Meet A ServiceTrader
Trey Wood, Sales Development Manager
Trey is a part of the Sales organization and manages the Sales Development Representatives.
His team initiates the first conversations with potential customers, taking what can be complex software and consolidating it into an easy-to-understand business solution.
What do you do at ServiceTrade?
I build relationships and motivate my team in order for us to achieve our team goals and the company goals. I do that by call coaching, interacting in meetings, and creating team games, challenges, and team-building exercises. It’s rewarding to be able to coach and guide people towards their goal and their career path and continue to grow our culture here at ServiceTrade.
My team creates value by finding prospects who are in the market for service software, providing a bit of what ServiceTrade has done for other customers, and bringing them to the plate to see how ServiceTrade can help their business. In return, we get the pleasure of being the first person that connects with our market. We talk to potential customers daily, so we hear how the market is evolving and how ServiceTrade can help.
Tell me about your ServiceTrade journey.
After graduating from UNCW and deciding to move to Raleigh, I reconnected with a current ServiceTrade SDR who was a buddy of mine from middle school. When I had the interview with ServiceTrade, I fell in love with the company culture. I started in December 2019, and on my first day ever on the phone, I booked 2 demos. I knew this was a good fit for me, and I never looked back.
I broke every record on the book, showed my value as an SDR and positioned myself to be promoted to the Territory Manager role where I could demo the product and further show the value of ServiceTrade. I really enjoyed it, but I figured out that my personality and my style of sales fit the SDR role better, so I came back to be the SDR Team Lead. I was able to still put up the numbers, but the fun part was helping others hit their goals.
My natural compassion for people on top of my success as an SDR made me know I wanted to be in management. Once the Sales Development Manager position opened up earlier this year, I interviewed and got the job. It’s been an awesome ride so far.
Which of the ServiceTrade’s culture values is the most important to you and why?
Collaboration is my number one. The reason I’m huge about that is not just because I’m a people person, but it’s said all over – and I’ve worked in many companies where people talk about a company culture and building a family oriented business – and a lot of times it’s lip service. But here at ServiceTrade, it’s action put into play. Ever since I first started, seeing the amount of people that reach out, willing to help, and who have invested their time into me and to help coach and guide me to be the most effective rep I could be. That is why collaboration has been my favorite.
Moving forward as a manager, whenever we get busy or there is frustration, it’s not just ‘here’s the guidelines’ then throw you to the wolves. There’s not just that management support, but there is also the support from the ground-level there with you. We have such a tight-knit group that people are willing to invest their own time. Having SDRs reach out to me when I was an ITM, that’s where the proof was in the pudding.
What is your advice for those looking to start a SaaS sales career?
Never give up. And learn to have thick skin. Any time you’re calling into a SaaS market, it’s going to be a high volume and low connection rate, so you have to be willing to hustle and take those no’s, but stay positive in your mindset. So when you do come across that potentially good fit, you are prepared and ready to give your 100%.
Second thing is mindset. Mindset is everything. It’s just like golf – 99% mental and 1% skill. You have to be willing to hit those 80 noes to get that 81st yes.
Last thing I’ll say is come thirsty to grow and learn. It’s about progress not perfection. A lot of times the proof is in the progress. If you set a lot of small goals throughout your path, and you’re seeing the proof in the progress, it’s a lot easier to reflect on your progress because shavings make a pile.
What’s a typical day like as a Sales Development Representative (SDR) at ServiceTrade?
First thing in the morning, we all connect, get motivated for the day, and then we dive in – 85 dials a day is what we aim for. Your calls are broken into cold calls, demo confirmations, following up on opportunities you need to reschedule, etc. but your day is basically you running your business. I give you a standard of what you need to get done for the day, and you do whatever you need to do to get it done, I’m not going to micromanage that.
I like to tell everybody – you’re an entrepreneur, but you are selling a product you didn’t come up with. So you run your business, you have a lot of freedom, but it does take a lot of discipline. When I first started, I really felt that – like I’m truly determining my success. Yo Gotti and Gucci Mane say your hustle determines your salary, and that is exactly what I love here at ServiceTrade.
What kind of career path can one have as an SDR, and how do you foster your team’s career paths?
The SDR is the farm team for opportunities in a software company. This is the grounds for getting an understanding of the industry, the business, and where your skill sets align, and then the possibilities are endless.
From our team, we do see a lot of people continue to go up in Sales, which is prospecting new business, doing demos, being an AE or a Territory Manager. The next vertical we see is that people grow to love working with current customers, which is the Account Manager side. The last vertical we typically see is the BDR role, which is more of an enterprise-style SDR position. If you really enjoy the common grind of calling and prospecting, but you want to focus on more of a specific target market or dial into larger accounts, then that’s something we see a lot of people have success in.
How I help with that is I’m here to get a good understanding of what you like, where your skill sets lie, point out your strengths you might not see, and coach and guide you to where you want to be with those. I’m going to listen to your calls, coach your calls, be with you throughout your whole process, and get you ramped up to the baseline of where you need to be, then I’m going to let you determine where you want to go. I’m going to make sure all the stars align to get you there, go to bat for you, and have your back in order to get you in contact with the right people to make that happen as well as advocate for you to get you to that point. You want to be an ITM, ok I’ll talk to Anna McMahon, VP Inside Sales, that kind of thing.
