Business Development Reps, or BDR’s, prospect and set demos for sales executives. Reaching out to customers is their number one priority.
Here are nine easy tips that will teach your BDRs exactly how to be successful:
1. Learn To Navigate Phone Trees
Navigating phone trees and avoiding gatekeepers all together are extremely effective strategies in getting through to the people you need to talk to.
We found an online guide for effectively working through phone trees and voicemails. They’ll save you a ton of time as you try to reach the people that matter.
2. Learn to Get Past Gatekeepers
In any cold call, there’s times that you end up talking to assistants of decision makers that you need to circumvent to get to the people you need.
If you reach an assistant, be sure to be direct, but not answer any questions that aren’t asked. You don’t want to give them any reason to object- they’re not the ones who are important.
Be cordial and use the first name of whoever you’re trying to reach. If you are confident and friendly, you’re more likely to get through. Pro-tip: one of our readers told us when the gatekeeper asks them the purpose of their call, they reply: “It’s personal”.
3. Learn Your Tech and Web Browsing Skills
In the age of constantly growing technology, there are tons of software tools you can use to help your BDRs succeed. Prospectors and dialers save a ton of time.
Insidesales.com and five9.com can be a huge time saver with their power dialer services.
4. Automate Email Communication
Along the same lines as prospecting technology, you can use simple tools like Salesloft to automate your emails.
These services track emails and help you provide a personal touch that’s necessary for warmer emails and more closed deals.
5. Master LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the best prospecting tools you can use. It’s information is self-updated by the people who use it, making it extremely accurate. Learn to quickly find prospects by staying involved on the network. Share content your prospects care about and join groups they frequent.
Salesloft’s Prospecting tool integrates smoothly with LinkedIn, letting you add people to lists and CRM with a single click.
6. Get in a Rhythm and Cadence
WhatCounts has built an expert sales development plan including schedules for emails and calls. Their strategy is super effective and includes 7 touches over 7 days.
Check out their ideas:
7. Create a List of Great Questions to Ask
To help your buyer, you have to understand them.
Ask questions that will help identify whether companies are good candidates for your business. Ask things like:
What is most important for you in a software vendor? What would prevent you from taking next steps with me? Is there anything I haven’t covered that you’d like to know more about?
With these questions, you can target specific ideas that will keep the conversation moving forward. You’ll be able to understand how to help each prospect and whether or not the prospect will be a good fit.
Here are 30 examples you can use to boost your sales.
8. Create a List of Great Responses
There’s certain objections and questions you hear all the time. Create a list of answers you can use that will help conversations move forward.
When prospects use price or current vendors as objections, come up with responses you can use to earn a quality conversation.
Explain why your product is priced the way it is and that the value of your product is important enough to be worth their while.
9. Learn How to Ask for Referrals
Referrals are a great way to make cold calls, well- not so cold.
If you’re proud of your product, don’t be afraid to ask them to share it with similar companies. This will not only provide a bridge as you reach out, but will help ensure that they fit your product.
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There you have it, nine ways that you can improve your prospecting efficiency and close more deals.
What else can BDRs use to succeed?