The top 5 traits of successful SDRs

After five years of building and leading the Sales Development (SDR) team at Looker, I have a pretty good sense of what makes an effective SDR. Many people believe that hiring is formulaic, and that certain backgrounds or pedigrees are a silver bullet for predicting success. I disagree. We've hired over 60 SDRs at Looker, and if that resume-based silver bullet exists I've yet to find it.

In my experience, the most successful SDRs share a handful of common traits. How to interview for these traits is a separate topic I'll get to at a later date. Here are my top five:

1. Willingness to fail.

I often tell SDRs that if they only get rejected 98% of the time, they are doing something really, really right. The best SDRs are those who embrace that rejection, learn from their failures, fix what they can fix, and iterate. The SDR processes we rely on today are a result of hundreds, if not thousands, of failures (big and small) that led to adjustments, tweaks, and optimizations.

SDRs need to embrace this failure and understand that it's the only way to improve individually and as a team. And SDR Leadership needs to create an environment where autonomy is encouraged and failure is a natural byproduct of that autonomy. In team meetings, failures should be discussed as readily as successes and everyone should be ready and willing to learn from each other's shortcomings.

This is especially important at a younger company where the SDR is tasked more with "figuring things out." But it remains critical for all high-performers at any company.

2. Taking pride in their work.

This may seem obvious or self-evident, but that doesn't reduce its importance. If SDRs are proud of every email they send, every phone call they make, every meeting they set for Sales, and every internal interaction they have, it naturally follows that they'll produce high quality work and results.

Set properly, this is a very high standard to live up to. But if you're able to create this culture, you'll ensure that SDRs are individually accountable not just for their quota attainment, but for all of the factors that go into hitting quota.

Try it yourself: take pride in every interaction. Far easier said than done.

3. Relationship management.

Whether the SDR team sits under Sales or Marketing, the SDRs will always be the bridge between the two. Having SDRs who are capable of building and maintaining relationships in both departments is critical to keep teams communicative and to maximize the knowledge share between teams.

Having a solid feedback loop between Marketing / Demand Generation and SDRs is key. It's the most real-time way for channel managers, brand managers, and all other Marketing stakeholders to know how messaging is resonating with key personas, which programs are bringing in the best-fit prospects, what operational systems are running well, etc. Proactively encourage and seek this feedback loop, and empower your SDRs to be the conduit.

Similarly, SDRs are always working in lock-step with Sales, and are the front-lines to receive feedback on the SDR -> Sales handoff. SDRs must be able to communicate their team's qualification standards, while maintaining empathy for what the Sales team wants and needs. When good relationships exist, Sales and SDR work together to find ways they can help each other and improve.

4. Process-oriented.

The most effective SDRs are consistent, efficient, and hyper-organized. And the best way to encourage and develop those characteristics is to establish a process framework for SDRs to learn and operate within. This process must find a balance between being prescriptive and allowing for individual nuance and autonomy.

The SDRs you hire must be willing participants in that process – understanding that following the process is the fastest and best path to role proficiency, and to systematize the way they test changes and evaluate the results.

Having SDRs buy-in to process quickens the time it takes to understand whether various tactics do or don't work, encourages conversations about if and how to adjust, and ensures that the things that do work continue to scale and evolve.

5. Curious.

It can be tough to deliver your SDRs a comprehensive understanding of their day-to-day, processes, product, industry, competitors, and all other topics core to your sales cycle. But these things are essential for SDRs to be effective. The best SDRs are those who proactively ask questions and seek answers, instead of waiting for that knowledge to be delivered to them.

A more comprehensive understanding of the business also up-levels the way SDRs speak to prospects, handle objections, and position your company against competitors – all of which will increase their performance toward quota. An inborn curiosity naturally helps build this understanding.

The same is true for SDRs who are promoted to new roles. The better the SDR understands the internal company ecosystem and how various roles contribute to the whole, the more compelling their candidacy will be when they pursue an open role. Leaders can deliver some of this information, but should encourage SDRs to speak to and develop relationships with their cross-functional peers to best understand their roles and day-to-days.

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Agree, disagree? Any key traits I overlooked? I'd love to hear your thoughts.