35: Mindset of an SDR Hosted by Morgan

Hey, what's going on, everybody? It's Morgan J. Ingram here, filling in for Make It Happen Monday. And what we're going to be talking about is the mindset of an SDR. And if you guys don't know what an SDR means, it is a sales development representative. It's what I started out with in my career. A sales development representative is a person who reaches out to net new accounts, gains that attention and awareness in that account to pass off to an inside sales rep or an account executive. So to get that firm reference before we kind of dive into it. Before I kind of dive into it, I want to say we just released a sales hiring guide. It's available now at launch price and it walks you through the entire process of hiring.

So I know a lot of people are going to be hiring at the beginning of 2018. I know it's definitely that time when I was a manager, hiring gets crazy. So you want to make sure you're hiring the right people and 50% of the proceeds are being donated to various charities around Boston and Atlanta. So make sure to get involved in that process. Make sure to figure out what's going on for your team. Make sure you're hiring the right people so that you can get the right things that are going on. So there's a lot of questions that people beforehand had sent to me. So I'm going to get to those, but I want to set the stage on what the mindset of an SDR should be and like what that actually needs at the end of the day.

So the mindset of an SDR is you need to be going after every single day. You need to be a hunter. You need to be advantageous. You need to go out there and make sure that you are stating the claim of what you're going to do. I think a lot of times what happens with a lot of people is people go to work and they go through the motions and they think that everything's just going to happen for them just because they showed up. It's a little bit, it's a lot deeper than that. Actually, it's understanding that you need to go out there every single day and you need to go out, you need to go out there and making sure that you're going to attack the certain points that you're going to get, make sure that your schedule is organized and that you're going after the people that you need to be going after.

Because otherwise you're going to be wasting your time and you're not going to be living up to the full potential of what you actually could be doing at the end of the day. So that's something obviously you need to think about. So one of the biggest things that I believe when it comes to the mindset of an SDR is understanding that this role is going to set you up for long-term success in your career and whatever you do. I firmly believe the SDR role is the role that will get you to that next level. It will get you to where you need to go and whatever business you take, it mentally sets you up for the long run. So if you're mentally set up for the long run, then you're going to be able to run the business that you want to run, be in that executive position that you want to be in, be in that manager role that you've always wanted to be in.

When you're an SDR, you just face a lot of failure. You face a lot of failures. You face a lot of just setbacks. You face a lot of fallbacks. And so the mindset of an SDR, the focus set needs to be, hey, look, I'm going to do this regardless and I'm going to be persistent and I'm going to get myself that next level that I want to go to. Because when you do that, then that's when it puts you in a bucket that you really want to be in. And so I think the mindset is being persistent. Keep dialing. You guys know about that. My saying, keep dialing. I really think that you have to think about these things when you go inside of the mindset of an SDR. Most SDRs at the end of the day are younger people like myself and not thinking about how is this going to benefit you in the long run.

I think everyone's always wondering, oh, I have an SDR. Okay, I'm only in this position so I can get promoted to the next position. Instead of thinking like, I'm an SDR, but what are the skillsets that I can learn to get myself to the next level, right? And so I appreciate it, Billy. I am enjoying a new job thus far. But when you really actually dive into the mindset, I believe the mindset of who you are is the most important thing in your role or whatever you're at. Because if you don't think you believe you can do it, then you can't do it. If you're not being persistent in your mindset, then you're going to falter. If you're not thinking about the things you need to do on a daily basis, you won't do them.

If you're not trying to be 1% better every single day, you're not going to get 1% better everybody, you're going to be stagnant and people are going to pass you and you're not going to get the promotion that you want. You're not going to get the job that you want. So these are the things that you have to consider. These are the things you have to think about. And so when you think about these things and when you consider them and you go forward and you do what you need to do, then you realize, okay, like I actually can get a lot further along in my life. I can actually get further along where I need to go because I've actually taken investment into these things. I've actually taken the time to learn about these things that actually take into account and what I'm doing.

