What's Missing from Your Sales Development Training?
Sales development reps (SDRs) have one of the most valuable jobs in the sales process – perhaps now more than ever. Even so, managing and retaining SDRs remain key challenges for countless sales organizations.
The reason? Too many companies don’t invest in effective training for SDRs, knowing they’ll get only 12-15 months of productivity from the average rep.
“SDRs have the hardest job in sales today because getting people to engage is now the hardest part of the sales process,” says Trish Bertuzzi, president and chief strategist at The Bridge Group. “They burn out and they’re ready to do something else.”
The results can be costly. By allowing unprepared SDRs to “practice” on prospects, sales leaders risk hurting win rates, damaging the company brand and wasting money. That’s why organizations need to ensure their inside sales reps are equipped to add value to every buyer interaction.
The Key to Better Sales Development Training? Sales Readiness
When it comes to training, too many programs fail to adequately prepare SDRs for real-world selling situations. SDRs are often forced to consume training in one big gulp. Worse still, these programs provide no way of assessing whether reps are truly proficient in the desired areas; most simply check for completion.
Instead of only tracking consumption, sales managers and enablement leaders need to focus on SDRs’ sales readiness – any activity which prepares reps to sell, such as continuous training, onboarding and coaching. Sales readiness a core component of top sales enablement programs.
In this brief, you’ll learn how sales readiness can improve the productivity and retention of your SDR team, with key tips on:
- Accelerating your onboarding through an “agile” approach
- Providing SDRs with valuable coaching
- Offering meaningful career pathing