What Makes a Great Sales Development Representative?

If you want to grow your business and reach more customers, you’re going to need an important person on your team — a great sales development representative.

A sales development representative, or SDR, is someone who will go out, find new business, build relationships, engage potential customers, and lead prospects toward big sales that scale and grow your brand.

At Qualified Meetings, we know the value of great sales development representatives, and we’ve developed a thorough process for identifying the people capable of excelling in this important position. We only hire and work the best in the business, and this is how we identify and cultivate our team of great sales development representatives.

What’s a Sales Development Representative?

An SDR is an inside sales rep responsible for outbound prospecting and inbound lead qualification. They identify and qualify ideal customers and draw them toward and through the sales funnel.

While most sales development representatives aren’t responsible for making the final sale, they are responsible for bringing prospects into the pipeline and leading them toward becoming a valuable, long-term customer. A great SDR prospects, attracts, educates, and qualifies leads and then sets meetings for the decision makers involved in the potential sale. But, an SDR is responsible for far more than simply executing a sales process.

An SDR is also responsible for acting as the face of an organization.

They are often the first person a lead speaks to at a company. They make the first contact and provide the initial experience a prospect has with a brand. So, SDRs are responsible for representing the organization and presenting a powerful, knowledgeable, and professional first impression. From the start, they must set the tone that will build trust, instill confidence, and pave the way for a lasting relationship between the prospect and the organization.

Because SDRs play such a critical role in the sales process, we have established unique criteria for identifying individuals that will excel in this position.

How We Hire Our Sales Development Representatives

At Qualified Meetings, we take our sale development representative hiring process very seriously. We only want to offer our clients the best SDRs in the business, so we don’t hire just anyone who applies.

On average, it takes us 20 interviews to find someone we think is qualified and skilled enough to join our team of expert SDRs.

As we go through this interview process, we look for certain characteristics and attitudes, personality types, and professional motivators that help us identify the best of the best.

The DNA of a Great Sales Development Representative

We know a great SDR when we see them because they have the “DNA” necessary to excel in this position.

Professionalism at Every Touch-Point

Sales typically don’t happen after one connection between a brand and customer. Building relationships takes time. We’ve determined that it takes on average 21 touches for inbound leads and 38 touches for outbound leads to convert.

Knowing that regular communication is essential in sales, we look for SDRs that are exceptional at providing professional and competent interactions at every touch point. We know someone isn’t a fit for the job if they don’t show up early to meetings, have a polished resume, engage well on the phone, or come to their interview fully prepared.

We don’t hire people who meet the bare minimum of what is expected of them; we hire people who work to exceed expectations in every interaction.

Polished Social Presentation

In today’s digital age, it’s not enough for a sales development representative to present themselves well in-person or on-the-phone. They also have to play and look the part on digital platforms and in their online presence.

Prospects research brands and the people who work for those brands. So we look for sales development representatives who already have a strong and cohesive personal brand online. We look for individuals who have an established LinkedIn profile that accurately matches their resume and highlights their experience.

When we pair a Qualified Meetings SDR with one of our clients, we update the SDR’s digital profiles so they appear as a member of our client’s team (not ours). So we look for candidates who can present a professional and powerful digital image for our clients.

Eager and Excited to Learn

Sales don’t happen when SDRs puts their work on autopilot. Sales happen when SDRs learn how to succeed and then go out and make it happen. A great sales development representative is excited and eager to act, and they take the necessary steps to prepare themselves so when they act, they make the right moves.

To make a sale, you need both action and knowledge. We call this “high-velocity with intelligence.” A great SDR researches to understand who they are calling and why they are calling. They are not only eager to reach out to prospects, they are also excited to learn how to reach out to them so they can create the best outcome.

At Qualified Meetings, we put a strong emphasis on educating our sales development representatives. We give them the tools and knowledge they need to succeed. But, no amount of training works on an individual that doesn’t want to learn. So we only hire candidates who are ready to be shaped and looking for an opportunity to grow and learn how to become the best SDR they can be.

On The Right Path to Progress

Becoming a great sales development representative doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, practice, and learning to become a powerhouse salesperson. If an individual wants to be truly successful in this role, they have to work at it.

Knowing that the path to becoming a remarkable SDR isn’t a quick trip, we look for new hires who are in it for the long haul. We look for people who have a strong interest in this position and want to learn how to be successful in this role for the long-term. Both their interests and their strengths match what they need to be a great sales development representative.

The SDRs we hire have a vision about where they want to go, and we pride ourselves in helping them get there. We look for determined self-starters because they will be best equipped at taking advantage of our resources (coaching, mentoring training, tools, etc.) and finding success for themselves and our clients.

Work With Our Talented Sales Development Representatives

Now that you’ve seen what we look for when we qualify and hire our sales development representatives, let’s talk about how we can put our talented team to work for you.

Instead of going through this process and hiring your own teams of SDRs, contact us to see how we can leverage our team to work for you and start setting meetings with qualified leads for your business.

Learn more about our unique, high-performing outsourced custom sales programs and sales consulting or click the button below to contact us today to see how we can help your business grow with our team of SDRs.