If you’re looking for some not-so-secret tips on how to become a successful Sales Development Representative (SDR) - look no further!
You might be exploring ways to nail your first job in B2B sales. Or you might be an experienced manager looking to boost your team’s success 🚀
Either way, you’ve come to the right place. This blog contains some great advice straight from Cognism’s killer sales team.
Scroll 👇 to get some top tips on how to be a successful sales rep!
1. Be genuine
The number one tip for excelling at sales?
Be yourself and make it your own.
We all hear the word “salesy” get thrown around, and we get what it’s about. Sounding too scripted or fake will put people off.
When it comes to cold calling, different things work for different people. Don’t just copy what your peers do; certain phrases that are natural for them might be tricky for you to deliver. Try on different hats and create a style that works for you.
A good idea when starting out is to A/B test your calls - try out one style or cold calling script for one week, then a different style for the next.
Track your results over time. Which style of cold call was the most successful? Then take the winning method forward for your future calls.
But if you do this, remember: be genuine! Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.
If you’re genuine, this will shine through in your interactions with prospects and customers. You’ll stand out, making them all the more likely to engage with you.
Stay true to yourself, find your groove, and good things will come. 👏
Top tip for SDR managers
Don’t force your reps to all be the same!
Accept that every SDR is different. Provide them with the training/resources they need but allow them to experiment and bring their own personalities to the role.
Cold calling scripts are useful (especially for first-time sales reps) but shouldn’t be uniform - empower your SDRs to diversify and be themselves.
In B2B sales, diversity is the key to unlocking growth - as Ashleigh Early, Host of The Other Side of Sales podcast, said:
“Your clients are diverse. If you don’t have a diverse team that can get creative and approach the world with different perspectives, how on earth are you going to help every client that is in different situations and perspectives?”
Cognism has published a library of cold calling scripts covering various job titles and industries - click 👇 to access them.
2. Know your “why”
Outbound sales is tough. Every day as a rep, you’ll face setbacks and rejection.
To keep yourself going during those down moments, it’s important to know your “why”.
Why are you showing up? Why are you picking up the phone?
Rachel Goldstone, SDR Manager at Cognism, makes a point of this when training our new SDRs. She said:
“You need to know your ‘why’. You need to know what motivates you, why you’re here, and what will keep you bouncing back.”
Each rep’s “why” is different:
Some will want to progress into long-term sales careers. Others will be motivated by money and cash incentives. And some will have different goals in mind - saving up to buy property, for example, or to go travelling.
But knowing it can make all the difference between success and failure. It’s what will keep you going when you’ve made 100 calls and none of them has gone your way.
Top tip for SDR managers
Create personalised incentive schemes for your reps.
Collin Waldrip, AE at Salesloft, shared an example:
“Sit your SDRs down and understand what motivates them.”
“I had one rep who said he really wanted to buy a Harley - so my follow-on was, well if you hit your numbers this week, I’ll give you $200 to put towards your Harley.”
“Some of my reps have families, so for them, my incentive was, if you accomplish this, take Friday off and spend it with your family.”
3. Take accountability
Nobody’s perfect. You’ll make mistakes - even the best SDRs struggle from time to time.
The key here is to own up to your mistakes, look inward, and work out what to do better next time. Ask your team for tips - odds are someone’s made that same mistake before!
Sam Gibbons, Enterprise AE at Cognism, said this about asking for help:
“The more you ask for help from your team, the more unbiased feedback you’ll get.”
“This is so important when you’re starting out, as it’s easy to pick up bad habits when it’s integral that you’re picking up good ones.”
And if you’re looking for proof that everybody in sales makes mistakes, listen to our new podcast series, Confessions of an SDR!
Press ▶️ to hear the funniest untold stories from Cognism’s sales development reps.
Top tip for SDR managers
Owen Richards, CEO of Air Marketing, is a strong advocate of data-led management and making his team accountable.
When he meets with an underperforming SDR, he’ll use data to back up his points.
“You have to provide some proof backing up what you say. Let’s say their activity has dropped by 20% compared to last month - present them with a graph showing this and ask them what’s causing it.”
“Then you ask them a simple question: what can they do to improve this month?”
“Get the SDR to suggest their own solutions. People are more likely to adopt change if it’s their own idea, rather than you telling them what to do.”
4. Listen and you will be heard
It’s all too easy to become overly focused on the outcome of a conversation. Every sales rep has targets to hit. Everyone wants to reach the bottom line 💰
But if you’re too focused on getting your way, you’ll risk missing out on key info your prospect might be giving you.
According to Gong, top salespeople talk for around 46% of a call, while the prospects speak for the remaining 54%.
That means if you want to be heard as a sales rep - talk less, listen more!
Make sure you’re actively listening to everything your prospects tell you. That way, you can give them pinpoint responses that get to the route of their pains.
Jennifer Gray, Account Manager at Cognism, said this:
“Listen to the prospect and what they have to say. It helps you build rapport on a cold call. Take note of the prospect’s pain points. Use them to open up conversations to help them.”
