In this episode, Vladan sits down with Mees Koning — a BDR (now team lead) at WP SEO AI, who graduated in 2024 and was placed in the role by Nobel. Within his second month he booked 114 meetings and went on to finish second for Rising Star at the 2024 SaaS Awards. They cover why he chose an AI startup, how WP SEO AI runs all-in on cold calling, how he smashed his targets, his number one tip for BDRs, and his move into leadership.
Vladan: Welcome to today’s episode. We have Mees Koning with us today. Mees graduated in 2024, and he worked part-time in sales next to his studies before joining WP SEO AI in 2024, where we placed him — and here he’s absolutely crushing it. So today we’re going to find out the secrets and see what we can learn from him. Mees, welcome.
Mees: What an amazing intro. Thank you.
Vladan: I’ll just start off firing some questions. You graduated and then joined a company called WP SEO AI — a real tongue twister. Maybe good to explain a bit why you chose this company and what they do.
Mees: If I have to start at the beginning, in my education I studied sport management and entrepreneurship. I always wanted to become an entrepreneur, so I really dove deep into AI and what AI could do. From there I started building my own things, and immediately when I graduated I started my own AI and automation agency — I still have that on the side. In that agency we really focused on automating processes, making repeatable processes with the help of AI. And then, having my own AI and automation agency, I got a text from a recruiter about WP SEO AI. My struggle as an entrepreneur was that I was looking for mentorship and guidance. WP SEO AI was kind of the same — also an AI and automation agency, but really focused on one specific niche and one problem. That’s where we kind of made mistakes with my own agency: we couldn’t really find the right value proposition because we were focused on everything. So what WP SEO AI does, to keep things simple, is they make online visibility for websites accessible with the use of AI. They make your website be found in Google, but also in AI search engines nowadays.
Vladan: Which is of course becoming increasingly important. So that sounds like a perfect match. You were in sales, you had your own AI company, and then you found a sales role within a startup in the AI space.
Mees: Exactly.
Vladan: Must have been a really good recruiter.
Mees: It was actually an amazing fit.
Vladan: Jokes aside, how did you experience Nobel as your consultant throughout this process?
Mees: I’ve never really had a good experience like that before, so it was really nice.
Vladan: What channels do you use for approaching potential clients? LinkedIn, email, cold calling?
Mees: You can use LinkedIn, you can use email, cold calling. In our company you’re actually free to use whatever channel works, because obviously there are a lot of chances still out there. But what works for us is completely going all in on cold calling.
Vladan: It’s kind of funny that you’re an AI company but then go all in on cold calling to reach your sales goals. I think that’s an important note to make here. What are your monthly targets, and what is expected of you in that BDR role specifically?
Mees: Our target — to become a worthy BDR — is that you’re expected to book 40 meetings in a month.
Vladan: 40 meetings in a month. Those are some high expectations.
Mees: The minimum is 20, but we aim high. We’ve seen that if you set targets high — they still need to be reachable, of course — based on our experience and our background, the whole team, literally every BDR in the company, now does the 40 in a month. So it turns out to be realistic.
Vladan: That’s really interesting, because target setting is a challenge for many companies. You’re basically saying you have a minimum of 20, but the target is 40, so you should aim for 40. Aim for the stars and you land on the moon.
Mees: Exactly.
“We aim high. We’ve seen that if you set targets high, the whole team rises to it — now every BDR in the company books 40 meetings a month.”
Vladan: You were nominated for the SaaS Awards — you ended up second for Rising Star of 2024. How did you perform against those targets?
Mees: The company targets, the sales targets — that was quite crazy. When I joined the company, I was already in my mind like, okay, I’m going to crush these targets. I already had that type of feeling, because I’d done some cold calling in the past and I knew the software we were selling, and I could not see myself booking less than 40. So within my second month I did, I believe, 114 meetings. Then the second month around 90, and from there I moved into more leadership roles, so I was less focused on cold calling and more on guidance for the other BDRs. I guess that’s what got me to the SaaS Awards.
Vladan: I was aware of these numbers, and I think they’re quite exceptional. We place many BDRs or SDRs — whatever acronym you want to throw in there — but I think those are some of the most impressive numbers I’ve heard in my career. So let’s break that down. How have you done this? What are the secrets, the tips you can give to the listeners today that they can implement in their day-to-day to improve?
Mees: If I just zoom in on my first months — like I said, I was completely focused on outbound cold calling. We’ve got RevOps in our organization that provides us all the leads, so I’ve got the lead list to work with, containing our ICP and decision makers. We use a CRM, HubSpot, and I can just ram out cold calls from there. What makes not only me but also the company successful right now is kind of the energy that we bring to the office and really just having fun in what we do. Pick up the phone and just have a conversation. Having fun in cold calling is the most important thing, because every single person on the other end will just hear that it’s a cold call if you’re reading out the script. So I just had a lot of fun — it was like a little game every call. I really liked it, so I didn’t have any issues with volume. I was calling sometimes more than 100 a day. And because I was so enthusiastic and so excited and had that drive, people didn’t even really care what I was saying — they just wanted to schedule a meeting.
Vladan: So to summarize that a little: it already starts with the setup from the company, what they provide you. You mentioned HubSpot, you mentioned clean lead lists that RevOps provided you, ICP. I guess there are also phone numbers in there that you can reach out to immediately, and that’s already so valuable by itself — you don’t need to research every prospect manually. That way you can do those 100 calls a day, and otherwise it would be very difficult.
