SDR Hire Podcast

Sara Storm has been leading SDRs and Revenue teams for the majority of her career. She joined the podcast to tell us how to unlock the real value of SDR teams. *Join other top performes getting SDR Hire insights in their inbox: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter We discussed: - the current state of the SDR/BDR role - why sales leaders are failing their sales teams AND their customers - should you even be in an SDR role? - how she used to close 7/10 cold calls she'd make If you haven't already, subscribe to the channel. - Connect with Sara: https://linktr.ee/sarastorm - Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ If you liked Sara's points of views and her content, you will LOVE: - her new book: Sales. A complete SDR Playbook: https://www.breakthebox.se/sdr-book.html --------------------------------------- Looking for offshore sales talent? Check out SDRHire.com We source and vet experienced offshore SDRs from Eastern Europe. Access our pool of candidates and talk to 3-7 qualified SDRs in the first 48 hours. Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Steve Schmidt went from negative $780k after his former business took a hit, to running a 7-figure business that helps founders and execs grow through Content Led Sales. *Join other top performes getting SDR Hire insights in their inbox: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter We went really personal in this one (so consider subscribing if you like these topics): - how Steve overcame alcoholism - how he came back from a devastating blow that killed off his previous business - what role content plays in Sales today - how can SDRs and Salespeople use content to grow their careers - Stefan's business goals and the new community he launched for SDRs (ok now you can subscribe) - Connect with Steve (a must): https://https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwschmidt/ - Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources and creators from the episode: - Steve's must follow Magnetic newsletter called "The other side of failure": https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-other-side-of-failure-6889851217862787072/ - Eliot Garcia (Steve's favourite creator): https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottgarcia/ - Brian LaManna - A top seller (AE) at Gong, crushing it with content: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlamanna/ --------------------------------------- Looking for offshore sales talent? Check out SDRHire.com We source and vet experienced offshore SDRs from Eastern Europe. Access our pool of candidates and start booking meetings in just a few days. Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast. #sdr #bdr #salesdevelopment #coldemail #techsales

Beau Vrbas did 14,769 cold calls that led him to the Presidents Club. In this episode Beau shares his secret to success in sales! *Join the SDR Hire community: https://www.skool.com/sdr-hire-community-1422/about We go over: - how Beau learned to be a killer cold caller - his cold call structure - 3 most important traits for SDRs in 2024 - why Gen Z's prefer the office - how he maintains a culture of top performance in his team at Memory Blue - US based outsourcing vs offshore outsourcing - Connect with Beau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauvrbas/ - Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

99% of SDR job posts are fluffy, self-centred, and provide 0 value to the candidate. In this episode I go through ways of fixing that! *Join the SDR Hire community: https://www.skool.com/sdr-hire-community-1422/about In this episode I go through the worst and best job ads in tech sales for SDRs: - usual templated version of SDR job posts on LinkedIn - why they fail to attract the best candidates - best practices how to fix that - An example of a killer SDR job post by Cameron Morgan - Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ - Find Cameron's Job post here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cjmorganli_job-opportunity-an-on-target-dream-activity-7171025721975357440-nXEv --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Tyler Hickey hit 130% of his quota 10 months in a row and got promoted to Account Executive. *Join other top performes getting SDR Hire insights in their inbox: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter Tyler shared his secrets about: - Using his (non-SaaS) background to land his SDR job - How he strategically built relationships with AEs - What his cold email formula is for hitting 129% for 10 months in a row - How he combines cold calls + cold emails maximize his results - How he identifies triggers for his business and uses them for outreach - Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerjhickey/ - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources and creators from the episode: - Ryan Rysert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salesdevelopmentrepresentative/ - Ryan's cold call script: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JqtXt9z8QU&ab_channel=Cognism - Brian LaManna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlamanna/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast. #sdr #bdr #salesdevelopment #coldemail #techsales

