First off, let’s briefly define the role of Sales Development Rep. SDRs are also referred to as your inside sales team. They help to qualify or bring in some opportunities and get some introduction meetings.
- Understand the rules.
Make sure you know what rules the game is governed by. Some SDRs in certain companies may have two objectives.
(1) Creating opportunities – This means creating opportunities for the Account Executive by qualifying individuals. It requires a bit more digging and to prep them to make sure it’s ready for the account executive to take over the role.
(2) Setting appointments – This means listing information, finding people, and setting the appointment.
Check out the book, The Sales Development Playbook where they teach you how they extensively define these roles. Clearly define what your role entails to make sure you’re doing your job right.
- Plan effectively.
Use your time wisely. Some sellers just dial for dollars but to be more effective, schedule the times when you can prospect most effectively. Personally, the best time for me to make phone calls would be mornings at 8-10 am or lunch time 12-1 pm or in the afternoon at 4-5 pm. Then in-between those times can be allocated for sending emails.
Be on top of your planner. Don’t be governed by your role. You govern your role as a seller.
- Shadow some great SDRs.
Shadow those who are really doing well in the company. You get to learn strategies, tactics, and terminologies that you don’t know or have never heard of before. Be open to learning but don’t be telling. Be a sponge who’s willing to learn. Take insights while checking your ego at the door.
- Don’t fear a “no.”
Don’t worry about prospects saying no. They probably just don’t want to be bothered at this point. Put rejections aside. Move on and go to the next one. If someone isn’t ready yet, set them up for the next round. The more no’s, the more opportunities are going to be there for you to get yes’s. No’s are also helpful for you to disqualify people.
- Seek to disqualify.
As an SDR, your job is to get numbers on the board. However, we can get so greedy and hungry that we want to put something up so desperately that we let everybody go through. So make sure you’re able to disqualify people. When you seek to disqualify, the better you’re going to be able to qualify people.
Lastly, make time to sit with the Account Executives you’re setting appointments for at least once a week to find out what things they’re working on and what industries you need to focus on. It’s all about working together so both of you are aligned to achieve success.
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