So these things I believe constitute into the impactfulness of what a mindset of an SDR needs to be because the mindset is where it all starts. It's the reason why my first episode in the Astero Chronicles is keeping a steady mindset. It's the reason why I talk about the psychology of a mindset every single time. If you don't have a good mindset, your work will not follow up to that. You will not be able to execute on the actions that you need to be executed on. So these are things that I've just realized in my journey. And these are certain aspects that I know that just have to be executed on. So I wanted to give that foundational structure before I dive into questions that have already been sent to me beforehand.

I'm going to dive into those. If you guys have questions during this, feel free to ask those as well. But the main thing is, hey, look, your mindset needs to be steady, which means that highs and lows, you don't let, when you're really doing really well, you don't let that affect you and you think you can cruise. And don't get super low to where you think that you suck at your job, because that's not the case either. You have to understand those two facets, because if you understand those, then you understand where you're going to go, right? Don't get yourself caught up in that. Your mindset also has to be persistent. People are going to tell you that you suck. People are going to, like, boo you off the phone.

They're not going to boo you off the phone, but they're not going to, you know, they're not going to be receptive to your phone calls. They may reject your emails, but you have to be persistent in a factor that lets you go to the next step, right? So be persistent there. And then also, you have to be pretty much like a stone cold person in your mindset. You got to be like, you know what, hey, look, whatever happens to me, I'm going to keep moving forward, which goes back to keep dialing, which goes back to persistence. So those are things that's the mindset of an SEO. I feel like if you do those things, you're going to be set, you're going to be in a good situation, and you're going to put yourself in a good spotlight.

So those are things that you really kind of have to consider and also have to understand at the end of the day. So I'm going to go and go through some questions that was sent to me, and that can apply right now after you listen to this. So you'll be like, okay, I know where to go. So what someone asked me, hey, the mindset of now versus later, like, what does that really mean? And how do you manage a long-term mindset? So I think this is a fantastic question. What's up, Robert? How are you doing? I think this is a fantastic question. So when you are starting at your job, you most likely are, I'm in this position to go to another position. And then when you get to that position, you're probably like, I want to go to another position.

So what I always tell people, like when I managed my reps in the past, in my previous company, I said, hey, look, when you're in a job, you need to think three positions ahead. So when you think three positions ahead, you are always thinking long-term in your job. So you're always in the habit of doing more. So how you really get promoted at the end of the day is doing the habit of doing more than what you're being asked to do. Because if you're doing what you're asked to do, you're going to get promoted on a regular track. But if you're doing more than what you're asked to do, you're going to put yourself in a further position, right? So you need to be thinking in the habit of always thinking long-term because when you think long-term, you do long-term actions.

Because people are always thinking like, I'm in that position. I'm just here. They don't think about the people that they could be networking with. They don't think about what they're actually learning in that skill set to go to the next level. They don't know. Most people don't think about these things. So at the end of the day, when you actually understand, right, when you actually understand that like, this is a long-term thing, like the position I'm in right now can set me up for long-term success, then you're going to constitute that to actually being more beneficial at the end of the day. And I feel like that's the mindset that you have to have is a long-term mindset. Because if you think short-term, you're going to do short-term actions.

When you do short-term actions, you get short-term results and you don't get the results you really want. You don't get the lifestyle that you may have told yourself that you wanted at the end of the day because you were doing short-term actions. So you really got to think about what are the things I need to be doing on a long-term basis every single day. And that's listening to podcasts for 30 minutes. It's, hey, reading a book in the morning, 20 pages. It's taking, I made a video on it, doing your lunch break and like listening to like videos on like information on how you can do better. It's the little things, it's the little things that you can do to provide yourself that insight and provide yourself that mode to get yourself to the level that you need to get to.

So those are things that really think about, but also can be super beneficial for you in the long-term. So as I said, don't think short-term. I know a lot of people want to think short-term. I know a lot of people want the quick wins and the gratification, but really do think about the long-term every action that you take. And I've always taken that to stride ever since, you know, a mentor told me, hey, look, think about long-term, every single action. Like when you make an action, always ask yourself, how is this going to help me five years down the line? And if it doesn't, then you probably shouldn't take the action, right? So really consider that every time you think about what am I actually doing and not just seeing it as like, I'm an SDR, I want to be an AE.