Atul and Sriharsha BLEW AWAY the whole tech sales community with their new AI tool. It helps sales reps practice 400+ cold calls in 2 weeks instead of 9 months. *Read about the lessons from this episode and join 100s of SDRs reading SDR Hire insights in their inbox: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter Here's what we discussed: - What is Hyperbound?! - How they pivoted 12 times while at Y-Combinator - How their tool went viral with the support of all major tech sales influencers - How to train cold calling FOR FREE using Hyperbound - Why sales leaders want even more rude AI bots for their sellers to practice on - HyperBound's cold calling competition Hope you enjoy and subscribe. - Connect with Atul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atul-raghunathan/ - Connect with Sai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sguduguntla/ - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Try yourself against Hyperbound bots for free here: https://www.hyperbound.ai/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Frank Sondors is an AI startup CEO and is booking 60-80 meetings per week, by sending 6000 emails per day at 75-80% open rates. *Join other top performes getting SDR Hire insights in their inbox: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter After years of leading sales teams, he realized the only way to scale is to hire more people. Believing there had to be a better way, he built SalesForge: a tool that uses AI to send cold emails at scale, making every single email unique to every prospect. Frank talked about: • How he came up with Salesforge • His frenemy relationship with Outreach and Salesloft • His growth strategies for the product • The future of cold email in 2024 and beyond • The launch of their cold email infrastructure product Mailforge on Product Hunt • How SDRs and AEs can use Salesforge to crush their quota Hope you enjoy and subscribe. - Connect with Frank on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franksondors/ - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Frank's resources and recommendations: - Send personalized and unique emails at scale with Salesforge: https://www.salesforge.ai/ - Set up your cold email infrastructure to unlimited with Mailforge: https://www.mailforge.ai/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Chirs Cicconi is a 15y sales veteran, who's led several multi-million dollar sales teams. And he found himself without a job. In this masterclass episode, he gave us a step-by-step guide how he hunted for his new Sales Job. *Get insights from Tech Sales top performers. Join SDR Hire Insights newsletter: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter Chris shared: - How he used his LinkedIn network for job hunting - His outreach strategy for landing the job - His 3 part evaluation check list for choosing companies - The impact of job hunt on your life and family Hope you enjoy and subscribe. - Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercicconi/ - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Chris' resources and recommendations: - Chris' Started Guide for newbies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christophercicconi_linkedin-linkedincreator-starterguide-activity-6913836448278319104-m9hp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop - Chris is a Sendfluencer. Learn more about Sendoso here: https://www.sendoso.com/demo-request?utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_source=linkedin&utm_content=cicconi --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Aaron Reeves is a an AE at Revolut in his early 20s. Very early in his career he started selling door to door. He's had to face 20,000 rejections on his way up. Todays he's crushing it as a full cycle Account Executive (cold calling his way into his sales deals). *Get insights from top performers and sales leaders on the SDR Hire Insights newsletter: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter Aaron shared: - What 20,000 rejections taught him about sales. - How he does his cold calls. - What made him able to close 80+ deals in 2023. - How he uses systems to always beat his quota. Hope you enjoy and subscribe. - Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-reeves-a1425b203/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources by Aaron: - Aaron's PITCH Framework: https://windy-ferry-1c7.notion.site/P-I-T-C-H-Framework-3e468876f1e346ba8397513cd01e95ea - Aaron's Workflow template: https://windy-ferry-1c7.notion.site/Workflow-Template-18b9da5c260741f3b4ab3d85144d248f - Aaron's best creator to follow for SDRs: Troy Munson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troymunson/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Justin Michael spent the last 20 years perfecting the skill of sales. He researched all the greats of the Sales world and created his own methodology called JMM. Today he's a 4x author and in his latest books he reveals the method alongside what sales will look like by 2050. *Get insights from top performers and sales leaders on the SDR Hire Insights newsletter: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter Justin talked about: - His winning cold call opener - Why the permission based opener is not working - What the future holds for AI in sales - How to master psychology of selling - The art of side hustle as a sales rep Hope you share and enjoy! - Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljustin/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources by Justin: - Sales Superpowers: A New Outbound Operating System To Drive Explosive Pipeline Growth: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Superpowers-Outbound-Operating-Explosive-ebook/dp/B0CL9K4TQL/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Justin+Michael&qid=1707129104&sr=8-2 - Justin Michael Method 2.0: An Advanced Outbound System To Drive Explosive Pipeline Growth With New Sales Superpowers: https://www.amazon.com/Justin-Michael-Method-2-0-Superpowers-ebook/dp/B0CN3VZRSC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Justin+Michael&qid=1707129104&sr=8-1 - Hard Skill Exchange: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hard-skill-exchange/ --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

