I was having a spirited discussion with @Daniel Ahmadizadeh CEO of persistiq.com. He is running a company that serves SDRs with an email marketing platform. We were chatting about use cases, etc…and this led to a discussion about the role of an SDR.
So…I shared my thoughts on the topic:
The conventional thinking is to hire a young buck with lots of energy, lower pay, who will grind with the hope of becoming a “real salesperson” some day.
It’s baloney and incorrect thinking in my view.
It took an accident for me some years ago to realize that it makes more sense to staff the front end of the sales process with better talent. The return on investment will be there. Guaranteed.
Let me ask a question. Would you want a prospective client to be greeted by an uninformed, ill mannered, unpleasant receptionist when they walk through the door for the first time?
I don’t think so.
So, why on earth do you want the first touch to be with someone who may still be cutting their teeth. Someone who has no experience, poor training, and possibly fumbles the first encounter…and maybe kills the opportunity?
The success and quality of your pipeline starts with the SDR so why would anyone not treat this role accordingly and staff it appropriately?
Conversely, I would rather have an experienced person in the SDR role that maybe costs more. By the way, there are many older salespeople that don’t want to carry a bag anymore and would be quite happy to take on this role. They are further along in their career and might not be concerned with advancement, don’t want the travel, etc….they make great SDRs.
The other fundamental problem is how management tends to marginalize the role and therefore the compensation plan. Of course someone will want out of this role at some point if there is no upside and the role is viewed as prison and a temporary weigh station.
Here’s a thought: Instead of just paying for meetings, which is a disaster, pay for results and then everyone is aligned and there is lots of upside for the SDR tied to success. This will motivate SDRs…and who knows, some of these folks may actually consider the SDR role as a rewarding career.
Some people enjoy the front end of the process. I want those people on my team.
Brick
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