For high-performing reps who resist parts of the sales process, enforce an 'our way, then your way' policy. They must first prove they can execute the standard playbook successfully. Once they have, they've earned the right to double down on their unique strengths and methods.
A structured week maintains momentum. Use a Monday meeting for energy and goal-setting, mid-week 'teardowns' for skill coaching on calls and emails, Wednesday one-on-ones for individual focus, and a Friday team 'dial blitz' to end the week with high activity.
Leaders must model accountability. In team meetings, state a controllable commitment you'll achieve for the team and a personal, often humorous, consequence if you fail (e.g., eating Greek yogurt despite being lactose intolerant). This builds trust and makes it easier to ask reps for their own commitments.
Before coaching call scripts, fix who your reps are targeting. Better messaging can improve performance by a grade (e.g., C to B), but calling the wrong accounts is an automatic 'F' grade. Removing wasteful activity by improving targeting is the fastest path to better results.
During interviews, the first mock cold call is expected to be poor. The real test is giving the candidate one or two pieces of feedback and observing their second attempt. Their ability to listen, adapt, and apply coaching is a far better indicator of potential than their initial performance.
To assess an SDR candidate's strategic thinking, challenge them to narrow a large TAM (e.g., 40,000 companies) down to 25 weekly targets by verbally applying filters. Pushing them past their initial ideas until they get stuck reveals their resourcefulness and problem-solving abilities under pressure.
To turn around a disengaged SDR team, secure individual buy-in through one-on-one meetings before announcing a new plan to the group. This creates peer pressure and momentum, making the public announcement feel like a shared initiative rather than a top-down mandate.
To quickly fix an underperforming sales team, you can't save everyone. The strategy is to elevate high-potential reps ('flip'), remove underperformers who resist coaching ('fire'), and inject new energy by bringing in talent aligned with the desired culture ('hire').
Don't dictate messaging from an ivory tower. As a leader, provide the core framework and examples (the first 80%). Then, empower reps to tweak and refine that last 20% based on real-time feedback from the market. This creates ownership and better results.