Building a High-Performing Sales Development Team, with Robert Simmons of AuditBoard

After graduating, Robert decided to go into Sales; a good fit as he enjoys meeting and talking to new people. Following the advice of his family and mentors, he combined this with his love of technology and went into software sales. 

Since then he’s worked his way up the ranks at companies like Outreach, before becoming Senior Director of Inside Sales at AuditBoard—#3 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. 

He sat down with us to discuss the Sales Development challenges they face, creating the best possible tech stack, and their plans for growth in 2020.

Building a strong Sales Development teamFor Robert, the top challenge he faces is keeping everyone on the team excited and motivated. It's a challenge, trying to convince a stranger to give you time out of their day to take a meeting and look at your product or service, so Robert wants to make sure his team is having fun and feels valued.

It’s also important to keep the recruiting talent pipeline strong. Robert was taught by a former VP of Sales he worked for that the primary job of any good sales leader is to always be recruiting the best talent possible. You can never take your foot off the gas when it comes to networking, interviewing and hiring. 

Finally, it’s important to make sure you’re onboarding that talent properly. For Robert, it's important that he gives everybody a great experience and that they have every tool and bit of wisdom they need to be successful. 

Creating a best-in-class technology stackWhen Robert first came to AuditBoard, there weren’t a lot of systems in place. As a result, he was able to create the exact tech stack he wanted:

• Salesforce -  “Our single source of truth for data.”
• Outreach - Used for Sales Engagement.
• ZoomInfo - “Quality data is crucial.”
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator - For prospecting
• LeadLander -  For monitoring who's visiting their website, so they can arrange to follow up.

By constantly checking what’s out there, he ensures his team has the best tools available that money can buy, something that gives them a huge strategic advantage. 

Bridging the gap between sales and marketing Robert sees his job as bridging the gap between sales and marketing. He works closely with their marketing leaders so he can understand what they're doing, as it's going to come down the funnel and eventually reach his team. 

At the same time, he’s also heavily involved in the account-based work his team is doing on the outbound side. They reward their business development team, not just for following up diligently with all of their inbound leads, but also for being avid outbound hunters. 

Sales Development in 2020 For AuditBound, the plan is to continue growing the team. That means going from a headcount of 16 to 26 and creating a diverse team with a wide range of talents, experience, and interests.

It’ll also include promoting some of the more experienced top performers into leadership roles, as well as giving people the opportunity to move cross-departmentally at the company. It’s all about helping them accelerate their career. 

As for the Sales Development team, they'll continue testing different messaging, different tools, different strategies, and different channels to reach people and spread the good word of AuditBoard to auditors around the world. 
​
If you’re looking for ways to improve your Sales Development program and overcome similar challenges, contact us at Tenbound today for a no-obligation exploratory call.