Sales development representatives (SDRs) play a significant role in outbound lead generation and B2B appointment setting.
To be a good SDR, the sales-driven professional must be knowledgeable about the current state of the sales industry and have the necessary skills to build relationships with prospects and ensure a seamless B2B appointment setting process.
SDRs must acquire the proper hard and soft skills to be successful in their role. While most hard skills can be taught, soft skills don’t come as easy and require a lot of practice.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
The Role of an SDR in Sales
An SDR’s primary role is to identify and engage potential customers, creating a pipeline of qualified leads for the sales team to pitch and ideally convert into customers. They are one of the first points of contact for prospects, tasked with building connections with prospects and piquing interest in your company’s products or services.
SDRs are important outbound sales team members. They serve as a liaison between marketing and sales teams to present each other with crucial market insights. By efficiently prospecting and qualifying leads, SDRs enable the sales team to focus their efforts on prospects who are genuinely interested, increasing the likelihood of conversion. This streamlined approach saves valuable time and resources, maximizing the productivity of your entire sales process.
For a complete overview of the role of an SDR in sales, read our blog here.
What Does an SDR Do?
SDRs use a wide range of outbound lead generation methods, such as cold calling, email outreach, and social media engagement to connect with decision-makers in your company’s target market. SDRs are tasked with crafting compelling messages that resonate with your target audience. This involves addressing pain points and highlighting the value proposition of what your company has to offer.
SDRs are responsible for building and maintaining a consistent and robust sales pipeline. They ensure that your pipeline is continually filled with new prospects and qualified leads for sales executives to pitch in sales meetings.
To be an effective SDR, we recommend that they be BDRs first. Learn more about our insights into the BDR and SDR role here.
Top Skills Needed to Be a Good SDR
There are many soft skills an SDR must have in order to be good in their role. Most of these skills can’t be taught and often come naturally.
However, the more experience an SDR has under their belt, the more likely they are to build these skills over time. This is why we often suggest that SDRs should be BDRs first so they can gain the sales experience and perform as better SDRs in the future.
To be a good SDR, they must be:
Curious
For an SDR to succeed in their role, they must be curious and always ask questions to learn more. However, it’s important to remember that being curious can mean various things. From the SDR role itself to the decision-maker on the phone, they should be curious in every avenue.
When it comes to curiosity in the SDR role, it’s essential that you pay attention to the kinds of questions SDRs ask (if any). SDRs should constantly be asking prospects questions to help them advance in their roles and grow as sales professionals. If they’re not asking questions, this may be a red flag that they’re not happy with the position or already feel like they know everything they need to know about the SDR role. The most successful SDRs are always looking to grow and improve and never settle for being less than adequate.
If an SDR is curious about their role, they’ll likely be curious about prospective businesses in the sales pipeline. A good SDR should always be curious and open to asking decision-makers questions. If an SDR is asking KDMs a lot of questions, they’re showing that they genuinely care about the success of their company. Additionally, they’re ensuring that they set up high-quality sales appointments that are likely to result in closed business.
Personable
More often than not, sales development reps are social butterflies and love talking to anyone and everyone they encounter. Successful salespeople are relatable and good at finding ways to relate with potential buyers.
To be a good SDR candidate, an individual must be sociable, personable, and able to mirror the personalities of decision-makers in the sales pipeline. Mirroring personalities gives SDRs the opportunity to further connect with potential buyers. If the potential buyer sees a lot of themselves in an SDR, they’re more than likely to agree to meet for a sales meeting.
Empathetic
One of the most important qualities of a good SDR is resilience. It can take dozens of cold calls just to find one lead interested in what your company has to offer. And sometimes, that can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. If an individual is able to pick themselves back up when things don’t go their way, they’d make a good sales rep.
Grit and resilience are must-haves for being a successful SDR. For some industries, it can take over 18 calls just to set up a single sales appointment. Maintaining focus on the end goal and coming at these challenges head-on will make an SDR successful in the sales industry.
