One way or another our online lives are saturated with “influencers”.
In one camp we have the wannabes, those with big claims that intrigue with a promised shortcut to success. Ever found yourself watching a 3 minute YouTube ad just for the guy sitting in his Lambo to get to the end of his “secret sauce” monologue”; “don’t miss out, this is easy”!
In another camp, we have those that share personal experiences and offer advice. You likely discover them by chance on your LinkedIn feed, perhaps without realizing they are being deliberate. They have grown their following through sharing value.
One is value, one is promises.
In this post, we’re looking at the influencers out there who can offer you real value. In the context of the SDR role, this has an amplified context, because following and emulating the habits of these influencers/experts can provide real insight on how you should be optimizing your own social selling efforts.
We recently published our 2024 Guide to Cold Calling Lead Generation which is essential reading for SDRs and sales teams.
If you are not social selling as an SDR, you are not prospecting successfully.
In no particular order, here are the SDR influencers that we think you should follow:
Daniel Disney
Self-styled “King of LinkedIn”, Daniel is best known as the founder of The Daily Sales, a popular resource with over 750k followers. Daniel has grown his following by combining motivational insights and educational content with entertaining memes.
Everyone loves a good meme, and Daniel is the master, tapping into the day-to-day challenges and stress that are a part of every SDR’s role.And he’s prolific. Daniel posts up to five times a day, hosts regular webinars, a popular newsletter and has published two books.
Takeaway
Be consistent, and don’t be afraid to have some fun with it, people will take notice.
Ben Smith
Ben is an example of an exceptional SDR. With skin still in the game as a sales rep, at time of writing he is BD manager at Reachdesk, we added Ben as within a short space of time we’ve observed him building an effective personal brand for the specific purpose of closing down his own targets.
You can find him contributing to an array of podcasts and as well as in numerous SDR communities: Revenue Collective, Sales Development Leaders, and SDRs of London (we recommend you check these out if you haven’t already)
Takeaway
Putting yourself out there across platforms should be interchangeable with your prospecting day-to-day. Ben still works for Reachdesk and it’s no coincidence they’ve come to your attention through this very process...
Lucy Obertelli
Check out Lucy’s LinkedIn feed and you’re sure to find something that resonates with your day-to-day, from amusing takes on TikTok to her “How To Win a Prospect in 10 Days” series.
Being an outbound sales rep is not for the faint of heart, and we like Lucy as she is not shy to acknowledge this, her social output is a refreshing, relatable, and hugely entertaining insight into her life as an SDR at Refract and you're sure to find motivation in her posts.
Takeaway
Prospects are interested in you as a person, don’t just use social to go in straight for the pitch!
Charlotte Johnson
Charlotte talks about prospecting. And it just so happens that she knows what she’s talking about.You can find her putting out longer-form video content digging into the details around prospecting strategy with other sales leaders, who also know what they’re talking about.
When I contacted Charlotte, the value offering was much more than I bargained for:
Takeaway
Have an opinion.
Thibaut Souyris
Here’s a snippet from Thibaut’s bio which should speak for itself:
“You are pounding the phone and sending tons of emails, but all you get is silence or rejection. Sounds familiar? Read on ⬇”
Whilst not strictly an SDR, Thibaut has built a company, SalesLabs, unpacking how to make sales reps successful at prospecting. This doesn’t mean you need to part with your $$ to get value though, as he openly shares his insights regularly every weekday on LinkedIn.
Takeaway
Being active on social wins you business.
Alex Alleyne
Alex is your legit hardworking rep, having started out as an SDR to now smashing it with the top enterprise reps in the world at Lacework.
Alex is vocal about sharing learnings on his weekly activity, what works, how many calls, and how to be consistent. Grinding out his value offering has led him to being voted 2 x LinkedIn Top Voice.If you want to get past the influencer noise and get to the real deal we recommend you follow Alex.
Takeaway
Social selling isn’t a by-product of success, work at it.
Sarah Brazier
Having been SDR through Gong’s unstoppable rise to Revenue Tech category creation, Sarah is one of the best people to follow on LinkedIn if you want to observe what it takes to become a successful sales rep.
As well as a huge personal following, Sarah also gives back to the sales community as a coach and educator on various platforms such as SDR Nation.
Takeaway
Be mindful that on LinkedIn your personal brand also represents your company’s brand. The benefits flow both ways as you both grow.
Holly Allen
Holly represents G2 and is a perfect example of how to use Social Selling to your advantage through your personal LinkedIn account.
For Holly, it's all about building a personal brand, and she’s done this in a remarkably short timeframe, sharing her learnings along the wayIf you’re specifically interested in getting tips and tricks on social selling, Holly also co-hosts masterclasses at Sales Impact Academy.
Takeaway
It’s never too early to start focussing on your social selling, in fact it’s more a question of why aren’t you doing it already.
Tom Boston
Tom started out as an SDR at SalesLoft not too long ago and now represents them full time as their “Social Sales Evangelist”.
Alongside his motivational takes on being a sales rep, he shares some truly hilarious and original videos that we encourage you to check out.
You’ll also find dedicated advice on how to develop your own social selling strategy if you haven’t already, such as this post:
Takeaway
Social selling works, there’s no excuse not to get started!
Will Koning
Another entrant on this list whose not strictly an SDR, Will is the founder of SaaSLeads.io and he knows his onions when it comes to building high-performing SDR teams.
Drawing on his 10+ years as a sales rep, you can find Will speaking on various platforms and sharing a wealth of insight on LinkedIn, not just on how to be successful in your career, but also on the process required to enable success as a team.
Takeaway
Being a successful rep isn’t a natural persona, you need to study and work at it.
Kyle Coleman
Kyle is definitely someone you want to be following if you want to understand how your outreach is perceived from the buyer’s perspective.
As VP Revenue at Clari, he’s been managing SDR Managers for 7+ years and his posts provide a unique insight into the psychology and optimization levers you can use to tune up your outreach, check out his post below for example:
Takeaway
Be deliberate in your outreach, truly scrutinize what you are trying to say to prospects, how you say it, and how you might be perceived.
Morgan J Ingram
Morgan was voted “LinkedIn’s Top Voice” for three years on the bounce and hosts the popular podcast the SDR Chronicles.
He’s achieved that through being a pioneer on the importance of social selling and building a personal brand for your success as a sales rep. Having been there and done that when it comes to cold calling he now, in his own words, “guides sales reps to prospect through the noise”.
With so much gold to choose from, we decided to share his most underrated post:
Takeaway
Follow Morgan J Ingram. Just do it.
Honourable Mention - Jared Robin
Take a listen to Jared Robin on our podcast.
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