Dakota Software SDR Handbook PDF

Sales Development Representative (SDR) Handbook 2024 Dakota Software Corporation - Proprietary & Confidential Last Update: 12/18/2024 1 Dakota Software’s Sales Developme...

Sales Development Representative (SDR) Handbook 2024 Dakota Software Corporation - Proprietary & Confidential Last Update: 12/18/2024 1 Dakota Software’s Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) are the ambassadors of the company. They are usually the first contact with prospects and are the critical first step in the sales process. SDRs are responsible for researching, prospecting, and developing relationships with potential customers. While the position involves significant outreach by phone, SDRs also utilize email, direct mail, and social media as tools in their efforts to engage new prospects. This handbook provides details regarding expectations, rules, responsibilities, and processes an SDR must follow to be successful. Client Acquisition Team Expectations As part of the Client Acquisition team, SDRs frequently work with many internal and external stakeholders. We believe a major key to success in the position is the ability to embody the departmental and company-specific values outlined below. Dakota Values Dakota’s core values guide us in everything we do. We will commit ourselves to these values and strive to exemplify them each and every day: Do The Right Thing - Act with integrity Adaptable - Adjust to solve problems Keep Learning - Strive to continually improve Optimistic - Exude a positive energy Team Player - All for one, one for all Accountable - Act conscientiously Client Acquisition Team Values Beyond Dakota’s core values, our team has committed to the following in our everyday pursuit of new business: No Egos, No Silos - When we win, we win as a team. In order to develop a well-rounded solution and set proper expectations we must get others involved throughout our process. Ask for help early and often. Have Heart - Building relationships internally and externally makes for a much better work environment to live in. Be considerate, put yourself in others shoes, and have empathy. Come As You Are - We live in a fluid world with lots of different personalities. Let the best version of you shine through. Be your genuine self. Start-up Mentality - Let’s go to the moon! Do not be afraid to fail fast, learn from your mistakes, and continue grinding forward. When we’re hungry and put in the effort, anything is possible! 2 Attitude & Effort We will always strive for greatness but will fail more often than not. We will never let one another down as long as we’re maximizing our efforts and maintaining a positive attitude. Attitude and effort are the only things we can really control in this crazy world. So let’s do everything in our power to excel in this area. Hyper-Communicative Studies have shown as high as 78% of all deals won will go to the organization that was first in the door. As such, it is absolutely imperative that we do everything in our power to control being the first to reach out and/or respond to inquiries. Just as important is our ability to communicate quickly and effectively internally. When others are relying on you for a response, do not be the reason someone else cannot get their job done. A few keys to living up to the ‘hyper-communicative’ expectation is as follows: Respond to Emails ASAP - For all internal and external communication, it’s imperative that we are mindful when receiving emails. At the very least it’s important to acknowledge that you’ve received the message, are working on finding a solution/answer, and let them know when you can get back with them. Acknowledge Slack Messages - When someone messages you or something is posted in a Slack channel, please acknowledge that you’ve read it with at least an emoji. Pickup & Answer the Phone - Connecting with people via social media & email is great. But the phone is still our most effective form of communication. Do not be afraid of picking up the phone and calling someone. Same goes for answering it… you never know who is calling. Words Matter - What we say and how we say it makes a huge difference when communicating. When engaging with others, we should always portray a happy and positive attitude. Do not be reactionary and have heart. Technology Used Dakota Software has invested in multiple technologies and business applications to support and streamline our operations. It is imperative that all SDRs utilize these resources to the best of their ability. This technology includes: GSuite - Dakota Software uses Google’s suite of productivity, collaboration, and business applications to support areas such as email, calendars, file storage, word documents, and excel documents. ○ Gmail Training ○ Google Calendar Training ○ Google Drive Training 3  Slack - All official company communications will go through Slack. This is the tool used to share company-wide announcements, communicate in groups, and communicate one-on-one. ○ Slack Training Zoom - Internal and external web meetings are hosted on Zoom. Dakota also takes advantage of other Zoom products such as Phone, Schedular, Clips, and Survey. ○ Zoom Training Zoho - Dakota’s system of record for all customer and prospect relationship data is ZohoCRM. As a Zoho One customer, Dakota has also implemented other Zoho products including Desk (support tickets), Expense (expense reporting), Sign (eSignatures), Projects (project management), and SalesIQ (website chat). ○ Zoho CRM Training LinkedIn Sales Navigator - This tool utilizes LinkedIn to help us identify and engage with prospects. ○ Sales Navigator Training ZoomInfo - This tool can also be used to identify prospects, but includes a database of contact and company information to help verify a company is within our target market and discover the right ways to reach our prospects. ○ Zoom Info Training Engage - This is a sales engagement platform within ZoomInfo that is used to enhance our top of funnel outreach processes using email templates, automated sequences (salesflows), and a built-in dialer. ○ Engage Training Chorus - This is a conversational intelligence tool from ZoomInfo that uses AI to analyze our phone and Zoom conversations to help improve sales performance. ○ Chorus Training The Dakota Software Client Acquisition Process The Dakota Software Client Acquisition Process involves close collaboration between Marketing, Client Acquisition, Client Success, and other internal departments as needed. The primary stages of the Client Acquisition Process include: 1. Research: This stage includes identifying the target audience, understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points, and finding relevant company and contact information. This information will be used to personalize outreach, establish rapport, and increase the chances of a successful interaction between Dakota Software and the prospect. 2. Prospecting: The Prospecting stage is where the SDRs spend most of their time. During this stage, a combination of phone calls, emails, social media outreach, and other means of communication will be used to initiate contact with the prospect in order to generate interest, build rapport, qualify, gather information, and schedule a Discovery Meeting. 