Sales and marketing integration is still often tricky business, but sales development reps can be the bridge bringing the two teams together.
In the past, traditional sales development reps (SDRs) typically reported to the sales team, and their performance was often judged on things like whether they met a quota for sales calls. Today, thanks to sales automation, AI and chatbots, a lot of the early funnel work that was handled by SDRs is no longer needed.
But, there is a new, more important role for SDRs in the B2B sales process, to be the human element bridging sales and marketing.
“SDRs can be the lynchpin,” says Jen Spencer, vice president for sales and marketing at SmartBug Media and a featured speaker at B2B Connect to Convert. “Sales enablement is a critical piece of sales and marketing.”
Experiential training firm Eagle’s Flight, for example, had reps who served as traditional SDRs, she notes. “They adapted inbound approaches and retained their SDRs to transform them into being part of the demand gen team.”
Want to know more? Jen Spencer will share her insights on how to turn your sales development reps into B2B sales superheroes at LeadsCon’s Connect to Convert, October 3-5 at the Westin Boston Waterfront.
We hope to see you there!
There’s a lot of talk about alignment, but many organizations are still operating in silos, with different teams taking control of specific technologies or functions, making it difficult to work together. The first step in creating better sales and marketing integration is making sure the sales team is aware of every marketing campaign and piece of new collateral being created.
“You might think you’re communicating really well, but you might be sharing in a way that doesn’t make sense to them,” says Spencer.
If you have a Google Calendar the team is using, put the launch of new campaigns on it, and create talking points about marketing initiatives for the SDRs to use. “Rather than just handing them a list of leads, give them context and more information,” she says. “For example, let them know what questions prospects are asking questions in a webinar, or what web pages they’ve visited.”
Buyer personas should also be built for both a marketing and a sales perspective. A seasoned sales person knows the nuances about communicating to different targets, such as CIOs versus IT managers, but an SDR might need the guidance to know how to communicate with different segments.
“Empower SDRs for engagement,” says Spencer.
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