Inbound How-Tos
The purpose of this page is to quickly walk SDRs through the main inbound processes they’ll use.
Sales Development
The purpose of this page is to act as the homapage of the sales development org’s handbook presence.
Who we are
Welcome to the Sales Development Organization at GitLab! We are a team designed to drive results for customers through both inbound and outbound strategies. Our structure is designed to maximize efficiency, responsiveness, and creativity in our outreach efforts.
1. Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) - Inbound Focused
Key Attributes:
- Fast Response Time
- Global Coverage
- Alignment with Marketing for SLAs and Feedback on Campaigns
- Defined and Prescriptive Inbound Processes
- Round Robin Assignment Rules
- Talent Incubator for BDR Teams
Our Inbound-focused SDRs are known for their swift response times, ensuring global coverage and alignment with marketing initiatives. They operate with defined and prescriptive inbound processes, utilizing round-robin assignment rules. Additionally, the SDR team serves as a talent incubator for our Business Development Representatives (BDRs).
2. Business Development Representatives (BDRs) - Outbound Focused
Key Attributes:
- Alignment with SAEs/AE & Sales Leadership
- Collaboration with Field Marketing + ABM
- Strategic Account Planning and Research
- Targeted and Creative Messaging
- Talent Incubator for Sales Teams
Our Outbound-focused BDRs excel in strategic account planning, research, and delivering targeted and creative messaging. They work closely with Sales Account Executives (SAEs), Account Executives (AEs), and Sales Leadership. The BDR team also acts as a talent incubator for our broader Sales Teams.
How we typically help
| What is your role and ask? | How will the Sales Dev Org help |
|---|---|
| I am Field Marketer, and want to have people invited to my event | We typically work with the FM process outlined on the issue template called FM-BDR-Collaboration-Template that can be found here, but are always eager to collaborate in making your events more succesful, if your ask is not covered in the template linked above, please write to us on the #sales_dev_global slack channel and we’ll jump in to assist. |
| I am an Account Executive, and want to nominate accounts for outbounding efforts | Our end-to-end outbound process is here. The easiest way to automate your workflow is to find the field BDR Prospecting Status on the SFDC Account record, and select the Queued option from there. The BDR team will then pick it up and research it for their outbound pipeline. |
| I am an Account Executive, and want to check the state of accounts, or quality of prospects, in my territory | Our BDR team uses a set of 1:1 dashboards that consolidate all relevant resources in one place. Our BDR team typically uses these on 1:1s with the Sales team to facilitate better account and territory planning. |
| I am a Field Marketer, or Account Executive, and want to suggest that the SDR or BDR team uses my messaging for reaching out to prospects or clients | We have a quick process for creating new sequences on Outreach, our messaging tool. Even though the BDR or SDR are the ones typically creating these requests, we always welcome collaboration with other teams so feel free to log your own request directly if you’d like. |
| I am a Sales Manager, and want to gauge the quality and progress of the SAOs provided to my team. | We have a robust set of pipeline progression dashboards that break down results in a lot of granularity. We also have a structured path for handing off opportunities from the SDR/BDR teams to the AE team that you can use to measure adherance to qualification criteria and next steps. |
Our Slack Channels
| Channel | Slack Handle |
|---|---|
| Main Channel - (Global VP - JB Larramendy) | #sales_dev_global |
| Announcements - (SDR Ops/Enablement - Chris Wang) | #sales_dev_fyi |
| All - AMER (Manager - Brian Tabbert) | #amer_sales_dev |
| SDR AMER (Manager - Josh Downey) | #sdr_amer_inbound |
| BDR COMM AMER MM (Manager - Christie Park) | #bdr_amer_comm |
| BDR ENTG AMER WEST & LATAM (Manager - Charlotte Platt) | #bdr_entg_amer_west_latam |
| BDR ENTG AMER EAST (Manager - Shamit Paul) | #bdr_entg_amer_east |
| BDR PUBSEC (Manager - Josh Downey) | #bdr_amer_pubsec |
| All - EMEA (Manager - Elsje Smart) | #sdr_emea |
| SDR EMEA - (Manager - Elsje Smart) | #sdr_emea_apac_inbound |
| BDR COMM EMEA MM - (Manager - Elsje Smart) | #bdr_comm_emea_mm |
| BDR ENTG EMEA DACH - (Manager - Christopher Allenfort) | #bdr_entg_emea_dach |
| BDR ENTG EMEA NEUR META - (Manager - Miguel Nunes) | #bdr_entg_emea_neur_meta |
| BDR ENTG EMEA SEUR - (Manager - Tati Fernandez) | #bdr_entg_emea_seur |
| SDR APJ - (Manager - Robin Falkowski) | #apj_sales_dev |
| BDR ENTG APJ - (Manager - Robin Falkowski) | #apj_sales_dev |
| BDR EGC META NL - (Manager - Carolina Marco Bellver) | #bdr_emea-egc-meta-nl |
Our GitLab Projects
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Sales Development Issues | The list of all issues we curently have on our project. |
| Sales Dev Ops Issue Board | The main Kanban board we use to manage our operational projects, look here to see what we have in the pipeline. |
| Sequence Creation Board | The board we manage all new, and in-flight, sequences and messaging campaigns. |
| FM Collaboration Board | The board we use to communicate with the Field Marketing team to help support their events. |
| PTO Requests Board | The board we use to submit and manage Paid Time Off (PTO) requests. |
| Sales Systems Issues | This is the Sales Systems issue list, we collaborate closely with them. |
| Marketing Operations Issues | This is the Marketing Operation’s team space, we also work closely with them too. |
