30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales #533 - How to Build a Team That Thrives on 700 Cold Calls a Week | Melanie Smith
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Dec 18, 2025 Melanie Smith, Head of Sales Development at Nooks, is an expert in scaling SDR teams, having rapidly grown teams at Klue and Nooks. She shares her strategies for running a high-performing SDR team, emphasizing cold-call systems and career paths for reps. Expect insights on using AI for call analysis, blocking time for intel-gathering calls, and adjusting KPIs to promote creativity. Melanie also discusses the importance of connect and conversation rates and reveals actionable takeaways to boost performance without burning out team members.
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Calls Drive Meetings And Unique Account Intel
- Nooks books roughly 70% of meetings over the phone, so dialing drives pipeline disproportionately.
- Calls also serve to gather below-the-line intel you can't get online for hyper-personalized outreach.
Block Calls By Intent And Ask For Intros
- Block call sessions for different intents: intel-gathering vs. above-the-line outreach.
- Always aim to ask for referrals or introductions during intel calls to reach decision-makers.
Measure Calls With Connect, Conversation, Meeting Rates
- Track cold-call KPIs: connect rate (>7%), conversation rate (~35% of calls >2 minutes), and meeting booked rate (~15%).
- Ignore calls under two minutes when measuring meaningful conversations.