Sales management strategies for strong SDR team leads

employee motivation

Sales management is an aspect of management strategy which focuses on is focused on the real world use of marketing principles and converting this theory into a practical increase in the organization profits.

Effective sales management is all about proper utilization of resources in the team and effectively moving prospects along the sales pipeline from awareness to sale. Due to the continuous increase in competition and increasing costs, Sales Management has become increasingly valuable to reduce costs and increase profits by meeting sales targets that surge upwards every quarter.

A sales development rep (SDR) is an inside sales rep who focuses on outbound prospecting. Unlike overburdened salespeople who are normally target driven, sales development reps don’t focus on closing business.

SDRs primarily focus on moving leads through the sales pipeline. They are given prospective leads lists by the marketing team and they email and call prospects in order to qualify which prospects the  sales reps should spend their time converting into sales. This allows closers to spend more time selling to qualified leads and unburdens sales executives from having to engage in prospecting.

Sales Management Strategies that are effective:

  1. Prospectors and closers: Splitting your sales team into prospectors and closers can have many advantages. By dedicating sales development reps (SDRs) to researching, prospecting, and qualifying buyers, and account executives to closing, organizations can maximize efficiency and output.
  2. Reward SDRs who show initiative: Set up guidelines for SDRs to follow and have certain desired qualities specified. A few of them are as below:

Be proactive: do whatever needs to be done to meet targets.

Less words, more action is the way to go to achieve success in the Sales field

Don’t stress about how things may turn out. Confidence in your team and your own ability is key

Think out of the box, and don’t stick to the normal.

  1. Ongoing Training

The best team leads are continuously training their team members in more ways than one. Right from explicitly outlining methods to complete jobs, to developing in them, skills needed for the job at hand. Continuous training also helps SDRs develop skills they need as they move prospective clients along the pipeline. This in turn keeps motivation levels high and helps avoid frustration. A frustrated SDR is an ineffective SDR.

  1. Use of CRM: The SDR team lead must be open to the use of CRM software to improve the functioning of the SDR team. Closed-Mindedness in this regard can be the difference between success and failure of the team.
  2. Onboarding of SDRs is crucial: When onboarding new SDRs, a good strategy is to recruit in pairs, they perform better. An important factor when recruiting is the communication skills of the SDRs. They need to be proficient in verbal and written communication styles.

Under efficient sales management strategies, SDRs are charged with the vital role of Sales CRM- Customer Relationship Management. Customer relationship management (CRM) includes practices, policies and systems used by organizations to manage and analyze customer interactions.

The relevant data relating to these interactions through the phases of the sales cycle are stored in logical systems, in order to be usable to improve customer service relationships and driving sales and hence, profits.

To manage CRM various CRM software comes into play.At the absolutely lowest level, CRM software accumulates customer data and information regarding interactions into a single useable CRM database. This database can easily be analysed and results can be used to create effective marketing and sales campaigns.

This accumulation of customer information eases the task of the sales team lead, in that it gives him a clear picture of the action needed on the part of his team to move prospects through the sales pipeline. CRM softwares help increase the productivity of the sales force. Sales force automation. CRM Software like Sales force automation tools is used to track customer interactions.

They are also used to automate a number of business functions related to the sales cycle. These functions are mostly necessary in order to follow leads as well as attract and obtain new customers.

Tracking of customer interactions is handy especially since a prospect is not written off until he replies in the negative to distinct SDRs in the organization. CRM softwares that are Geolocation enabled also help SDRs to locate leads and streamline campaigns to certain geographies based on locational factors.

Effective SDR leads will use the best crm for startups to drive the team to meet goals that are set successfully. Since software goes through continuous updates and changes keep taking place, regular training of the SDR team is imperative.

CRM software also helps in lead management and analytics. Once leads are in the system, their responses based on location and various other factors can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns.

The sales managers’ ability to get good results via one of the most valuable assets of the company – the sales team, often forms all the difference between failure and success. This stresses the importance of good sales management to meet the companies goals.