SaaSLeads have got the art and science of sales covered!

Dec 31, 2020

Working with the SaaSLeads Academy can revolutionise your business development. We asked Tomas Kuzmickas from Nylas to tell us more about it.

Tomas Kuzmickas

UK & EU Sales Leader, Nylas.

Tomas Kuzmickas is Sales Leader for UK and EU at Nylas – the platform that connects your application to every email, calendar and contacts provider in the world. At the end of 2020, Tomas worked with the SaaSLeads Academy, enabling two of our students to become expert BDRs by generating qualified leads for Nylas. These two individuals did so well, Tomas hired them to become Nylas’ first BDRs in the UK.

Starting out

Hi Tomas. Thanks for sitting down with us today. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you find out about the SaaSLeads Academy and what made you start working with them?

Hiring BDRs from the job market is a challenge. There’s too much uncertainty. You want young, motivated people, but they don’t have the sales experience we need. 

Of course, you can hire experienced BDRs, but you always worry that they don’t have the right motivation. Maybe they’d rather be an AE? But then again, why aren’t they an AE yet? Perhaps they don’t have the skills?

What SaaSLeads does is eliminate that uncertainty. 

My boss knew Will (Koning, SaaSLeads CEO and Founder) from a previous role. When I spoke to Will, I loved his passion and knowledge. He was someone I wanted to work with.

Art and science

What did you like most about the way SaaSLeads Academy trained up your new BDRs? How closely did you work with them during the internship process?

What I liked best is that they cover off the art and science of sales. The SaaSLeads process helps new BDRs build confidence which is essential in sales. They show them how to be personable and build relationships with prospects. 

On the other side, Will’s knowledge of outbound techniques is vast. At Nylas, we run an omnichannel approach – SaaSLeads understood this and gave our BDRs the appropriate skills.  They’re also great at keeping BDRs motivated and ensuring activity levels are high.

The level of input we had was beneficial too. Our BDR Manager, who is actually based in the States, would work very closely with the reps, catching up at least daily. 

The future

So, you hired the two BDRs from our academy. What skills did they show that made you hire them?

We hired two guys from SaaSLeads, reporting to our BDR Manager in the US – Chris Noble and Esrom Tecle. I’m very happy with how it’s going. We tried to get some diversity of thought in who we hired, rather than go for the same old type of people. So, one has a great hard work ethic; he’s really keen to prove himself. The other is a talented creative thinker; he gets complex concepts quickly. 

As you grow, would you use SaaSLeads again?

It’s definitely something I’d consider. The talent side of SaaSLeads is valuable. They take fresh talent that needs upskilling and they help them get better.

Will Koning

He has worked in some of the UK’s most successful start-ups in the UK over the last 10 years.

He is passionate about Sales and disruptive Technology. In particular, elevating the Sales development industry in the UK to new levels.

Outside of work, Will spends his time split between London and Folkestone in Kent where you’re likely to find him sampling English beers and walking his dog by the sea,

Follow him on LinkedIn here

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