How to Create an Outbound SDR Process
Success requires a good process.
One of the most important parts of pipeline building in sales is outbound work.
Outbound SDRs typically lead the charge here, making that all-important first initial contact with prospects and getting your company and product out there.
But how they get around to establishing that contact, and what tools and knowledge they need, are vital components of the process that you need to build into their role and daily tasks.
In this article, we'll go over the importance of creating an outbound SDR process, the elements you need to be successful, and the steps to building the process.
Outbound SDRs typically lead the charge here, making that all-important first initial contact with prospects and getting your company and product out there.
But how they get around to establishing that contact, and what tools and knowledge they need, are vital components of the process that you need to build into their role and daily tasks.
In this article, we'll go over the importance of creating an outbound SDR process, the elements you need to be successful, and the steps to building the process.
The Importance of a Sustainable Outbound SDR Process
Having an outbound process is itself indispensable, but making sure it is sustainable is key to your success.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, sustainable means "able to continue over a period of time".
And this is the crux of your outbound SDR process.
You want to have a process that works for you and is scalable, so it can grow with you as your company grows. If it is not sustainable or scalable, you will be constantly going back to the drawing board and losing out on opportunities.
Imagine having to rebuild your playbook constantly – it is tiring for you as a company and for your SDRs. It can very easily lead to burnout and the jumping ship of both your employees and your prospects.
By focusing on building a sustainable outbound process for your SDRs with long-term goals in mind, you are much more likely to see and experience long-lasting success.
And when you have this process in place and nailed down, you can re-create it several times over and as necessary – allowing you flexibility as you grow as a business.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, sustainable means "able to continue over a period of time".
And this is the crux of your outbound SDR process.
You want to have a process that works for you and is scalable, so it can grow with you as your company grows. If it is not sustainable or scalable, you will be constantly going back to the drawing board and losing out on opportunities.
Imagine having to rebuild your playbook constantly – it is tiring for you as a company and for your SDRs. It can very easily lead to burnout and the jumping ship of both your employees and your prospects.
By focusing on building a sustainable outbound process for your SDRs with long-term goals in mind, you are much more likely to see and experience long-lasting success.
And when you have this process in place and nailed down, you can re-create it several times over and as necessary – allowing you flexibility as you grow as a business.
3 Necessary Elements for a Successful Outbound SDR Team
With only three elements, you can have an extremely successful SDR team. Just make sure you've covered your bases.
Sustainable and Scalable Process
Your process should be sustainable and scalable without any hiccups.
Constantly having to re-design or re-create a process will cost you and your team precious time and money. By getting it right from the start, you avoid having to spend time constantly thinking about it.
And how to do it? We'll get into it in a minute, but keep in mind that any process without feedback is bound to fail.
The Right Tools
Your outbound SDR team needs to have the right tools to succeed – plain and simple.
We've got a great list of tools available for you and your team to look through because the right tools can make a huge difference.
Whether it's testing for email deliverability, getting your grammar checked, or providing an in-depth analysis of your outreach, the right tools will play a huge role in your team's success.
Clear Communication
Without clear communication between you and your team, and you and your prospects, things are bound to break down.
Encourage communication between your team members to share prospect feedback, so you can correct it as you go, as well as reviews of the sales tools you are using.
Sustainable and Scalable Process
Your process should be sustainable and scalable without any hiccups.
Constantly having to re-design or re-create a process will cost you and your team precious time and money. By getting it right from the start, you avoid having to spend time constantly thinking about it.
And how to do it? We'll get into it in a minute, but keep in mind that any process without feedback is bound to fail.
The Right Tools
Your outbound SDR team needs to have the right tools to succeed – plain and simple.
We've got a great list of tools available for you and your team to look through because the right tools can make a huge difference.
Whether it's testing for email deliverability, getting your grammar checked, or providing an in-depth analysis of your outreach, the right tools will play a huge role in your team's success.
Clear Communication
Without clear communication between you and your team, and you and your prospects, things are bound to break down.
Encourage communication between your team members to share prospect feedback, so you can correct it as you go, as well as reviews of the sales tools you are using.
9 Steps to Building an Outbound SDR Process
There are nine easy steps to successfully building an outbound SDR process, as we outline below.
1. Conduct Market & Prospect Research
You need to have a good, clear grasp of what it is your product or service solves, and what market it works in.
