Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) are the key to success for any sales team. They are responsible for finding new prospects and nurturing them through the sales process. A successful SDR is someone who can handle objections and quickly build relationships with potential customers, identify their needs, and fill pipelines.
Unfortunately, it's taking too long to get SDRs to ramp up and become productive members of the team, and is a major problem for B2B companies because it translates to lost sales and missed opportunities.
There are a few things that companies can do to help their SDRs avoid long ramp times and improve their sales development skills. We are going to talk about those best practices, and no it's not just training them to do cold calls (although they are still important).
SDR Training Best Practices
Having a good recruiting process for finding new SDRs is a great place to start. It doesn't matter how good your sales training is if you're working with the wrong people. Also, if you're like most companies you're doing social selling for your B2B sales, which means you should build your sales development team from a social platform. Enter places like LinkedIn and Twitter.
These platforms are filled with professionals with a proven work history and an eye for new and great opportunities. The other great thing about finding your sales hires in public spaces is you don't have to rely on first impressions to make your hire. Look at their history of engagement and you get a good picture of the type of sales development reps they will be.
The other great thing about recruiting on LinkedIn or Twitter is you can find SDRs that have no prior experience in sales but can still be champions that you mold to your sales process. Your company's success is going to rely on the work of these salespeople so make it a point to find the best ones out there. This will help you build a sales development training process that will take less time because you have strong people.
A Training Program that helps SDRs Operate like Account Executives
Your onboarding process does not have to be a nightmare. A new SDR can be effective from the beginning if you have the right processes in place. Every company needs to think with the end in mind. SDRs want to become AEs so why not treat new reps like closers, and set expectations of a closer. SDRs get their first interaction with leads so training your SDR team to set a strong example will help build your sales pipeline and meet team quotas.
A training program that helps SDRs operate like account executives can be extremely beneficial for a company. Set goals for SDRs on how to effectively communicate with potential customers and understand their needs. Ask your SDRs about objection handling and teach them to deal with common objections. Doing this early on will make the process a lot better for everyone involved.
A mentorship program is also a great thing to consider for your new team. Having your SDRs rub shoulders with people that have had successful sales can give your new employees some solid knowledge of what it takes to succeed.
Give your SDRs the Tools they Need to Succeed
Software tools will either make or break your sales process. Better equipped SDRs will have an easier time and a tool like Poseidon can help with your onboarding plan. Leveraging our automation features means you can ramp up your reps a lot faster while also creating a scalable process. High-performing sales professionals all have the strong tools they leverage to win. SDRs need to be put in an environment that facilitates fast ramp-up time and we have everything and more to make that possible.