Mees: Yeah.
“Having fun in cold calling is the most important thing. Everyone on the other end will hear that it’s a cold call if you’re just reading out the script.”
Vladan: Which brings me to the second point you made — the 100 calls per day. That sounds like a lot for most people. How many of those calls do you connect on, on average, would you guess?
Mees: It is a lot, but like you said, not every call gets connected. It’s a difficult question. I think out of 100 calls, you should have at least 25 connected.
Vladan: 25 connected per day.
Mees: Something like that. And out of 25 people that pick up, some just pick up and say, “Ah, I’m in a rush, I’m in a meeting,” and hang up the phone again. So not every connected call is a conversation. Out of every connected call, one in three you’ve got a conversation. Something like that — throwing rough numbers in there. I could be wrong.
Vladan: No, I guess you’re probably right. You know your numbers.
Mees: I’ve done it for a while now.
Vladan: And then the third point you made, rightfully, is to have fun a little bit — to not see it as a dreadful task with the script and everything, because the person on the other side can feel your energy.
Mees: You can feel your sincerity, your excitement for the thing you’re selling, the thing you’re reaching out to them about in that moment.
Vladan: I’ve visited your office, I’ve seen you actually work, and that really is how I witnessed you calling those people. So I think you did a great job there.
Mees: I actually forgot that you were there, but now that you say it, I remember.
Vladan: And honestly, I thought you were also making the most calls. So it’s not a coincidence that you’re achieving those numbers.
Vladan: What’s your number one tip for BDRs — either BDRs who are starting, or VPs of sales who are starting a BDR function, or who have a BDR function that’s maybe not functioning optimally? What are some of the things you can advise?
Mees: If I would talk to a VP — what stuck with me is, the most important thing for a BDR, and for yourself if you want to become a BDR, is drive. Being all in on the company and just really going for it, being enthusiastic to start, believing in the software. And then what’s also very important is being coachable and being curious — maybe even more curious — asking the right questions to get more depth on what works and what doesn’t, and trying out different methods. Cold calling is one thing, but building your own LinkedIn automations or email automations, whatever — there’s so much more. Being curious and trying those things out is what sets a good BDR apart as an exceptional BDR.
Vladan: Great advice there. Thanks for sharing.
“Drive is the most important thing — being all in on the company and just really going for it. After that, be coachable and stay curious.”
Vladan: You were promoted in February into your first management role. How have you done that? There are a lot of people listening who would like to make a promotion. What are some of the tips you can give around that?
Mees: Last year I wrote down for myself that I wanted to develop myself in leadership. When I joined the company and the sales process was going well, I reached out to everyone and said, “Guys, this is too easy, I need more challenges — what about leadership?” And obviously WP SEO AI grows quite fast, so we hire a lot. Every time a new BDR got hired — and because I was also the first BDR in the company — I was organically the one teaching them all our assets and skills, what works for us, our way of pitching. So every single time someone came in, I was the one teaching them how to do the job. Then it got more and more serious: more structure, personal development plans. It kind of went from there.
Vladan: What you hear often is that the top performers aren’t necessarily the best leaders of a team. How has it been for you to make that transition from being a top performer, all eyes on you, to becoming a team lead where you have to put others in the spotlight and give your energy to others?
Mees: It’s a big difference. I’ve learned a lot about leadership from my education, and also from other podcasts that I listen to, so I already knew a lot. And one of my colleagues really taught me how to do things. But at the same time, you’ve never done it — it’s the first time you’re responsible. It’s a whole different hormone process, because normally you get rewarded for everything you do; you’re on a high every time because you hit your targets. And then a month later you’re not even able to hit your call targets anymore, and you’re responsible for the whole team. So there’s been a lot of guidance from the current management team on how to do things. We’ve got a leadership academy that teaches me how to do things.
Vladan: That’s really nice that they provided a lot of opportunities to learn, because being a first-time manager is hard.
Mees: Yeah.
Vladan: One final question, because you went from B2C sales to B2B sales. You started your career at Het Goede Doel — selling newspapers to people on the street, which is kind of the most hardcore sales job there is. How is that different from the B2B sales and the more consultative sales you’re doing today?
Mees: A very good question. Having that experience in the past really teaches you so much and builds hard skin as a sales individual. But at the same time it’s very different, because there’s very little depth — you’re selling a newspaper to randoms next to a supermarket. Now, in a SaaS company, you’re focused on the CEO, so you can imagine there’s so much more complexity. For example, the “yes flow” that you get taught with newspapers doesn’t work anymore, I can tell you. I get so many new people coming in — there’s still a lot behind it — but so many BDRs come in and bring those sales tricks into their pitching, and I’m like: just cut it, focus on the pain points, figure out and have a conversation, make it real. There’s so much more depth, and it gets so much more fun, because you bring actual value to a person. I think that’s the biggest difference.
Vladan: Thanks a lot, Mees. It’s really cool to be part of your growth journey, and I wish you all the best in the coming years. I’ll make sure to keep following you. If you’re interested in following Mees, please add or follow him on LinkedIn. And with that, we conclude today’s episode. If you’re happy with this content, please make sure to follow and subscribe to the podcast — we’ll be interviewing more and more go-to-market legends. So hope to see you next time. Thanks, and thanks, Mees.
Mees: Thank you. Ciao.
