How to become a great sales development representative for your team?

Posted by sathish on March 12th, 2019

In a world which is so finicky about things and is spoilt for choices, how does a sales development representative go about proving his mettle? The answer is not simple but it definitely involves a series of steps that a sales development representative can take that can help them attain greater success.

The Roles And Responsibilities Of A Great Sales Development Representative

The main task of a Sales Development Representative is to identify clients. However, just identifying new clients is not enough anymore since there are hundreds of sales reps are vying for the same client base. As a good Sales Development Representative, you need to engage with the targeted audience and convince them to make a buying decision which is in line with your business objective. In-Depth knowledge of the industry and a good understanding of human psychology can help you close the deal.

Sales Development Representatives should create a checklist that should contain the questions that were asked during the interaction between the client and a Sales executive. Based on the interaction, you will have to figure out whether the client is interested in your product or not. If the client seems interested in your product, you need to assign the task to a qualified sales executive to finalize the deal.

Sometimes, Sales Development Representatives need to go to the extreme. You need to send multiple emails, call them numerous times or set up multiple rounds of appointments to be able to close a single business deal. The job of a Sales Development Representative is not easy and therefore, you need to get used to it.

Become an expert on the products or services you are selling

• If you lack knowledge about what you are selling than it means either you are in the business to make quick money or lack preparation to convert your leads. Both of which can be harmful to your cause.

• SDR should make an effort to reach out to different departments in order to understand them and their perspectives of the product and services on offer

• The most brilliant way to understand your product is if you have used it on yourself. What you learn about the product in that manner is second to none of the theories you might have learned about becoming a great sales development representative.

• Try to meet with different sales representatives as often as you can. Different people will share different ways of doing things and you will learn different approaches. Besides experiences are best when they are learned without having to suffer them.

Familiarize yourself with the customers

• It is a good practice to understand your customers before pitching your product and service. The process of understanding your customer will require you to develop a lot of patience, perseverance and active listening.

• In addition to the above, you need to identify your strengths and the strength of your customers and provide them with options that are in accordance with the type of customer you are serving.

• Be streetwise smart. Almost any company you work for will have competitors and knowing your competitors is equally important in your cause for success. You don’t have to sell a product by degrading your competitor but you can certainly let the customers know the benchmark your products have in the market via Vis some of your competitors.

Have an active social media presence

According to research, every third individual has a social media presence. This translates into many hours that consumers spend on different social media platforms. Therefore, having a social media presence is of paramount importance to sales development representatives in order to better understand the need and wants of their customers.

Be future ready

The world is changing every minute and so are the wants and needs of the customers. Therefore, sales development representatives have to keep themselves updated on new trends and technologies. This ensures that they are better able to connect with the customers and can form ideas basis on the changing trends.

Solve your customer queries

You have to act more as a consultant than a sales development representative to your customers. You have to look to listen to their needs and provide them with solutions. In case the products and services you offer are not aligned to the needs of the customers than you have to be transparent and vocal about it.  By being honest, you give yourself a chance to win back the customer.

Communicate with your clients

It is not a good idea to keep sending emails to your customers all the time. However, communicating and maintaining a healthy and personalized communication channel is the right way to go about it. You don’t always have to be on the face of the customer but you can be subtle in your approach and listen to their needs and queries and try answering them with solutions and not excuses. After sales service is equally important to be in touch with your customers and understand their future needs.

Tailor-made solutions

No two customers are the same neither will their problems be. Some might come up with a vague one while others might need alternatives that may not be prevalent to your organization. However, the mark of a remarkable sales development representative is to take on board the idea of the customer and provide them with tailor-made products and solutions. Flexibility goes a long way in creating that personal bond which will make the customer stick with you for a long time

Send follow up emails when the timing is right

Reminding your customers of yourself is a great idea of reminding about your products. It can work either way. Sometimes a promotional mail works while on other times a simple greeting might work. You do not have to be on the face of your customer but you can be a constant presence by using different methods of communication by sending follow up emails at the correct timing

Keep tabs on what other sales representatives are doing

Keeping a tab on what other sales representatives are doing will go a long way in determining your success. Your competitors are healthy if you take them positively and not be egoistic about yourself or negative about your competitors. You don’t have to copy your competitors but a keeping a tab on them will make you learn of different approaches, problems, and their solutions. Sometimes just by interacting with different sales development representative might throw up an idea or a solution that you were looking for a long time.

Be a good marketer

There is a reason why companies spend billions of dollars on marketing their products and services. The single largest expense of most companies involves marketing. This may vary between hiring known faces and doing promotions in different cities, use of banners and use of different media channels. By marketing these companies create a strong image and awareness of the products thereby creating a trust in the hearts of the customer.  A good sales representative is one who can market the products and services in the way the representative presents the products to the customers. The first impression should always hold good. Half the idea gets sold in the first meeting itself thus being a good marketer will help one to become a great sales development representative.