3. New Engagement: This is typically the first meaningful interaction between the prospect and the Account Executive, Client Success Manager, or Client Growth manager (Opportunity Owner) responsible for qualifying and closing the opportunity. At this stage, 4  a 'Discovery Meeting' has occurred or an RFI/RFP has been received. Based on the prospect's current challenges and organizational fit, the Opportunity Owner will decide if they will be pursuing this opportunity further. If so, a new Opportunity will be created in Zoho. 4. Solution Exploration: At this stage the prospect will begin exploring our products further by seeing our software in action (i.e. a live demonstration and/or a Test Drive). The Opportunity Owner will typically involve the Sales Operations Manager or another Demo Leader for live demonstrations and test drive meetings during this stage. 5. Project Scoping: After the Solution Exploration stage, the Opportunity Owner will work with the prospect to verify that Dakota Software may be a good fit and will begin more strategic conversations to better understand the effort needed for a potential partnership. Formal project scoping will begin. Project scoping will typically involve the Director of Client Success. 6. Solution Proposed: The Opportunity Owner will work with the Director of Client Success using the information gathered during the prior stages to draft a formal proposal and present our solution to the prospects' challenges. 7. Contracts Delivered: The prospect will accept the formal proposal and select Dakota Software as the vendor of choice. The Opportunity Owner will develop and send contracts to the prospect. 8. Legal Review: We are engaged in a legal review with the prospective client. This may entail redlines to the agreements that will need to be filtered through Reg for Dakota Software authorization. 9. Closed Won: We have received signed agreements. The new client is then handed off to the Client Success team for implementation and ongoing support. Dakota Software’s Target Market Dakota Software’s Target Market is very well defined. We find success with organizations that meet the following criteria: Headquartered in the U.S. Annual revenue between $300M & $10B Multiple locations with a larger percentage of locations being in the U.S. Operates in a highly regulated industry: specifically Chemicals, Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, or Auto & Transportation. SDRs should strive to stick within this Target Market when researching to identify new contacts. 5 Research: Identifying Leads/Contacts The first step in the SDR outreach process is to research and identify ideal prospects to begin calling. Prospects may come in the form of marketing assigned leads generated through various campaigns, assigned through an Account Based Marketing (ABM) process, or they may be self sourced by the SDR. Marketing Assigned Prospects that are marketing assigned include those that attended a webinar or trade show, were active on our website (downloaded a white paper, watched a demo video, etc.), or submitted a demo/proposal request. Marketing will assign these prospects within the Leads area of Zoho CRM and notify the SDR of the assignment. SDRs may view a full list of their active leads by going to the ‘My Active Leads' view within the Leads area. Marketing will typically notify SDRs of new assigned leads, but SDRs are also encouraged to check the Leads area of Zoho CRM regularly to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. The majority of prospects assigned within the Leads area of Zoho CRM can be converted to a Contact immediately and worked from the Contact record. The Lead Type field will help to understand if you should convert to a Contact immediately or not. New Action = This is a known Contact and a known Account. You can convert immediately and work to verify the area of interest before scheduling a discovery meeting. New Contact = This is a new Contact at a known Account. You can convert immediately if you are confident the contact has influence in EHS (an EHS related title). Otherwise, you will change the Lead Status to ‘In Progress’ and work this contact from the Leads area until you have verified EHS influence. ○ If you verify they do not have EHS influence, change the Lead Status to ‘Not Qualified’. ○ If you are not able to reach the contact after several attempts, change the Lead Status to ‘Stalled’. New Account = This is a new Contact and a new Account. You can convert immediately if you are confident the contact has influence in EHS (an EHS related title) and the account is within our Target Market. Otherwise, you will change the Lead Status to ‘In Progress’ and work this contact from the Leads area until you have verified EHS influence and that the account is within our Target Market or has a legit need for our solutions. ○ If you verify they do not have EHS influence and are not within our Target Market or have a legit need for our solutions, ,change the Lead Status to ‘Not Qualified’. ○ If you are not able to reach the contact after several attempts and therefore cannot verify influence, Target Market, or need, change the Lead Status to ‘Stalled’. Since Engage is used to streamline all of our top of funnel outreach efforts, all converted contacts with future outreach requirements should be moved into Engage immediately. The easiest way to do this is to use the ZoomInfo Reachout browser extension to easily find the contact in ZoomInfo, and transfer or start a Salesflow in Engage. The expectation with Demo/Proposal Request leads is that they are called within 5 minutes of the initial notification from Marketing. This initial notification from Marketing is typically a forwarded email with the lead information and a heads up that they are updating the lead record in Zoho. SDRs should ‘reply all’ to this email with an “On it!” type message so that Marketing knows you are following up. Trade Show & Webinar leads will be assigned with priority levels of High, Medium, and Low. High priority leads should be contacted immediately. Medium priority should be 6  contacted as soon as possible but at least within a few days. Low priority should be contacted within a week or two. Lead Sources such as Website Download, Demo Video View, Regulatory Alert Sign-Up, etc. should be converted and contacted within a few days of receipt. Account Based Marketing Marketing and sales leadership have designed an Account Based Marketing (ABM) process that is designed to target ideal customers with a three phase “sprint” campaign lasting 42 days. Each sprint uses LinkedIn advertising to build awareness to all EHS contacts, nurture emails to EHS influencers to build consensus, and personalized messaging to EHS decision makers with the goal of scheduling a discovery meeting. A new sprint begins every 2 weeks. Each sprint includes ~50 companies and ~120 EHS decision makers. Signals such as intent, website visits, new leadership, open EHS positions, and recent violations are used to identify target organizations within each sprint. SDRs will be assigned specific decision maker contacts within each sprint and will be tasked with reaching out to each contact via personalized email, linkedin, and phone calls. Contacts will be assigned directly within Engage via the “ABM Decision Maker” Salesflow, which will add an initial research task assigned to the SDR. The research task should prompt the SDR to view Zoho, LinkedIn, and company websites in order to craft a personalized message to the assigned contact. Once the research task is completed, additional follow up tasks within the Salesflow will commence. Self Sourced Prospects that are self sourced may come from researching existing accounts, contacts, referrals, and lead lists in Zoho, filtered searches