Graduate Case Study – Jasmine Briggs – BDR at Jiminny

Jasmine Briggs is a recent graduate from the SaaSLeads Academy about to begin her sales career at Jiminny. We sat down with Jasmine to talk about what life was like at the Academy.

 

Starting out

Hi Jasmine. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first find out about the SaaSLeads Academy.

I was working in another job that wasn’t really progressing – booking theory tests. Brian got in touch with me on LinkedIn and asked me to check out the Academy. I don’t know how he found me – and I didn’t know that SDRs existed! But, it looked like it would be a good experience where I’d actually get to learn something while I worked. I thought I’d give it a go.

How would you describe the Academy to someone thinking about signing up?

I went through a lot of ups and downs at the Academy, but if you stick with it, you have the chance to build your skills and get somewhere afterwards. I’m about to start a job that I would never have been able to get otherwise. I know how to be an SDR now and the qualities that you need to have.

 

Skills

What was the most useful skill you developed at the SaaSLeads Academy?

Probably being able to make a cold call. It’s nothing like any call I’ve made before. I thought it would be like someone selling PPI and they’d not want to be there. I realised that it’s a bit more than that, that you’re actually trying to help them. I never would have thought I’d be emailing videos either.

What about personal development – skills outside work?

When we’re finally allowed to go out and do things, I’m looking forward to being able to network in person. I now have the tools to research anyone in two minutes. It will be great to go to an event and know everything about people in the room.

I also discovered the community of SDRs on LinkedIn. SDRs of London. It’s a great group, so helpful and positive. 

 

Best bits

What were your favourite parts of the Academy?

One of the best things was the guest lectures. It was great to meet some proper experts in the field. They had some big names, especially Larry Long Jr.

Another good part was getting together with everyone else and listening to each other’s calls. It’s really helpful because you can analyse and get input from five other people.

Lastly, meeting the other graduates. We all had such different backgrounds and we’d never have met otherwise. 

You must have some funny stories?

Definitely. They called me James for about a week as it said my Dad’s name on my Zoom screen. 

There were also the difficult calls; getting told to eff off – and when I sent out a personalised email and got a response back saying ‘please unsubscribe me’! 

Luckily, I could share it with the other people at the Academy and we could laugh about it. It really helped.

Finally, can you sum up your SaaSLeads Academy experience in three words?

Challenging. Networking. Personal growth. Sorry, that’s four words!