SDRs (Sales development representatives) are an integral part of the sales and marketing team; there’s no doubt about it. They ensure prospects are being booked into calls, allowing the sales team to showcase your business’s product or service.
To evaluate how well SDRs are performing, there are different metrics you can review. And by looking at them, you can gain a better understanding of the overall success of the sales team as well.
Why are SDRs so valuable?
Sales development representatives have many desirable qualities that are sought after by businesses. Firstly, they are essential to the overall success of B2B companies. Without any new prospects coming in, no sales can be made. In today’s business world, having a solid product or service is only part of the equation.
Secondly, they free up time for senior sales members to focus on what they do best, selling the product or service. Otherwise, the skills and knowledge that senior sales members have are wasted.
SDRs also refine their approach over time, allowing them to identify highly qualified leads. By doing so, it helps the rest of the sales team to pitch to prospects that are more likely to make a purchase. As a result, a company will receive higher sales and better business growth.
Not all leads will be ready to make a purchase or have a need for what the business is selling. However, in the future, they could want it. SDRs can help identify these types of prospects and put them aside until a later date. When the time comes, they can be contacted again to see if they’re ready to progress down the sales funnel.
Lastly, SDRs are known to enhance productivity. Many sales executives view responsibilities that an SDR undertakes as a burden. This means the amount of quality appointment leads that should be coming in is significantly reduced.
Looking at SDR metrics
The most important SDR metrics have been listed below. They track the different elements of what sales development representatives do on a daily basis. When used together, it paints a very clear picture of how well SDR team members are performing to others.
Key decision-maker (KDM)
First on the list is KDM. This metric allows you to look at the ratio between pitching the business’s product/services and actual appointments booked. Every industry will have a slightly different KDM that is perceived as good.
For example, say the ratio is currently 10:1, this means that on average 10 prospects must be pitched to in order to receive 1 appointment.
Just by using this simple metric, the sales process can be made more efficient. You can determine how many prospects are needed to get appointments. Plus, you can determine how many SDRs are needed to keep the senior sales team busy.
Dials to appointment
SDRs use a range of methods to contact potential customers; however, phone calls are typically the most common one. By understanding the average amount of calls that are required to get prospects booked into appointments, you can improve the effectiveness of the sales department.
This metric will be extremely useful to new SDRs as it will help them know what to target when starting out. Also, existing ones that are way over the average can reflect on their sales technique to ensure better results.
Show Rate
Setting an appointment is one thing, but actually getting the prospect to show up to it is a completely different story. Usually, a 50% or higher show rate is viewed as good. If some SDRs are averaging lower than this, then changes must be made.
Whether this means changes to their sales pitch or the type of key decision-maker they’re targeting, show rate will help highlight the issue so improvements can be made.
Cost to acquisition
Another key metric that’s worth looking at is cost to acquisition. If the appointments being made are converting into actual sales, what’s the point? Monitoring this metric closely will determine if SDRs are worth the cost for the amount of sales they are contributing to.
How to improve SDR metrics and reduce costs
We’ve covered quite a few useful metrics that can allow you to monitor how well SDRs are performing and how to make the overall sales funnel more efficient. But what we haven’t covered is how SDR outsourcing can improve metrics, increase sales growth, and reduce costs.
Hiring SDRs and training them until they can reach targets takes a lot of time (on average up to 9 months), not to mention a wide range of costs. And with companies continuously vying for the best SDRs, salaries and benefits are likely to rise even more. That’s why a large number of businesses are using SDR companies instead.
Long-standing companies that offer SDR services have perfected the art of reaching high-quality leads and booking them into appointments, helping businesses grow without the usual high costs. Experience helps guide their methodology, making processes more effective and efficient.
However, a word of warning, you should carry out in-depth research to find suitable SDR outsourcing companies. Otherwise, you could be walking into a bad decision. And considering how important the role of an SDR is to gaining sales, the entire company could suffer if you don’t.
For instance, you want to find a company that has great communication. The internal sales team will need to communicate regularly with SDRs, so if there’s a communication breakdown, then sales could suffer.
Other factors are important too, such as expertise, reviews from other clients, and more. So make sure to take all this into consideration when looking at the options.
Concluding Thoughts
By tracking the top metrics for SDR teams, your company can gain a better understanding of how the team is doing. If certain members are falling behind others, the root problem can be analysed to help them get back on track. Additionally, metrics help to know if the team is actually profitable. If they’re not providing enough value, other options can be explored that are in the best interests of the company.