And you're not thinking about like, why do I want to become an AE, right? Like, why is it the case? So think about that every single time that you do it. And I'm going to interject here with a question that Billy just asked, how have you been successful in developing business outside of the office? So that's a, I want to kind of go deeper in that question, Billy, like business, like, what do you mean by that? Like business, it's not like, like personal business as in like to develop myself or like actually closing deep, like closing business or like actually generate it, generating opportunities outside of like, what exactly do you mean by that question? So I'm going to answer that a little bit more clear cut.

I just kind of understand where you're coming from there. Zach, what's up? Thanks for joining. But yeah. So when you, when you think about mindset long-term, I want everyone to really understand that. Like, think about what you want to do for like three to four jobs ahead. And then all your actions should map to that. Cause when you do that, then you'll get, you'll get promoted by osmosis. So I believe that I think super long-term. So I, at the end of the day, want to be the best motivator of all time. So my, all, all, every single decision and action is pretty much based off of that. So a lot of things happen by osmosis. Like me getting promoted as our manager was just by osmosis. I, I didn't, you know, I wasn't, I didn't come into terms and say, I wanted to be an SDR manager, but it happened that way based on the goals that I had set for myself for the long-term.

But if you set short-term goals to be like, this is what I want to do this week. That's great. But if that's the only goal you have, you're going to sell yourself short and you're not going to put yourself in the spot that you want to be at. So that's what I'm saying. Long-term is better to think about because you're going to set yourself up better in the short-term and in the long-term. So it makes sense. Just make it simple. So, okay. How to improve your personal brand off the phone. All right, Billy. So this is something that a mentor told me. Most people, I think this is crazy, but I think this is actually highly applicable. It's, it really is taking the time to go meet with people. I, you know, I, I try to meet someone new every single week.

And so that's either a lunch. That's a, that's a coffee. I don't drink coffee, but the coffee, whatever. Um, it's maybe a dinner. It's, it's taking the time to just meet with someone face to face and that face to face meeting will be applicable. And if you can't meet someone to face to face in your slam, like it's that, it's that 15 minutes, 20 minute phone call just to chop it up real quick. Like, Hey, like let's network. I know that maybe we're in the city together or maybe we're like, we're, we're in proximity. Like let's have a conversation. I found out that like having that conversation for 15 minutes leads to actually a longer relationship and a longer, uh, uh, credibility because it just, it builds personal brand because people now know who you are behind the content that you post and the, and the person that you are on online.

When people actually talk to you face to face or on the phone, they can see if you're actually credible behind the person that you are. Cause there's been people that I've talked to that, Hey, look, you know, they do certain things, but like behind the scenes, they really aren't that person that they were promoting themselves on social media. Like it happens. We all know that. So that's what I'm saying to build your personal brand off the phone. You have to get off, get off the phone. Right. And you have to actually meet people face to face. And that's for me, it's weekly. I meet someone weekly every single, every single time. I mean, it's a, I've been doing that for the past, it's been eight years now.

So every single week I'm meeting someone new over time that develops into something really big because I know a lot of people. I know a lot of people because I take the time to go know people. And I feel like a lot of people say, Oh, I don't have time. And the thing is that at the end of the day, like if you're looking to grow long term, again, it goes back to that. Like then you'll make the time to go meet new people. I don't think you're as serious about your goals. If you're not taking the time to meet new people and actually at least have a 10 to 15 minute conversation with them. So that's how you really build your brand off the phone. It's really just taking the time to, you know, work your network.

That's why the work is in that word and actually utilize the relationships that you have. So that's my answer to that question. So I hope you guys understand long-term though, and understand long-term success is better than short-term success. Everyone wants to get to their goals as fast as possible. I do understand that, but enjoy the moment that you're in so you can build for that long-term result. Another question I had is finding ways to switch up data to tasks to keep the job interesting while still being effective as ever. The more creative you can, you get better with this. So I think at the end of the day, like the way to switch yourself up is always the A-B test. I know that John talks about this a lot, but if you're always A-B testing, you're going to keep yourself creative and you're going to keep yourself fruitful and you're going to keep yourself innovative on where you need to go at the end of the day.

