SaaStr Annual 2024 is Sept 10-12 in SF Bay!! See You There!!
The toughest part of building your first SDR team is how to manage it: 1/ Need a lot of management 2/ Turnover often high 3/ Who will train 4/ Need constantly be recruiting 5/ Often junior Outbound always works. Always. But it takes a ton of time & management.
Jason M. Lemkin what’s your perspective on outsource SDR service? When is it better, when is it not as good as internal?
Sometimes I think you are in my zoom calls. Lemkin bombing? As usual, your perspective hits at the right time. Metrics and leadership are crucial for SDRs. Let the metrics go... Effectiveness goes down. Leadership's job is to make sure the oars dip in the water, count the strokes, and point to the destination.
Outbound works but if you don't have someone crackin' the whip - forget about it
We built our entire business on outbound during the pandemic (when no one was answering their phone). Then word of mouth and demand gen kick in and it gets easier, but outbound is still the best way to reach Enterprise customers.
If you don’t have the resources or team to train & manage SDR’s and help them grow their career with a plan for promotion you don’t deserve an SDR team. These are the same individuals who comment “SDR Role is Dead.” It’s hard to hit a baseball is you don’t have a bat.
The trick, don’t put brand new sellers In This role - make It a “strategic BDR” or “Sr. SDR” and have experienced SMB AEs go into these roles and they are tactical targeted hunters that only gk upmarket. - instead of total meetings booked, it’s meetings booked with proper shake holders and opps accepted. - do this well, and you’re AEs will be fed properly and often, and you’ll have consistent OPPs coming in and closing.
Outbound requires a ton of management. Companies with weak MIDDLE management layers have a problem. My rule of thumb is - If you have a dedicated SDR manager (or director of Bus Dev) then it can absolutely work. - If your SDR is reporting to the Head of Sales/VP level, you are too learn to pull it off without lucky hires. Plenty services there to support those companies that don't have the time/resource to pull it off well (Pointer included)
But once you get it working, it’s the highest leverage growth lever, period !
It requires a systems-over-goals approach. And SDR leaders must coach, guide, and teach the team through leadership by example. • Outbound prospecting systems • Inbound demand gen systems • Time ownership systems • Communication systems • Enablement systems • Career path systems Heavy lifting, baby, but done right, it yields a win-win environment for everyone. "How to manage it" is spot on, Jason, and worth the effort.
SaaStr Annual 2024 is Sept 10-12 in SF Bay!! See You There!!
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