So, you're ready to become a Sales Development Representative

Maybe you have already taken our course and are ready for your first or next position in sales. Or perhaps you're curious if you have the right skill set to take our course and eventually become trained as a Sales Development Representative. Whatever stage you may be in, SDRs must master specific skills that will make their sales pipeline full of qualified leads. 

What does a Sales Development Representative do? 

Let's all admit being an SDR is one tough job. Their work is measured by the amount of time they spent cold calling, emailing, texting or their preferred mode of outreach. SDRs are also like gatekeepers; they ensure the lead is qualified before passing them to the account executive.

We have listed a few skills needed to help you become a top-performing effective SDR.

1. Organizational Skills and Time Management

Not ironically, the first skill on the list is time management ad organization. You only have so much time in the day, and you need to ensure that every day is planned out properly for your work. It helps build the right balance between sales calls, searching for leads, handling follow-ups, and ensuring closed deals have been activated.

In addition, you want to ensure that every action you're taking is productive towards getting more sales. 

2. Ability to Communicate well and Active Listening

When you're selling, you need to be able to communicate effectively. It's about sticking to the key points without rambling on or sounding like you're sticking to a script. You want to be able to be as unique and authentic with every person you're speaking with to build the correct type of rapport. 

Combining this with another skill known as Active Listening will be the major push to help close out those sales calls with a deal. Active Listening helps to continue building that relationship as you take the time to hear what the potential client may want. 

Paying close attention to these cues will help you guide the sales call, presentation, or demo, in the right direction, by respecting the client's needs and showing how your product can help fulfill those needs. 

3. Curated outreach

In sales, people may say that it's a numbers game and that it's all about reaching out to as many leads and prospects as possible. Yet trying to customize and personalize your communications per lead helps to show that you're not just mass mailing a mailing list you have.

Instead, it offers a relationship ready to be built and a service or product you have that may be just what the client war. 

4. Patience and Resourcefulness

This is really about having the motivation and desire to be in sales. Many times, especially when starting, there can be a lot of sales pitches and few to no closed deals. However, having the patience to persevere and the resourcefulness to close that first deal will go a long way to a successful career in the world of sales. 

While it can be exhausting at times, having the grit to continue going forward to the next call, pitch or presentation is a skill that is a requirement for any successful sales development representative. 

5. Curiosity and Continuous Learning

An effective SDR would be curious about the industry, market, and trends and be committed to continuous learning to stay up-to-date on the latest sales and marketing best practices. SDRs who are committed to continuous learning and growth are more likely to achieve their goals, build successful careers, and enjoy long-term success in the tech industry.

If you feel that you have these skills or want to gain these skills, then consider joining our next cohort at the Dojo, where you will work on creating these and many other skills to begin your journey as a sales development representative. 

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