using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or filtered searches using ZoomInfo. Tips for using Zoho to identify new contacts to call ○ In the Accounts area, filter on Current Customers and identify contacts who have a “Moved” designation under Contact Type. Research where the contact has moved on to, reference Rules of Engagement, and contact away. ○ Filter on Prior Customers to find Accounts who may need reengaging. Make sure to research past notes to understand why they moved on from Dakota and who the main contacts were at the time. 7  ○ Filter on “Lost” and “Closed/No Decision” opportunities and consider reengaging with the primary contacts at those accounts to see if anything has changed. ○ Use the “Dormant Companies” Account list to find non-customer accounts that have not been touched in 180 days or longer. ○ Use the “Cold Call Pool” Lead list to find leads that were created over 60 days ago, were never converted, and haven’t been touched for over 30 days. Tips for using LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify new contacts to call ○ Use a Leads Filter to search for contacts based on criteria that matches our Target Market such as company size, location, role, and even buyer intent. Someone who has posted at least once on LinkedIn in the past three months is 45% more likely to accept your InMail. Use the “Posted on LinkedIn in the past 30 days” filter to identify people who are more active on the platform and, therefore, more likely to accept your InMail. ○ Save searches to come back to them periodically and to receive alert emails with new results for each of your saved searches. ○ Create Personas to easily identify ideal contacts when looking at Accounts ○ Save target Accounts and Leads to track their updates and movement. You will be alerted when saved Leads post on LInkedIn. If you can, thoughtfully respond to their posts. This exponentially improves your chances of building a relationship with them. Tips for using ZoomInfo to identify new contacts to call ○ Use Advanced Search to search for contacts based on criteria that matches our Target Market such as company size, location, title, management level, etc. Useful Examples: Job Title & Role = EHS, HSE, Environmental Exclude Exported contacts = Exclude my exported contacts New Hire = Show New Hires Only (Limites search to just people hired in the past 9 months. New hires are typically more receptive to the idea of change) Company Industry = Manufacturing, Energy, Utilities & Waste, and Minerals & Mining Employee Count = Min Count 500 Company Revenue = Min amount $250M Company Tag = Exclude Customer Locations = US - States Location of = Contact’s Office AND Company HQ ○ Use Exclusions to remove contacts that are already customers, had been recently contacted, wrong title, etc. ○ Save & Subscribe to come back to the list later and receive alert notifications as new contacts/companies that match your filters are added to ZoomInfo. ○ Always search in Zoho and reference the Rules of Engagement prior to importing new contacts. ○ To avoid the mistake of creating duplicate Contacts and Accounts, you should only export a few contacts to Zoho at a time. 8 Prospecting Rules of Engagement Policy Dakota’s policy on Rules of Engagement aims at increasing the likelihood of momentum within prospective accounts while protecting the efforts of the Client Acquisition team. Use the following decision tree to determine if an account or contact is eligible for prospecting. 1. Is the Account you’d like to reach out to in Zoho? a. Yes – Proceed to step 2 b. No – Add Account to Zoho (assuming the organization meets our target criteria*). Proceed with prospecting efforts. Add Contacts to the Account when they are confirmed to be relevant EHS staff.** 2. Does Account Status = Customer or Member Customer? a. Yes – Do not engage. Talk to the Account Owner if there are special circumstances. b. No – proceed to step 3 3. Is there an active Opportunity (Opportunity stage does not contain Closed)? a. Yes – This is an active Sales Opportunity. Do not engage. If this appears to be a dormant opportunity, please connect with the Opportunity Owner and Director of Sales to discuss how to proceed. b. No – proceed to step 4 4. Is the Contact you’re planning to reach out to in Zoho? a. Yes – Proceed to step 5 b. No - Add Contact to the Account when they are confirmed to be relevant EHS staff.** Proceed with prospecting efforts. 5. Does the Contact record contain a meaningful note*** within the past 60 days or have an Active Task****? a. Yes – Do not engage. Talk to the Note/Task Owner if there are special circumstances. b. No - Proceed with prospecting efforts. * Target criteria differs by industry but it typically means the organization has EHS-related needs and operates in multiple locations. ** Relevant EHS staff can be determined by their position/title, confirmation from a gatekeeper, or from a one-on-one conversation. *** Meaningful notes demonstrate that EHS-related needs were discussed during a one-on-one conversation. **** Active Tasks are Open and not past due by more than 15 days. As a general rule, ‘prospecting’ tasks should not be scheduled beyond 15 days and ‘follow-up’ tasks should not be scheduled beyond 60 days. Best Practices DO… Communicate with your colleagues. If there are opportunities or notes on a certain contact/account from a colleague's past efforts, ask them about it. We are a team and should make every effort to avoid conflict before it may arise. Search for Accounts and Contacts using multiple criteria prior to adding to Zoho (especially for large Accounts or Contacts with high level titles). For Accounts, try searching for the company's website domain. Document all prospecting conversations as Notes on the Contact’s record. Notes specific to the organization itself can be added directly to the Account record (ex: acquisitions, fines, penalties, etc.). 9  Make yourself the Contact Owner before conducting outreach. This includes Phone, LinkedIn Inmail, Email, and Automated Drip Campaigns (see Using Drip Campaigns below) Have an open Task at all times on all Contacts you are pursuing, including those in the “Warming - General” Drip Campaign. Expectation is to mix calls in with the drip emails. Using the Recommended Outreach Cadence found below is preferred. DO NOT… Schedule follow up Tasks beyond 60 days. Prospecting Tasks should generally not be scheduled beyond 15 days (see Recommended Outreach Cadence below). If there is a reason to schedule beyond 60 days (budget cycle, existing contract expiration, etc.), include a note explaining the future plan to reconnect. Change ownership of a Contact if they have an active Task or are associated with an active Opportunity. Using Engage Engage is a sales engagement platform within ZoomInfo that is used to enhance our top of funnel outreach processes using email templates, automated sequences (salesflows), and a built-in dialer. Since ZohoCRM is still our system of record for all prospect interactions, it is critical that the Rules of Engagement referenced above are still followed. It is also critical that you document in ZohoCRM your intent to reach out to each individual prospect. This is typically done with a quick note on the Contact record saying you are beginning outreach in Engage. Once you have decided to begin outreach in Engage, the easiest way to add the contact is to use the ZoomInfo Chrome Extension to add the contact directly to an Engage Salesflow directly from the Contact record in ZohoCRM. A Salesflow is a collection of one or more Phone Call, Auto Email, Manual Email, and Other type steps that are automatically created in sequence as each step is completed. Contacts can be automatically removed from Salesflows upon email replies or completed phone calls with certain results or sentiment documented. Once a contact is added to a Salesflow, Auto Email steps will be completed for you at the appropriate time. All other steps will be scheduled as tasks that can be found and completed from the Tasks area in Engage. Existing Salesflows of Note SDRs are free to create their own email templates and Salesflows in Engage. However, there are several useful Salesflows readily available that can be used in various circumstances. 