Becoming an SDR is no easy task, and there is a lot of confusion in the mind of a SDR when they join a company. It’s understandable how baffling it can be for a beginner to find their way through a sales cycle. There’s a lot to figure out, and the first few months can be nerve-wracking. To help SDRs through it, we’ll cover all they should be doing once they start their sales career.
SDR fundamentals- acing the first 2 months
The first two months can be a bit hectic due to all that needs to be done. So, to help you navigate through the first two months, we’ve compiled a few pointers to ease your progression when you join a company as an SDR.
First month as an SDR
In the first month, here’s what you need to do.
Learn about the company’s product or service
The first step in sales is always to understand the product you’re selling. So, go through all relevant information like features, benefits, and unique selling points. You will use these research points as selling points later on. So, skipping this stage isn’t helpful.
Identify target audience
Once you know what you’re selling, understand who you’ll sell to. Map out the pain points, triggers, needs, and challenges of your audience. This will help you make a targeted approach and generate more leads.
Understand the sales process
Have a close look at how leads are generated and qualified, and study their progression in the sales pipeline. Before taking any sales steps, the first objective should be to listen, learn, and absorb as much as possible. Having a good idea of the sales process will be helpful in adding value to the sales team once you join a company.
Work on crafting solid pitches
After you know what to sell and who to sell to, the next crucial step is how you sell. The ideal pitch should easily communicate the product’s value to potential customers. This is where you’ll have to grind and learn how to develop effective email templates, call scripts, and other lead-communication tools.
Build your ICP
Use all the insights you’ve gained so far to create the ideal customer profile for your product. When you have your prospect list ready, focus on getting high-quality leads that are most likely to close deals.
Set targets and milestones
Nothing makes sense in sales without data and numbers. So, map your targets wisely in the first month and track your improvements. This will help you and the company have a record of the decisions taken and the outcomes received.
Also Read: How To Understand The Product You’ll Sell?
Second month as an SDR
You get your basics ready in the first month after you join a company. The second month is about reviewing your progress, analyzing, and reconfiguring the process to refine it further. Here’s all you can do in the second month as an SDR.
Refine your pitch
Use the feedback received from your manager or your team to take your pitches to the next level. Of course, refining pitches takes time, but it can only improve, so keep at it.
Boost prospecting efforts
Identify new lead sources, and optimize your target and outreach. Prospecting relies heavily on data, so numbers will be your best friend here. When you hit the right spots, the response will be gratifying.
Finetune the qualification process
Generating means doesn’t guarantee closures, but generating the right leads does. So, focus on refining your lead filtration. Tools can only help so much. Combining tool input with your analytical skills will be the best combination.
Focus on teamwork
SDRs often forget that maintaining communication within a team is just as important as reaching out to prospects and closing deals. Collaborate and understand how to improve messaging and handle objections better. Teamwork will teach you many crucial aspects of sales that can’t be taught otherwise.
Stay methodical and organized
Once you start hitting those lead generation numbers, it’s easy to lose track, and the process becomes disorganized. Use CRM tools to track your progress and follow up promptly. Keep everything streamlined for peak efficiency.
Keep learning and growing
Once you join a company, the learning curve begins. Ensure you keep learning from customer feedback, industry trends, and competitor activities. Attend sales training sessions regularly and read industry publications to stay caught up in all the development in the sales world. Your colleagues can also serve as significant assets for exchanging information and ideas.
Familiarizing yourself with relevant tools
Sales use a lot of tools like CRM software to track leads, email automation tools like Outreach to send personalized mass emails, and sales intelligence tools like ZoomInfo and LinkedIn Sales Navigator to get new leads and gain prospect information. Video conferencing tools help set up virtual meetings, and Sales Enablement tools like Highspot and Brainshark help access sales content like demos and case studies for reference and also for sending to prospects.
Familiarizing yourself with all these tools is essential to conduct daily sales operations smoothly. So, use all the analytics to your advantage, and make calculated moves based on that. This is not the difficult part of the process and will be easy for most SDRs.
Conclusion
When you join a company as an SDR, there are many things to learn, but the best part is you get so much assistance in your learning journey. Sales can be fun when you gamify your approach and use failures as insights for your next successful endeavor. Overall, being an SDR and learning to sell is interesting, and Zohort is your sales guide on this rollercoaster ride.
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