How To Launch a Career in Sales Development
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If you are considering a career as a sales development representative (SDR), it’s first important to understand the role this position plays in the larger sales cycle and its impact. Next, it will be beneficial to take “inventory” of your perceived soft and hard skills and see how they align with the skills necessary for this career path. Experts suggest SDRs who have the most success are coachable, possess high emotional intelligence, are systematic and possess great marketing and presentation skills.?
By Helen Harris
You’re probably familiar with the people on the sales floor or on the other end of the phone telling you about a product or service. Ranging from the newest cars to the latest technology or telling you about state-of-the-art medical devices, the field of sales spans far and wide — and you’ve likely heard from, or worked with, a sales representative at some point in your life.
But how do these professionals know who to reach out to and which customers are warm leads??
Within most sales teams, this vital work is done in the role of the sales development representative.
Understand the Role of a Sales Development Representative
According to Coursera, a sales development representative (SDR) is a part of the sales cycle responsible for outreach, prospecting and qualifying leads.
This development representative typically interacts with potential customers at the beginning of their buyer’s journey in contrast to sales representatives, who typically nurture qualified leads and may be responsible for closing the sales.?
Zendesk furthers that sales development representatives are core components of the inside sales team and are essential for sales productivity and do the following foundation work of the sales process:?
“SDRs back up your sales representatives,” writes Zendesk. “Over the past few years, the business industry rapidly capitalized on the idea of quality and quantity in regards to leads. In theory, endless qualified leads equal endless sales, but procuring and converting those leads isn’t realistic if your sales reps are expected to do all the work. That’s where SDRs come in. A great SDR does the foundational work for your sales reps so that they can focus solely on developing relationships and increasing their sales performance.”
Maybe you have a medical or tech background and are searching for a sales development role best-suited to your experience. Coursera reports that jobs are available in a variety of industries, including medical research, digital marketing, technology, education, finance, and more. However, as with any job, it is important that you carefully review the title, responsibilities and qualifications of any sales position, as sales development representative job titles can differ from company to company (i.e., business development representative or lead development representative).??
A career in sales development can be lucrative, with the average sales representative averaging $53,177. This is before the average sales development representative compensation package, which brings that average total to $81,771.?
Additionally, Claire Davis, medical sales, biotech, med tech, diagnostics and pharma sales expert and two-time LinkedIn Job Search Top Voice in 2022, notes that in her experience, she’s witnessed sales development to be stable through all economies.?
“While I can't claim expertise in all industries, I can say that the healthcare market and sales in healthcare tends to ride out the radical fluctuations of the market better than other industries,” said Davis. “And I think it's because we will always need health care and other things might change. Tech is going to change, the government is going to change and all kinds of things are going to change. But at the end of the day — which we all love to say and sales — we know that healthcare is a critical piece of everybody's life. And so it's really an industry that tends to ride the shifting tides easier than others.”?
Now that you know the basic job responsibilities of a sales development representative, you may be wondering about the necessary skills, education and background needed to pursue a career in this facet of sales.??
Hard and Soft Skills Needed for a Career in Sales Development
Paula Christensen, certified professional resume writer and interview coach, identifies the following soft skills that are important for a career in sales development:?
Adaptability: Every person who works in sales development will tell you that the ability to adapt and be flexible in response to new challenges is crucial for success.
Collaboration: If you work in sales development, you will work closely with others, including sales representatives, marketing professionals, and other support staff.
Work ethic and drive: Individuals with a strong work ethic will get up to speed faster, show a competitive edge that is hard to teach, and deliver better results.
Relationship building: Sales Development representatives who can form deep and authentic relationships are most successful. The main tenets of relationship building are active listening, building trust, and demonstrating business value.
Persuasion and negotiation: Being able to persuade and negotiate with potential customers is a vital part of sales development. Sales Development professionals have to be able to understand customers’ needs and motivations and present solutions that meet those needs.
To add to this list, Davis adds emotional intelligence, stating that people who understand that the sales landscape is bigger than just their role eventually end up not just being great as salespeople — but also at developing partnerships with people internally and externally in the competition. She also stresses the importance of being coachable and systematic.?
