How Shweta Cracked B2B SaaS Sales Without Attending Live Classes

My name is Shweta Desai. I was, I'm currently working with AG Insights as a senior SDR. Earlier I was working with Efficiently. So I got the chance to work with AG Insights after I joined Your School of SDR cohort from the November batch. And I'm so glad that it happened so quickly. Just before I finished the cohort, I got this chance to, you know, join AG Insights and I'm very happy about it.

What made you join the cohort?

Oh, well, see, as a person, I like to keep myself updated. About, you know, the current developments that happen in my profession. And somewhere I felt that I've reached a point where I felt the growth has been kind of stagnant, though I was doing very well in my previous company. But I just felt that I need to update myself with the, you know, the rate of growth that's happening when it comes to different AI tools the SDRs are expected to use. Also like fine-tune my basics, sales basics, and also, you know, get a chance to join a company where I could see faster growth in terms of my, you know, career prospects and where I thought there is a higher scope of learning. Because in my previous company, I felt that I kind of hit a point where the growth was kind of slow, or I felt it was taking more time than I expected. And as a person, I like to, you know, stay accountable, and I would like to grow at a much faster pace because I go all out. I like, I have that achiever mindset in me and everything worked out beautifully. One fine day I randomly came across your profile on LinkedIn and your content resonated with me. And in some way I felt that, you know, you could help me and in terms of what I was looking for. And I got on a call with you and I was convinced that, you know, your cohort will definitely help me achieve the goals and expectations that I had in my mind and did. Clearly did and went beyond my expectations. And I'm very happy about that.

Amazing. You were kind of sold soon after our call was over. What do you think happened on the call which convinced you?

I think it's just the vibe. I think I sensed that you were very transparent about, you know, what is going to be delivered in Cohort and you actually understood my background and what I was actually looking for. Since I could sense that you understood what exactly, you know, I'm looking for and where I come from. And somewhere I felt that you could deliver what I was looking for and also saw a lot of testimonials and reviews as well before that. So yeah, so there was a few things which kind of fell in place and my sixth sense said that, you know, you would be able to help me. And that is why, you know, I listened to my gut and went ahead with it.

Yeah. Good. Yeah. I like that. I kind of operate on a lot of vibes and gut myself, so I can relate to what you're saying.

Yeah.

What made you decide that, hey, I want to join a cohort and not learn anything of my own? Like, of course, there's a lot of free material out there, and I'm assuming you must have consumed some of it already.

Yes, of course. I always feel like, you know, there's so much content out there, and I'm a mother of 2 kids. I don't have so much time to actually, what do I say, filter the information which works. I believe in, you know, when somebody has invested so much of the time and energy and they are doing something like this full-time, so why not use that expertise and whatever knowledge that they've gained till now. And that would save a lot of time for me. And also, it would definitely be more than what I would try to do on my own. So I personally believe that it's not just about the cost factor. If I'm able to get the ROI in so little time, where there's also a promise of placements, if I'm very good at, you know, what I'm doing and I'm able to deliver what is expected out of me, then why not? Like, so as a person, I like to keep myself updated and I always, you know, look out for courses and programs where I can fine-tune my skills and how I can, you know, better my career prospects because I am ambitious and I do have goals in mind. So I'm always looking out for things where I can update myself as quickly as I can to reach where, you know, I have in my mind, if I may say so in brief.

Now let's talk a little bit about the overall cohort. So it was a 4-week cohort.

Yeah.

And interestingly, you were the first person ever we have trained in the last 2 years or so who did not attend any of the live classes. However, you did make sure that you watched all the recording and did submit all the assignments on time. And despite not attending the live classes, you tried to make sure you could attend all the mock practices, spend as much time as you could with Krishna, the mentor, ask as many questions as you could. You were always on top. I could see on Discord, hey, Rahul Wadhwa is recording on a post or any of the other people. Questions, and you topped the entire cohort. This has never happened before.

Really?

What do you think you did differently?