1. P1-P6 Standard Cold Call/Email/LinkedIn Salesflow a. To be used when contacting a prospect cold without any specific driver for reaching out. This Salesflow includes a solid mix of general emails introducing Dakota Software’s solutions. 2. Cold Compliance Salesflow 10  a. An alternative to the P1-P6 Salesflow to be used when contacting a prospect cold. This Salesflow emphasises compliance over all other areas of EHS. 3. Recently Promoted Cold Call/Email/LinkedIn Salesflow a. To be used when you have identified a prospect that has been promoted (new title within the same company) within the last few months. 4. New to Company Cold Call/Email/LinkedIn Salesflow a. To be used when you have identified a prospect that has been hired at their company within the last few months. 5. Open EHS Position Cold Call/Email/LinkedIn Salesflow a. To be used when you have identified a company that is looking to hire a new EHS person. This Salesflow is ideal for an EHS decision maker (Director EHS, VP EHS) or a role that EHS reports into (ie VP, Operations). 6. Prior User Salesflow a. To be used when you have identified a contact that has used Dakota Software with another company but is now at a new company. 7. Universities & Colleges Inspections Salesflow a. To be used when targeting colleges and universities. 8. Generic MQL Follow-up Salesflow a. To be used to guide your outreach when following up to Marketing Qualified Leads. It begins with a phone call and manual email step. The manual email should be a specific template or custom message related to the source of the lead (ebook, webinar, demo video view, etc.). All additional email steps in this Salesflow are automated. 9. Bump Auto Email Salesflow a. A Salesflow made entirely of auto emails with an increasing number of days between each email. Used as a way to ‘bump’ a prospect you want to stay in front of. LinkedIn InMail, Connection Request, and Message Templates Messages on LinkedIn should be short, personal, and include a call to action that gauges the prospects interest rather than asking for a meeting. InMail Option 1: Use this when you identify a prospect that recently moved to a new company Subject: New to {Company} Congrats on the recent move to {Company Name}! When EHS leaders land at new companies, they usually look to identify compliance assurance gaps. Is this something you will be focusing on over the next 6 to 12 months? InMail Option 2: Use this when you identify a prospect that was recently promoted Subject: Recent Promotion Congrats on the recent promotion to {Title}! I've noticed most recently promoted EHS leaders are prioritizing continuous improvement and innovation to make an immediate impact at their organization. 11 Does this sound similar to what you have planned? InMail Option 3: Use this when you identify a prospect at an organization that was recently fined Subject: Notice of Violation I'm not pointing any fingers, but I did notice {Company Name} had a recent Notice of Violation from {the EPA / OSHA} Usually companies respond to these types of violations by taking steps to prevent future violations through enhanced compliance management processes and technology. Does that sound similar to what you have planned? InMail Option 4: Use this when the above options aren’t applicable Subject: TurboTax for EHS Professionals I came across your profile and I think our approach to EHS compliance assurance might work for your business. Our question based decision tree has been described as TurboTax for EHS professionals… providing visibility, insight, and guidance where and when it's needed. Is EHS compliance assurance something you are responsible for at {Company Name}? Connection Note: Hi {Name}, I help {prospect’s title} enhance EHS compliance. We have worked with other companies in your industry and I’d like to add you to my network on LinkedIn in case I may be of some assistance to you in the future. Message 1: Thanks for adding me to your network! EHS professionals use our integrated regulatory content to identify applicable requirements, plan compliance activities, audit, and track regulatory changes. Would you like me to send you a link to sign up for a free regulatory alert service? Message 2: I just wanted to gauge interest in my note above, {first name}. With our streamlined compliance assurance solutions, our clients have seen an average reduction in regulatory fines of over 75% compared to the years prior to implementing Dakota Software. Would it be okay to send you more information? Voicemail Scripts VM 1 Hi, {Name} this is {Your Name} with Dakota Software. Sorry I missed you. I’ll send over an email right now with the subject line {Email Subject Line} – would love your thoughts. Feel free to call me back at {Your Number}. I’ll also try you again later this week or next. 12  Again, this is {Your Name} with Dakota Software. Thanks {Name}. VM 1 B “Don’t worry about calling me back, [name]. I will send you a short email with what this is all about. It will be coming from [your name and your company].” VM 2 Hi, {Name}! It’s {your name} from Dakota Software. I sent you an email or two with some information I think you’ll find valuable. Mind letting me know if my calls and emails got to the right person when you get a chance? I was pretty sure that’s you, but just making certain. My number is {your phone number}, or feel free to respond to the email. Thanks! Text (SMS) Messaging Dakota Software has a registered SMS Campaign via Zoom Phone. This means we can use our individual Zoom Phone licenses to text clients and prospects. However, we must only text clients and prospects that we have an existing relationship with. SDRs should never send out cold text messages to random prospects. It is a best practice to ask prospects for their preferred method of communication and to ask if it is okay to send text message reminders before discovery meetings. If the prospect agrees, please add this information to your notes in Zoho so that the Opportunity Owner will be aware of the verbal “opt in” to receiving text messages. Phone Call Checklist The goals of a phone call is to: Build rapport and develop trust Understand the prospect’s pain points Identify key decision makers and decision processes Secure a Discovery Meeting or other progression Start the conversation ❑ Hello, [PROSPECT’S NAME]? It’s [YOUR NAME] calling from Dakota Software. I know you’re not expecting my call, so I promise to keep it very Introduce yourself and why you’re calling. Practice emotional intelligence. brief! (Pause to gauge reaction. If receptive) ❑ Cold Call Openers: If the prospect seems uninterested, ask if o I’m reaching out regarding EHS management. We help drive EHS you can send some information (get email compliance, improve EHS performance, and gain actionable if not in CRM) or ask if there is someone insight. Is that relevant to you? else to talk to. o As a(n) {Title}, I imagine you’re constantly looking for ways to streamline compliance and enhance safety performance across your facilities. Is that correct? ❑ Warm Call Openers: I’m calling because you downloaded/attended a [Report, Webinar, Trade Show, etc] and I assume you are interested in this topic. Do you have a few minutes to discuss? 