What is a Sales Development Representative, and Why Should I Hire One?
- A sales development rep finds qualified sales prospects for dedicated closers.
- Modern and traditional sales are as different as factories are from workshops.
- SDRs use strategic cadences to maximize the efficiency of contact efforts.
- Outsourcing sales development reduces management costs versus in-house.
- Boom Demand provides better SDRs, in a better environment, for better results!
The average salesperson will make no more than two attempts to contact each of their leads before giving up and moving on to another. Unfortunately, the average is in no way good enough. As recently as a decade ago, it already took between three and four attempts to make a successful connection.
Now, it takes a minimum of eight tries. Average won’t cut it. Every company needs to be able to count on a team of truly excellent sales professionals. The problem is that the most excellent closers can’t afford to spend their time making eight or more cold calls or email attempts for every single lead. Enter the Sales Development Rep.
What is a Sales Development Rep?
A sales development representative, or SDR, is a person in a specialized sales role.
Since leads and prospects have become increasingly reluctant to answer their increasingly swamped phones and inboxes, it takes a far more dedicated effort to get their attention. Rather than having their entire sales team spend more and more time starting relationships instead of building them, many organizations are splitting their sales teams into two or more specializations.
A sales development rep will specialize on the front or top end of the sales process. They dedicate their efforts towards finding and contacting qualified prospects. They do many of the same tasks that start the process of the traditional sales cycle. Once they find qualified prospects, SDRs schedule them for follow-up by account executives. AEs, in turn, focus on deepening these new relationships and closing deals.
Same Industries, Different Scales
To understand how modern sales teams work in tandem, it’s helpful to think of the difference between a workshop and a factory.
Both the artisanal craftsman and the factory worker engage in the same industrial processes. They both focus on creating something of value. let’s use the example of a table.
The craftsman takes the time to select the type of wood they want to use. They plan out how they’re going to cut and shape it. They have been trained to use all of the specific tools they need, and they are personally involved in every step of the process. By cutting, trimming, shaping, and assembling it, they can build a beautiful table in a matter of a few days’ efforts.
That’s the way traditional sales teams work. One salesperson does all the prospecting, contacting, and closing.
The modern sales team is more like a factory. Rather than one person doing everything, multiple individuals of equal talent specialize in particular activities. Each table or sale goes through the same process of cutting, trimming, shaping, and assembling. The difference is that a different person performs each of those tasks. Each one uses one specific tool. They can spend the same amount of time on each product they work on, and even improve their skills faster. That’s because they aren’t switching to other tasks as much. The result is a finished product of similar or equal quality to that of the craftsman, and ten others just like it produced in the same amount of time.
Specific Sales Development Rep Tasks
SDRs spend their time following specific strategies for contacting and nurturing leads into prospective customers. They engage primarily via email, cold calls, and social media.
Based on the repetitive nature of those tasks, the most successful SDR teams therefore use
proven cadences of contact attempts to maximize the efficiency of their efforts.
SDRs manage these attempts with CRM software, and when they find a viable prospect, they schedule them for meetings with the right account executive or closer.
Outsourced SDRs
One of the most important ways a sales development rep makes a difference for a sales team is by reducing the cost of the sales process. By specializing as they do, they ensure that each member of the sales team is using their time in the most effective way possible. That’s how they maximize the company’s ROI.
Organizations can take this a step further by outsourcing this part of the process.
Bifurcating an existing team increases the costs of management, at least initially. Training also takes a bite out of productive time.
Sales managers can instead contract with an established organization that takes care of hiring, management, training, and overhead for all of their SDRs.
Launching Sales Higher With Boom Demand Sales Development Reps
This is exactly how we help our clients at Boom Demand. We even take it a step further.
Not only does each Boom Demand sales development rep integrate immediately and fully with your existing sales organization, but they also do so at a lower cost than you could ever achieve in-house. We hire and train each SDR with proven techniques and strategies. We then provide all of the equipment and space they need to succeed.
These workspaces are in the nearshore global tourist hubs of Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, Mexico. That means we provide all the benefits of a diverse professional workforce from a variety of international backgrounds, but without the drawbacks of radically different time zones and travel costs. Our SDRs and supporting staff are happy to live in these cultural destination cities, earning generous, above-local-market wages. Even so, it costs far less to employ them than it would in the USA.
Contact Boom Demand today to accelerate your customer acquisition efforts with a happy and specially trained sales development rep team!
