Here's a brutal truth: your SDRs are wasting most of their time.
Not because they're lazy. Because the system is broken.
The average SDR spends their day:
- 40% researching accounts that aren't ready to buy
- 25% writing emails to people who will never respond
- 20% in meetings, training, and admin
- 15% actually talking to potential customers
That last number should be 50%+. Here's how to get there.
The Research Time Sink
"Do your research before reaching out."
Every sales leader says this. It's good advice in theory.
In practice, it creates a productivity death spiral:
- SDR gets a list of 500 accounts
- SDR spends 15 minutes researching each account
- That's 125 hours of research (3+ weeks of work)
- By the time they finish, the early accounts are stale
- Start over with a new list
The problem isn't the research. It's that most accounts on that list will never buy, no matter how good the research is.
Your SDRs are doing PhD-level research on accounts that are 6-18 months away from making a decision.
The Real Problem: List Quality
Traditional lists are built on static criteria:
- Industry
- Company size
- Revenue
- Location
- Technology used
These filters identify companies that could buy your product. Not companies that will buy your product.
The difference? Timing.
A 200-person SaaS company using Salesforce might be a perfect ICP fit. But if they just signed a 3-year contract with your competitor, they're not buying anything.
Meanwhile, a 150-person company that just raised funding, hired a new CRO, and posted 3 SDR roles? They're buying something in the next 90 days. Maybe your product.
The Signal-First Approach
Instead of giving SDRs a list of "ICP-fit" companies, give them a list of companies with active buying signals.
This flips the model:
Old way:
- Start with demographics (50,000 companies)
- Filter by ICP (5,000 companies)
- Research to find buying signals (painful, manual)
- Contact the ones that seem ready (~500 companies)
New way:
- Start with buying signals (~500 companies)
- Filter by ICP (~200 companies)
- Research is already done (signals = context)
- Contact all of them with signal-based messaging
Same number of contacts. 90% less research time.
What "Buying Signals" Actually Means
A buying signal is any event or change that indicates a company is more likely to buy right now.
High-intent signals:
- New executive in your target department
- Funding event (especially Series A-C)
- Rapid hiring in target department
- Removing a competitor's product
- Job posts mentioning your category
Medium-intent signals:
- Company growth announcements
- New office or market expansion
- Product launches
- Tech stack changes
Context signals:
- Industry events
- Regulatory changes
- Earnings call mentions
- Competitive pressure
The more signals you can combine, the higher the probability of a response.
The Productivity Math
Let's compare two SDRs with the same quota.
SDR A: Traditional approach
- 500 accounts in territory
- 15 min research per account = 125 hours
- 2% reply rate on outreach
- 10 replies → 3 meetings per week
SDR B: Signal-first approach
- 50 accounts with buying signals
- 5 min research per account = 4 hours
- 12% reply rate on outreach
- 6 replies → 3 meetings per week
Same meetings. 120 hours saved.
Those 120 hours become:
- More outreach volume
- Better follow-up
- More phone calls
- Actually hitting quota
Implementing Signal-First Workflows
Step 1: Define Your Buying Signals
Work with your team to identify:
- What events indicate a company needs your product?
- What changes create urgency?
- What situations make your solution a priority?
Be specific. "Growth" isn't a signal. "Posted 5+ roles in sales in the last 30 days" is a signal.
Step 2: Build Signal Detection
Options:
- Manual: Google Alerts, LinkedIn monitoring, job board checks
- Semi-automated: Combine multiple data sources in spreadsheets
- Automated: Use a platform like HighTempo that detects and delivers signals
Manual works for small teams but doesn't scale past 2-3 SDRs.
Step 3: Create Signal-Based Sequences
Build outreach templates for each signal type:
- Funding sequence
- New executive sequence
- Hiring surge sequence
- Tech change sequence
Each template references the specific signal. No generic "checking in" emails.
Step 4: Measure Signal ROI
Track by signal type:
- Reply rates
- Meeting conversion
- Pipeline generated
- Win rates
You'll quickly see which signals predict revenue and which are noise.
The Management Shift
This approach requires a mindset change for sales leaders.
Old metrics:
- Activities (calls, emails sent)
- Accounts touched
- "Coverage" of territory
New metrics:
- Signal-verified accounts contacted
- Reply rate by signal type
- Time from signal to first touch
- Pipeline from signal-sourced accounts
You're measuring effectiveness, not effort.
Quick Wins to Start
If you can't overhaul your entire process, start here:
-
Funding alerts: Set up alerts for funding in your target industries. These accounts get priority.
-
New hire monitoring: Track when target companies post VP/Director roles in your buyer's department.
-
Competitor tracking: Monitor job posts mentioning competitor products. These companies are actively evaluating.
-
Weekly signal review: Spend 1 hour Monday morning finding 10 accounts with fresh signals. These are your priority outreach for the week.
Even these small changes can double reply rates within a month.
The Bottom Line
Your SDRs aren't unproductive. They're productive on the wrong things.
Give them better targets—accounts with active buying signals—and watch their results transform.
Stop measuring activity. Start measuring signal-to-meeting conversion.
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