Relationship-Oriented
Being a relationship-oriented individual is crucial for being a good SDR. When an SDR is relationship-oriented, they have a greater opportunity to foster trust and rapport with potential clients. Building authentic connections through active listening and empathy helps SDRs understand prospects’ needs and challenges, enabling them to tailor solutions effectively.
A relationship-oriented SDR is often better at nurturing leads over time, increasing the likelihood of conversion. These strong SDR-prospect relationships often lead to referrals and long-term customer loyalty, contributing to sustained business growth. Being relationship-driven not only enhances lead generation but also strengthens a company’s reputation as a trusted partner in the eyes of its clientele.
Resilient
One of the most important qualities of a good SDR is resilience. It can take dozens of cold calls just to find one lead interested in what your company has to offer. And sometimes, that can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. If an individual is able to pick themselves back up when things don’t go their way, they’d make a good sales development rep.
Grit and resilience are must-haves for being a successful SDR. For some industries, it can take over 18 calls just to set up a single sales appointment. Maintaining focus on the end goal and coming at these challenges head-on will make an SDR successful in the sales industry.
Self Aware
No top-performing SDR wants to remain in the middle of the pack. Successful SDRs should have an innate desire to come out on top and out-perform every other appointment setter on their SDR team.
There’s competitive energy in any sales team, and having an ambitious spirit will be the difference between what makes a successful SDR over an average one. Whether it’s a sales contest for who can set the most appointments, make the most dials, or get the most email responses, competitive culture in the sales world drives SDR teams to go above and beyond.
Active Listener
As we mentioned earlier, good salespeople are social butterflies—it’s their job to talk a lot. However, while they may be talkers, they should also be active listeners.
Not-so-experienced SDRs tend to forget that listening is a crucial part of appointment setting. When they call prospects in the sales pipeline, they often have a script to follow and focus on following the script rather than having a genuine conversation with potential buyers. High-performing SDRs should be experts in having a two-way conversation—not following a word-for-word script. When they follow a script, they risk missing out on having a valuable discussion and seizing valuable business opportunities.
Active listening demonstrates genuine interest and makes the prospect feel like their needs are actually being heard. When a sales development rep is a good listener, they’ll also be able to handle objections better because they take note of what they say.
Ambitious
No top-performing SDR wants to remain in the middle of the pack. Successful SDRs should have an innate desire to come out on top and outperform every other appointment setter on their SDR team.
There’s competitive energy in any sales team, and having an ambitious spirit will be the difference between what makes a successful SDR over an average one. Whether it’s a sales contest for who can set the most appointments, make the most dials, or get the most email responses, competitive culture in the sales world drives SDR teams to go above and beyond.
Organized
A part of being an SDR is constantly setting appointments, remembering tasks, and gathering crucial market statistics. An SDR regularly juggles reporting numbers, meeting call quotas, and scheduling meetings, so it’s vital that they stay organized and have a way to keep track of all their responsibilities.
While having a sales personality is a crucial part of the SDR role, so is staying organized and managing time well. A successful SDR should always know what they have going on for the day, track their time if they can, and set attainable goals.
While an SDR could keep a calendar to manage their sales pipeline, organization can be made easier with a CRM system like Salesforce. With a CRM, SDRs can prioritize leads based on their readiness to buy and their stage of the sales pipeline. Additionally, using a CRM system to organize priorities also enhances communication between team members. Even if one SDR isn’t closing a lead, talking points can easily be transferred from one team member to the next to ensure each conversation with a KDM is valuable and gets them one step closer to setting a meeting.
Time Management
For an SDR to be good in their role, they must have effective time management skills and handle multiple tasks at once. The SDR role demands efficient handling of numerous outreach activities. Therefore, they must be able to juggle multiple leads, efficiently follow up with high-converting prospects, and research tasks within tight schedules. Good time management ensures that they prioritize high-value prospects, allocate sufficient time for personalized communication and minimize wasted efforts.
