Ashley Kelly: The Playbook to Start and Scale Your SDR Team | E1162

Hiring Profiles and Experience:

• Target candidates with approximately six months of experience, though prior SDR-specific background is not mandatory.
• Prioritize candidates from recruiting backgrounds due to their organizational skills and existing rhythm of high-volume outbound calls to uninterested parties.
• Consider call center experience for inbound roles to ensure candidates already possess call confidence and resilience.
• Recent shifts in the labor market have increased the availability of experienced SDRs laid off during tech downturns, shifting hiring preferences from fresh graduates to experienced talent.

Organizational Structure and Strategy:

• Advocate for Sales Development as a distinct "third pillar" of the go-to-market function, reporting to the CRO but operating as a bridge between Marketing and Sales.
• Recommend placing heavy inbound SDR teams under Marketing to optimize lead-to-demo conversion feedback loops.
• Recommend placing heavy outbound SDR teams under Sales to leverage proactive selling, education of new accounts, and internal promotion pathways.
• At Rippling, the SDR organization supports 31 different functions, including new logo acquisition, cross-sell, up-sell, and international expansion.

Compensation and Quotas:

• Adopt a compensation model of 70% base salary and 30% variable commission.
• Tie variable pay to "Stage 2" opportunities (AEs confirming a qualified demo with next steps) rather than closed revenue, with exceptions made for high-velocity, transactional models like Brex.
• Set ramped quotas starting at 25% of full capacity in Month 1, scaling to 50%, 75%, and 100% by Month 4.
• Adjust quota volume based on ACV; lower ACV models require higher volume targets to ensure CAC payback efficiency.

Interview and Assessment Methodology:

• Assess candidates across three core traits: coachability (implementation of feedback), motivation (financial or career growth goals), and organizational discipline (calendar management).
• Utilize role-play scenarios (e.g., "elevator pitch") followed by immediate feedback and a second attempt to test adaptability.
• Conduct email assessments to evaluate writing skills, active listening, and the ability to personalize responses without over-reliance on AI.
• Screen for "grit" by asking candidates to describe specific failures and how they implemented feedback to improve.

Onboarding and Performance Metrics:

• Implement a rapid onboarding schedule where new hires are placed on live accounts by Week 2, with full ramping expected by Month 4.
• Monitor success primarily through leading indicators (calls made, emails sent, accounts worked) rather than lagging revenue indicators in the early months.
• Identify mis-hires within the first two months by tracking the inability to consistently hit activity-based KPIs.
• Boost morale through "micro-ambitions," short-term spiffs (e.g., week-one halfway targets), and regional competitions focused on activity volume.

Technology and Market Trends:

• View AI as a tool to eliminate busy work (account scrubbing, data cleaning) rather than a replacement for the human element of personalization.
• Acknowledge that outbound is evolving through automation and video prospecting, but fundamentals remain the primary driver of success.
• Identify "handwritten notes" and pure remote work for outbound teams as declining trends due to efficiency and shadowing benefits.
• Express strong bullishness on the SDR role's longevity, rejecting the notion that the function is "dead" despite AI advancements.

Career Development and Leadership:

• Emphasize internal promotion paths where SDRs transition into Account Executive, Account Management, or Implementation roles; currently, one-third of SDR managers are former SDRs.
• Predict that within 10 years, the Head of Sales Development will hold an executive-level title (Chief Sales Development Officer).
• Suggest that founders hire a junior AE with prospecting experience for the first sales hire rather than a Director, to ensure process building from the ground up.
• Recommend that founders act as the primary storyteller to create the initial sales playbook and content.

Global and Cultural Considerations:

• Face challenges in scaling globally due to time zone discrepancies, requiring heavy reliance on asynchronous communication (Slack) and monthly in-person travel to maintain team cohesion.
• Adapt motivation and management strategies to local cultural psychologies, specifically noting differences between US and UK markets.