Our SFDC Dashboards
| Name/Link | Description |
|---|---|
| 1:1 Dashboards - Leads: PUBSEC | 1:1 dashboard for leads in the PUBSEC segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Leads: COMM APJ | 1:1 dashboard for leads in the APJ ENTG segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Leads: ENTG EMEA | 1:1 dashboard for leads in the ENTG EMEA segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Leads: ENTG AMER/LATAM | 1:1 dashboard for leads in the ENTG AMER/LATAM segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Leads: COMM EMEA | 1:1 dashboard for leads in the COMM EMEA segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Accounts: EMEA COMM | 1:1 dashboard for accounts in the EMEA COMM segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Accounts: ENG AMER/LATAM | 1:1 dashboard for accounts in the ENG AMER/LATAM segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Accounts: COMM APJ | 1:1 dashboard for accounts in the ENTG APJ segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Accounts: ENTG EMEA | 1:1 dashboard for accounts in the ENTG EMEA segment. |
| 1:1 Dashboards - Accounts: PUBSEC | 1:1 dashboard for accounts in the PUBSEC segment. |
| Action Needed: SDR Global | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed in the SDR team. |
| Action Needed: PubSec Global | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed in the PubSec team. |
| Action Needed: APJ BDR | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed for APJ BDR. |
| Action Needed: EMEA BDR | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed for EMEA BDR. |
| Action Needed: AMER BDR | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed for AMER BDR. |
| Action Needed: SDR Global | Dashboard outlining items where immediate action is needed for SDR Global. |
| High Level Results Dashboard | The dashboard we use to glance at our bottom-line results. |
| Pipeline Progression Dashboard | The dashboard we use to measure the progress, or lack of thereof, of opportunities sourced by our org. |
| Global Sales Dev Results Dashboard | A more granular dashboard that breaks down attainment further. |
| 6Sense 6QA Automation Dashboard | This dashboard visualizes all the accounts that were automatically imported to SFDC via our 6Sense Automation. |
The pages we frequently use
The complementary Resources
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| GitLab LevelUp Training channel | Access to GitLab LevelUp Training channel for additional learning resources. |
| Sales handbook page | Main handbook page for Sales, providing essential information and resources. |
| Go to Market page | Resources related to Go-to-Market strategy for Sales. |
| Sales Dev Tools and Manager Resources | Tools and resources specifically designed for Sales Development teams and managers. |
| Sales Development Org job family/levels | Overview of job families and levels within the Sales Development Org. |
| Territory Alignment | Guidance on territory alignment for BDRs and SDRs. |
| Enterprise BDR Outbound Process Framework | Framework for the outbound process followed by the Enterprise BDR team. |
| Sales Development Enablement Videos | Playlist of enablement videos and how-tos for BDRs and SDRs. |
| Outreach sequence naming convention | Document outlining the naming convention for Outreach sequences. |
| Lead Lifecycle Handbook Page | Handbook page detailing different lead statuses and managing the lead lifecycle. |
| Marketing Resource Links | GitLab whitepapers, ebooks, webcasts, analyst reports, and more for Sales & Sales Development education. |
| Marketing Events + Gated Content Assets + Webcasts | Resources for BDRs and SDRs to understand marketing assets consumed by prospects. |
| GitLab Buyer Personas | Resource to help GitLab sellers better understand our buyers and audiences. |
| Sales handbook page | GitLab Sales team handbook. |
| Sales resources page | Link to the Sales quick reference guide with links to learn more about the various sales teams & initiatives. |
| Weekly sales enablement | Weekly sessions for sales enablement, open to BDRs/lSDRs every Thursday. |
| Sales Training handbook page | Link to GitLab sales training resources. |
| Command of the Message | “Command of the Message” training and the GitLab value framework. |
| Most commonly used sales resources | Sales resources page. |
| Flash Field newsletter | Learn more about the sales weekly newsletter. |
| GitLab Values | The guiding principles we try to live up to each day. |
| GitLab Direction | The walkthrough of our product’s stages |
| HighSpot | Our go-to resource for competitive intelligence and all types of helpful collateral. |
| GitLab Use Cases | Where we go to reference how we make our customers sucessful |
| Sales Dev Onboarding Checklist | Go-to resource for all training material newcomers will need |
The Main Resources
Outbound How-Tos
The purpose of this page is to walk BDR team members through our end-to-end outbound practices.
RoEs, FAQs and KPIs
The purpose of this page is to clarify common questions about the sales development org’s practices.
Sales Development Knowledge Base
The purpose of this page is to serve as an in-depth knowledge base for the Sales Development team.
Sales Development Onboarding
This is the main page that newcoming team members should use.
Sales Development Tools and Manager Resources
This page walks you through all the tools we use in the Sales Dev org.
Tanuki Tech
Tanuki Tech (short for Tanuki Instutite of Technology) is the world class sales/technology bootcamp that we are provide for the sales development organization.
Last modified April 22, 2024: Fixing Naming of a Dashboard and APJ team (
8a2ba2cf)
