Looking to build out your team of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs)? You aren’t alone. In fact, according to the Bridge Group, 6 out of 10 SaaS companies have a minimum of one SDR on staff. Finding the right SDR is a tall order, but it can instantly fuel your lead funnel and sales pipeline. How?
SDRs can keep your sales pipeline stocked full of qualified leads by engaging prospects via social selling, drip email campaigns, video messages, and some good old fashioned cold calls. Your SDR will qualify leads before passing them over to an experienced Account Executive to carry them through the sales cycle and close the sale.
SaaS companies are gold mines for SDRs
And if this role sounds important it’s because it is. In fact, Salesforce coined SDRs the “superheroes of your sales team”. As more companies are mobilizing their workforces and moving to the cloud, the competition for SaaS platforms is constantly growing.
Finding the right SDR is critical to keeping your pipeline full and your sales team engaged with warm leads looking to find the right SaaS platform. This business development role has been fueling enterprise sales teams, profits, and growth at technology firms everywhere.
If you have a SaaS platform, you need an SDR
As this role becomes more common in SaaS, companies with SDRs have unmistakable advantages. Still trying to get a clearer picture of what this role can mean for your organization?
According to a 2018 metrics report, SDRs spend 37% of their time setting up introductory meetings with non-qualified leads, 31% setting semi-qualified meetings, and 32% passing on fully qualified opportunities. Do we have your attention?
Hiring your next Sales Development Representative sounds simple enough, but it’s currently a job seeker’s market and cloud and technology companies are quickly amassing their business development teams.
According to recent stats, in today’s economy and SaaS landscape, as performance expectations continue to rise for SaaS companies, so does demand for SDRs. Meanwhile, the experience requirements are sinking. Since 2010, they’ve dropped approximately 45% with the average new hire for SDRs touting less than a year and a half of experience.
And with changing demographics, standing out to sales candidates is also changing. Starting next year, millennials will make up more than 50% of the work force. Attracting top performing up-and-comers to your sales force means getting competitive.
So, how can you make sure you’re doing everything possible to hire the best Sales Development Representative?
1. Keep your culture front and center
Even when you’re hiring an entry-level sales position like a Sales Development Representative, you need to show candidates your company culture. What do young business development professionals like to see? Young professionals often look for a culture in which their efforts are recognized and rewarded at a sales-driven organization. Make sure your company culture is visible across your company LinkedIn and website pages, and your job descriptions.
Show the side of your culture that rewards and recognizes their sales talent. Share moments from sales awards dinners and trips with videos and photos of team members perfectly positioned across your online presence. Sales candidates are looking for employers that want to invest in them.
2. Give your Sales Development Representatives room to grow
The best sales candidates are ambitious, even when they’re just starting out. So when you’re crafting your SDR job description and discussing the position in interviews, make it clear that there are opportunities for advancement in the near future. That means letting candidates know what the next step is from Sales Development Representative, whether that’s moving into an Account Executive or Regional Sales Manager role. Give them clear expectations up front, and preface room for growth with the minimum time you expect your SDRs to spend in their entry role.
Have any success stories of other SDRs you’ve promoted? Be sure to highlight those triumphs in discussions with candidates. And if you’re hiring a new SDR because you promoted the last one, that speaks volumes about the potential in this new sales role—be sure to share that.
3. Entice them with job perks and benefits
When it comes to reigning in the right sales talent, you need the best benefits. SDRs will want to know all about your compensation package, commission structure, bonuses, and other benefits. That doesn’t end with how you’re paying them either—sales professionals thrive in environments where they can enjoy a certain amount of autonomy.
Do you offer a weekly work from home day (or two)? What about unlimited vacation? What benefits set your company apart from other sales employers?
With the right approach, you can make talented SDRs eager to work at your company. From there, get ready for more demos booked and more pipeline for broader sales team.