Who are your eyes and ears at the top of the B2B sales funnel?
If you said anything other than your SDR Managers…
You’d be wrong.
They must ensure there are enough leads in your pipeline to hit target.
But there’s a lot more to the role than that.
We chatted with our Global Inbound Manager, Hugh Campbell, to learn more about his role and get the tips you’ll need to succeed in B2B sales.
Let’s explore what an SDR manager does! 👇
A Sales Development Manager oversees the sales development team within a company and has responsibilities beyond just supervision.
This sales management role is crucial to the growth and success of a company’s sales efforts.
While the primary responsibility is overseeing the sales development team, this position encompasses a wide range of duties that extend beyond mere supervision.
These include coaching and mentorship, performance tracking and cross-department collaboration, to name a few.
To be a successful SDR Manager, you need a routine, but you also need to be flexible with your time.
Here’s what a typical week for a sales development representative manager looks like, according to Hugh:
In those sessions, Hugh reviews sales productivity and performance, covering:
Hugh sticks to Tuesday lunchtime as a hard deadline to give his sales development representatives the week to complete their tasks and improve where they need to.
He also likes to ensure that each week includes:
Here, Hugh goes over call reviews and conducts role-play sessions with each team member.
Hugh explains how this works:
Other typical SDR Manager responsibilities are:
The fundamental part of the SDR Manager role is to help your team hit the sales goals they’re given.
Everything you do must be focused on hitting your monthly target.
Hugh suggests tracking this target daily and reporting to your line manager at least once a week on your progress toward it.
You’ll also likely have a weekly catch-up with your VP of Sales to go through any new changes.
Another big part of the SDR Manager’s job description?
But you must be on top of your own work if you want to help your team.
How do you ensure that?
By learning 👇
Hugh dives right into this:
You’ll want to be strict with blocking time out in your calendar and avoid being reactive.
Why?
Hugh explains:
A great way to navigate this is to let your rep know that you’re not free at the moment. Propose an alternative time on the same day when you’ll be able to help.
Remember, if you want to help your B2B sales team, your time management needs to be on top form.
And you’ll want to get your eyes on these, too 👇
The major challenge an SDR Manager faces is keeping your sales team motivated.
Hugh elaborates on this:
The focus here should be on keeping your reps happy and incentivising them to do well.
Prioritisation will come into play here again.
Why?
Because in an SDR Manager role, you need to know who needs your help most urgently.
Hugh explains:
You’ll be juggling your time between eleven to twelve different people. Make sure you’re spending it wisely, with the end goal of exceeding target.
If your reps aren’t booking enough meetings or are struggling in a specific month, there are three things you’ll want to look at to help them get back on track.
Hugh said:
Everyone takes their foot off the gas at some point.
That’s why Hugh reminds us to stay on top of people.
Technology is one of the quickest shortcuts for SDR managers.
But with so many sales tools out there, which ones can you trust?
Hugh’s go-tos are Cognism, Outlook, Salesforce, and Gong.
Enjoyed Hugh’s insights? We have even more great resources for SDR managers.
Browse on over to Cognism's SDR Zone - all of our sales development content for reps and managers, in one place!