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The Transaction · Apr 16, 2026

Using AI to Empower SDRs & Eliminate Admin Work with David Wilkins, Founder of SDR Leaders of EMEA - Ep 77

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The Transaction · The Transaction

Welcome to the latest weekly edition of The Transaction newsletter & podcast. Every Thursday, we share resources you should check out, what we’ve found insightful recently, and tactical ways you can improve your go-to-market today. For more: Podcast | YouTube

So, which AI company is going to be the first to pivot completely into creating a DTC shoe brand? Our money is on Perplexity, but that’s just a hunch, Sam Altman could always pull a surprise move (See also: the discarded corpse of Sora…).

Here’s what’s on deck this week:

  • What Craig’s Reading Writing

  • Recent Insight from Past Guests

  • Latest Episode: Empowering SDRs & Eliminating Admin Work with David Wilkins - Ep 77

  • Movie Poster Mockup: Wayne’s World (1992)

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I am trying to spend more time researching pipeline tactics that work. I am now putting pen to paper and powerpoint to crystallize my thoughts. In reality, the new pipeline playbook has the same building blocks as the “old” one and also a lot of the tactics. It’s how we execute that has changed.

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Excessive admin work and poor-performing sales plays are killing SDR effectiveness and, in turn, company growth. We just so happen to know just the B2B sales expert to help SDR leaders kick things up a notch, wherever they may reside around the globe.

Besides having a wonderful British accent, which Craig loved, David Wilkins is the Founder of SDR Leaders of EMEA and the Co-Founder of SDR Leaders of USA and APAC. David joins Co-Hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson to dig into how sales leaders are overcoming the major issues facing SDRs (Sales Development Reps) in B2B sales today. David shares how successful sales leaders are implementing AI tools to cut down on excess admin work for their SDRs, why sales channels like cold-calling & video messages are outperforming email outreach, and how dialing up the difficulty of the sales training for your reps can keep them cool as can be on even their most cantankerous sales calls.

Plus, David outlines the totally standard, run-of-the-mill journey of how he went from studying at the second-worst university in the UK to working for the number-one mayonnaise manufacturer in the Netherlands and ended up getting into B2B sales.

Also, Craig references a late-80s rap duo, Matt alludes to the promise of a brisket, and Producer Sam somehow manages to ask a decent salestech question after breaking the 4th wall earlier in the episode.

  • Excessive admin work is still eating the SDR role alive. In a surprising number of B2B companies, SDRs are still burning three-plus hours a day on manual admin tasks. That is not harmless busywork in B2B sales; it is precious selling time being quietly set on fire. Rather than replacing a human SDR with an AI avatar, target this admin & sales prep work for elimination with AI.

  • Email-first outbound has run out of runway. Email still has a place, but it should be just one piece of a larger outbound strategy that focuses more heavily on better-performing tactics like cold calls and social media touchpoints. The practical implication for sales and marketing leaders is simple: email can support the motion, but it cannot be the whole motion anymore.

  • Sending videos and voice notes through LinkedIn messages works because they do something most outreach still does not: they make it obvious a real, honest-to-goodness human being is on the other end. That is especially useful in B2B SaaS, where copy-paste messages have saturated email, text, and even DM inboxes, and being able to interrupt that pattern buys sellers the few seconds of attention they need to make inroads.

  • The sales training you provide for your SDRs and AEs should be significantly harder than anything they might deal with on a standard sales call. That way, if they find themselves in a delicate situation, they have the skills to stay calm and continue moving the conversation forward. A great way to give your sales reps more, well, reps is to use a training tool with AI-avatars of different customer profiles in sales scenarios.

  • 00:00 - Episode Preview

  • 00:51 - Trans-Atlantic Holiday Customs and Re-Ranking of Meats

  • 04:11 -  Introducing David Wilkins, Founder of SDR Leaders of EMEA & B2B Sales Expert

  • 06:55 -  David’s Journey From a Terrible School to Amazing Mayo & Eventually a B2B Sales Job

  • 15:10 - Why SDR Leaders Don’t See Headcount as The Solution for Success with Sales Development in B2B SaaS

  • 30:18 -  Why Cold-calling Beats Email for Engaging with Prospects

  • 34:59 -  Video Messages & Voice Notes Break the Pattern of B2B Sales Outreach

  • 46:09 - Improving Sales Training with AI Avatars To Help SDRs Perform Better on Sales Calls

  • 49: 57 - Predicting the Future Evolution of the SDR Role in B2B Sales & GTM

  • 55:04 - Random Rap & Wrestling References Before Wrapping Up

“  Make the training harder than the game.” - David Wilkins

[Speaking on the SDR role] “ Making this function what it is, which is a critical part of the revenue generating organization.” - David Wilkins

“ I’m gonna be calling myself Ron now, if ever I get in trouble” - Ron Davidson

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