How to create pipeline 2mo in?
Mid 20s M, I was in client service (think Expert Networks) for roughly 2 years, heavy prospecting & cold calling but not traditional sales, then a true enterprise SDR for ~1 year. That SDR gig was very easy, inbound-dependent plus lists that marketing came up with — I did prospecting from scratch a few times but that wasn’t as much of a priority, we were more there to qualify leads & pass them along to AEs if they were good.
I got hired as a BDM for a smaller company, selling to law firms/ corporate legal teams. Not huge deals (anywhere from $3k-$70k depending on company size), but it is definitely better pay & also my first crack at a full-cycle role with closing & real commissions. It’s more of an information/ media company so not software. Pumped about “moving up” in my career though as I figured this would be a good stepping stone at the very least.
Ive had weekly calls with our CRO, who’s my boss’s boss. I’m a little under 2 months in, completely new sector for me & as mentioned, first closing role, so they started me off with a smaller project, prospecting to “easy wins.” I did pretty well with that, have had a few on trials/ demos, & have been trying to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
This week, my CRO mentioned my pipeline doesn’t have evidence of new business that I’ve sourced, really just cherry-picking off past colleagues prior opportunities without meaningful conversations generated on my own book. This kind of floored me as I’m only 2 months in, still learning a lot, etc.. made me very nervous that “oh shit, I’m falling behind.” I understand that he’s correct & don’t want to make excuses for myself, I just did not expect that.
My direct boss has been very supportive, helpful, etc., telling me I’m doing a good job, there’s a learning curve, all of that. I’m just now freaking out in my own head.
Long-winded way of asking, does anyone have tips to a newcomer on how to build, nurture pipeline? Have you ever experienced anything like this? I didn’t know anything about this space prior, so I’m still learning every single day. Any help is appreciated & apologies if this is the wrong forum for my rant.