Introduction
When building out your sales team, there is a specific role that you should pay attention to, the SDR manager. An SDR manager is your Sales Development Representative that overlooks the sales team.
This essential role will be what makes or break your sales team. At the same time, this manager does help recruit, onboard, and train the SDRs that your company hires. They also help take those hires and teach them to be the rockstars that represent your company.
These managers have their focus on the top of your sales funnels, ensuring that your team has enough leads in the pipeline. Additionally, your SDR manager is the direct communication between the sales team and the upper management.
With the technological advances that we’ve had over the last 5 years, innovation is the name of the game when it comes to your company’s culture. A huge asset that can be overlooked is adding managers that think outside the box. Sales is a numbers game, but we know that having a well-rounded selling experience comes from client and customer relationships. Adding a dedicated SDR manager gives your team the ability to qualify prospects you may not have been able to reach otherwise.
Let’s explore what an SDR Manager is and why your sales team needs one!
What is an SDR Manager?
When looking at a sales team, it’s essential to have various skills spread out amongst your team members. Your Sales Development Representative and the appropriate management are not to be overlooked. And having those that work well within the spreadsheets and systems is always crucial, but we cannot ignore the sales leaders. These managers help scale your internal pipeline of leads, allowing you to expand into untouched and new industries that you haven’t tried yet.
This innovative, out-of-the-box thinking will bring your team to the next level. But it can be a challenge to identify the right person for this job. Some skills and traits that are needed for a strong SDR manager are:
- Team Mentality
- Your sales numbers are only as strong as your team. It’s essential to have a charismatic team member who can rally the troops. Their leadership will shine through during times of growth and training. Look for the natural coach in the room. Are they cheering on their team? Do they take extra time to make sure everyone understands the goals that have been set?
- Expert Communicators and Motivators
- Your company culture starts at the top. How are you communicating with management? How are they taking that feedback back to the team? Being able to communicate with both individuals and a team clearly is essential. This team member is strategic with their messaging, they have a consistent follow-up process, and are detail-oriented.
- Adaptable but Analytical
- Your sales methods and practices help set you apart but do your team’s natural management have these skills? Handling and managing a team can be a challenge for anyone. But a great SDR manager knows how to support their team daily. They can adjust and adapt to new goals passed down by leadership and serve as analytical advisors. Your leadership team will look to your manager for direction and insights. Whether this is regarding competitive markets or a new prospect pool, SDR managers are a critical piece regarding the numbers. Additionally, they need to be able to take that analytical information back to their sales team to motivate and encourage them. This is the lifeblood of your sales organization.
Why is Your Manager Important?
We’ve talked a lot about the technical reasons why a quality SDR manager will improve your business. But how do you know when it is the right time to focus on improving your SDR team? If you are looking to bring in more ROIs to help scale your business, then it’s time to look closer at your SDR.
When you have a quality SDR manager, you will have appointments on your calendar with quality prospects. Your sales team’s focus can be on the conversations happening and closing the deals that matter.
Building out a sales team built to scale can be a lot. Thankfully we have a great resource to help! TopLead works with your team to get prospects that are genuinely interested in you on your calendar. Having an outsourced Sales Development Representative allows you to be accessible to both small and medium-sized businesses. Imagine having an entire sales department at a fraction of the cost?
TopLead provides a dedicated SDR and project manager for each project. These team members oversee the day-to-day operations ensuring you receive quality qualified appointments.
Are you ready to have a sales representative generate qualified leads and appointments for you? Talk with one of our account executives today!
5 Tools for Your SDR Manager
Now that we know the importance of a quality SDR manager, let’s break down the top 5 tools they’ll be using.
- Outreach
- Outreach is a sales execution platform that works to “bring intelligence to workflows.” Companies using Outreach “grow faster [as they can] proactively identify and act on growth opportunities.” Their sales platform unlocks more information with speed and predictability, powered by AI-driven insights. If you are looking to improve your sales execution, make sure that you bring up Outreach to your team.
- ZoomInfo
- Do you have a company in mind that you’d love to work with? ZoomInfo is the best company search tool. By using their database, there are over 100 million companies profiled that you could access and connect with. Your SDR manager will be able to uncover opportunities in your market by understanding how to engage active buyers.
- HubSpot
- Training your SDR team can be time-consuming. However, HubSpot has taken the initiative to get your sales training and onboarding under wraps. Through their programs, you can train your sales team, set expectations, build a culture of collaboration, and provide actionable feedback. It’s always wise to invest back into your sales team & HubSpot is at the forefront of this.
- Lusha
- How much time does your sales team search for contact information? This can be a very time-consuming task, but luckily, we have a tool that can help! Lusha allows you to create customer lists and export these to a variety of tools that your team is already using.
- Sales Navigator
- LinkedIn is still the social media of choice when it comes to connecting with professionals. Your sales team is already on LinkedIn, and so are your customers. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool that allows your sales team to build and nurture customer relationships. Looking to widen your reach and receive real-time updates? Your team will be better informed and organized when it comes time to schedule that call.