The job of an SDR is one of the most challenging and essential in sales. These people are at the front lines of new business, working tirelessly to book discovery calls for account executives.
Whether you’re focused on calls, emails, social, video, etc., we’ve put together a list of 10 tips SDRs can leverage to be successful.
1. Do Your Research
Most prospects receive multiple cold calls, emails, and a never-ending stream of LinkedIn connection requests from SDRs and AEs alike. For this reason, research is critical for SDRs who must find a way to stand out from the crowd. LinkedIn is a great place to find useful information for prospecting, as you can see a prospect’s academic or work history or any potential pain points they’ve been posting and commenting about. By incorporating this type of personalization into prospecting, SDRs can potentially stand out from others that are simply providing a generic elevator pitch.
2. Leverage Video When Prospecting
With prospects’ inboxes flooded with emails daily, getting someone to open an email is challenging. So when they do, SDRS must do all they can to capture their attention and get a response.
One of the best ways to do this is by leveraging video. Adding a short video to a prospecting email can make a significant difference. Vidyard says using video in sales outreach increases the response rate for more than 70% of sales reps. That type of improvement in response rates makes the decision for SDRs to use video in prospecting emails a no-brainer.
3. Master Objection Handling
Sales reps hear “no” in a thousand different ways, which is why successful SDRs must master objection handling. A prospect could object over pricing, need, credibility, etc., so SDRs need to be prepared to counter these common scenarios properly. A prospect could simply say no because they don’t want to give an SDR the time of day, but if the SDR can counter that objection with a value proposition that piques the person’s interest, they could change their mind and turn a “no” into a new opportunity.
4. Take Advantage of Automation
No matter how much personalization is done, the job of an SDR is ultimately a numbers game. Given that, taking advantage of automation is critical. According to HubSpot, 61 percent of businesses leveraging automation reported exceeding revenue targets in 2020. One technology that can help automate tasks for SDRs is a sales engagement platform. These tools can replace manual tasks, such as logging activities in CRM, and help SDRs plan their days by showing exactly who needs to be contacted via which communication channel. Utilizing a leading sales engagement tool, like Conquer’s can drastically speed up the sales process allowing SDRs to engage more prospects.
5. Don’t Take It Personally
As an SDR, a good portion of the day will involve getting rejected by prospects. Ideally, most will be courteous, but others may get angry and lash out. When this happens, it is essential not to take any of it personally and get discouraged. It is an unfortunate part of the job, and the ability to brush off some negativity from rude prospects will be crucial to any SDR’s success.
6. Use All Your Communication Channels
There is no one-size-fits-all communication channel for every prospect. One prospect may like to chat on the phone, another through email, others on LinkedIn, etc. Given that, SDRS must have sales cadences that incorporate multiple channels. Successful SDRs must be able to reach prospects on their preferred channel to get the best outcome.
7. Get to the Point
There’s no time for fluff as an SDR. One of the biggest mistakes an SDR can make is to belabor the point in their initial outreach. The amount of time you have to grab someone’s attention is minimal, so it is imperative to lead with value and not pointless filler. SDRs that can catch a prospect’s attention with value that addresses a pain point will have a much higher chance of success than those that take too long to get to the point.
8. Understand the Product
Product knowledge is invaluable to anyone in sales. SDRs may think they don’t need to understand the product inside and out because they aren’t running the demos, but that is the wrong mindset. It is crucial to fully understand the product and how it provides value by solving potential customers’ pain. Furthermore, the end goal of many SDRs is to become an AE in the future, so getting the product knowledge early can help make a promotion easier to achieve down the line.
9. Don’t Ask Yes or No Questions
The quickest way to kill a conversation with a prospect is to ask yes or no questions. By doing this, SDRs give prospects an easy way out of the conversation with a simple “no.” Instead, SDRs should ask prospects open-ended questions that require more than just a yes or no answer. After each question is asked, SDRs should make a point to pause and give the prospect time to offer up potentially valuable information. This tactic allows for a chance for the SDR to better understand their customer’s pain points and how their product or service could solve them.
10. Leverage Internal Resources
One of the most valuable resources to any SDR will be the team of account executives that have been in their shoes in the past. SDRs should take full advantage of their AE(s) to get tips and tricks as to how they should best do their jobs. This type of relationship building can also help make the SDR to AE handoff significantly easier and ensures all members of the sales team are providing the same messaging and are in sync with each other.
Interested in learning Conquer’s Sales Engagement Platform can help SDRs Conquer their day? Book some time with our team here!