13 The Pitch ❑ (Receptive?) Have you heard of Dakota Software before? If they haven’t heard of us, use it as a way Compliance Elevator speech – Dakota offers a full suite of EHS management to introduce our positioning statements / tools. What makes our compliance solutions unique is the inclusion of Value proposition. If they have used us in integrated EHS regulatory content. This ensures that you are always following the past or know of us for audit only, tell the latest standards when it comes to audits and compliance calendars. them how we now offer a full suite of EHS management tools available on desktop Safety Elevator speech – Dakota offers a full suite of EHS management tools. and mobile devices. What makes our safety solutions unique is the ability for anyone to report incidents, near misses, and observations, and for managers to analyze safety performance using interactive graphs and dashboards. The ‘on-the-fly’ nature of these tools help users identify trends and pinpoint operational risks. I’ve been speaking with several EHS leaders, and a common challenge they Poke holes face is managing the vast amount of regulatory information and ensuring Try to get them to acknowledge it translates into effective compliance programs. Does this challenge shortcomings of their current processes resonate with you? (Wait for response) How are you currently keeping up with a few leading questions. with regulatory changes and tracking compliance status? Typically, when I speak with [Title] they tell me they’re focused on one of two things… reducing risk of non-compliance and serious incidents OR improving antiquated data collection and reporting processes. Which of those is a bigger focus for you right now? I speak with many EHS professionals and they’re typically challenged with: ○ Uncertainty around applicable regulatory obligations and ongoing change. ○ Executing compliance activities in a timely manner, and ○ Analyzing compliance performance across the organization How are you dealing with these things? Can I ask what systems you’re currently using to manage [EHS compliance, safety performance, environmental programs, etc.]? What goals do you have in these areas? What critical concerns do you have in these areas? Excel, Access, Home-grown ❑ How do you determine which rules/regulations apply to your site(s)? ❑ How do you analyze performance across your organization / Ensure tasks are completed on time? Commercial Systems ❑ How do you keep your system up to date with relevant regulatory requirements? ❑ Does the system give you tools for analyzing compliance and EHS performance? ❑ What don’t you like about your current system? Is there something you wish it did better? Audit - What systems do you currently have in place for conducting EHS Get them to open up audits? Ask role-specific questions based on their ❑ How do you verify compliance with EPA and OSHA requirements? title or pain points. Have a conversation, ❑ Where do you get your audit questions and protocols? not an interrogation. Once they are talking, ask open-ended questions to get a better ❑ How do you track audit findings to closure? sense of their wants and needs. Safety - Do you have a system for tracking incidents, accidents, and near misses? ❑ How do your employees currently report incidents and Near misses? ❑ What tools do you use to analyze safety performance? 14  ❑ How easy is it to generate OSHA logs and other reports? Management Systems – Are you ISO 14000 (env), ISO 45000 (safety), RCMS (chem) certified? Seeking? ❑ How do you document procedures and plan activities? ❑ Do you have a process for understanding regulatory obligations and verifying compliance? ❑ How do you verify that the proper actions are being taken? 1. Prospect is neutral: The Close How do you feel about setting up an initial discussion about this with someone Not every call needs to end with an more experienced than me? appointment, often it takes many touches. 2. Prospect is uncertain: If the prospect is receptive though, don’t If we can genuinely help with (topic being discussed), how would you feel hesitate to ask for a short meeting. about having an initial discussion about this over a Zoom Meeting? 3. Prospect is cooperative: Don’t call it a demo! Call it an overview We should talk a bit further about this. How do I get on your calendar? session where we can learn more about 4. Prospect is enthusiastic & interested: them and they can learn more about us. We should set up a meeting to review this in more detail. What does your schedule look like next week? 1. Main Challenges / Areas of Interest? Information Gathering Once they have agreed to a meeting, gather ❑ What would you say are your greatest EHS challenges/risks? information that will help the Account ❑ What would make your life easier on a day to day basis? Executive prepare appropriately. You don’t ❑ What sort of metrics/KPI’s do you currently use/track? need to ask every question, but a qualified appointment will have some information 2. Current Systems or Processes? for 1, 2, and 3. ❑ What systems are you currently using? Have you looked at a commercial system in the past? ❑ How many people are involved with the EHS process within the company? 3. Scope of operations and prospects authority? ❑ How many facilities does your organization have? How many do you oversee? ❑ How many employees? ❑ Is your EHS structure centralized or decentralized (corporate oversight or independent by site)? ❑ Do you have any international locations/operations? Not a decision maker - “Actually, that’s why I called. I’ve researched your Common Objections & company and thought you might benefit from what we offer but I’m not Recommended Responses sure who to talk with about this. Any recommendation on who to reach out to?” OR (in a sarcastic tone) “Ohh so you’re the one running the show over there but they don’t even let you make the decisions?” Happy with Status Quo – “I realize software is not necessary for EHS excellence. What software can do for you is improve efficiency, increase visibility, and ensure accountability. All of these things will reduce the likelihood of non-conformances and improve operational performance.” No Budget – “Actually, that’s why I called. Figured you wouldn’t have a budget right now, but hoped to share how we’re helping similar companies 15  achieve a 75% reduction in penalties while increasing productivity up to 500%. This way when you are ready with the budget, you know what’s out there.” OR ”it doesn’t hurt to plan for the future. Do you have some time to chat now? Then we can see if it even makes sense for us to reach back out in the future when your budget situation changes?” “Not Interested” - “When you say you’re not interested, is that because you believe that things can’t be done any better than you do them currently, or is it because you get like 1,000 cold calls a day and you just want to get rid of me?” OR “What are you not interested in? Can you please fill me in?” The Hang Up - Quickly call back and try, “Hey, it seems we got disconnected.” “I’m Busy” - ”I’m with you, [name], and if you’re like any of my other customers