The Definitive Guide to Building an SDR Team

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The Definitive Guide to Building An SDR Team


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The Definitive Guide to Building an SDR Team


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Contents

Introduction

The Core of the SDR

Always Be Prospecting

Increase Meaningful Conversations

But, What About Inbound?

Building an SDR Profile

The SDR at Work

From Good to Great Managers

Prospecting 101

The Motivation MetricThe Career Growth of an SDR

Outreach Strategies for SDRs

Sales Reps as Mini-Marketers

The Right Messaging

Never Send a Blind Email

In Conclusion

The 5 Item SDR Checklist

ToutApp: SDR Edition

About ToutApp

References

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Introduction

Most sales organizations are structured in a way that a salesperson handles the

entire sales cycle. From prospecting, leaving voicemails and running productdemos to closing dealsthe whole cycle runs through one salesperson.

That was sales yesterday. Today, the sales world is changing.

This isnt the first time youve read about the changing world of sales. There are

hundreds of articles about this. But, were going to go deeper than that.

Well be exploring how you can increase the productivity of your sales team by

segmenting the role of a salesperson between prospecting and closing; were

talking about building a Sales Development team.

The three chapters in this book present a look into the future of sales development

teams and their cutting-edge strategies. The strategy is simple: segment and spe-

cialize your sales team. As an increasingly large number of younger sales teams

are growing fast, many large companies are taking notice and adopting the sales

development methodology.

If you want to keep up and drive serious sales for your business, you need to build

a Sales Development team.

Heres some insight on how a few experts did that.


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The Core of the SDR

Prospects are your companys biggest asset. But, prospecting can be difficult. Today,

prospects have so much more information available to them. In The ChallengerSale, authors Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson state that 57% of the purchase

decision is complete before a customer even calls a supplier.

Thats why you need a team of reps to capture the interests of your prospects.

Enter the SDR.

SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. Elsewhere, this role might be

called a Business Development Representative or Lead Qualification Representative,

but for simplicity, well call them SDRs.

No matter their title, SDRs are specialized to do one thing insanely well: outbound

prospecting.

SDRs learn how to craft a proper email and

how to break down that No, I dont want

to talk to you road block. They get larger

prospects with bigger logos and larger

prices. Thats the trajectory that you have to

hit to be a sustainable company.

Always Be ProspectingIn 2011, Ross and Tyler, the co-authors

of Predictable Revenue, advocated for

a segmentation of roles within the

different stages of the sales cycle.

Ross then applied this segmentation

at Salesforce and it changed the sales

industry.

An SDR often is the first point of contact

someone has with your company.

Theyre the ones making the first

impression and educating prospects.

Prospects have limited time and may not

want the whole sales song and dance.

However, SDRs are there to get yourcompany name in front of them and

open the door for further conversations.

Offices

Neal Donahue

Company Size

SDR Team

KISSMetrics provides web analytics solutions

to assist companies in customer acquisition

and decision making.

Director of Sales

Development

San Francisco, CA

51 - 200 employees

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Businesses are so specific in terms of

their needs that SDRs need to spend extra

time learning about their needs before

even beginning to nurture those prospects

and educate them about your companysproduct.

Sales is moving away from the one-person-does-all model to more specialized and

segmented teams. An SDR is there to generate interest, get your companys foot in

the door and get meetings booked for Account Executives (AEs).

And with that, SDRs are changing the way sales gets done.

Increase Meaningful ConversationsSDRs open deals. They prospect into targeted companies and book meetings for

Account Executives. But of the many invaluable assets that an SDR brings to the

table, the most important one is their tenacity. SDRs are the reps that are proactively

talking to your prospects.

SDRs want to feel well established with their account territory and prospects. Sincenot every prospect thinks in the same way, its important to allow SDRs to have

the autonomy to prospect as resourcefully as they see fit in order to book more

meetings.

Tune builds products to help marketers drivebetter results with technology for growing

businesses.

Offices

Chris Calkin

Company Size

Sales Team

Business Development

Manager West Coast,

Brands & Agencies

2

201 - 500 employees

Seattle, WA (HQ), San Francisco, CA


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But, What About Inbound?Inbound Sales Representatives are responsible for the leads that are delivered right

into your sales funnel, generally from marketing efforts, referrals or organic means.

An inbound lead requires no prospecting. These leads flow in and can be highlyengaged with your companys product. But, they also can be unpredictable and hard

to target.

