Imagine you have started a new job offer from a well-reputed sales development company. You are really excited to be a part of the new team. On the first day, you have noticed that your co-workers are getting along with the task efficiently.
Till now, everything sounds perfect, right?
Well, here is the catch. You will be working as an in-house “Sales Development Representative” or be a part of a sales outsourcing firm; you are in for a bumpy wild ride.
The main focus of a sales development representative (SDR) is to focus on getting new leads, initiate contact with them, and prepare them to convert into the customer. The primary role of a sales team is to nurture potential leads to valuable customers. Even if you are not the only person closing all those deals, the role you will play in the team will still be critically important. You will work as a point-person in the process of lead qualification, ensuring that the lead is being matured and directed to the account executives to deal over the phone.
Though starting a new job can be cumbersome, being hired for a role as a newbie can be even more daunting. However, you don’t need to stress yourself much about working in sales. There are many sales strategies and proven tricks that you can learn to become an exceptional sales development representative.
Here are some of the most critical tricks to success in the sales field when you have just started your career.
Research the role
You should have enough information about the job role and responsibilities that you will perform. Read articles from experienced SDRs to know about the tasks you will perform as a sales representative and the best practices they follow to get optimal results. There will always be something whether you have just started your career or worked in the sales field for a few months.
Dedicate an hour or so of your workday at the workplace to read about new sales practices and trends. Ask your managers and co-workers about the best books that you can read about sales, search for the top trending blog posts from other sales development representatives. If you haven’t figured out all of it, don’t worry- you are not supposed to excel in all these aspects as a newbie.
Seek advice from sales experts
You are hired on the role for a reason. Your company have surely seen the potential in you. Nobody is perfect, and all of us seek advice from professionals and experts around us to get an in-depth understanding of a subject matter.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to other sales professionals for advice and guidance. Schedule one-on-one meetings with your line managers to know about their practices to thrive in their career. Get involved in group discussions at your workplace to gain their perspectives. Ask questions from other SDRs who are in the mid-career level to know what helped them the most when they were getting started with their careers. Share your concerns with others around you, as most of them will be ready to share their experiences with you. Besides, make connections with other salespersons working in your industry through LinkedIn.
Request to shadow your co-workers
As a newbie, it can be challenging to figure out the best strategies to communicate with prospects and leads. You can ask your co-workers to allow you to listen to their calls with potential prospects and leads. By doing so, you will get to know how they open a call with an unknown person to know if he/she will be interested in their product or service.
Reading the email cadences is another way to look at what a rejection email from a prospect can look like and how to determine if you continue to follow-up on the lead or not. Shadow your co-workers in any way you can to get a clear idea about the responsibilities of an SDR.
Don’t get demotivated by rejection
You will face a lot of rejection as a salesperson. Rejection is inescapable, and when you are a newbie, the chances of getting a rejection from prospects are way higher. This is because you are not familiar with the basic practices and tricks to reach out to a potential customer. You may feel depressed and frustrated, wanting to change everyone’s mind whenever you hear that they don’t want to buy the product you are trying to sell. The more rejection you will receive, the less motivated you will be to continue the role.
However, you should learn pitching the customers and shape the entire sales development process accordingly. You might end up pitching someone on the bad days, here developing a relationship first rather than selling can prove to be very helpful. Just be mindful that rejection doesn’t reflect your integrity or character, so let the reject fuel ignite your passion for succeeding. Don’t let rejection make you feel useless or lousy.
Put your feet in the lead’s shoes
As a sales representative, you should be empathetic to put yourself in the prospect’s shoes. Ask yourself what you would love to hear from a sales representative approaching you for the first time and how the prospect will benefit from responding to your call or email.
What sort of call-to-actions should you use? What would make the prospect think about your offerings and leading them to ask further about your products? What information will trigger the recipient to know more about your offerings? Which words should you use in calls? These are some crucial questions that every sales development representative should think about before reaching out to someone.
Create a schedule
Time is the most valuable asset of a sales representative. You should schedule your work routine in a way that you won’t feel overwhelmed with tasks that you spend more time stressing about the tasks and less time actually doing them.
You should speak with your manager to create a schedule that will work best for the team. Suppose you are an early riser and feel that you can work better earlier in the day, as your manager, if you can come to the office before 9 a.m. for optimal performance. In case you are not a morning person, you should still show up on time and plan to complete intensive tasks in the second half.
While scheduling your work routine, you should also think about the downtime. Arrange time blocks on your calendar and focus on tasks. Maybe you like to end your day while chatting with your colleagues, or maybe you like to value your slow-paced morning routine. No matter which way is best for you, schedule the work routine that suits you perfectly so that you can be more energetic, engaged, and productive during the workday.
Don’t stress yourself from your colleagues’ success
It is quite easy to rule by your co-workers’ success in the sales field as the competition is cut-throat. However, constantly comparing your success to that of your co-workers is not a good idea. You can stress yourself and burnout by the continuous comparison. Don’t let your emotions affect your performance.
Instead, comparing your today’s performance with that of yesterday’s will be the best option to pave the path of success.
Wrapping Up!
By following these tips and tricks, you can set yourself on the path of success, and your performance will be improved in no time. Though sales concepts are easy to understand, you need to practice them constantly to find loopholes and think about the ways to master them. The learning shouldn’t stop throughout your journey as it is the key to success.