And it's going to keep you on the loop of where you need to go. And so I think that most people divert and don't think about certain things that they're doing when they're in their day-to-day process. And yeah, there's, there's some things that I do from it on a day-to-day, on a day-to-day scheme. There's some things that I do half the time that are maybe super repetitive and it is what it is. But I, but I do know at the end of the day, if you do switch it up, if you do change things, if you do keep it, you know, situational and you have those A-B tests, then that will keep your day interesting and that will keep you more innovative. Because when you do those things, then you're actually going to be more active in your day.

You're going to be more fired up. You're going to be thinking about a lot more things. But if you do the same things every single day, you're not being as excited. You're not going to be creative. And so what I found to be creative is I just was innovative. So, you know, it's doing the Vidyard videos that I did. It's doing, it's maybe going on Slack and messing around on there and trying to figure out how do I sell on there. It's using a different email. It's A-B testing things. That's how I kept things creative. And that's how I kept myself excited. And that's how I kept myself involved because I knew at the end of the day, hey, look, like there's only going to be like a certain amount of tasks that I can do to keep myself interactive and creative.

I know it works, but I always go with the method of 80% of the stuff that you do is the stuff that works, right? So if you know something works, that needs to be in the 80% realm. 20% though is stuff that you can A-B test and check out and be creative. And so that 20% realm is where you can be creative. You can make videos, you can do an email that you haven't tried out. You can do a new task. And if you do that within your schedule, that will allow you to be innovative and allow you to get to the point that you need to go to. And it also allows you to have really have a lot of fun with your sales prospect job as an SDR. So I think that's the best way to go about it and stay creative. The difference, someone asked, the difference of being a meeting center versus a sales professional on an initial cold call.

I think the biggest thing to that is really saying like the reason for my call is, if you give a reason for what your call is, then you're going to be, you're going to be able to build your craft as a sales professional. And at the end of the day, what we're doing is we're, we're selling time. We're selling the meeting. So that's what you're really selling. But at the end of the day, you do realize that there is components of selling within that cold call. Cause most people don't want to make a phone call. Some people don't like that cold call, but you need to be fired up about it. You need to be excited and show the passion through that. And if you can do that during a cold call, you can do that during your sales conversations.

You can do that during your sales cycles. And so when you really think about these things, it can take you to the next level. And I feel like that is the separation of a meeting center and a sales professional is someone who takes those cold calls. It gives it to their coach or their manager or their leader and says, can you break this down for me? And like, how can I improve on this? So like when I move to that account executive role long-term, I'm ready and I now can articulate my message. Right? So if you can really do that in the long-term, then you're going to prepare yourself. But if you're just setting meetings and you know what to say and you're running through routine, yeah, it's not going to work out for you at the end of the day.

It's just, you're wasting your time. But if you're actually sitting up there like, yep, I got to break down this call. I can do this. I can do that. Then you're setting yourself up for success. And then that's where you really want to be at the end of the day. Not floundering around and just setting up meetings just to set up meetings. Like you really want to build the craft off that. And that's how you do that. So that's the answer to that question is that's how you really separate yourself from being a meeting setter and actually building yourself to be a sales professional is actually building upon the craft and making calls, saying what your reason for the call is, handling objections with ease, and then getting feedback from your leaders to make sure that you're ready to the next step.

Another question is how to get into tech or be a BDR with no sales background. And so I'm speaking for sales, some straight experience. As many of you know, if you don't know, I graduated from college in 2015. So that was two years ago. Okay. So I'm still like kind of fresh out of college. The thing is, I had no sales background. I didn't have any sales experience, no quota carrying role. My SDR job to terminus was my first, was my first job out of college. And so I necessarily was not qualified on paper to take this position at a terminus because I didn't have any sales experience. However, the reason that I got the job is because I did what most people don't do when they go to job interviews.