in [industry], you’re probably always busy. Would it be fair to ask for 20 seconds to explain what this is about? If we find it irrelevant, then I will make sure I don’t disturb you again?” “I’m about to start a meeting” - “I know I caught you cold here, do you mind if I level with you real quick and ask just a few questions to see if it’s worth following up after your meeting?” “Send Me an Email” - “I can absolutely do that, but before I do, I’d hate to clog your inbox with something totally irrelevant. Would it be fair to take 30 seconds now to see if this is something that’s relevant to you? If it’s not, I can skip the email and any other follow-up as well.” OR “Actually, that’s why I called. Figured sending an email would create more questions than answers and thought you may be curious how similar companies are achieving a 75% reduction in penalties while increasing productivity up to 500%.” “Just Give Me the Price” - “Typically, customers of your size sign on for $20,000 to $100,000+ annually. Is that in line with what you were thinking? Would you be willing to chat some more so we can give you a more specific number?” “We’re already using [competitor]” - “Actually, that’s why I called. [similar company] was using [competitor] and liked that we could offer an evergreen legal register using our integrated regulatory content.” “We are not currently in the market for this” - “I absolutely anticipated that. If you were looking, you would have been the one calling me! Would you mind me asking a few questions about what you currently have and what goals are in place right now? You never now if we might uncover an opportunity to improve you didn't even know existed” EHS Audit – Yes! Nobody does it better. We have the best known EHS Core Offerings audit tool in the industry. EHS Regulatory Tracking - Yes! A regulatory library is central to our compliance solutions. Compliance Calendars – Yes! Our regulatory library provides guidance and ensures tasks are current. Corrective & Preventive Action Tracking (CAPAs) – Yes! Centralized visibility & accountability. Incident / Near Miss Tracking – Yes! Desktop and mobile tools for capturing, analyzing, and reporting. 16  Inspections - Inspections is our newest application. It allows you to Additional Offerings standardize your inspection templates, easily assign inspections, track progress, and understand issues. Management Systems – Yes! Full text of widely-accepted standards and checklist questions for ISO 14000, ISO 45000, Responsible Care Management System (RCMS), and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions. ESG data management and sustainability reporting – Yes! Tools for capturing, calculating, and reporting on emissions data and other environmental, social, and corporate governance metrics Training Management – Yes, we do have a Learning Management System (LMS) and over 170 training management courses. Mobile – Yes, mobile-optimized interface dedicated to activities typically Other Popular Topics performed in the field, such as conducting audits, reporting incidents, and completing tasks. Business Intelligence (BI) – Beyond standard dashboards and reports, our patented BI tools provide a simple and intuitive way to analyze trends, evaluate hazards, and pinpoint operational risks. SDR Discovery Appointments Appointment follow up is critical to the success of Dakota’s lead generation efforts. As such, in order to ensure that lead gen opportunities are maximized, the following procedures should be followed for all SDR generated Discovery Appointments: By the SDR at time Discovery Appointment is set ○ Identify the AE/CSM/CGM (Opportunity Owner) that the discovery meeting will be assigned to. Assignment to an Opportunity Owner should be round robin. SDRs may skip the round robin order when the prospect is located near the home of the Opportunity Owner, the Opportunity Owner has planned travel near the prospect, the prospect is demanding a date/time when the Opportunity Owner is not available, or by other directives from management. ○ Confirm timezone, email address, phone number, mobile number, and if anyone else should be included in the meeting. ○ Send Event calendar invitations to the Contact(s) and the Opportunity Owner via Google Calendar. Event title should be “Company Name - Dakota Software : Discovery Meeting” Event location should include the personal meeting link for the Opportunity Owner receiving the meeting. Nick Emnett: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/my/nemnett Jack Langer: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/my/jlanger Doug Parker: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/j/4262439125 Falecia Frederick: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/j/6995642117 Jessica Wilkus: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/j/2668637794 Kerilyn George: https://dakotasoft.zoom.us/j/4975226107 Event description should include a personalized message from the SDR and reference the time, day, topic and Opportunity Owner who will be attending. To reduce the likelihood of a “No Show” it is recommended that you adjust the Notification settings in the calendar invite to be 10 minutes before, 4 hours before, and 1 day before the event. 17  ○ After sending the Google Calendar event, edit the same event and change the Opportunity Owner to the event owner. This ensures proper assignment of the event recording in Chorus (our conversation intelligence platform). To do this, click Edit > More actions > Change owner > Select Opportunity Owner > Change owner ○ Add the Event in Zoho CRM by adding a new event directly to the Contact record. Add a new Event directly to the Contact record Under Open Activities, click Add New > Meeting Copy meeting title from Google Calendar title Change “From” to the Date & Time the meeting will be held Change “Host” to Opportunity Owner Change “Meeting Type” to Discovery Click “Add more details” and change “Source” to the appropriate source (for “Source” description, please reference the below Steps to Properly Identify Source or the Zoho Drop-Down Value Guide) ○ Add Notes and build out the Account information Under the Contact record, add notes from the conversation, relevant company information, and any other information that will help the Opportunity Owner prepare for the meeting. The recording should appear in Chorus within one (1) hour. It is a best practice to locate the recording and add a link to the Chorus recording in your note on the Contact record. To help maintain accurate demographic information, add/edit the following fields in the Account that the Discovery Appointment is associated with (per Zoom Info): Website, Parent Account, Ownership, Employees, SIC Code, Annual Revenue, Industry, and Billing Address (of US HQ), Description, plus any other fields you feel are helpful. By the SDR on the day of the Discovery Appointment ○ If the Appointment has not been canceled Send a meeting reminder to the Prospect the morning of the meeting (CC the Opportunity Owner) if you haven’t already sent a reminder prior. At the conclusion of the meeting, send an email reminder to the Opportunity Owner with a URL link to the Event in Zoho asking the Opportunity Owner to Verify the Appointment, add Notes to the Contact record, and create a new Opportunity if and when appropriate. Zoho is set up to automatically send this reminder to the Opportunity Owner with the SDR copied. You may choose to ignore this step in favor of the auto reminder or forward the auto reminder sometime later as