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The Importance of the Sales Development REP (SDR)

Think an SDR role is just a stepping stone position? Think again. In today’s economy, this role has taken on a new critical importance for today’s most competitive companies. The SDR is critical to any company’s pipeline development – and employers recognize that and are paying top dollar for the best talent. The growth potential of the role has also expanded far beyond what it was just a few years ago.

In the past, SDRs were often part of a “churn and burn” culture – every rep was supposed to make a bazillion calls or emails a day, and it was all about volume. Those that made certain sales goals made it, others were ruthlessly cut. 

Now, we’re seeing the position really evolve. There is a career to be had as an SDR for the candidate who is willing to take some initiative and be a real leader for their team. And compensation has grown accordingly.

What does today’s successful SDR career entail? First and foremost, you need to show professional growth in this role. Are you just using the “spray and pray” technique, using stock communication to reach your targets? Or are you constantly improving and iterating on BASHO sequences and building out your knowledge? The career SDR will always be improving techniques, personalizing outreach, and refining targeted communication. 

Also, teamwork! Yes, this has an important role for the great SDR. Taking initiative to encourage your team, and making suggestions and implementing efficiencies that help the whole sales team show that you’re around for the long run. 

Your value should speak for itself – but be ready to communicate it anyway. Be able to highlight the performances of campaigns and sequences that they have written versus those stock messages the company supplies. It’s always better if you have numbers to show that your BASHO sequences are getting better response rates. 

The role of the SDR has never been more important – and we have the hard evidence to show it’s valued. In the past, we have seen SDR roles that would pay a $35K-$45K base salary. Now, we have roles from companies offering $75K-$90K base salaries for top SDRs. One recent SDR client of ours made a big move. He was able to demonstrate how he took initiative at his last job, became a team lead, and had specific examples of how he was able to encourage his time and drive results. He was very sought after for a Senior SDR role, and got it, with a $90K base salary.

Once you’ve been a successful SDR, there are more avenues for growth too. There are other verticals to move to, you can move between SMB and enterprise sales, and branch out further. And if you do want to move on to other sales roles, nothing will give you the same experience as being an SDR.

As we’ve mentioned, demand is currently sky-high for SDR’s. At TalentReach, we currently have more than 24 open SDR roles, with some of Seattle’s top companies. We’re in a very busy phase of hiring in the current market, with some people wanting to return to the office, some wanting to stay working remote, and companies setting forth policies for both. The next 2 months are going to see incredible movement, and there is no better time to be an SDR. 

Below are some helpful tools for SDRs that can help you take your career to new heights:

Salesforce: Necessary CRM where you can store all lead data as well as create dashboards to help leverage data and stats.

Outreach:An absolute game changer sales enablement tool for SDR teams that helps automate the outbound process, provide data to help determine the lead’s engagement level and help keep you organized.

Zoominfo, LinkedIn SalesNav, Prospect.io: All great prospecting tools to help gather lead info data to help add to your funnel.

Gong.io: Call recording tool to help and coach SDRs on how to improve their conversations with key prospects

Chilipiper: A stellar addition to email signatures where prospects can book time on your calendar directly saving a ton of time from the back and forth of trying to find a time that works well between both parties.

Drift: A chat bot tool that allows you to engage instantly with company website visitors where you can answer any of their questions instantly or book meetings directly on the calendar.

Interested in finding out more about our open SDR roles? Give us a call at (206) 295-7141. 

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