The Complete Checklist Before Hiring a Dedicated SDR (And how to avoid costly mistakes?)

Are you looking to expand your sales team and grow your business? Are you looking for more qualified leads? Does the role SDR ring a bell, and is it the proper force amplifier for your business?

I've been building, managing, and employing SDR teams for my B2B clients (startup and well-funded organizations) for the last several years. Everything written here is from my ten years of experience in sales, business development, and team management.

What is an SDR, and what is it that they do? 

SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. It is usually an entry-level position in a sales department, so experience in sales is less critical than the desired skill sets and the right mindset (which we will discuss later). 

SDRs don't focus on closing sales but connecting with as many leads as possible and determining if they're good customer fits. SDRs educate, answer questions, and send resources to potential customers. They contact every lead and determine who stays and who goes.

This role comes down to a simple diagram:

Inbound lead -> SDR -> Outreach -> Prospecting & Qualification -> Good customer fit? -> Forward to the sales reps -> customer. 

After speaking to an SDR, qualified leads move to higher-level sales reps. SDRs may work alongside business development representatives(BDRs) and other Sales executives in some larger sales organizations.

Without the SDR's qualification process, the sales cycle takes much longer (Think of all the wasted amount of time your sales will go to waste when talking to a prospect that is not relevant). 

Here is my complete checklist, of the things you should do, before hiring a dedicated SDR for your team.

Alex's checklist:

• SDR vs. BDRs. The BDR (Business Development Representative) is usually focused on outbound lead generation and qualification, where SDRs focus on inbound leads. Be aware of this difference and be specific (and realistic) with your expectation of the SDR role. (It's two different action plans with other tactics and strategies, most the companies fail to understand this).
• SDR should not focus most of its time on lead generation. They instead should focus on lead nurturing and qualification. Know the difference as it can cause a lot of miscommunication within the team.
• Define the outcome and use the SDR wisely. Not all SDR teams are in place to generate sales and pipeline straight away. Some companies use their SDR team for an MVP stage to test the ground and market fit before investing in marketing. For example, when expanding into a new region, adding new features, or a new service. In this case, using the SDR team to research or educate the market can help you avoid costly mistakes. 

Suppose prospects do not understand that your product can solve their problems. In that case, your priority has to be to educate the market, so setting up highly qualified leads as a target here will be a waste of everyone's time and a highly ineffective use of this resource.

• Build your SDR team around a strong team leader first. Companies often wait until they have several SDRs before hiring a Sales development manager. Before employing the team players, go and hire an experienced\ senior SDR team leader to build the foundations for the team. The designated team leader will set up those core processes, guides and getting everything in place. They can act as your first SDR, lay out your strategy, write down your playbook and then assist you in hiring additional reps to build the team.

• SDR and Sales should work together like BFFs. The communication and trust should be flawless, same as the vibe (usually sales are cocky with SDRs, which results in underperformance).
• Ensure you have a solid bonus system that encourages you to hit the specific KPI's of the SDR. SDRs evaluated the number of qualified leads they move through the pipeline. The number of deals they pass compared to their target or quota determines their commission. You better have a realistic commission plan for your SDR (Why should the SDR care if the deal is being closed or not if he is not getting a bonus for it?)
• Make sure you have processes for the SDR (it is wise to have it for your sales teams as well); the process should answer questions like responsibilities, focus, qualified lead when you pass the lead to the sales, etc. I recommend that before you even think about hiring SDRs, it is vital to have a straightforward daily process fully defined for your reps with a comprehensive training plan ready for implementation at hire.
• Maintaining and managing an effective SDR team is challenging and not straightforward. Most often, I see companies trying to implement the wrong methodologies in the SDR process. To be an effective team leader for SDR requires efficiency, consistency, and a proactive approach.
• Sales should take care of their pipeline and not rely on SDR. You always have to encourage people on the team to become more proactive and resourceful. Otherwise, you create unhealthy dependency and pressure on your SDR. 
• When hiring SDR, they should focus on building relationships and trust rather than the killer instinct for sales. Look for confident, outgoing candidates who are motivated and ambitious to succeed, and most importantly, they need to be coachable. Anybody with the right mindset who is willing to learn can become a good SDR, assuming you can provide them with adequate training, guidance, and a repeatable day-to-day process.
• There are several SDR personalities; you should break down your internal sales process to understand what kind of SDR you need for each stage. Give your sales development reps a step-by-step guide to what they should be doing each day and clearly outline the expectations and metrics you will measure them against. (Remember not to put your emphasis on closing deals! As mentioned, it is not their role. Instead, measure performance that they have complete control over it. E.g.; How many qualified leads have been forwarded to the sales team? How detailed their inputs on the CRM helped close the deal, how many leads have you pushed through the pipeline? Etc. 
• Taking a local SDR from your target market is usually a good idea, overcoming many cultural barriers. Having said that, with Smartsourcing, you can build SDR teams offshore. Don't be afraid to test other SDR outsourcing companies as long as you can control the SDR process and management. I highly recommend you to listen to the podcast " Talk with Jorden" where we talk about managing international teams.
• SDR needs good guidance and constant feedback for the leads they generate. They need that to become better and to show appreciation. Don't neglect that.
• Desired skills. A good SDR needs to be a good communicator and a "peoples person," but at the same time, they need to have good admin and time management skills. Most importantly, in my opinion, they need to be resilient. The role is demanding. The SDR will face a boatload of rejections and "no's" before they will hear one "yes." Therefore, as their manager, you need to be aware of that and guide them as much as possible.

Bottom line:

It all comes to hiring the right people, building processes, understanding the outcomes from the role, and providing an action plan to kick start some action from day one. Wrapping it with guidance and direct management to oversee results and performance, and you have a robust system that generates sales.  

If you have any questions about running sales teams, business development, and B2B marketing, please feel free to reach out, and I will be more than happy to assist. 

About Alex Lyhovez: Founder of mSimplex. Pragmatic and results orientated, focusing on bottom-line outcomes, I have a proven track record of achieving and exceeding the performance within the tens of millions of dollars in sales revenue by working with tech companies that are considered best of breed in the industry.