another reminder if the Opportunity Owner still hasn’t verified the appointment. ○ If the meeting is rescheduled prior to the scheduled time Update the original Zoho Event with the new Date/Time. ○ If the meeting is canceled prior to the scheduled time Change the “(SDR) Appointment Verified” field to “Canceled/Rescheduling” and set your followup task accordingly. Keep the ‘canceled/rescheduling’ Discovery Appt Event in Zoho and start the process over. ○ If the prospect is a ‘no show’ 18  The Opportunity Owner will change the “(SDR) Appointment Verified” field to Prospect ‘No Show’ and notify the SDR of the ‘no show’. Keep the ‘no show’ Discovery Appt Event in Zoho and start the process over so as to keep a record of past ‘no shows’ and give the SDR ownership of the new Event. Steps to Properly Identify Source It is important to properly identify the source of Discovery Appointments in order to calculate return on investment of various lead generation activities, technologies, and processes. Calculating return on investment of these areas will aid Dakota Software in determining future investment priorities. The majority of source designations should be cut and dry based on the below sources and source descriptions. However, there are certain gray area scenarios we must account for. Gray areas accounted for are listed below the following table. Any additional gray area scenarios that come up should be brought to the attention of the Sales Operations Manager. Priority Source Description A prospect who is identified through Dakota’s account 1 Account Based Marketing (ABM) based marketing campaign. When a demo or proposal request is submitted by a prospect/client via our website. Or when we receive an 2 Demo or Proposal Request inbound phone call from a client/prospect. A client/prospect who we found or recently chatted with 3 Trade Show at a trade show or conference. A client or prospect who signed up for or attended a 4 Webinar Dakota webinar. A prospect who is identified by a third party we've partnered with to provide us with leads based on an asset 5 Pay-Per-Lead we've sponsored. A client/prospect who utilizes the chat function on our 6 Website Chat website to proactively chat with us. When a client/prospect downloads a piece of information from our website, such as an ebook, case study, demo 7 Website Download videos, solution overview, etc... A client/prospect who subscribes to Dakota's Regulatory 8 Regulatory Alerts Sign-Up Alerts emails A client/prospect who subscribes to Dakota's EHS Voice 9 EHS Voice Sign-Up newsletter A client/prospect who is identified or comes to us by clicking on one of our paid advertisements or a person 10 Advertisement or Social interaction who 'likes' a social media post. 19  A client, consultant, partner, or prospect introduces us or 11 Referral provides us with another contact to reach out to. 12 LinkedIn - Sales Navigator Any client/prospect found via LinkedIn 13 ZoomInfo A prospect found via ZoomInfo.com 14 Pendo A client who is identified via the use of Pendo. A client who is identified via submission of a support 15 Zoho Desk ticket. A client/prospect who is already known within the CRM and hasn’t been associated with any recent campaign sources. Use this source if it has been greater than 60 days since the contact was associated with any marketing 16 Existing Zoho Contact efforts. Gray Area Scenarios 1. If the contact has been assigned by Marketing from multiple lead sources within 60 days prior to scheduling the Discovery Appointment, use the lead source of highest priority ranking (see table above). For example, if the prospect attended a webinar, signed up for the EHS Voice, and downloaded an ebook from our website all within the past 60 days, the SDR would mark Source as “Webinar”. 2. If a Demo or Proposal Request comes through from a prospect who an SDR had traceable outreach to (conversation notes, closed tasks, completed calls, etc.) within the last 60 days, the SDR would mark Source based on the start of the SDRs outreach. For example, if the SDR sourced the contact from ZoomInfo and completed several calls/emails over the course of two weeks leading up to a Demo Request, the SDR would mark Source as “ZoomInfo”. 3. If a Trade Show lead comes back with notes describing the need to reach out to a different person at the company, and the SDR reaches out directly to that different person to schedule the Discovery Appointment, the SDR would mark the Source as “Referral”. Additional Tips to Reduce “No Shows” to Discovery Meetings A “No Show” is when the prospect doesn’t show up to the Discovery Meeting and fails to reach out to us beforehand to reschedule or cancel it. No Shows happen and are mostly out of our control. However, there are some specific things we can do to decrease the likelihood of a No Show taking place. 1. Focus your prospecting efforts on higher quality leads. Lower level contacts such as specialists and generalists are more likely to commit to a meeting while on the phone and then proceed to not show up. 2. Qualify the lead as much as possible before setting up the meeting. Do your best to verify that this person is truly interested in taking the meeting and has a bonafide reason to continue speaking with us. 3. Use your Sales Methodology skills to fully understand goals or dissatisfactions that sparked their interest in taking the meeting with us, and summarize those goals or dissatisfactions before booking the meeting. 20  4. Make sure you have the prospect’s mobile number and then ask them if it’s okay to send a text reminder the day of the meeting. If they agree, set a reminder for yourself to text them the morning of the meeting with a reminder and request for confirmation. 5. Adjust the Notification settings in the calendar invite to be 10 minutes before, 4 hours before, and 1 day before the event. 6. If the prospect doesn’t accept the invitation within 24 hours of sending the invite, try calling them to ask if they received it. If they don’t answer, leave a voicemail and send an email. 7. Send a personalized email 2-3 days before (depending on how far out the meeting was booked) with a summary of the conversation that led to the meeting and an invitation for the prospect to respond with any specific goals they will have for the meeting. Expectations for Lead Generation at Trade Shows Dakota Software invests in trade shows to promote awareness of our solutions and generate actionable sales leads. Sales and marketing team members are occasionally asked to attend these events in order to identify and qualify leads that will be assigned and followed up by members of the sales team based on Sales Territories and our Rules of Engagement. As with all of our lead generation programs, understanding the preceding and subsequent steps in the process is critical for success. For tradeshows, these steps include: 1. Event selection Marketing and Sales leaders select an event where we are likely to connect with EHS contacts from organizations that are a good fit for our solutions. This evaluation is done with consideration for previous results, past attendee titles and attending organizations, the appropriateness of the agenda, and the presence of clients and competitors. 2. Registration and travel Once marketing has registered for the event, event staff will be selected based on availability, experience, and proximity to the event location. Event staff will be notified as soon as they have been selected at which time they should book travel and lodging, typically at the host hotel, in coordination with the booth set up and tear down times (which will be provided by the marketing team). 