates work in sales at some point during their careers and yet only ~ 5% of colleges have sales programs.”

We absolutely love working with college sales programs all over the country. And, as you’ll see at the end of this note, we’re taking it upon ourselves to shine more of a light on the great work found in these important programs.

Notable Numbers

• Clients scored 57.66% of all occurred leads in January. We saw just over 59% of all leads scored in Q4 of last year, so we’re aiming to see an uptick in February and March to ideally close Q1 even higher than last quarter. Scoring these leads carries a variety of benefits for everyone involved in our prospect outreach efforts.

• Prospect connection rate last week checked in at a very strong 4.4%. That’s the high-water mark in a single week we have seen as a company in over six months. That is an excellent sign that we’re finding the right targets at the right time, as we progress deeper into 2021.

• 28.5% of all leads scored last week rated as a perfect 10. That beats the 27% level found on our trailing 1,000 scored leads (always visible on the home page of our web site). While a perfect 10 is always the goal, we welcome every single scored lead as the perfect opportunity for ongoing, meaningful feedback on our campaigns.

Highlight of the Week

Aaron, an SDR based out of our HQ office, started the week off on a great note according to his thrilled client contact. These accolades always create a major buzz around our office and I’d like to do it justice by sharing the full note here:

“I just had a good call with one of the customer insights managers at J.M. Smucker Co. They own dozens of brands and a quick stat is that: ‘95% of all American households have at least one Smuckers product in their cupboard.’

I wanted to commend Aaron for not taking no for an answer – this contact originally said to Aaron, ‘We are cutting back our Customer Feedback/Research budget – call me back in six months.’

Aaron was able to secure a time on her calendar for a 15 to 30 minute meeting, and she ended up giving us permission to go over 30 minutes because she was interested in our approach and understands how we are differentiated. I’ll be following up to see if she will help us bring this higher up to her execs in Canada and she is also going to reach out to the US team, who may also be interested. Nice work Aaron.”

Spotlight on Training

Thomas Lacalle, a Delivery Manager based out of our Silicon Valley office, led a staff training last week focused on best practices for employing a Circle of Leverage (COL) prospecting strategy. This vital sales prospecting move helps SDRs increase the quality of their conversations and open doors that might otherwise stay closed.

Thomas provided real-world examples for the entire staff and helped them understand the psychology behind the technique. In short, employing the COL technique helps prospects feel more comfortable in sales conversations and often motivated them to “get off the sidelines” and start exploring solutions that could have tangible benefits for their business.

Lead Scores

These client-based lead scores got our attention last week:

2/5/2021 – 1:31PM – 10/10 – Bethany
“Right customer profile/persona! Customer was in search for a solution that we provide. Great set up!”

2/5/2021 – 2:35PM – 10/10 – Francesca
“Francesca has done a great job with follow up and staying in contact with the customer. She validated the opportunity, as well.”

2/4/2021 – 12:49PM – 10/10 – Jack
“Large program. Using a competitor but still agreed to the call. Great opportunity. Jack crushed this.”

The Campus Leaders Grooming Future Sales Stars

The memoryBlue podcast, Tech Sales is for Hustlers, is on the cusp of releasing several exciting bonus episodes starting this week. Each of these special sessions features an experienced collegiate sales program leader from universities around the country.

Kristen Wisdorf, Head of Client Services & Delivery, will host these episodes along side our own Campus Recruiting Manager Libby Galatis. Our goal in each episode is to let these experts demonstrate just how valuable these programs are for undergrads considering a career in professional sales. They serve as advisors, professors and counselors to so many bright future stars in our industry, we’re incredibly excited to bring their unmatched expertise to our show.

The first of these episodes debuts this Thursday (2/11) and features Mark Weber, Sales Program Director and Professor at Catholic University in Washington, DC. We hope you will take a moment and tune in!