When you actively listen, you put the prospect at the heart of your outreach. Good things will follow!
Top tip for SDR managers
Teach your reps to listen to their prospects and repeat what they say out loud. Listen and repeat!
David Bentham, Cognism’s Director of Sales Development, told us:
“Repeating what a prospect says back to them shows you’re listening and engaged. It sharpens your active listening skills - you have to take in what the prospect says before it’s your turn to speak.”
5. Be open-minded and curious
This might sound crazy, but hear us out:
Going into a cold call, your goal shouldn’t be to book a meeting at all costs. The goal should always be to have a conversation.
Josh Braun calls this “detaching from the outcome”:
“When people feel sales pressure, they pull away. Talking people into things doesn’t work because of this pressure. This is called the backfire effect.”
“Instead, you need to detach from the outcome. When you reduce the pressure, prospects feel they can trust you. They sense you don’t have an ulterior motive to get the meeting.”
“The real goal should be to get to the truth behind every conversation with a prospect.”
Again, it’s about being genuine, not salesy. The less pressure you put on your prospects, the more inclined they’ll be to listen to you.
So be open-minded and curious about your prospects and their pain points.
When you show curiosity, you’re showing the prospect that you’re interested, that you care.
You’re showing them that you’re not trying to book a meeting for the sake of it. You’re not like every other sales rep; you’re someone who genuinely wants to help them.
Listen to more of Josh Braun’s unbeatable sales advice - press ▶️ to hear his thoughts on getting cold prospects to say “yes!”
Top tip for SDR managers
The best way for your reps to demonstrate curiosity is to get them to ask open-ended questions.
These are questions that don’t require a “yes” or “no” answer. They’re great at getting prospects to open up and reveal more about themselves and their companies.
Cognism’s SDRs gave us this list of open-ended questions:
- What’s the biggest challenge your team/company currently faces?
- What takes up the most time in your day?
- What does your manager care about most?
- How do you think a new product would solve your problem?
- What’s prevented you from solving this problem in the past?
- What’s your timeline for fixing this problem?
6. Keep track of everything
Admin can easily become the bane of your existence…but it can also be your best friend!
Make sure you have an organised system; you’ll want to keep track of call notes, follow-ups and next steps.
Trust us, if you don’t organise your admin, you’ll miss out on opportunities.
So, find a method for keeping track of everything that works for you. Whether it be online, in a document, using an app, or creating tasks in your CRM.
It’ll help you when you reach out to your next prospect.
If you’re looking for more reasons why admin is king, play this short video by David Bentham 👀
Top tip for SDR managers
Provide your reps with solid playbooks on how to manage their admin tasks.
Remember that not all your SDRs will learn the same way - some will respond to the written word, while others will prefer audio/visual.
If possible, diversify your training to include written and filmed instructions. You can easily do that with AI-powered tools such as an AI writer or an audio generator.
Written instructions can be detailed guides, checklists, or standard operating procedures (SOPs). These are especially useful for SDRs who prefer to work at their own pace or wish to reference information later.
Visual aids like videos or webinars created with video editing software can help engage SDRs who are more receptive to audio and visual learning.
By providing a variety of training materials, you can help ensure that all SDRs are able to learn the necessary skills and competencies needed to perform their job effectively, regardless of their preferred learning style.
Lastly, consider bringing in external trainers. This has been very successful at Cognism, as David Bentham explained:
“We’ve hired several outside trainers to come into our team and teach. It’s allowed our SDRs to diversify their skill sets and explore new ideas.”
“I also encourage my team to request training sessions based on what they want to learn more about.”
7. Build your personal brand
Giovanna Demopoulos, Cognism SDR (and writer of this article!) said:
“When I had just started SDR-ing, a sales leader on LinkedIn gave me a key piece of advice - it’s never too early to start building your network.”
And with platforms like LinkedIn, it’s easier than ever to connect with people, mentors and prospects alike.
When you build an SDR personal brand, you’re future-proofing your sales.
As Morgan J. Ingram said:
“If you’re putting out content where your audience is - and they know who you are - you’ll have less resistance when you're prospecting.”
Start by scheduling some posts and interacting with your audience. Grow and nurture your online following. That way, people will start prospecting to you, instead of the other way around!
Get more of Morgan’s advice on creating content as a sales rep - listen to Cognism’s podcast below 👇
Top tip for SDR managers
David Bentham told us about something he does with new sales reps:
“When they join, I give them lists of the top B2B sales influencers - people like Josh Braun, Ryan Reisert, Shabri Lakhani and so on. I encourage all my new starters to follow them. Let them learn from the best!”
Connect with Cognism on LinkedIn
At the end of the day, SDR-ing is about connecting with people. Be it on LinkedIn, in-person, through email, or on the phone, our key takeaway is simple:
Stay human, stay true to yourself, and aim to have good conversations. 🤝 That’s how to be a successful sales rep!
That being said, why not connect with Cognism? Follow us on LinkedIn; it’s where we share the best of our content every week.
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