When we decide to create an SDR team, we should understand that it is an investment of resources and time. Once created, it may be necessary to make changes and it is likely that you will not see results before 6 months, as not everything depends on the SDRs but there are very relevant factors that intervene.
The team needs a leader
It is absolutely critical that sales development teams have leadership at all times. If you decide to set up an Outbound Sales team, you must have an expert in this type of sales who knows the process and methodology.
Sales development is challenging and someone full time needs to help optimize, train, motivate, hire and care for the team. This is a guarantee of success.
Constant training
While SDRs need to understand the product, the key to success is spending time and resources on specific training on the role. It is very important that they know their clients more than their own product, they must know their pains in order to offer them a solution, and offer a meeting that helps them to be more effective.
The training must cover:
- Who is the buyer persona, what problem do you solve.
- Sales skills: communication and pitch.
- Tool training: headsets, emails, CRM.
Team leaders must provide four to five hours of training per month. Some ideas for training: call tracking, 1 to 1, CRM, process coaching.
Definition of the Target Market
It is recommended to make an initial broad definition of our target market and gradually provide a more specific definition as more data becomes available.
Decide who the qualified lead will be, decide on a quota, and then focus on exceeding that objective. If you still don’t have data it will be difficult to demand results.
Communication
Communication is key. The SDR team sits between sales and marketing, so there needs to be an easy-flowing, two-way feedback.
Marketing is feeding leads to the sales development team and the team leader needs to follow up on these.
Another much needed meeting is that between the Outbound Sales (prospecting) team with Sales, to optimise both qualitative and quantitative leads.
Tech Stack
In order to create an outstanding SDR team, having the right tools is key. Their work is intense and difficult, so they should not waste time using an unsophisticated Excel that can lead to errors.
An SDR must have a CRM in which to record all the activities with their leads and where its cadence is collected. Ideally, you’d have an all in one, where mails and calls are also registered and uploading customer information is easy. Likewise, it is also important to have a good search tool to find new companies to prospect.
If the market is wide, there are SaaS that turn to a Market Researcher to search for companies and it will be the SDRs who qualify them.
Recognition
Another important note: we should publicly recognise the success of the SDRs. They are the ones that facilitate the opportunity that will later close the Account Executive.
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