To be really honest, like, you know, when I take up something, I go all in, you know, because I do take time before I decide anything, but once I do, I go all out because maybe that's just my personality. And also I really wanted to do this, you know, because I somewhere felt that if I do justice to what I'm, you know, have enrolled in, I strongly believe that I'm going to get really good results and the program program is being designed so comprehensively, I really wanted to do justice to it because I understood that if I give my all and actually implement the program because it is so practical in nature, it will definitely help in my future job change as well. So initially I would say that it was overwhelming because I was also handling my night shift and the kids and home and things like that. After a week, kind of, I got the hang of it. I gained confidence. And I think it was the beginning of second week where I got to know that I've actually topped the cohort by that time. So that kind of gave me a boost of confidence that, wow, if I can keep going for another 3 weeks and implement what is expected out of me. And I also knew that the help is available anytime, wherever I'm stuck. If I just had to schedule a call with you or even Krishna or even Akanksha when it came to mock call practice. So when I knew that there are so many resources available and everyone Rahul Wadhwa is so dedicated to ensure that we get the best out of the cohort. I gave it my best and I think it worked out mutually beautifully for both of us. So I would say, yeah.

Amazing. See, apart from your own dedication and apart from the fact that you are naturally a driven person, I think that really panned out well for you. Tell me about some of the behaviors despite you having a full-time shift, night shifts. You being a, you know, you being a mother of two, you still managed to watch the recording?

Yeah, because that was the only way I could do it, right? Because I think the program itself was very comprehensive because there were already recorded, you know, videos as well, which I did go through. And there was a time I almost finished 70 to 75% of it. And I wanted, I mean, every cohort is different, right? So I wanted to know what is something new that you're bringing in your video recordings. So I think there has never been a time where I went beyond a day. Like if something was not uploaded, I, you know, was the first one to ping you like when it's going to be uploaded. So I always ensure that whatever assignments are given for a particular week, that is finished at least by Saturday or Sunday of that week, if not by Friday, because I didn't want it to pile up by, you know, next week, because again, next week would have so many other assignments. So that was on my mind always, that if I'm missing any recording, at least by the next day or maybe max the weekend of that week, I'm gonna, you know, finish watching all the recordings, understand the content, and implement it and share it so that I get the feedback as and when needed. So I did that from the second week. I did lag a bit in the first week because everything was so overwhelming, but once I got the hang of it and I— when I ensured that I did everything before the week ended, I mean the assignments that were expected out of me for that particular week, Everything fell in place. And I think that is how I was able to top the cohort because I think I was consistent and I was disciplined to ensure that everything was completed on time.

Yeah, you were amazing. Like I said, thank you so much. It has never happened before. So we are equally surprised this could even happen because we've not seen that before. So new learnings even for us. All right. A very simple question for you, Shweta. Let's say if a friend is asking you, hey, tell me more about School of STR. Why should I, you know? Go ahead and invest money, time, resources, and whatnot, what would you tell them?

I would, I think, honestly share my experience because to be really honest with you, I didn't find anything negative. In fact, I felt like there was a time when you went out of your way to help me because when I was interviewing with Edgy Insights, I did need feedback from you regarding some assignment, and we actually connected like pretty late in the night, and you helped me out because I needed to be, you know, helped because the interview was the very next day. So I would say like, you know, everyone promises a lot of positives and benefits, but when it comes to actual implementation, sometimes they might not be able to fulfill that. And the fact that you were able to do that, even Krishna or Akanksha, they were like so readily available with their insights, you know, to provide to me whenever I had any questions or any doubts. So the whole thing was, I couldn't find any flaws, you know, where I felt that you could improve. I mean, as a business, you always want to improve on it, but As a client of yours, if I may say so, as a student of your cohort, I didn't find anything negative or somewhere where I felt you need to improve upon. So I think I'm going to be just honest about it. Like the content that you shared is like top-notch and the feedback that you give, the dedication that you show that I can really see that you want the students to do really well, you know? So that really stood out for me. The fact that I was able to be placed just before the cohort ended, I think that was like a icing on the cake. And I think when people can see all that, I'm sure that would give them confidence to try it out, take a risk, you know, because there are so many in the market, but when a person who has already experienced it and has got so many positive results out of it, why not? You know, they would definitely want to give it a try. Yeah.

Somebody who is watching this and trying to maybe learn some of these things on their own, what do you think are the challenges you think they would be facing and what do you think they will not be able to get on their own if they are, let's say, trying to watch some YouTube videos or maybe trying to read some content online and assume that somebody else has more time than you do?