And I don't understand why people don't do this. I'm getting a little fired up about it because I just, I simply do not understand why people don't do this. It's completely baffling to me. You go to the website and you see what the company is about. You go look at who the key influences are in the company. You go see who the person that's probably going to hire you or the two people or the three people are going to hire you. You look at their profiles and you do research. That's how I got the job. I did research. I profiled exactly what was going to happen. I profiled what the company was about and I was able to speak to what their mission was and where they're about to go. That's how you get a job without any background.

It's that simple. It's actually, I actually, it is actually that simple to go and do this research because I, because most people that I interviewed when I was an SDR manager did not do the simple steps that I just told you guys now, but they had more experience than me, but they didn't do the simple research. It honestly is not that hard to do at the end of the day. It really isn't guys. It really is very simple. So I took that background. I did that research and I went in there and I said, Hey, look, I like, I went deep. I was like, the people that are interviewing, one person had an article about them in college and they had, they did some like stuff in college with videos. So we talked about that and he was really impressed.

So he's like, okay, you've done the research about me. That's awesome. Another person, she had all her background interviews on how she got into sales. So I knew how she got into sales. So I was like, Hey, look, I actually knew that she did not have a background in sales before she got in sales. So I used that on her when she asked me, I was like, well, you got into sales and you, your background wasn't in sales before you got your first sales job and you came out of college. Right? So I use that and I leverage it. And that, that takes, that actually shows that you actually did your, your job because I was going into a position where I was doing research and reaching out to people before. So if I did my research before and I showed them, I could do it in a job interview that leads to me getting hired.

So that's what I'm saying, guys, is like, you can get a job without any sales background, but you have to take the time and be way more prepared than everyone else. And if that sounds like too much work to you, then you honestly should not even interview the job and you shouldn't even show up to the place in the first place. Like you should just not, you should just not go like, that's just straight up. Like take the time, do the research and you will get the job. I guarantee you. But if you don't do it and you complain about it, well, it is what it is. You should just take the time to do the research. And it is that simple as I'm stating it right now. So that's how you do it. Do your research.

Look at people who, look at the people that you're going to interview with. Look at the LinkedIn profiles, look at the company, what's their culture, and then vibe off of that. And you will get the job. I guarantee you. But if you go in the interview, you don't prepare, you complain that you don't have any background in sales. You come in as a victim. You will not get the job. That's just what's going to happen there. But like guys really do take the time to do the research before you go to a job. And that's how I got, that's how I got hired. And I know that's how multiple people are getting hired nowadays is taking the time to look at what the company is about and not just spraying and spraying your resume.

It doesn't work just like spraying and spraying with sales. It doesn't work. You got to be personalized and you got to take the time to invest into yourself to understand what the company is about so that you can invest into the interview. And so they're like, this is the person you need to hire. You need to impress them. You need to know more about them than they even know about themselves. And that's how I've always handled every interview. That's why going into every interview, I'm always excited because I do the research before and I know majority of people just don't do it. So that's the advice on how to get a job without any background. And yeah, I'm super fired about this because it's like, that's what you have to do.

Another one is how to not lose prospects who use the call after the holidays. It is definitely a crazy thing at the end of the day with the holidays coming. And I know people are going to be in and out. I think with those things, you have to respect people's time. Like if they're actually going out of the office or they're going on vacation, you don't want to press them because then they're going to see you as that annoying person, right? Don't do that. But at the same time, you do want to state your case. So I would say, Hey, look, if someone says call you after the holidays, great, let's set up a time to actually call you after the holidays. Like let's get on the calendar, let's get a time and let's get it accepted.

So then that way, when you do call them, you have a purpose for your call and you're actually, again, it goes like the research, you can do proper research before this call and it actually will be a better call for you than the call that you called them out of the blue on. So you can see this as a pre-qual call that will be your setup opportunities to pass out to the account executive. If you're a sales development representative, if you're an account executive, it sets you up for that call in the new year and now you're ready to go and they're more open for the conversation. It is definitely hard to have a conversation with someone who's like, yeah, I'm leaving like in five days to go here.