On the other hand, outbound prospecting is targetable and manageable. You

can structure your team so that you have SDRs going after prospects in specific

industries or specific company sizes. Theres no ceiling to outbound prospecting.

But, lets get back to SDRs.

We have named territory accounts. With

an SDR, we have an opportunity to go after

them and generate significant revenue by

targeting those accounts.

We look for curiosity and coachability,

which is really important to the SDR

function where that rep needs to be open

Director of Sales &

Market Development

San Francisco, CA (HQ) & New York, NY

201 - 500 employees

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Optimizely is a website optimization platform

enabling A/B and multivariate testing for

companies and individual users to enhance their

website content and traffic.

Offices

Ash Alhashim

Company Size

SDR Team

Offices

Michael Gultz

Company Size

SALEs Team

Informatica is the leading provider of data

integration software for over 5,000 enterprise

organizations to fully leverage their information

assets ffrom mobile, social and big-data.

Redwood City, CA (HQ), Austin, TX, Boston, MA &

Dublin, Ireland

1001 - 5000 employees

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Lead of Inside Sales and

Direct Response (Cloud Sales)


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I look for someone who carries themselves well.

Someone who can stare me in the eye. Someone

who isnt shaken by tough questions, such as,Why didnt you hit your revenue quota?

Nexmo provides innovative cloud commu-

nication APIs that enable applications andenterprises to connect with their customers

through phone and SMS.

San Francisco, CA (HQ), London, UK, Madrid,

Spain & Hong Kong

51-200 employees

30 worldwide

Offices

Charles Rummelein

Company Size

Sales Team

Team Lead of US Sales

Bachelors Degree or Equivalent

Resume6 -12 months of phone experience

high energy level, motivation and drive to succeed

proven track record of excellent communication

Versatile enough to be a team player, but effective

enough to be an individual contributor

strong passion for selling and ability to communicate

a products value

knowledge of salesforce (a Plus)

Building an SDR ProfileLets say you agree - now; lets talk abouthow to build the right SDR team for your

company.

For many companies, a rubric for hiring

is quite useful:

As you think about hiring SDRs, you

should ask yourself: Which qualities are

foundational and which are coachable?

Having an SDR rubric not only simplifies

the hiring process for managers - but

also helps with training and long-term

career goals.

Once you have a written description of

your SDR role with responsibilities and

requirements, its time to assemble your

team.

I like to build diversity. Theres no

cookie cutter candidate. What Im

looking for is someone who is organized

and is driven to succeed. I want someone

who has the ability to dig and find the

unseen route to getting a prospect on

the phone and being savvy, said Neal

Donahue of KISSmetrics.

Beyond wanting a career in sales, SDRs

should have an entrepreneurial bent in

their DNA. This entrepreneurial streak

gives the SDR an opportunity to make

an impact through prospecting, and then

quickly rise through the sales ranks.


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The SDR at Work

An SDR needs to have the drive to sell today and the aspirations to be a sales leader

tomorrow. To get an SDR from point A to B, theres one person that needs to bepresent: a great manager.

From Good to Great ManagersWhat sets apart an average manager from a great manager is credibility.

What does credibility look like for your SDR team?

There are three main factors in the credibility assessment:

Front-to-Back Knowledge:Have a detailed understanding of what your SDRteam does every day.

A Shared Ambition:An SDRs goals are your goals. During 1:1 time, talk to

them about your ambitions for the team and how they can contribute to

those goals.

Ownership:Take ownership of the SDR team you manage - in both

successes and failures.

Alongside credibility, its important tohave a manageable ratio between you and

your reps. To the right are manager to rep

ratios across different companies.

As companies continue to grow, their

ratio will vary as more reps and managers

are brought on to meet the demand.

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SDR to manager ratio

11 8 10

237

5


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Prospecting 101One of the best parts of being a manager is working with your SDRs to make them

better - whether theyre brand new or seasoned SDRs.

SDRs are able to grow and broaden a company because theyre embedded in

conversations with prospects. The amount of time it takes to prospect into a

company is a moving variable, but as illustrated, the process remains the same:

A manager can then measure an

SDRs performance. Measuring

performance can help you formulate

an understanding of the progress of

your SDR team. The simplest and most

traditional form of measurement is

tracking revenue within your pipeline.An example of tracking revenue is

figuring out whether a closed deal was

sourced by an SDR.

Measuring SDR PErformance


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The Motivation MetricSDRs are a hungry, awesome and hard-

working group. Theyre eager to win,

especially with a fair base salary and

the right incentives.

