CONTENTS PLANNING BACKGROUND. PROCESS. GETTING STARTED. 1
Here at SalesLoft, we believe in inside sales and the power of the sales development team. This is the document we equip our SDRs with to ensure the highest likelihood of success. 2
CONTENTS Here s what you ll find in this section of the playbook. Getting Started /4 Get To Know SalesLoft /5 Why Are You Here? /6 Career Matrix /7 Onboarding /8 Your Ideal Customer Profile /9 Building A Cadence /10 The Sales Development Cloud /11-12 4 Rules To Good Data /13 3
GETTING STARTED Welcome to SalesLoft as the newest Outbound Sales Development Rep! We re excited to have you on board and are looking forward to watching you shine in your new role. We believe that the sales development process is the biggest innovation to happen to sales in the last decade, so you re in a great starting place. We want you to get the basics down quickly so you can start thinking outside the box and be creative. As you begin to set up your first demos, start by using the process below. This document has been created and improved by the SDRs hired before you, and soon you ll be leaving your own mark on this document. Let s get started with the background and daily processes you need! 4
GET TO KNOW SALESLOFT Data Phone Email SalesLoft is the simplest way to convert prospects into qualified appointments, all within one platform. Don t waste your prospecting leads. Build a cadence of phone calls and emails for your team to follow consistently. Automatically track and log sales emails and dials into salesforce.com, saving time for Sales Development Reps to have more conversations with our integrated sales dialer. 5
WHY ARE YOU HERE? Sales development is no longer a nice to have, but a need to have. And it s not slowing down. You re either on board, or getting left in the dust by your competitors. We serve sales development teams and count over 1,500 organizations as our clients. They ve taught us the ins and outs of sales development and we look forward to sharing these best practices to maintain the almanac on how tobuild and run the hottest sales development team - from recruiting, hiring and onboarding, to setting compensation plans and coaching. This playbook will be your go-to for your sales development career at SalesLoft. 3. ANALYZING 1. PLANNING In the first section, we discussed the background to a sales development career at SalesLoft and how to effectively create a process and find data. In this section, we ll discuss everything you need to know getting started in an SDR role. 2. EXECUTING 6
THE CAREER MATRIX Where do you see yourself next year? The career matrix motivates reps by painting a crystal clear picture of what they can achieve and how it can grow their careers, but sets expectations for salary, quota, and promotions. SDR 1 The first level of outbound sales development rep, SDR 1s are eligible to attend happy hours and team outings. SDR 2 The second tier of progression, SDR 2s are eligible to attend tradeshows. After being promoted a second time, SDRs have the option to either pursue a captain or executive role. SDR CAPTAIN As a Captain, SDRs are assigned mentees and conduct interviews for new Sales Development hires. SENIOR SDR CAPTAIN Senior SDR Captains are responsible for training new hires and helping them adjust to their new role. SDR EXECUTIVE SDR Executives provide example training calls for new hires and complete a monthly audit on the competition. SENIOR SDR EXECUTIVE With the highest quota on the SDR team, Senior Executives conduct Lunch & Learns and Team Trainings. 7
ONBOARDING After reps hit the promotion stage in the Senior Captain or Senior Executive role, they are prepared to advance to to an Account Executive, Account Management, or Marketing role. Now that you know what to expect in the long run, what about the first couple of weeks? DAY 1 Get familiar with the company: Meet with department heads Learn about company culture DAY 6 Get familiar with the workflow: Cold Calling 101 Training Complete mock cold call DAY 2 Get familiar with the product: Sit in on an Onboarding Call Sit in on 2 AE demos DAY 7 Get familiar with data: Data training Target Audience Training DAY 3 Sit in on an Onboarding Call Sit in on 2 AE demos DAY 8 Get familiar with prospecting: Search for 200 prospects Set up first cadence and lead pass DAY 4 Training on 15five Read through social proof on blog DAY 9 Get familiar with calls: Voicemail Drop Training Complete mock cold call DAY 5 Sit in on 2 AE demos Read though product one pagers DAY 10 Get familiar with the workflow: Finish prospecting Start Predictable Revenue report 8
YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE The best way to qualify leads is to create a benchmark: an ideal customer profile (ICP), that defines your ideal customer. This will allow you to focus your sales and marketing efforts, spend less time deliberating on the promise of inbound leads, and ensure greater consistency in your sales rep s effort. How do you define your ideal customer profile (ICP)? Industry Revenue Business Unit Size Location Technology Implemented Ask targeted questions: What title best suits your target market? What function do they serve? What are their responsiblities? At SalesLoft, we have found specific groups that are typically good prospects: VPs of Sales, CEOs, Sales Operations Managers, Directors of Sales, and Inside Sales professionals are typically good places to start searches as you prospect. Keep in mind, title is just a starting point, and function is the ultimate measure of a good prospect. Search for people whose roles include managing sales reps (particularly SDRs) and implementing new sales tools. 9