Their mind is on vacation. Their mind is not on you at all. And even pushing them, it's probably going to lead them off the edge and they're probably going to jump away from you. But if someone's like call you after the holidays, you just need to make sure you set up time. But if you're like, say like, oh, they'll call you up for the holidays and then like you never, you just kind of let them skate by, then that's on you. And then that person probably will not be in contact with you and you probably will lose that person. But if you do set up a time, then you're going to be good. So like, that's what you need to do. So it's really just setting up time after. An additional to that was top three books or sources every SDR should read.

If you're an SDR, you should be reading Sales Hacker. I mean, that's my number one go-to. I mean, there's obviously a ton of content out there. I mean, I'll just say, hey, look, SDR Chronicles is out there for SDR. It's 100 videos. You can go watch all those. Reading purposes, I think Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount. You need to read that. And then you also need to read the Sales Development Playbook by Trish Bertuzzi. Like, if you do those three things, if you read those three things as an SDR, you'll set yourself up for success. And obviously, as your career advances, there's going to be obviously other books and blogs you can read. But those three things are major key. You need to be doing that.

If you aren't, then you're definitely missing out. I would also make sure that you are staying up to date with reading and making sure you're giving up yourself first as well, because it's obviously going to be super important for you in the long run as well. Cool. So another person asked, wants to understand the methods of prospecting outside of phone calls, emails, and LinkedIn, and just kind of knowing what that means. So yes, I always say there's four types of outreach, whether you like it or not. There's video, social, phone, and email. Okay. Those are the four. So I would say video for me has been great because I like video. I can show my personality. I think it creates humanity. I think it's the virtual voicemail.

So I love doing video and that's the way I'm creative and that's the way I'll get my messages out there. But there are other ways. Like I said, you could go on social and you could find groups and actually be a part of the community and conversation and people will see you as a real resource. I mean, there's another way, like sharing content. I share content because of the goal that I have, you know, to get to the place that I want to get to. But also at the same time, it shows credibility and respect in the workplace. One of the main reasons I share content, it's not for my health. It's for the strict reason that like, hey, look, I'm a credible resource because I'm sharing information on what I'm doing.

So now you see me as a person who like actually knows what they're talking about. And if you can see it on continuous basis, the first person that you're going to think about in a certain topic matter is the person that shares the content on that topic matter. And that's the reason why that's why I share content. It keeps people top of mind on what's going on. And so that's why you need to take the time to share content, get in part of the community so they understand who you are, so you're a credible resource. Because at the end of the day, personal brands, whatever you like to say, influencers, spot leaders, et cetera, et cetera, are the people that people listen to. I don't think I'm any of those things, but I do think I'm a person who shares advice and tips and things along my journey.

And I feel like I went through relatable, but at the same time, it makes people see that like this person knows what this person is talking about because you're sharing the content and it makes people more comfortable when you do outreach. So it makes your emails and phone calls and videos a lot easier because you're seen as a trusted resource. Because on that sales call, you're probably trying to earn that trust and that rapport. But if you already have that based on your brand or based on what you shared or based on who you are, then that conversation becomes a lot easier. And so that's the main reason that I do that there. And I really feel like those types of ways are unique, but I do feel like, yes, video is a unique way to prospect and get yourself outside of that box and be unique, but make sure that you're doing the right way.

Don't make a video just because you're making a video, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons and you're being impactful on that outreach. So video is super critical. Video is very important, but you need to make sure that you're doing this right and you're going in the right direction. So that's why I'm saying, Hey, look, focus in on the four types of outreach, find your vocal point of what that is, and then work around that. I know that some people say they do texting. I mean, I've never, I've only texted a prospect one time. It ended up in something, but they told me they wanted me to text it. And that's the only reason I did that. I didn't cold text people. I don't advise to cold text people, but if they tell you to text them, yeah, text them.

That's a good idea. But if they don't, then no, I wouldn't rate that. I would not do that. And it probably would not be the best decision on your part, but it is all about being creative. It's all about trying different methods and it's all about going back to A-B testing. So I really do think that is important. And guys, if you do have questions, feel free to ask me during this. I'm just going through questions that people have already asked me. I got another one and people are saying, Hey, what's a tool that helps you manage all the things that you have to do at the end of the day and kind of how do you implement that? So for me, I believe tools are essential, but I feel like some people get too hype about tools and technology and they just overabundance themselves with tools and technology.

