For the first time in 40 years, my beloved Golden State Warriors are NBA champions!
While I might attribute this to my lucky socks and pregame ritual, many pundits credit their teamwork. And specifically, their league leading record of assists per game.
"The face of the franchise was Stephen Curry, a point guard who was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player …. a highly aware passer and playmaker (he finished 4th in assists)"
- The Economist
Topics: inside sales management
Our guest author today is Phil Keene, Manager of Sales Development at TinderBox. He joins us for the latest installment of the Sales Development Practioner Series.
People are undoubtedly the most valuable asset of any organization. As more and more companies are investing in sales development groups, they're realizing that finding high quality Sales Development Reps (SDRs) is not easy.
Here are 3 big takeaways that will help you find your next standout SDR.
1. Always be looking
To find the best candidates, don’t stop interviewing - even when there isn’t a hiring class or open req. I've made it a point to do a phone interview every single day. If possible, I try to bring in a candidate for a face-to-face interview at least once a week.
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One of the best parts of my job is talking to entrepreneurs in the sales technology space. The other day, I took a call from a stealth-mode founder with a bold vision.
Here’s his pitch:
If you’re generating inbound leads and are focused on setting introductory meetings/demos for sales reps, technology can replace your entire SDR team.
Provocative, right?
He argued that for many inbound SDR organizations, all they do is push the meeting. They send email after email and answer every question a prospects asks with “you’ll find that out if you take the meeting.”
In a way, I agree with him. Far too many teams are doing little more than identifying the guy, checking for a pulse, and closing on the meeting. There’s little-to-no vision creation or pain/consequence discovery. This approach can work beautifully when the goal is "getting more and more at bats” for the sales team.
Read MoreTopics: inside sales management
I don’t think anyone would argue that the quality of the executive who leads your Inside Sales team makes or breaks its success.
A few times a month, companies will reach out to me looking for a “rockstar” Inside Sales Manager. I’ll ask a few questions about what the person will need to accomplish and, quite often, suggest they set their sights on a Director-level candidate. Better to spend more in compensation than to hire someone who lacks the skills to get the job done.
There is a real difference in aptitude and attitude between the two. Here’s my take:
Inside Sales Manager– Not to be cute, but a Manager does just that… they manage. They manage people, they manage metrics, and they manage processes.
Inside Sales Director – A Director has the skills and experience to not only execute, but to also identify issues and course correct. They take the overall goals and rough plan delivered by the executive team and drive results.