ACCOUNT-BASED SALES DEVELOPMENT Your Ideal Customers can now be tied to accounts, focusing on tailored, SDR-driven campaigns into specific target accounts. This is called Account-Based Sales Development or ABSD (similar to Account-Based Marketing). As an SDR, you ll find the accounts that serve your business best and create cadences specifically for your ideal customers at your target accounts. You ll be able to spend time personalizing your messaging, resulting in more appointments with less leads. Let s take a look at a quick example: Without ABSD: 15 appointments / 1,000 leads created With ABSD: 25 appointments / 1,000 leads created Aim for a 60-70% improvement on the number of leads created to set one appointment. Now that you re acquainted with Account- Based Sales Development, let s build some example people personas that you might target within each account. Want to learn more about the Account-Based Sales Development model and markets of one? We ve got the resources for you. VIEW NOW! 10
IDENTIFYING PEOPLE PERSONAS The people who buy your product (in this case, SalesLoft) aren t always the same ones who use it. To cover a breadth and width of potential customers at your accounts, it s helpful to create People Personas, applying your idea customer profile to your accounts and idenitfying their pain points. They might look something like this: Rick the Rep I have so many emails and calls to manage, it can be difficult to keep everything organized and actionable. Mary the Manager My reps are spamming and not growing as sales professionals. They are switching tasks often, spending too much time in CRM, and aren t apble to spend the time they need to train and improve. Edwin the Exec I need a tool that increases efficiency across my sales organization. 11
BUILDING A CADENCE Now that you know who you re trying to reach, you have to identify how. Define the number of touches over a set period of time. This will be your Cadence. You need to find a way to quickly and efficiently reach out to these prospects. There is no one size fits all solution. The key is to test and discover what works best for you. 360 degrees of Prospecting Use multiple channels to reach your prospects. Phone, email, social, and direct mail are all proven ways to earn a conversation with your prospects. Now, define your specific cadence, and slowly test new iterations, changing one thing at a time for a month to consistently improve. This is an example of a 7x10 cadence used a SalesLoft: 12
CONTENTS Manage prospect lists You can accomplish all of this with SalesLoft Cadence and Sales Development Cloud. Create a communication rhythm The next section of the playbook will dive into product specific actions so you can learn exactly what you need to know about your workflow. But first, let s talk about the Sales Development Cloud and data... 13
THE SALES DEVELOPMENT CLOUD Data + email + phone + analytics As the top of the funnel sales industry blossoms, there is a flurry of tools and technology available to modern sales development pros. Based on demand, we ve invited critical providers to be a part of a cloud ecosystem that can serve the sales development community. The Sales Development Cloud integrates directly into technology that modern revenue teams use to further enhance their workflow. Use these providers to gather and enrich data, reach out, and view reporting and analytics all within the SalesLoft platform. 14
4 RULES TO GOOD DATA You have your cadence built out and an application of record for your outreach. Now you need to determine a way to fill your funnel. Data is becoming a commodity so here are the things you need to look out for: 1. Information Is Up-To-Date You need information that isn t outdated and stale. Gather the best data from sources like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Crunchbase, rather than third party providers. 2. Look For Highly Maintained Data Lists To get the most-up-to-date data lists, you need vendors who are highly invested in maintaining their lists. Businesses like DiscoverOrg, Ringlead, Datanyze, and Proleads are good options for this data. 3. Social Data Beats Legacy Data Services propped up by social data typically have the most accurate information. Legacy crowd-sourced data becomes stale quickly. 3. Starting With Company Data Is Most Effective The best teams start by aiming at targeted companies, rather than just buyer personas. By honing in on specific accounts, you find more qualified leads. 40% of legacy data is out-of-date after three months. Now that you know what to expect in the role and have the basic information, the next section of the playbook will explore details of email and phone. 15
As the product grows, the process will change along with it. As these changes arise and our business grows, we will update and re-publish the ebook to keep you informed. Want to download the next section of the playbook without the hassle of filling out a form? In section two, you ll learn about executing on your data with email and phone. ABOUT THE BOOK This publication was both created and written by SalesLoft. While it was orginally created for internal use, feel free to re-publish exerpts of the book as long as it is credited to SalesLoft. You are welcome to share the book in its entirety with anyone you think might be interested. ABOUT SALESLOFT SalesLoft is a complete sales development platform aimed at helping find and reach out to people they re interested in. MORE INFORMATION Visit SalesLoft.com for more information on sales development best practices or follow us on Twitter @SalesLoft. DOWNLOAD 16