Do not be that person. Don't do that. Think about the things, the tools that you actually need and be effective. I don't like having a ton of tools. I see the sales role turning into Ironman. I said that a multitude of times. Everyone's going to be an Ironman sales person at the end of the day. But what I really do see is you have to have the right tools. So I have Vidyard. I talked about it earlier. I got the videos. These are my outreach. I got Owler to make sure that I'm going at the right prospects to see who's got funding, see what's going on. I use Crunchbase to keep me updated on investments, news as well. I also have Skills Off, which does my outreach to make sure that my cadences are sharp and crisp and I'm not spending time on stuff that doesn't matter.

And I also have Nudge that I've been working on as well to make sure, hey, the AI behind my relationships, making sure that they're strong and also understanding what's going on in my network, who do I need to connect with, who haven't I talked to in a while. That's just like I said, that all goes back to like keeping the brand fresh and keeping yourself out there. I do believe, though, that you have to have a core set of tools that you use. And I believe that if you have that, then you're going to be good. John recommends Seedly. That basically is a source where you can share articles based on topics that you're diving into, basically that you're looking at. I think that's another great resource to make sure that you're plugged into.

But these are things that you have to take in consideration. These are things that you need to look into. And if you are not, have not looked into them, then you're definitely missing out so far. But these are things that keep me organized. And calendar, don't sleep on the calendar. The calendar is a great tool. It keeps me organized on what's going on and what's happening, right? And those are the tools that I mentioned that keep me organized. They keep me on schedule. And I think that as you continuously involve in your career, tools are definitely important to make sure that you stay streamlined in your process. And there's a ton of tools that I could recommend, but it really does depend on who you are as a person, what your business is, and what you're trying to do.

Because the tool that I use probably may not be applicable to you, like CrunchyBase, you may be selling to something different. So you don't need to know who's getting invested in you. You don't need to know about SaaS and technology. But for me, it's very important for most people at it. So those are tools that I use, though, to make sure that my day is streamlined and I'm moving in the right direction. Because if you're not moving in the right direction, you're really not setting yourself up to step. And a couple final questions here. I would say another big thing that I want to talk about is the importance of a positive mindset. I think that people talk about having a good mindset. I think people talk about being positive.

But I want you guys to understand what that actually means. And so the subconscious brain, let's go into psychology, the subconscious mind is the strongest part of our entire body. It is what we think about, obviously, when we're not really thinking about it. And it's what our subconscious mind is what we transmit throughout our body and what we transmit throughout our environment and to the people around us. And so when you have, when your subconscious mind is negative, you attract negative situations, you attract a negative vibe, and you attract negative people. It's actually what ends up happening. You can go do research on this, you can look this up, but I looked into this. So when you put negative thoughts in your mind, and you think about it a lot, you watch negative things, you're on negative people, you start becoming more negative.

And the more negative you become, the more negativity that you receive. And so really understand that psychology. And when I talk about positive mindset, I'm not here to be the rah-rah guy to be like, oh, let's all be positive, like, you know, rainbows and skittles and sunshine. That's great. We all want to be positive. But understand the detriment that your body and your mind and your outlook will take if you actually are negative, and you have a negative mindset. So it's more important to understand that from a subconscious standpoint, that the more negative you are, the more negative results you get. And you don't realize it. And you probably realize right now, you probably have some negative people in your life right now, because you actually have a negative subconscious mindset.

Now, let's go to positive subconscious mindset. So this is something that I did. I did. I really did a case study on myself to see if this was real. I only listened to positive mindset stuff for three to four months. It was three to four, five months. I didn't listen to any hip hop. And y'all know who I am. I'm all about my rap. I didn't listen to any EDM. I didn't listen to any music. But I only listen to positive stuff. I found in that time, developing a positive mindset, which is, I feel like it's very sharp and bulletproof at this point. I attracted more positive people, more positive stuff was happening to me. Every negative situation that happened, I always thought about the positive. And I was always optimistic.

