Bronco Spotlight: Brennan Vaughn
Bachelor of Business Administration in sales and business marketing, 2019
Sales Development Representative at Outreach.io in Seattle, WA
I work at Outreach.io, which is a fast growing start up (recently valued at over $1B dollars) that sits in the sales engagement software space. Outreach is a diverse platform that sales reps use every day to reduce manual work in their CRM, manage the follow ups, and improve their productivity. The biggest benefit of Outreach is giving sales reps more time back in their day to focus on revenue generating activities. As a Sales Development Representative, I am responsible for generating top of funnel pipeline. I am outbound prospecting every day through phone, email, social, video and text to book meetings for our Account Executives. My favorite part about working here is using our platform everyday as a sales rep. It makes my job so much easier.
What is the most rewarding and the most challenging part of your job?
Pay is unreal. Great base and commission opportunity. Software companies are known to pay out their sales reps more than other industries.
This SDR role is literally a roller coaster. One day I will set up 4 or 5 meetings and then the next 4 days I won’t get any. Rejection is hard to deal with, but I have learned to move on to the next prospect who wants to give me the time of day. I think playing baseball my whole life has helped with my success in this role.
What activities, resources, or people helped you prepare for your career?
- Lara Hobson: I was involved heavily in startups, business model planning and customer discovery programs. Lara has done so much for my growth throughout my 2 years at Western.
- Steve Tokarz: Steve is based out of Ann Arbor but comes to Kalamazoo quite a bit to help with Wmed Incubator startups.
- Dr. Eckert (and Mary Nielsen, Dr. Oreilly): for teaching me applicable sales skills that I use every day at work. This program is the real deal.
What advice do you have for students?
Get involved. College is not entirely about what you learn; it’s who you’re meeting. You’re going to meet your best friends, future business partner, or even a spouse. Don’t be that guy or girl who just goes to class and leaves. Go to the bar. Join a club on campus. You will have much more success building those relationships than focusing on the homework 24/7.