This piece is part of our series on modern sales reps, by sales reps.
A normal morning for any sales development rep:
I’m excited. I’m ready to go. I have all my calls laid out in front of me for the next few hours.
I think to myself, “This is going to be my morning. I’m going to be on fire. People are going to want to talk to me.”
I pick up the phone (my best friend and work tool). I dial that number. The phone rings.
*I hold my breath.*
Holy shit – an actual human picked up!
I start my perfectly practiced pitch. I make it three quarters of the way through the my opening sentence and what do I hear?
CLICK!!!
So is the life of the sales development rep at almost any company across the country.
They are the warriors of the professional websites — the ones who always have a phone attached to their ears. They get hung up on more in one day than most people do in a year! Which, admittedly, can be very defeating.
With almost a decade’s worth of sales experience, I’ve got some quick tips for my fellow SDRs out there. Here’s to keeping your energy up, your hand picking up the phone and really just maintaining your sanity as you continue the grind of the SDR role!
3 Tips for SDRs to Not Get Hung Up on Hang-Ups
1. Who cares?
No, really! I know your job is to care about results, but that is not what I’m talking about here. I am talking about the hang up – who really cares about that? Do you know the person that just hung up on you? NO! So do not overthink it. This is the critical first step of being successful in cold calling.
2. Do not take it personal.
I understand this one is hard for some people. I’m not saying being hung up on is fun, but what I am saying is that it is nothing against you personally. The person on the other end simply does not want to hear about the product that you are trying to pitch or doesn’t have five minutes to hear a pitch. It’s not like it’s a great friend who hung up on you in the middle of a story about your life. (I hope that hasn’t happened to you!)
3. Shake it off (and get back on the damn phone).
This is where success will be won or lost by an SDR. Much like when you learn to ride a bike, perfecting the art of the cold call, and even the warm call, takes a lot of tries. You didn’t fall off your bike one time and say “Well, that’s it. I’m done. I just can’t ride this thing.” No, because if you did all your friends would have rode off, leaving you alone! So you kept getting back up until you learned how to ride your bike and got the freedom of being able to ride anywhere.
Once an SDR perfects not just the art of the cold/warm call, but the mental toughness that goes along with continuing to pick up the phone — that is when, and only when, that person will be successful! It can be hard, and even at times a little frightening, but I promise you: Persistence is often followed by success.
As a disclaimer, every SDR has their own style that they swear by for their success. And that’s a good thing! There are truly many ways to be successful in this role. But in the case of every SDR, one element above the rest constantly leads to success: The phone is your FRIEND!
It may look like a big scary [fill in your greatest fear here], but it is not. I could get hung up on 25 times today, but you know what? If I was standing in a line with said 25 people, I would never even know who they are. So it doesn’t matter!
My fellow SDRs, remember this: Push down the fear, pick up the phone, and just keep dialing. Success will follow, because eventually someone is going to want to talk to you and learn more. The key is to not get so excited that you forget what you did to get them to talk.
Above all, have fun with it. That is what makes the day go by quickly and successfully: The right attitude, positive energy and a mindset that says, “I will do this today even if I do get hung up on!”
