Back in the day, Sales Development Reps (who probably weren’t even called that yet) kept track of the lead records manually — probably in some sort of rolodex-looking spreadsheet. But thanks to the invention of the Customer Relationship Management tool (CRM) — specifically the big dog, Salesforce — modern SDRs can track a company’s interaction with current and potential customers, aggregating data from multiple sources to provide a complete view of each customer and how the company is interacting with them.
Not only is this processes cleaner and more modern, but the amount of customer data available through Salesforce allows for better segmentation and targeting on the front end, giving sales organizations (and the companies they serve) clarity to evolve and improve. But while it’s easy to see how this CRM technology has transformed the way businesses interact with their customers, the baseline functionality hasn’t evolved much.
More modern approaches to sales, like sales engagement, take some finesse to integrate fully with Salesforce, turning this customer data into a customer acquisition machine. That’s why we created our newest ebook, “Salesforce for Sales Engagement: Sales Development Reps,” to help SDRs understand their lead records in Salesforce and turn them into fuel for their sales engagement process.
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To begin, let’s assume your sales organization has these two things:
- A sales operations team or point person that has set up your instance of Salesforce.
- A basic level of lead organization in place.
Assuming you’re working with that framework, one of the first things you’ll need to become familiar with is your lead view in Salesforce. This will show you a complete list of all leads assigned to you, the SDR, and can be configured by your Salesforce Admin. The main value here is the information the lead view provides: a contact’s name, company, title, and contact information. Talk about sales GOLD.
So now that you have this information, what do you do with it? First things first, break down your list of leads into more manageable groups so that you can tailor and personalize your correspondence approach with each of these specific leads. But in order to do this, you need to understand a few things about your Lead Records.
We all know that lead records contain a lot of information. But for an SDR, more information equals more personalization in your messaging. And the more personalized and precise your messages are, the more likely you’ll be to get a response. What more could you want?
Before diving in headfirst into this exciting pool of data, here are a few details you should focus your attention on when assessing your lead data:
1. Date/Source. This is the “when” and “where” of your lead, particularly for inbound SDRs. Understanding how long ago a lead came into your system will change the way you approach the lead in your messaging. Understanding the lead source will also impact the way you treat a lead. For example, if a lead comes into your system through a free trial form, you need to treat them very differently than a lead that’s downloaded an ebook.
2. Score or Grade. A lead’s score (or sometimes called grade) is based on how well they fit your company’s ideal customer profile (ICP), and the activity they’ve taken throughout the sales funnel. Somebody who matches your ideal company size and industry vertical will receive an A or a high score, where poor fits will receive lower grades and get added to low-value nurture campaigns — or ignored completely.
3. Activity. The activity field in Salesforce will tell you if you or another person in the company has contacted or touched this lead in the past, and provide the specifics of that activity. This is key to understanding where a lead is in the buying process, and what next steps should be taken to continue moving them closer to purchase.
Understanding your lead records in Salesforce, and how those details will affect how you connect with your leads is a huge asset to you as a modern SDR. Letting these insights slide under the rug as simply CRM inputs is a detriment to your sales process. Take control of your Salesforce lead data and empower your process with knowledge.
Download your free copy today and start getting the most out of Salesforce with your lead records. Just few small tweaks to your process can turn a CRM like Salesforce into your secret weapon for customer acquisition.