You can always try that way out, but I would say that the amount of knowledge that you're gonna get in a lesser time— because obviously time is money, right? Like, if you were able to get that knowledge in a month's time, which might take you maybe 4 to 6 months, you're missing out on that time. And also the fact that you're giving the promise of placing candidates, I mean the students, if they're really good, then why would you want to wait it out? You know, because I have got an offer which kind of is almost more than 100% of what I was expecting. So if I try to do it on my own, I don't think, you know, I mean, I never thought that I would land up getting an offer like that, you know. So if there is a possibility where you're going to gain so much knowledge, not just the knowledge from the YouTube videos, but somebody who has been in this industry, who has like hands-on experience with things and who is actually well connected with the relevant stakeholders in different companies and who is actually so passionate about sharing that knowledge, then what would stop somebody from doing that? I think in terms of ROI, whatever you're going to spend for the cohort, you're going to recover like in a couple of months' time maybe, but the results that you're going to get is something beyond amazing. So why not? Like, I think person who really wants to do well in life and who wants to take calculative risk, I think would definitely go for it. And I don't think you have priced it so high that people would want to think twice. I think almost every other competitor in the market is almost in the same range is what I feel. So yeah, somebody who is driven and who wants to do good in life and who wants to update themselves and save a lot of time and be more efficient in what they do. I think will not, and I think they should not think so much when it comes to investing. Knowledge will definitely pay you dividends, if not now, some other time for sure. Yeah. Let's use the time.

Since you mentioned.

Yeah, maybe in some other things, probably spend time with family than, you know, thinking so much to try to do something on your own when there is expert knowledge available already. Why not use that? I mean, I would definitely go for the latter.

Given the ROI you've seen, right? You said in terms of the salary increase, in terms of the time cut down, you know, saving you months. What do you think is the fair price for this course?

Oh, okay, I didn't think from that business point of view. Probably in lakhs, because now every high-ticket product is, uh, you know, uh, be kept in that range. But yours is not that much, so maybe, uh, in 6 months to a year's time you could keep at that, because you're doing so good, you know, and also getting so amazing results for a lot of students. So why not, like, you know, Yeah.

Okay. All right. Sure. We'll do it then.

Great.

We'll wait for some time. And if somebody asks, why did you do it? We're going to point it to you.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I mean, it's all about the perception, right? Like if you believe in the product and if you're able to deliver it, then why not? I mean, maybe it looks higher when you're investing, but then when you look at the ROI in just a couple of months' time, it may not have to be a couple of years for that. So you would be convinced somewhere. Yeah, in retrospect, it would be.

I like that perspective, and thank you so much. I think this was probably one of the best, definitely one of the best experience we have recorded after a long time.

And also have to mention, I somewhere feel I found a lifetime mentor in you because you really have that, you know, gift to connect with people, be it the senior or the junior. You make them feel seen, understood, and you actually give them a lot of confidence, and you kind of reinforce the whatever positive belief they have about themselves, and they start seeing themselves in much more higher regard. So definitely that helps in their career, in different areas of life. So I'm grateful that I found that in you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. I never realized I had that in me. Where did you feel that? Did you feel that with you or with somebody else?

I felt that honestly in the first call itself, like when I came on the discovery call with you, somewhere I felt that you could help me. I mean, I, I don't know, it's my trait. I kind of read people. I somehow know if this person can help me or not, like, or I understand the wavelength or the frequency. So you, I mean, it's, it's nice to have the trait in somebody where they can connect with anybody and they understand where they come from or where they are at. I mean, you connect with people in their level or in their wavelength, if I may say so. So that's a beautiful trait to have, you know.

I'm very happy to hear that. I did not know.

Yeah, because I felt even in our cohort, like, there were people from different backgrounds, like, you know, juniors, seniors, experienced and all, mature. I mean, you know, at different levels of life, if I may say so, but you were able to connect with everyone at their wavelength. So, which is kind of a beautiful thing, according to me, for a mentor or a trainer or a coach, if I may say so. Yeah.

Thank you. I need to be cautious of you that you're reading so much.

No, because I'm very fascinated by psychology. So maybe that kind of, you know.

Even I meet people, but maybe, maybe I'm not able to explain the way you're able to explain as to what you feel about them. I'm able to, so I think one of my traits is that I'm able to quickly identify, for example, when it comes to hiring, you know, the reason I was able to hire is I think the first 5 minutes I'm able to quickly decide, given the way they speak, the way they carry on, all this stuff, right? Just like you said, vibes, right? I think more than vibes, I think there are a few things that people give away. I'm sure I'm not as good as you are, like the way you explained. I can make decision. I can't justify my decision. That's a different trait, right? Somebody is behaving that way. And I did not know that quality, by the way. So thank you so much. I'm going to add that to the list of my qualities. All right. Thank you so much, Rekha, for being here.