Imagine you’re on a call with a CFO who has 25 years of experience at Fortune 500 companies. In the first 30 seconds, they realize you’re out of your depth. Conversation over. Deal dead. Sound familiar?
This situation highlights a major challenge for SDRs. Despite knowing their product inside out, many struggle to connect with high-level executives. The reason? To understand this better, we sat down with Sam Griffard, a top 25 SDR leader who understands human psychology better than anyone. A lack of business acumen—the ability to step into the buyer’s world, understand their priorities, and speak their language.
Business acumen is more than just industry knowledge. It’s about understanding how a prospect’s role, department, and organization operate, what their goals are, and how your solution can help achieve them. It’s the skill of connecting the dots between what they need and what you offer. Without it, SDRs risk being perceived as surface-level salespeople, leading to missed opportunities and stalled careers.
Why does this happen? Most SDRs are new to the industry they’re selling into. They’re often speaking to buyers with decades of experience, which creates a knowledge gap that’s hard to bridge without focused effort.
So, how can SDRs develop business acumen quickly and effectively? Sam Griffard, a top 25 SDR leader, shared practical steps on our recent podcast to make this process achievable.
Start with curiosity. When engaging with prospects or internal experts, don’t just ask about their pain points. Dig deeper:
What does their typical day look like?
How do they measure success?
How does their role interact with others in their organization?
These questions build a foundation of understanding that allows you to position your solution in a way that resonates deeply with their needs.
Here’s where technology comes in. Tools like ChatGPT can be a game-changer for developing business acumen. Sam suggests:
Understand the Persona: Use ChatGPT to research your target persona. Ask, “What are the key responsibilities and challenges of a CFO at a mid-sized SaaS company?” This helps you understand what’s important to them.
Simulate Conversations: Role-play scenarios with ChatGPT. For instance, prompt it with, “Pretend you’re a CFO. Here’s my pitch. How would you respond?” Analyze the feedback and refine your approach.
Test Your Questions: Share your discovery questions with ChatGPT and ask for improvements. For example, “How can I make these questions more relevant and impactful?”
Explore Adjacent Processes: Learn where your solution fits in the larger workflow. Ask ChatGPT, “If a CFO uses our product for financial reporting, what other processes might this impact?”
Beyond AI, get face-to-face interactions whenever possible. Attend industry events, happy hours, or team meetings. Use these opportunities to listen and learn directly from your target personas. Even casual conversations can reveal insights about their challenges, priorities, and goals.
Developing business acumen is not just about selling better; it’s about becoming a trusted advisor. When SDRs demonstrate a deep understanding of their prospects’ world, they build credibility and elevate the conversation. This shift moves them from pitching products to solving problems, opening doors to stronger connections and greater success.
But what happens if you don’t develop business acumen? Executives will see you as unprepared, your pitch will fall flat, and you’ll struggle to build trust. Over time, this can hinder career growth and limit your impact as a salesperson.
The good news? Business acumen is a skill you can learn.
Start small: have a conversation with an internal expert, use ChatGPT to explore your buyer’s world, or attend an event to hear directly from decision-makers. Each step brings you closer to mastering this critical skill.
Stay tuned as we release the full episode of this conversation with Sam Griffard in two weeks. You’ll hear more about how his deep understanding of human psychology drives his sales strategies and can transform your approach too. You’ll get even more actionable advice to help you elevate your sales game!
That’s it for today!
When you’re ready, we’re here to assist you in three ways:
B2C SDRS or Aspiring first-time SDRs - Join our Online Cohort beginning January 14th (admissions now open) to learn from us and your peers about securing a role at a B2B SaaS company. We cover everything from the process and skills to extensive mock interview practice.To Apply, You can book a time hereCompanies like Birdeye, Rippling, Epicor, Salesforce, Deel, Alaan, LambdaTest, Chargebee, VWO, Netradyne, Sogolytics, ConvertCart & Zluri has hired our SDRs/used our training for their teams.Now we have 4 Mentors from the Top SaaS companies like 6 Sense, Chargebee, Browserstack and Whatfix to help you not only learn the skills but understand how hiring managers hire.
Check out our free resources & upcoming courses at learn.schoolofsdr.com
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