Good time management also enables SDRs to consistently meet their outreach quotas and maintain a steady flow of leads in the sales pipeline. With well-honed time management skills, SDRs can maximize their productivity, increase the likelihood of conversions, and contribute significantly to the overall success of the sales team and the company.
Adaptable
A good SDR is always ready to roll with the punches. Adaptability is one of the most important qualities in a good SDR since the job description and best practices are constantly changing. A great SDR needs to be able to adapt to different selling situations, whether it’s talking to a KDM or trying to get past a gatekeeper.
An SDR must be able to adjust their selling style depending on the geographic area of the country they’re pitching. Additionally, it’s important that they know different tactics to use during different times of the year.
For example, in Q4, a great SDR would talk to a prospect about how their product or service will set them up for success in the new year. To be a successful SDR, it’s essential that they stay relevant with the times and align their pitch with the state of the world and the market as a whole.
Coachable
Last, but not least, an SDR should be coachable and willing to adjust their pitch to achieve more sales appointments. Sales enablement strategies are constantly changing, and goals are always shifting in sales. Even the best SDRs still have areas where they could improve, and they must be eager to learn.
Sales managers want to see their SDR teams succeed, so it’s important that they listen to what sales managers have to say to maximize appointment setting efforts. To be a good salesperson, an SDR should absorb as much information as possible, constructively process criticism, and act on critiques to make positive changes.
Reasons to Consider Outsourcing SDRs
When small to medium-sized businesses don’t have the bandwidth to take on SDR teams internally, they often look for additional help from outsourced sales and marketing firms. Outsourcing SDRs for B2B lead generation provides many significant benefits, including:
- It allows businesses to tap into a pool of specialized talent with expertise in prospecting and lead generation. Outsourced SDRs are often trained and experienced in B2B sales, which can lead to faster and more effective lead generation.
- Hiring and training in-house SDRs can be time-consuming and expensive. Outsourcing eliminates these overhead costs, as external agencies typically provide ready-to-work SDRs, saving both time and resources.
Read about the true cost of lead generation here.
- Lead generation companies can be flexible and adjust the number of outsourced SDRs to match their current needs, whether it’s scaling up during peak seasons or downsizing during slower periods. This scalability ensures a consistent flow of leads without the burden of maintaining a full-time in-house team.
- Sales outsourcing brings fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to lead generation. They may have insights into new markets or strategies that can enhance a business’s lead generation efforts.
- Outsourcing SDRs allows businesses to focus on their core competencies. By delegating lead generation to experts, companies can allocate more time and resources to product development, customer service, and other critical aspects of their operations.
Outsourcing SDRs for B2B lead generation provides specialized skills, cost-efficiency, scalability, fresh insights, and the ability to focus on core business activities, making it a compelling option for many companies aiming to optimize their lead generation efforts.
Key Takeaways
For SDRs to be good in their roles, they must acquire all the necessary hard and soft skills to present your company with positive results. While hard skills can often be taught on-site, it takes time and professional experience to have the soft skills to consistently build relationships with decision-makers, secure high-earning sales meetings, and ultimately sustain a predictable sales pipeline.
As you look into hiring or onboarding SDRs, you must consider all these skills if you want to achieve positive results from your B2B lead generation efforts. However, finding skilled SDRs are hard to find these days. Additionally, the sales industry turnover rate is through the roof, making it difficult to obtain a B2B appointment strategy that works.
If you want to avoid the hassle of finding and hiring good SDRs, consider hiring Abstrakt Marketing Group to serve as an extension of your B2B sales and marketing team.
Abstrakt’s SDR teams obtain all the necessary skills to provide B2B companies with a successful and sustainable business growth strategy. They are well-equipped to find leads that meet your criteria and set qualified sales meetings with value. If you’re looking for SDRs who have all the skills to present your company in a positive light, contact the sales development reps at Abstrakt!
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