James Bissell is a 2x VP of Sales. He shared with us his playbook for bringing in a 1000%+ growth in ARR for one of his companies. In another company he was able to 10x their pipeline in months from 6 to 60 booked meetings per month. Today, James is running Revenue Ready - sales consulting for companies and sales reps. *Get insights from top performers and sales leaders on the SDR Hire Insights newsletter: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter James discussed: - the importance of the SDR and AE partnership in driving revenue growth - how a well-documented sales playbook can make all the difference - how to nail your discovery calls and the role of champions in closing deals - what are the essential skills for SDRs - how a good manager can be a coach and present a valuable learning resource Hope you share and enjoy! - Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1 - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources by James: - James' Sales University: https://www.jamesbissell.com/sales-university - James' Sales Playbook development service: https://www.jamesbissell.com/business --------------------------------------- Taking too long to hire a sales rep? Access vetted, trained and experienced SDRs. Cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, sales automation. Cut your hiring to a few days and pay 50-60% less in salaries. Hire with sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Dave's been the Director of Sales Development for EMEA at Snowflake for the last year. He shares his lessons from managing and coaching five SDR managers and 50 SDRs at a unicorn company valued over $65B. *Subscribe to SDR Hire Insights newsletter: https://sdrhire.com/#newsletter In this episode, Srba and Dave discuss: - how Dave went from a BDR at Palo Alto Networks in 2013 to leading a global SDR team - what's it like leading a 50 people SDR team - how to build a successful SDR team from scratch - what are the winning traits of A players - what's the difference between a manager and a leader Hope you share and enjoy! - Connect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveewilkins/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources and creators mentioned: - David's Ebook: Closing the Gap: Turbocharge Your SDR and Sales Team Alignment: https://payhip.com/b/qDTGY - Davis's newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/mastering-sales-development-7135961833558958080/ - Andy Laws: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-laws/ --------------------------------------- SDR Hire helps build remote SDR and sales teams. Experienced, trained, near to native, ready to be hired. Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Gotta introduce you to this guy. Chris Ritson, CEO and co-founder of Flexprts, quit the rat race twice, and now helps businesses generate revenue growth through their SDR teams. In this episode Srba and Chris discuss: - the importance of consistency and committing to long-term goals - the difference between a sales managers and a leader - operating systems in sales and the importance of timing triggers in prospecting - what impact a successful Sales <> HR combo has on hiring great talent - the importance of middle metrics, conversion rates and the power of verbal communication Through his bootcamps, Chris and his business partner Lawrence, share their expertise that has led to building and scaling 3x SaaS B2B businesses to $50M+ ARR. - Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-ritson/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ --------------------------------------- Resources mentioned: - Chris' X profile: https://twitter.com/thechrisritson - Kyle Coleman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyletcoleman/ - Kyle's Prospecting Bootcamp: https://pages.clari.com/prospecting-academy.html - Brian LaManna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlamanna/ - Yurii Veremchuk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriiveremchuk/ - Lawrence Lanstone, Chris' business partner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurencelangstone/ --------------------------------------- SDR Hire helps build remote SDR and sales teams. Experienced, trained, near to native, ready to be hired. Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

You gotta meet this guy! Vugar is 26 years old and he's closing 20 enterprise deals per year. After just one year as an SDR he got promoted to the AE role where he's spent the last few years crushing sales targets for Deck Robot. Today he shares insights on: - SDR-AE relationship, - the shift in objection handling - the need for discipline and empathy in sales - the importance of establishing SQL criteria and qualification frameworks - how closing deals quicker requires stakeholder alignment and a focus on business case validation - what to focus on when it comes to closing deals during the holiday season - LinkedIn as an effective outreach channel for sales professionals - Connect with Vugar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vnadzhafov/ - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic --------------------------------------- SDR Hire helps build remote SDR and sales teams. Experienced, trained, near to native, ready to be hired. Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

Meet Srba Markovic, a guy who won the game of breaking into tech sales. Srba used his previous experience in traditional sales to build rapport with his future company. Then he told exactly what he would do as their SDR. They hired him on the spot. Few months later he got promoted to leadership. In this episode he teaches us: - How to break into tech sales in 2024 - What it takes to succeed in today's environment as an SDR - How to use your experience to your advantage - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ - Connect with Srba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srbamarkovic --------------------------------------- SDR Hire helps build remote SDR and sales teams. Experienced, trained, near to native, ready to be hired. Learn more at sdrhire.com Listen on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

