How Cognism restored SDRs as the internal talent engine with BD Best Practices

How Cognism rebuilt their SDR team, elevated Discovery skills, and restored promotions to AE.

The Challenge 

Cognism’s Sales Development team has long been the company’s talent pipeline for future Account Executives - a proving ground for ambitious SDRs aiming to hit six-figure careers in SaaS sales.

But by mid-2025, the team had hit a roadblock. Despite strong activity levels and consistent pipeline generation, the quality of Discovery conversations wasn’t where it needed to be. SDRs were defaulting to surface-level qualification and demo booking, without truly understanding a prospect’s pain, business impact, or decision drivers.

“We couldn’t promote BDRs due to an open AE role because of undeveloped Discovery skills in the team.” — Tristan, Director of Sales Development

Without those deeper consultative skills, SDRs struggled to demonstrate the commercial acumen required to transition into AE roles.

“Previously we’ve always been the Talent Pipeline for AE promotions. For the first time, we couldn’t do this.” said Tristan

The result was stalled internal progression, motivation challenges within the team, and a growing concern around retaining top talent who joined Cognism to build long-term sales careers.

The Solution

Cognism partnered with BD Best Practices to design and deliver a tailored Discovery training session that blended framework, psychology, and practical application.

Scott spent time understanding Cognism’s product, personas, and go-to-market strategy, ensuring every example, role-play, and exercise reflected the team’s real-world conversations.

“Scott really went above & beyond to understand our business. He was able to tailor the session to speak in our language, about our personas, our selling points — the team really appreciated that.” — Jordan, SDR Manager

The sessions introduced the team to a structured Discovery framework - teaching how to go beyond surface-level questions, diagnose root causes, and link pain to measurable business impact.

“Our Discoveries were all over the place — questions were being asked in a random order. We needed a structure the team could follow from someone external who’s been at the top of their game.” — Jordan, SDR Manager

Delivered through live, interactive practice, the session encouraged deep discussion and peer-to-peer learning helping Senior SDRs immediately apply new techniques in upcoming calls.

“The session was so interactive and encouraged so much intellectual conversation amongst the team. I’ve never seen the team so engaged with training!” — Jordan, SDR Manager

The Impact

After the first session, Cognism’s SDRs were running more thoughtful, insight-driven Discovery calls - moving from “demo booking” to “problem solving.” Managers noticed a clear improvement in how reps linked prospect challenges to business impact and positioned Cognism’s solution as a strategic fit.

“The results of the training speak for themselves. Our recent open AE role was filled by a member of the team who attended Scott’s training.” - Tristan & Jordan

The success has re-established Cognism’s Sales Development team as the launchpad for top AE talent and renewed the sense of purpose that keeps SDRs motivated through the grind.

“I need our team to be seen as the best place to start a career to earn that 6-figure career. Without that north star, it’s difficult to push SDRs through the high-volume grind for 1-2 years until they’re there.” — Tristan, Director of Sales Development