Any entrepreneur or leader who has ever been charged with building out a sales development team understands the immense challenges in finding, growing and empowering the right people for the job. It takes time and patience to get it right — and it’s a job that’s never done. Recruiting expert Jack Daly stresses that recruiting is an ongoing process. You should always be searching for talented, driven SDRs who can take your team to the next level — even if you don’t have immediate vacancies.
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But finding those SDR rock stars is difficult. Sure, first impressions and gut feelings play a role in the hiring process, but how do you know that the person you’re interviewing is going to be a top producer AND a solid cultural fit?
Here are three critical attributes to look for in potential SDR candidates, along with some interview tricks I’ve learned along the way.
Concise: Because Nobody Has Time For Business Jargon
SDRs are notorious for overloading prospects with lengthy emails detailing product features and benefits, presenting far too much information at first pass. Or, when they’re lucky enough to get a decision-maker live on the phone, they often get carried away and start spewing acronyms and ROI stats. Critical information that could actually help move the needle gets lost, along with any interest the prospect may have originally had.
Just as the most effective journalists write in an ‘Inverted Pyramid’ style, prioritizing and structuring text from most important information at the top to non-essential details at the bottom, the best SDRs have mastered the art of selectivity. This means carefully choosing their headlines, or what is most important within a given set of information and conveying them clearly and concisely. Additionally, shrewd SDRs know how to communicate the most complex of topics in plain English — no jargon or fluff needed.
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Ilya Semin is the founder and CEO of Datanyze, the all-in-one sales intelligence platform.
BusinessCollective, launched in partnership with Citi, is a virtual mentorship program powered by North America’s most ambitious young thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives and small business owners.