Don’t forget the basics
It might seem obvious, but the first thing to do during every SDR onboarding is to share the mission, culture and value proposition of your company with your new SDRs.
Make them fall in love with the reason your company exists and make sure they understand the pain it’s addressing and the value it’s bringing.
Let’s get technical
The next step will involve more technical aspects.
Define with them your target market, the specific personas they will be reaching out and how to tackle them. Explain their responsibilities and major challenges of each of them, so the leads understand why they should become interested in your product.
And, importantly, teach your SDRs your industry-specific jargon!
Always have a Sales Playbook
All this info should be present in a complete, up-to-date Sales Playbook.
Your Playbook must also contain any situation that could possibly happen when prospecting and explain how to deal or respond to each of them. You want to make sure to include any objection that has happened in the past and provide concise, thoughtful answers to it. Of course, you might need the help of your most experienced reps to do so.
Teach an SDR how to do the SDR job
Once all the theory is clear, the next step in the SDR onboarding process is to teach them how to actually prospect.
This will bring out the importance of extreme personalization, relevance, and the fine art of asking the right qualifying questions, as well as how to approach differently inbound and outbound.
All of this should be accompanied, of course, by teaching your sales reps how to use the CRM or outbound sales platform to be used and making sure they feel totally comfortable with all its functionalities.
Be human
Moreover, it’s a good idea to create a culture of authenticity within your SDR team. Always teach them the importance of being honest, even when they don’t know an answer.
In fact, these awkward situations can turn into an excellent opportunity to better qualify your leads, by promising them you will ask another person in the company and come back to them, and then smartly asking something like: “What would the perfect answer look like for you?” And, of course, being authentic and completely transparent with your leads will create a sense of trust.
Assign them a mentor
Finally, it’ll also be useful that your SDRs know there’s a mentor to hold their back during difficult times.
The SDR role is satisfying but can be extremely challenging, especially during its first months, especially considering that it tends to be one of their first sales jobs.
Having a mentor or a more experienced rep to trust can turn out to be a game-changer, both for the reps’ efficiency and the team culture.
The bottom line
Following these guidelines, your probabilities of succeeding in your SDR onboarding program will definitely increase, if you accompany it with a great culture by making your reps feel a crucial part of the family.
At the end of the day, SDRs will be directly responsible for generating pipeline and revenue in your company, so treat them accordingly!
At Outbound People, we offer complimentary SDR training sessions to those companies that have recruited their sales rep through us. Here’s all the info.
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