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Learn how Owner.com scaled their sales team from 4 to 50 reps in 24 months while maintaining a 0.13 BDR CAC ratio through innovative outbound sales strategies.
Kyle Norton shares:
Why a 2:1 BDR-to-AE ratio works in SMB
How to achieve $72K ARR per BDR monthly
Building data-driven sales operations
RevOps investment strategy for scale
Machine learning for account scoring
Perfect for founders and sales leaders looking to scale efficient outbound sales teams in 2024.
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Who is Kyle Norton?
CRO of Owner.com
Host of the Revenue Leadership podcast (Pavilion Podcast)
More context about the Owner's Sales team:
- ACV: $5.5k
- Sales Cycle Length: 4-7 days
- Vertical SaaS: Restaurant industry
- Buyer personas: Restaurant owners
- Markets: North America
Some takeaways:
2:1 BDR-to-AE Ratio in SMB:
Maintains an unusual 2:1 BDR-to-AE ratio (19 outbound BDRs to ~8-9 outbound AEs)
Challenges industry standard of 1:1 or fewer BDRs per AE in SMB markets
Justified by impressive metrics: $72K ARR per BDR monthly with 0.13 CAC ratio
Specialized Sales Roles:
Completely separate inbound and outbound teams
Distinct SDR and BDR functions with different KPIs and processes
Controversial rejection of full-cycle AE model common in SMB
Machine Learning for Account Selection:
Built proprietary scoring model using Snowflake
Analyzed 300,000 businesses to identify 50,000 qualified targets
Uses regression analysis to predict both deal size and win probability
RevOps Investment Philosophy:
Maintains 1:20 ops-to-sales headcount ratio (3 full-time RevOps, 2 contractors)
Invests in operations before scaling, contrary to common practice
Front-loads systems investment rather than adding ops reactively
Channel Strategy:
Started with 0% outbound, peaked at 70%, now stabilized at 30-40%
Proves outbound can work in SMB despite industry preference for inbound
Successfully challenges the "inbound-only" dogma for SMB sales
Team Structure Decisions:
Uses pod-based structure instead of traditional 1:1 pairings
Separates inbound/outbound AEs completely
Focuses BDRs solely on cold calling craft rather than full-cycle selling
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Connect with Kyle:
Chapters
00:00 Building a highly efficient outbound team
00:48 The State of the Sales Team at Owner.com
01:48 Building an Outbound Machine
03:28 Hiring and Scaling the Outbound Team
04:02 Optimizing Deal Quality and ICP
04:57 Evolution of Outbound and Inbound Mix 06:42 BDR to AE Ratios and Efficiency
12:33 Dedicated BDRs vs. Full Cycle AEs
17:18 Importance of RevOps and Systems
23:57 The Challenge of New Skills in Sales
25:35 Building Outbound Systems at Owner.com
28:19 Leveraging AI for Sales Efficiency
41:04 Improving Conversion Rates Through Coaching
46:36 Hiring the Right Talent for Sales Success
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