Inspired by a TOPO post

Sales Development 8 Reasons

Is Your Key To Higher Revenue

At SalesLoft, we read just about everything we can find that has anything to do with sales development…

Mostly because we believe…

The Sales Development Team is the biggest innovation to happen to the sales process over the last decade.

“-David CummingsFounder, Pardot

So when we stumbled upon Craig Rosenberg's masterpiece article on TOPO, we had to share his 8 reasons why you should consider adopting an SDR strategy.

Are you ready for them?

Connecting With Prospects Requires Time And Resources, Therefore It Takes A Specialized Role

Number 1:

Our friends at Vorsight have proven this with their research…

It takes 12.73 dials to connect with a prospect, even with a direct number.

#1

It also takes (on average) 22.5 dials to get to a meaningful conversation.

#2

And 3 meaningful conversations to get an appointment.

#3

Combined, those stats tell us that it takes a whopping 60-90 dials to schedule a single appointment…

Combined, those stats tell us that it takes a

whopping 60-90 dials to schedule a single appointment.That’s simply not good use of a quota-carrying salesperson’s time.

Combined, those stats tell us that it takes a

whopping 60-90 dials to schedule a single appointment.

You ready for the next one?

A Fast, Standardized Lead Follow-Up Process Is Unmanageable for Your Closing Reps, But Is The Key To Conversion

Number 2:

Velocify did some great research that paints a clear picture of the importance of having reps readily available to respond to leads…

391%

160%98% 62% 36% 24% 17%

1 min. 2 mins. 30 mins. 1 hr. 5 hrs. 24 hrs.3 mins.

TIME ELAPSED

IMPR

OVEM

ENT O

N LE

AD C

ONVE

RSIO

N RA

TEIMPACT OF SPEED TO CALL ON LEAD CONVERSION RATE

Combined, those stats tell us that it takes a

whopping 60-90 dials to schedule a single appointment.This highlights another reason why you need SDRs…closing reps are preoccupied and unavailable to respond to every lead.

Converting A Lead To An Opportunity Requires Its Own Playbook And Subsequent Training And Coaching

Number 3:

Sales Development is a different mindset from traditional sales.

Plain and simple, people can’t be great at two things.

Sales Development Means A Higher Lead To Opportunity Conversion

Number 4:

With a Sales Development Team, converted 40% of their leads !

Leads from the exact same source going directly to the sales team, converted only 5% of their leads. !

Situation 2:Situation 1:

Craig shared the story of two technology vendors with competitive solutions in the same market…

When all criteria were relatively even, the sales development team helped convert 35% more leads.

Which issubstantial from a revenue standpoint over the course of a month…or a year.

HUGELY

Marketing And Contact Data Is Vastly Improved With Sales Development

Number 5:

Let’s admit it. Most sales reps aren’t as good as they could be about keeping clean data. !

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With a Sales Development Team, the gap is filled.

It’s an SDR’s job to live in CRM and document their activities, which leaves marketing with exponentially cleaner data.

Having SDRs Aligns Your Sales And Marketing Teams

Number 6:

Marketing complains that Sales doesn’t use their leads. !

And sales complains that Marketing’s leads suck.

The truth:Even a good lead conversion rate is around 30%.

You don’t want to have your quota-carrying reps wasting time on the 70% of leads that won’t become opportunities.

Having SDRs Increases the Efficiency Of Your Quota-Carrying Reps

Number 7:

With Sales Development in place, your closers only talk to prospects who are qualified and ready to learn about the product.

That means they don’t have to spend any time scheduling, prospecting, negotiating, etc.

Still not convinced?

Well Marketo published some data showing the benefit of SDRs, including…

A 5% increase in selling time that can yield a 20% increase in revenue

A 1% increase in pipeline value that can yield a 25% increase in revenue

And a 15% decrease in sales cycle length thatcan yield a 30% increase in revenue

Your Buyer Wants You To Follow Up. Frequently.

Number 8:

Buyers are as busy as you and I. !

While they don’t respond to every email or call, they still might be interested in your product.

Well articulated but persistent follow-up is the best way to get through to buyers and get a clear yes or no.

The truth:

While your Account Executives are closing deals, your SDRs are focused entirely on getting a definitive answer !

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so that a prospect can either move to a demo or be disqualified.

Simply put, it’s more efficient.

If you were skeptical about Sales Development, we hope this post helped you understand how helpful it can be.

Up your Sales Development game with…

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