In a 2014 survey of SDR Metrics and

Compensation, The Bridge Group found

that the annual base salary of an SDR

is $46k. Additionally, SDRs are eligible

to earn more based on performance,such as number of meetings booked.

To motivate their teams, managers can

run weekly sales contests, give out gift

cards or pay out target-hitting earnings

as well.

The success of the company has been

one of the most rewarding parts of being

an SDR Manager. The company is doing

well, and a big part of that is from the

efforts of the Sales Development team.

I just think its rewarding seeing each

member of my team high up on the

Leaderboard each month.

I motivate my team in various ways.

If they come in early, Ill buy them

breakfast. If they stay late, Ill take them

to drinks afterwards. Its close-knit,

said Charles Rummelein at Nexmo.

Being a well-rounded and close knit

team affects the camaraderie of the

team as a whole, but it also helps ramp

new reps.

The Career Growth of an SDRThe SDR role is a foundational one

within the larger structure of a sales

team. For many SDRs, this role is astepping stone for upward mobility

within their company.

SDRs gain an invaluable skill set that

prepares them for long-term success.

Every day they craft emails, break

down blockers from prospects and are

personable educators. This success is

only the beginning of an SDRs career

in your sales organization. Many SDRswant to fast-track their sales careers, so

lets get them on that track.

For SDR managers, a success marker

of their team is in the promotion of

SDRs into closing roles as Account

Executives.

Adpative Insights is the global leader in cloudbusiness analytics that integrates BI & CPM

suite in the cloud for midsize and enterprise

companies.

Palo Alto, CA (HQ), Boston, MA & London, UK

201 - 500 employees

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Offices

John Swartz

Company Size

SDR Team

Sales Development

Manager


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Steps in a Sales Career

We bring reps into our inbound role to

learn our product and the industry, then we

promote from within to an outbound [SDR]

role. This progression can be anywhere fromthree to six months on the inbound role

before moving to the outbound role.

Five9 is a leading provider of cloud contact

center software that enables more than three

billion customer interactions annually.

Offices

Kristina McMillan

Company Size

Sales Team

Director of Sales

Development

San Ramon, CA

501 - 1000 employees

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Heres an example of this career

progression: in June 2013, Chris Floresjoined Namely as the companys

first SDR. Alongside the Director of

Sales, Chris generated sales pipeline,

onboarded new reps and championed

a need for on outbound sales team

for Namely. After seven months of

outbound prospecting and building a

solid sales funnel for the company, he

was promoted to Manager of Inside

Sales.

Offices

Chris Flores

Company Size

SDR Team

Manager of

Inside Sales

Namely is the leading end-to-end HR and

payroll platform for growing companies and is

used by some of the worlds most innovative

companies in technology, media and commerce.

New York, NY

51 - 200 employees

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better way. Instead, you can use technology to your teams advantage and automate

the process without jeopardizing personalization.

Multiple personal touches at scale is what will amp up your teams productivity

and put you in touch with more prospectsfaster. With a simple framework, called the

5x5 Method, your SDR team can maintain

a consistent cadence of conversation with

their prospects.

The prospect is always at the center of

your 5x5 Method. Train your SDRs to think

about what your prospects care about, and

then center your messaging on how your

company can add value. Whether eachemail is spaced five days, weeks or months apartit builds trust and establishes an

ongoing relationship with prospects.

Sending relevant and spaced out emails over time, so were not sending a prospect

the same type of email every two days, is extremely important in our follow-up

strategy, said Chris Calkin of Tune.

Setting up your 5x5 campaign on ToutApp is simple. With the Email Automation

product feature, SDRs will be able to set up their chain of five connected emails to

any group of prospects. Each email within their 5x5 campaign can be tailored based

on the interests of their prospects.

The Right MessagingAs ubiquitous as email is, it still holds a

lot of mystery. Studies show that 20% -

40% of the 182B+ emails sent out every

day are actually opened. Clearly you

need to break through the clutter so that

your SDRs emails are opened. Start with

a catchy, short and informative subjectline. The body of your email is where

you become more personal and add

value. Remember, keep it short, because

simplicity drives curiosity.


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Never Send a Blind EmailEmail tracking is a valuable way to instantly increase your teams productivity. It lets

you see when someone opens your email, clicks on a link you sent him or views thesales collateral that you attached.

With the ToutApp Live Feed that offers real-time email and activity tracking, SDRs

wont be going into their prospecting efforts blind.