“If someone is coachable, and they are willing to learn and they're open to trying new ways of approaching the business, that is a hiring manager's absolute dream,” said Davis. “I think that you can come from almost any industry and get into sales as long as you're coachable because you're willing to learn how to do it well. … There are so many ways of being systematic, but what I found in sales is that systems are what keep people successful. Being hungry and driven and enthusiastic can spark the fire for people to be successful, but for those who are long-term successful in sales, those are the people who tend to have a system.”?
To build on work ethic and drive, this soft skill is especially important, as the SDR’s primary responsibility is to get leads’ attention. And to do this, you will need to connect with as many leads as possible. ActiveCampaign reports that this is done through a variety of ways, including the following:?
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“SDRs try anything and everything until they find what works,” reports ActiveCampaign.?
In the way of hard skills, Christensen states that some of the most sought-after skills for sales development are CRM software, market research, social media marketing, lead generation, customer service and presentation skills.
Davis echoes the importance of presentation skills — and states that this can make you stand out among a company’s salesforce, help capture a client’s attention and propel your career.?
“I like to remind my clients that they are no longer a commodity in sales,” said Davis. “They're not a dime a dozen. A salesforce is not an easily replaceable set of numbers. Each individual needs to position themselves as a category of one. The impact you make on your customer will very likely go longer than just the role that you have with the company at that time. If you make the right impact, you will have that customer and at least that contact for your entire career — should you nurture the relationship. So the hard skill for me that's very important is marketing and presentation skills.”?
Skills go a long way in determining how someone will thrive in a career in sales and where their competencies lie. But what about the necessary education and background experience to pursue this career path? Is there a “right” place to start, or can you enter a career in sales development from any direction???
How To Make a Career Shift into Sales Development
If you are thinking about making a career shift into the sales development field and feel overwhelmed, Davis states a good first place to start would be to think about the skills that made you good at your previous jobs and the things that people would compliment you on.
“What were some of the kudos that you would routinely get from peers and/or management? Usually, those are really good indicators as to what people perceive their value to be. And sometimes we're so close and so used to operating in our zone of genius, that it becomes natural and second nature to us. And we don't recognize actually what a superpower it might be.”
Christensen offers some other pointers if you are looking to make a career pivot into sales development and aren’t sure where to start:?
Education and Background of a Successful Sales Development Representative?
There are several aspects of the sales cycle, and as a sales development representative, you’d be playing one of the most valuable unseen roles by doing the foundational work for the sales reps and procuring leads.?
With this being such a crucial role in the modern-day sales cycle, how much should you know of the whole sales process before taking a job in sales development??
Davis advises that you learn as much as possible so you can understand the full impact your role has both in the sales process and in your company.?
“We really can't be effective as a team player in sales if we don't know what the end result is or we don't understand why the impact we are making is so important,” said Davis.
For example, she states if you don’t understand the objections that are common for prospects, then you would have a hard time prospecting and qualifying them. And this is important?because when you reverse engineer prospects, you want to make sure that you are gauging them by the objections that they may have and the situations that they may be in when they're ready to make a decision to purchase or buy in with your company.
Davis provides an example from her own career in medical sales, stating that her team had a test that would determine if a woman's cancer (ovarian cancer) was likely to return after treatment.?
“And while I was more of a sales development role, and prospecting and setting up meetings for my account executives, it was also more motivating for me to understand where my efforts were going to influence the end result,” said Davis. “The end result in this case was a woman receiving better health care or being able to avoid chemotherapy if her tests came back that it wouldn't have been helpful. So I think it can be equally enlightening and motivating.”
In the same vein of knowing how your role fits into the overall scheme of the sales process, ActiveCampaign stresses the importance of having a thorough knowledge of the product you are selling so you can best answer questions and explain the benefits or the features of the product.
“Successful SDRs never stop learning about their product or service,” writes ActiveCampaign. They have to be knowledgeable on what they’re selling. This doesn’t happen overnight, and the learning process doesn’t end.”
But aside from the aspects of your education and background, Christensen underscores the importance of a resilient attitude and not being easily discouraged by rejection. Rather, successful SDRs use this opportunity to reevaluate their strategy and find a way to better approach the potential customer.
“Success in sales development requires a combination of persistence, problem-solving, and a resilient attitude,” said Christensen. “Anyone in sales knows to expect some rejection. Successful SDRs use rebuffs as a reason to pivot and adjust their approach. They learn that rejection is not a reflection of their worthiness.”?
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How To Launch a Career in Sales Development