3. Pre-event activities If a pre attendee list is provided, the sales team should conduct strategic outreach to registrants inviting them to connect with us at the booth or related special events. It is in the SDR’s best interest to prioritize these pre attendee lists because any contact the SDR reaches out to prior to the event will automatically be assigned to said SDR should the contact come back as a lead from the trade show. If a list is not provided, outreach can be done by industry, geography, or past attendance history. Sales should notify event staff of any accepted invites or interest. For event staff, a prep meeting will be scheduled by marketing to review the attendee list, attendee profiles, exhibit area and booth materials, agenda and expo hours, set up and tear down timelines, networking opportunities, and any special promotions. 21  4. During the event Event staff should be at the booth during the scheduled expo times and any period where booth visitors are likely. Reasonable efforts should be made to engage attendees, identify contacts with EHS-related responsibilities and authority, and ask probing questions to uncover their current responsibilities, processes, challenges, and potential areas of interest. These interactions must be documented and related to contact information, using whatever mechanism is available, to support timely and relevant follow up after the event. Examples of good notes below: “John walked up asking about software features right in line with what we offer. Regulatory content, applicability, compliance calendar, audit. Used Enhesa in the past. Would love something more comprehensive. He is a regional manager responsible for 5 sites throughout the US. Said corporate allows them to choose which systems work best for them. Expecting an email to schedule a disco.” “Interested in: Incident management. BBS. Booth conversation: Miles is actively looking for a solution. Has some environmental risk. Operations all in California but they do ship to other states. Sounds like the ability to report incidents along with images is a key driver. Also interested in LMS and environmental compliance.” 5. Post-event follow up Lead information, including contact information and notes will be provided to the marketing team who will organize the information, cross-reference to CRM to avoid duplicate contacts and accounts, and assign to members of the sales team for follow up. High, Medium, and Low priority will be assigned based on identified needs so that sales can prioritize their follow up efforts accordingly. Activity & Effectiveness Tracking + Discovery Compensation Each SDR is asked to track their own Activity & Effectiveness in a provided Google Sheet. This will give each SDR direct visibility into their total touches and conversions, helping to hold themselves accountable and act as a conversation piece with management should activity & effectiveness need to be addressed. An SDR Scorecard is used to track weekly/monthly activity level KPIs for each member of the team. Activity levels are pulled from various sources including Engage, Zoho, Zoom Phone, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Chorus, and Activity & Effectiveness Sheets. These KPIs are used to gauge the effectiveness of each team member’s outreach efforts and discuss best practices as a team. The KPIs currently tracked and the monthly goal for each include: KPI Data Source Monthly Goal Phone Calls Made Zoom 595 Calls per Working Day Formula 35 Connected Phone Calls Chorus 34 22  Dials per Connected Call Formula 18 Connection Rate Formula 5.71% Connected Calls >2 Minutes Chorus 20 >2 Minutes/Connection Rate Formula 50.00% Emails Sent Zoho 595 Emails per Working Day Formula 35 Email Responses Activity Sheet 21 Email Response Rate Formula 3.50% LinkedIn - Profile Views Sales Navigator 230 LinkedIn Messages Activity Sheet 80 Connection Requests Accepted Sales Navigator 20 New Contacts Added to CRM Zoho 120 Unique Contacts Touched Zoho 200 Chorus Engagement Score Chorus 50 Discos Scheduled Zoho 10 Conversation to Disco Conversion Rate Formula 30% Unique Contacts to Disco Conversion Rate Formula 3% Disco No Shows Zoho 1 Verified Discos - Self Sourced Zoho 9 SDRs are eligible for commissions on Discovery Meetings they have set. In order to receive credit, a meeting must be verified as a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) by an Opportunity Owner. Verified meetings will be tracked and available in Zoho. SDRs are encouraged to also track their verified meetings in their Activity & Effectiveness spreadsheets to help identify issues and discrepancies. SalesIQ Expectations SalesIQ is a Zoho product that combines live chat, visitor tracking, and analytics. We primarily use it to allow website visitors to start a live chat with sales or customer support. All SDRs are set up as users of SalesIQ and are expected to be set to "Available" during all working hours. Should a website visitor request to chat with sales, all SDRs will be notified at once and the person that accepts the chat first will be connected with the visitor. The SDR will respond to the visitor’s questions, qualify the visitor as a prospect, and (if qualified) attempt to schedule a discovery meeting for an Opportunity Owner. 23 Cold Call, Email, & LinkedIn Statistics Cold Call 1. Leaving a voicemail on your first call attempt increases pickup rates on subsequent calls by 28.5% 2. On average, it takes up to five outreach attempts for top-performing reps and eight outreach attempts for other reps to initiate a meeting or conversation with a new contact. Increasing call attempts can increase conversion by 70%. 3. Dakota Software call history data says the best blocks to conduct cold calls are a. Wed 8 to 10 - 10.53% answer rate b. Tues 8 to 10 - 9.57% answer rate c. Wed 2 to 4 - 8.44% answer rate d. Thur 8 to 10 - 8.33 % answer rate e. Mon 10 to 12 - 7.83% answer rate f. Tues 10 to 12 - 6.97% answer rate Email 4. 33% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. 5. Subject lines with more than 3 words experience a drop in open rate by over 60% 6. Personalized emails sent during the late morning and late afternoon time frames have better open and click-through rates. 7. Cold emails that have a Call to Action (CTA) gauging the prospect’s interest perform better than CTA’s asking to arrange a meeting. 8. Cold emails with a “P.S.” can see 35% more replies. For a strong P.S., think about including your CTA, an article, a personal observation, an event invite, or a second hypothesis of why you’re reaching out. LinkedIn 9. If you view a person’s LinkedIn profile and then send them an InMail within 30 days, that person is 78% more likely to accept it. The more you view someone’s profile in that 30-day period, the more likely they are to accept your InMail. 10. People who started a new job at a new company within the past 90 days are 62% more likely to accept an InMail, versus everyone else. 11. People who started a new role within the past 90 days – even if it’s at the same company – are 51% more likely to accept an InMail, versus everyone else. SDR Acknowledgment of Expectations & Responsibilities: Signed: _______________________________________________________________ Name: _______________________________________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________________________ Date: _______________________________________________________________ 24