Once an SDR has crafted the perfect

message, designed his 5x5 Method

and sent out tracked emails, the next

step is prioritizing his leads. With a

tool like ToutApps Lead Prioritization,the SDR can get a list of his most

engaged prospects based on results

from email tracking.

A data-driven list of where an SDR

should allocate his time is a valuable

asset. It tells an SDR if his messaging

is engaging, gives him a better

understanding of his prospects and

how to authentically communicatewith them.

The beauty of our job as sales reps

is that it never stops. Theres always

more companies to find. Just stay

hungry and keep thinking about

the long term, said Chris Flores of

Namely.


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Sales Development isnt a trend. Its the future of sales and is a key component of

kick-ass sales teams.

More and more fast-growing companies have adopted the Sales Development role as

a strategic asset for their sales teams. Now, many larger companies are taking notice

and adopting their own Sales Development teams.

The SDR isnt just an entry-level sales role or a junior sales rep. He is a distinct

strategic and competitive advantage for any ambitious sales team.

In Conclusion


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The 5 Item SDR Checklist

Youve read all about SDRs; now its time to start assembling your awesome team.

Heres a 5 item SDR checklist to get you started:

2. Develop Account TerritoriesBased on your Ideal Customer Profile, compile a list of account territories for your SDRs/

AEs. This ensures that you wont have multiple reps going after the same target.

3. Write an SDR Playbook

Ask your first SDR hires to iterate on the playbook, as theyre the ones doing the role everyday.

4. Determine an SDR Compensation PlanOn average, the annual SDR base salary is $46k. However, that average fluctuates based

on your company, location, experience and performance measurement.

Determine your buyer personas

What kinds of titles should your SDRs talk to?

What are their specific needs?

Use a database (Crunchbase, NASDAQ, NYSE, Fortune 1000) to understand

key characteristics of your customers (location, industry and employees)

Filter the database with your newfound customer characteristics to arrive at a

list of targeted companies

Determine the opportunity size of the target company in order to prioritize

outreach

Size and distribute the territories across the SDR team so that everyone has

an equal piece of the pie

The SDR Playbook should be no more than 3 - 5 pages and is a living docu-

ment that should be updated often

The playbook should provide an introduction to your CRM, your companys

product, the Ideal Customer Profile and customer testimonials

Continue to test and update the playbook as your team grows

Experience:Reps with less than a years experience earn less than reps withmore experience

Location:Base salary changes with varying costs of living in different cities

1. Define an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)This makes your sales strategy tangible and ensures that everyone on the team has the same

understanding of the end goal.

5. Start hiringWork with a recruiting agency, or post a job description on your website or on job boards.

Network:Go to recruiting events and promote via social media and your

social networks

Interview:Phone screen and interview promising candidates


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Catch Prospects at the Right Time

Accelerate Your Outreach

Spend More Time Selling

Prospect efficiently with complete visibility in

your outreach

Increase productivity while maintaining

a personal touch with your prospects

Streamline your outreach and eliminate

administrative tasks

Email website, presentation tracking

Real-time Live Feed

Customized templates

Lead Prioritization

SDR Edition: Features

Go after the right targets based on who is

most engaged

Know exactly when to follow up and take

immediate action

Measure and improve messaging using

real-time data that tells you what works

Tailor each email to your prospects needs

Book meetings faster by auto-inserting

calendar times into emails

Build customized lead, contact and account

lists seamlessly with two-click sync from

Salesforce

Calendar sync and scheduling

Scheduled emails

Engagement data with CRM

Personalized group emailing

SDR EDITIONIncrease connects and book more meetings by catching prospects at the right time

with the power of email tracking, templates and analytics.


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about ToutApp

ToutApp helps sales teams streamline communications to prospect, book meetings

and close more deals. ToutApps robust email tracking, templates and analytics helpsales teams increase overall engagement throughout the sales process. Founded in

2011, ToutApp has more than 80,000 salespeople using its platform, with enterprise

customers including Atlassian, Dropbox, Optimizely, Jive, Namely and more.


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References

Dixon, Matthew, and Brent Adamson. The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of

the Customer Conversation. New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2011. Print.

Gonzalez, Bryan. TOPO. Sales Development Council #3., Nov 2014. PDF.

The Bridge Group, Inc. Sales Development Rep (SDR) 2014 Metrics & Compensation,

2014. PDF.

Documents

The Definitive Guide to Building an SDR Team