We’ve all experienced poor buying experiences. Waiting on the phone for hours with customer service, listening to that awful holding music. Maybe going to a store but no one is around to help you.
It’s the worst. And you probably won’t go back to that store. You might even complain on Twitter.
If you’re a B2B buyer, you’re likely used to these experiences. Like going through a form only to get contacted 48 hours later, after you’ve moved on to something else. Or getting treated like a lead and being pushed through a funnel. When this happens, you don’t have any control over the process, and it feels impersonal. It’s frustrating.
As an Enterprise Account Executive (AE) at Drift, I work every day to break that cycle and provide the best buying experience possible. My number one job is to be a trusted advisor and help buyers find solutions to address their pain. I’m their guide throughout the entire buying journey.
I do this daily using Conversational Sales best practices and by eating our own dog food (as they say) — using Drift.
It’s hard to pin down an average “day in my life” because every buyer has different goals, needs, and ways of consuming information. What stays constant is my efforts to build deeper relationships in a more human, authentic, and personal way.
I’ll show you what that looks like in my day-to-day routine.
The Morning
It wouldn’t be a true day in my life unless I talked about my dog, Benni. I start every morning with a walk with her.
I promise I’ll get to the work stuff in a second but I mean, come on — look at this face.
One of the first things I do once I’m home is open up my laptop and check to see if there was any target account activity while I was offline.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m lucky that we get to eat our own dog food, and the best perk is the Drift bot.
Even though I need sleep, the bot never does. Drift’s AI-powered chatbots that are online 24/7. They are equipped to answer any questions my target accounts may have and are also integrated with my calendar. So if a target wants to book time with me, they can schedule something right then and there.
Next, I’ll typically meet with my Business Development Representative (BDR). As an Enterprise AE at Drift, I work alongside a BDR to help break into businesses. I’m also responsible for a portion of my own prospecting.
I meet with my BDR twice a week to understand who’s on the site, who’s engaging, which accounts to prioritize, and which contacts my BDR should be going after vs. the ones that I should be going after.
When searching for accounts my BDR and I should be prioritizing, I’m mostly looking at Drift Prospector.
Drift Prospector helps me daily because I’m able to understand which of my accounts are landing on the website, which pages they are reading, and what content they are consuming.
This helps with three key things.
The first is understanding the buying committee. For example, my BDR and I can decide which contacts we should be reaching out to first based on who in the accounts is engaging with content.
Second, knowing target account activity helps us customize our outreach. This means I can adjust my messaging to reflect the content our targets are engaging with. For example, if a target account is viewing our account-based marketing (ABM) page, I can send a Drift Video walking them through our ABM capabilities.
Lastly, Prospector helps me sync with my BDR on personas. If we identify an account that is actively engaging on the site, we can figure out which persona I’m going to reach out to and which ones he is going to reach out to.
This is important because we work these accounts in tandem. I may go after the high-level executives while he’ll go after the director and VP levels. This way, we are able to go broad within an account and engage with as many stakeholders in the buying process as possible.
I’m also responsible for researching the target account’s website and analyzing why they’re a good fit for Drift, the language they use in their industry, and how they might leverage Drift based on their go-to-market (GTM) strategy ( the CTAs on their site, the ads they are running, the content they are producing, etc.).
My BDR and I use this research so we can better personalize the buying experience and establish credibility with the buyer.
The Early Afternoon
The afternoon is when I will focus on my active deals. Throughout the buying cycle, I send my accounts a lot of relevant content. I then use Prospector to get an understanding of what content is being opened and consumed, and what isn’t.
Prospector also shows me what content my accounts are looking at that I didn’t send. This all helps give me an idea of what they are most interested in so I can tailor my messaging.
During that first meeting with a buyer, I’ll often show how I collected information about their interests and personalized their experience in Drift. It’s a powerful example of how helpful Drift can be in the sales process.
I can also deduce who is part of the broader buying committee if I see additional people from an account viewing our content. With Enterprise accounts, you aren’t going to have one or two buyers. There will likely be seven or eight stakeholders involved in the decision. So, I want to make sure people in sales, marketing, procurement, compliance, etc. are all getting what they need to help them on their buying journey.
Another tool that is extremely helpful when I’m working on an active deal is Drift Video. This helps keep people engaged at every step of the buying process.
I initially send Drift Videos through LinkedIn to connect with different people on the buying committee so that they can put a face to the name. It’s a really light touch to say, “Hey! I’m Sara. If there is anything you need as we’re going through this process, feel free to reach out.”
This is a great play from our Conversational Sales Workbook that’s worked really well for me. You can steal the play template here.
Psst! Sign up for our sales tip of the week newsletter here if you want more plays you can use while prospecting.
When I’m working an active deal, I also make sure I’m sending updates with video. That way, the prospect can go back and view those videos at any point in time so they don’t forget specific information, like the plans and pricing that we’ve presented to them.
It’s also great to have complex meeting topics on video so the prospect can hear my messaging and my voice. My point of contact can then either share the video directly with teammates or get a refresher for when they’re selling internally to their executives. This keeps the ball rolling in the right direction.
The Late Afternoon
Breaking through the noise of a buyer’s inbox is tough. Now it’s more important than ever to be there to start a conversation when a target account is on your site.
That’s where real-time notifications come in.
Most Drift notifications for my target accounts go to my BDR unless it is someone in the middle of an active opportunity. I get these notifications on my cell phone 24/7, so even if I’m out on a walk with Benni, I can hop in to chat and say hi.
I especially love jumping in when a target account is watching a Drift Video I sent them. But even if I’m offline, the Drift Video bot will let the buyer book time on my calendar for a future chat.
Drift also has bots set up to recognize if a target account is on the site. These are highly personalized bots that greet the site visitor and then route me into the conversation so I can pick it up from there.
Signing Off
So, that’s a day in my life!
From sending videos to accounts with active opportunities to chatting with potential buyers, one thing remains constant in my work as an Enterprise AE — I am committed to creating the best buying experience for my customers.