And I always thought about this happened to me. But like, now what? Like, why did this happen? Let's think about the positivity of it. Like, I always think positive in the direction that you're going to. Now, yeah, there's bad days, there's negativity sometimes. But I'm saying, like, I'm always trying to think about the positive. Like, what's the positive here? How can we move forward? And that experience showed me that like, the subconscious mind is so powerful, because it leads you to positive. The reason you want to have a positive mindset, because you always want to think that every single phone call that I hop on, like, I'm gonna close the field. Every single cold call that I make, this person's taking the meeting.

Every single that I come into the office, I'm going to be the number one person. Based on my actions, not based on me telling you, this is what my mindset is telling me. So I'm always thinking that like, I'm the best, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that. But that's my mindset. That's a subconscious mindset. And but my actions are the aura of what that oozes off of. I don't need to tell people, this is what I don't need to tell people, this is who I am. And I do this, I work hard, my actions should show that and the positive mindset flows through that. And that's really how it works. Because if you're not focused in on your psychology of the mindset, it just won't work out for you through the day.

And Kai just hopped in and said, let's talk about emotional intelligence, sort of late to positive versus negative mindset chat. I have not talked about emotional intelligence, but I will touch on that real quick. I think emotional intelligence is something that you can build upon. I think it's something that is more, I think, EQ is more important than IQ to some extent. I firmly believe that I feel like my EQ has grown over the years. And I now can, you know, since situations on a high degree, I know what people are about, I can sense their energy, I know what's going on with them. I'm like, this is what you're dealing with. This is what's happening. And it's only because I've developed the time to develop an actual EQ of what actually is going on.

And I believe I'm just a highly observant person. And when you become a highly observant person, you know what's going on, you know what's happening. And so that's why EQ is important, because you need that on a sales conversation, you need that when you're, when you're high in your reps, you've got to understand like, who's good and who's not, because if you don't understand that, you're going to put yourself in the hole, and it's going to be detriment to you. And it's going to be detriment to your organization and your team. So that's why you get to take the time to build upon emotional intelligence, build that EQ. And that's a lot of reading. And I found that actually reading has boosted my emotional intelligence, because I'm taking the EQ of the people that I wrote that book, and I'm and it's coming into me.

So that personality, that or actually vibes into other people. And so I learned that over time, reading actually builds EQ. It may not for other people, but for me, it did. And for other people, it said it has, and also like understanding, like who I am, like just being like, like, like understanding, like being self aware, I mean, like, okay, like, this is what I need to do. And when you are, when your EQ is high enough, you just understand who you are, and then you execute off the stuff that you need to do to put yourself in the position of where you need to be. So yes, I'm glad that you mentioned that EQ is definitely important. And if you understand yourself, then you'll be able to ooze into other people and do what you need to do.

But it's definitely important sales, because if you have emotional intelligence, you can read on what's going on the call, and you can read what you need to do what you need not to do. And I feel like that's definitely another whole another, that's like a whole another make it happen Monday, I feel like. So we definitely talked to John about emotional intelligence, but I wanted to touch on that briefly. So I know time is running down on this. Before I hop off, does anyone have any questions? Does anyone have any comments? Does anyone have any feedback on the mindset of an SDR? Please let me know before I end this live. Cool. So it looks like no one has any additional questions or comments or feedback.

If you do have any additional questions, you just didn't feel like putting in the chat or saying it here, feel free to message me on LinkedIn, Morgan J Ingram. Not not too hard to find at the end of the day. So if you can find that, then you can definitely message me and I will answer any question that you have. But that's my belief on the mindset of an SDR guys, be sharp, be where you need to be, be who you need to be, improve every single day and be the person that you know that you've become. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. As I always say, keep it dialing, but if John was here, you say make it happen. So keep it dialing and make it happen at the same time. And you guys have a great week.

I'll talk to you guys soon. Thanks for listening to the Make It Happen Podcast. Make sure to subscribe to our channel. so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed the show, let me know by leaving a review or sharing your favorite episode with your team. If you have any topics or questions you want me to cover in future episodes, hit me up on social at John M Barrows. That's John M as in Michael Barrows. Make it happen.