In this episode I talk to Yair Ebu Isaac, a guy who single-handedly networked his way from an SDR to Biz Dev Manager for EMEA and APAC. While being a BDR for a year, he built relationships internally with AEs, Account Directors and other country managers, while never missing his quota. When the time came, the best option for building the international BDR team was none other than Yair. Hope you enjoy his experience and passion for sales. Record every sales call with Meetgeek and get your CRM updated with notes on autopilot: https://meetgeek.grsm.io/SDRH (You'll help me earn some money if you sign up with my link) - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ - Connect with Yair on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yair-ebu-isaac-9023031b1/ - Yair's company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/check-point-software-technologies/ Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

In this episode I talk to Angelo Applewhite, an entrepreneur turned SDR selling AI for a living. After running his own Growth Marketing Agency, Angelo broke into tech. He recognized how AI is taking over the world of B2B sales and started working for Jasper. He relies only on emails and crushes his quota every month. Record every sales call with Meetgeek and get your CRM updated with notes on autopilot: https://meetgeek.grsm.io/SDRH (You'll help me earn some money if you sign up with my link) - Looking to get hired as an SDR? SDR Hire List (for free): https://forms.gle/g1ArVKHHt6f3Nx8c7 - Actionable hiring and sales strategies in your inbox: sdrhire.com - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ Connect with Angelo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeloapplewhite/ Catch him on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@themodernsdr Angelo's company Jasper: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heyjasperai/ Creators and tools we mentioned: - Sharriff: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharriff2d?_t=8Yunadhs85u&_r=1 - Tom: https://www.tiktok.com/@techsalestom?_t=8Yunm5l5fFy&_r=1 - My Online Tutor: https://www.mytutor.co.uk/ - Instantly: https://instantly.ai/ - Otta: https://otta.com Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

In this episode I talk to Roberto Carrero, currently an SDR Manager at GoLinks and a consultant for Outreach - the tool. From a power dialer to being an SDR - Roberto was always passionate towards sales. He learned early on how to partner with SDRs which led him to hitting the President's Club back at Outreach. Now he's teaching others the same. - Looking to get hired as an SDR? SDR Hire List (for free): https://forms.gle/g1ArVKHHt6f3Nx8c7 - Actionable hiring and sales strategies in your inbox: sdrhire.com - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ Record every sales call with Meetgeek and get your CRM updated with notes on autopilot: https://meetgeek.grsm.io/SDRH (You'll help me earn some money if you sign up with my link) Connect with Roberto on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertocarrero/ Get coaching from Roberto for Outreach.io: https://carreroconsulting.carrd.co/ Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

In this episode I talk to Jared Robin, a man who went from being laid off to running what is now probably the biggest tech sales community called RevGenius. Jared is an advisor to a number of startups and GTM (go-to-market) orgs. But his power comes from his ability to gather people smarter than him in a room and let the power of community do its magic. - Looking to get hired as an SDR? SDR Hire List (for free): https://forms.gle/g1ArVKHHt6f3Nx8c7 - Actionable hiring and sales strategies in your inbox: sdrhire.com - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ Tired of having to take notes and update your CRM after every sales call? Update your CRM on autopilot with MeetGeek recordings, transcriptions and call summaries: https://meetgeek.grsm.io/SDRH (You'll help me earn some money if you sign up with my link) Connect with Jared on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredrobin/ Join RevGenius: https://www.revgenius.com/ Creators and resources we mentioned: - RepVue: https://www.repvue.com/ - RevLeague: https://www.revgenius.com/revleague - Tom Slocum: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomslocum/ Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.

In this episode I talk to John Sjögren, an Enterprise Account Executive at a company called Care to Translate. His life story is so interesting to me because he had already been a very successful sales rep in his 20's. That's when he decided he wanted more from life and dropped everything to move to another country. We talk about his experience coming back to tech sales step by step. - Looking to get hired as an SDR? SDR Hire List (for free): https://forms.gle/g1ArVKHHt6f3Nx8c7 - Actionable hiring and sales strategies in your inbox: sdrhire.com - Connect with Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-conic/ Tired of having to take notes and update your CRM after every sales call? Update your CRM on autopilot with MeetGeek recordings, transcriptions and call summaries: https://meetgeek.grsm.io/SDRH (You'll help me earn some money if you sign up with my link) Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsjogren/ John's company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caretotranslate/ Creators and resources we mentioned: - Jan Benedikt Mundorf: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-b-mundorf/ - Never Split The Difference: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805 - Gap Selling: https://www.amazon.com/Gap-Selling-Problem-Centric-Everything-Relationships/dp/1732891001 - Fanatical Prospecting: https://www.amazon.com/Fanatical-Prospecting-Conversations-Leveraging-Telephone/dp/1119144752 Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google podcast.