How To Build a Killer SDR Team To Generate Qualified Leads

Are you a startup itching to fill your sales pipeline with new leads? Or an established company looking for exciting new outreach efforts? Whatever your situation, we're sure the term 'Sales Development Representative' (or 'SDR' for short) is one you're familiar with. But it's more than just an acronym: an SDR team could be your ladder to long-term outbound sales success.

But what exactly is a Sales Development Representative? How are they different from sales reps? How can I build an SDR team that'll bring me a steady stream of qualified leads and take my sales prospecting to the next level? These are the questions buzzing around countless founders', sales leaders', and sales executives' heads all around the world right now.

So Leadium teamed up with Ronen Pessar, business consultant and sales development extraordinaire, to get the answers to all those burning questions - and more. Stick around to find out exactly how to start consistently generating high-value leads that lead to real revenue results and build an expert SDR team without breaking the bank.

What is a Sales Development Representative?

Put it this way: without Sales Development Representatives, you're going to have a hard time reaching potential customers and qualifying leads. That's because a Sales Development Representative (sometimes called an SDR or Sales Development Rep) is responsible for just that: identifying, cold contacting, and qualifying leads.

Their role differs crucially from that of sales reps in that a sales rep is responsible for taking those qualified leads from a Sales Development Representative and nurturing them through the rest of the sales funnel (and hopefully eventually closing deals).

Therefore, we can think of SDRs essentially as prospecting specialists who 'hand over' to sales reps - a pivotal role in any sales company, B2B or B2C.
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How does a Sales Development Rep qualify leads?

So, we know what an SDR team is, but how exactly do they, you know, do what they do?

A professional Sales Development Representative will use their organization skills to employ a range of techniques and procedures to find an qualify new leads (potential customers) your business can then integrate into the sales process. Let's take a look:

1. Finding leads
   
   • A key component to building out your sales pipeline is identifying potential customers. An SDR will be adept at researching target markets and existing customers (as well as ICPs and buyer personas), leveraging cutting-edge CRM software, and community networking to establish comprehensive lead generation.
   • They'll also explore different initial outreach channels for optimization, too. For example, they'll use their experience to conduct professional cold calls and send personalized emails to potential customers, or they may reach out via LinkedIn or other social media. There's a ton of ways Sales Development Representatives can find high-value prospects.
2. Qualifying leads
   
   • Once Sales Development Reps have identified top-of-funnel sales opportunities, they'll begin the entire process of qualification. This involves personalized cold outreach efforts, determining if the lead fits within their Lead Qualification Framework, and then making discovery calls.
   • All going well, the SDR will then 'score' and segment leads based on their ICP fit, how likely they are to convert, how keen the prospect is, and so on, before handing them over to the sales team to begin the sales cycle.

How to build an SDR team: key considerations

When it comes to building an effective SDR team to enhance your sales process, Ronen's a true pro. So when he talks, we listen. And no wonder, as hiring an internal Sales Development Representative can cost up to $10,000 a month - not including other costs! That's a big investment, whichever way you cut it. So there are some things you need to carefully consider.

During our discussion, he proposed that sales executives thinking of hiring Sales Development Representatives should think about the 'big picture' and consider two key considerations: finances and talent assessment. Let's explore each more closely.
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Can I afford an internal Sales Development Representative?

Highly-skilled professionals like Sales Development Representatives don't come cheap, but can contribute massively to sustained top line revenue growth and a well defined sales process.
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Hiring an SDR: cost breakdown

In his extensive experience, Ronen gives a cost breakdown of hiring an SDR as follows (in order of most expensive to least expensive):

1. Sales Development Rep salary
2. Benefits and tax
3. Specialized tools and technology
4. Location (are your sales reps U.S.-based or off-shored?)
5. Support team (the sales managers and other sales team members hired to enable the SDR)

All counted, an SDR costs around $100-120,000 a year.

Hiring an external SDR or sales team (outsourcing) is a cheaper, often faster option for many businesses. In fact, the cost of an outsourced SDR costs closer to $2,490 a month, on average. Plus, many B2B lead generation and sales development services are ready to hit the ground running on day one, whereas internal teams have to be trained.

Figure out the value of a new conversation

One of the first things sales executives should do when deciding whether to hire a Sales Development Representative is to analyze their current funnel and determine the average value of a new conversation. This allows managers and account executives to forecast and model potential revenue against expenditure.

For example, if a new conversation is worth an average of $20,000 and you realistically believe you can generate another 100 such conversations, you can project from there.

Sales executives, with the help of sales teams, should get a thorough understanding of their financial position before looking into hiring options.
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How to pick the right people

Somewhat harder than the math, however, is talent assessment. In short: how do you ensure you're hiring the right Sales Development Representative?

Anyone who's ever had anything to do with interviewing candidates will know how challenging this decision can be - after all, whether you choose to build internally or outsource, you're still going to be spending a lot of money.

Luckily, Ronen has given us the benefit of his experience and imparted some useful tips you can use to make sure your new Sales Development Rep is the most qualified person for the job, will boost your sales prospecting and outbound sales operations, and will fit into your existing sales team.
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Have candidates send you a video

Let's be honest: you can't afford to spend as much time as you'd like with each candidate, so weed out non-starters by asking applicants to send you a video answering your first five interview questions. This is a great way to save time, as well as to 'get a feel' for the candidates' enthusiasm, communication skills, and sales experience.

Don't do too much research before the interview

These days, a quick scan of the candidate's LinkedIn should be sufficient to establish a track record. Use the interview itself to find out about their sales experience and to stress test their skills. After all, as we all know, résumés aren't always entirely reliable.
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Use 'structured interviewing'

This essentially means adopting a very similar approach to every candidate so as to better ascertain how they rank against each other. Ronen likens it to a game: if both teams have a different scoring system, how are you going to tell who's won? Structured interviewing is not only fairer for the candidates, but beneficial for your assessment, too.
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Keep a 'potential hire bench'

Think of these as your reserves; candidates from previous openings who perhaps weren't right for the role but who nevertheless showed promise and could make a great Sales Development Representative. Whenever you're interviewing, it's a great idea to ask stand-out candidates if they'd mind you staying in touch in case of later opportunities.
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Improve your sales process with a great SDR team

If you're looking to bolster your sales pipeline with better inbound or outbound prospecting, more extensive business opportunities, and high-quality lead generation, hiring a Sales Development Representative could be your answer.

But there are some serious consideration you need to make before committing: you need to figure out your value-per-conversation and research SDR average base salary to establish your financial position. It's also imperative to streamline your hiring process with asynchronous communications and a structured interviewing approach, and to look back through individuals who've expressed interest in working for you before.

To learn more about improving your sales cycle and reaching potential customers with trained SDRs, follow Ronen on LinkedIn or check out his website. And for industry-leading, founder-led advice on B2B lead generation and sales development services, see what Leadium has to offer.