About three weeks into my first job as a sales development rep, I had a big “Oh shit” moment.
I realized that because LevelEleven’s platform is built to empower modern sales leaders, my whole job revolves around speaking to senior sales leaders and educating them on a better way to do sales.
The obvious problem here is that I had only spent a few short weeks as a junior sales rep — What could I possibly tell a high-performing VP of Sales about the sales process that they don’t already know?
This problem isn’t unique to me. There are thousands of people in SDR roles across industries, prospecting C-level executives with zero experience to back up what they are talking about.
So the question becomes, as leader of sales development reps, how do you equip your reps to intelligently speak to prospects that are far more experienced and knowledgeable?
Why Sales Development Reps Need Education
By diving into our various use cases, I came up with nuggets worth sharing. I found myself in positions where I genuinely shared valuable information with prospects — the ultimate goal for every SDR.
That’s why SDR leaders need to spend time every week empowering their reps with knowledge by:
- Sharing case studies with reps
- Educating reps on trends in their target market
- Ensuring reps have a complete understanding of how your product can translate into value for prospects
As a rep, when I realized that I could rely on my company’s experience in the space rather than my own, my entire outlook on the SDR role changed. By diving into how companies like Hubspot, EMC, Kelly Services, and Comcast were using LevelEleven, I had the ability to truly educate sales leaders on how they can improve performance.
On top of just sounding more educated, I was also able to lean more heavily on the network of the entire company, rather than my own very limited connections. I understood who loved using LevelEleven, who their competitors were, and who left the company for other leadership positions. From this knowledge, I was able to build out a targeted list of warm accounts to reach out to.
The point is, education of SDR’s goes a long way. Investing in their knowledge has returns in the SDR’s ability identify top prospects and in their ability to educate those prospects.
As an SDR leader, take the time every week to educate your reps on a new use case or market trend to make sure your reps are prepared to hit the phones!
Being a great SDR leader starts with hiring the right reps. Get your copy of the eBook below to find out what advice key influencers have for hiring sales development reps.