Take SalesPipe, for example.
We know we offer outsourced SDRs for SaaS startup companies, as these companies often experiment with new technologies or products, or need to grow fast with a limited budget.
We exist in a very specific market and solve a very specific problem, as wide-reaching and versatile as our SDRs are.
It works because we know the pains the companies we partner with face, and we know exactly how to solve them.
You need to have the same understanding of your market's pains, and how your product or service solves them.
2. Determine Your ICP
Based on the above research, you can now build your ideal customer profile or ICP.
Key qualities to include will include their job title, the scope of their role, their industry, location, the size of their company, and how long the company has existed. You can even segment them by the type of software they are currently using or how much funding they have received.
It is with the ICPs that SDRs are able to then start building their prospect lists for contacting – it is their north star of the ideal prospect to look for.
3. Pick Your Tools
As we saw, having the right tools can make or break your outbound SDR team and process.
Select the tools you believe your team will need and benefit from, but keep in mind that this may change as the process develops.
Key tools to have are LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a CRM, and an email outreach tool.
4. Create Templates and Scripts
Based on your knowledge of your prospects and their markets, you want to help your SDRs get started by having email and message templates and call scripts ready.
Especially as they're starting out, it serves to guide your SDRs into how they should approach prospects.
You don't want to be too rigid with these in the future, however, as it may limit the team's approach.
Or you may want to consider looking into an outsourced SDR to test out different templates – we can help you with that here at SalesPipe ;)
5. Create Additional Content
It's always a good idea to have additional backing content ready for your SDR to reference should the need arise.
Anything from case studies to landing pages or blog posts, or even flyers or statistics that they can quickly share with a prospect can make a huge difference when it comes to getting that meeting.
6. Begin Prospecting
Have your team or yourself begin prospecting with the above material. The idea is to try things out at this stage of the process to see what happens.
Apply your logic as it stands to see how it plays out.
7. Evaluate Your Tools
Based on your experience prospecting, it's a good time to evaluate the tools you have selected to work with.
Are they all proving useful? Is there something you are missing?
These are the questions that you need to ask yourself, and your team, in this step.
8. Receive, Analyze, and Apply Feedback
Having begun prospecting, you will also start receiving feedback from both your SDRs and your prospects.
Perhaps your messaging is not working, so it is necessary to tweak it.
Perhaps your team has found that LinkedIn InMails are particularly fruitful, but email has proved a tougher nut to crack.
Perhaps there's a tool no one has been able to find a use for.
Take all of this feedback and apply it to the different parts of your process where it is relevant. As you grow, you will continue to do so, but maintaining the core parts will make these changes easy.
9. Document Everything
Make sure you keep notes of absolutely everything.
Negative or positive feedback from prospects, SDR opinions on tools, SDRs noting what works well or what doesn't, information about changes in the market or their company you may receive from prospects.
It is by documenting everything that you will be able to then make the necessary changes.
1. Conduct Market & Prospect Research
You need to have a good, clear grasp of what it is your product or service solves, and what market it works in.
Take SalesPipe, for example.
We know we offer outsourced SDRs for SaaS startup companies, as these companies often experiment with new technologies or products, or need to grow fast with a limited budget.
We exist in a very specific market and solve a very specific problem, as wide-reaching and versatile as our SDRs are.
It works because we know the pains the companies we partner with face, and we know exactly how to solve them.
You need to have the same understanding of your market's pains, and how your product or service solves them.
2. Determine Your ICP
Based on the above research, you can now build your ideal customer profile or ICP.
Key qualities to include will include their job title, the scope of their role, their industry, location, the size of their company, and how long the company has existed. You can even segment them by the type of software they are currently using or how much funding they have received.
It is with the ICPs that SDRs are able to then start building their prospect lists for contacting – it is their north star of the ideal prospect to look for.
3. Pick Your Tools
As we saw, having the right tools can make or break your outbound SDR team and process.
Select the tools you believe your team will need and benefit from, but keep in mind that this may change as the process develops.
Key tools to have are LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a CRM, and an email outreach tool.
4. Create Templates and Scripts
Based on your knowledge of your prospects and their markets, you want to help your SDRs get started by having email and message templates and call scripts ready.
Especially as they're starting out, it serves to guide your SDRs into how they should approach prospects.
You don't want to be too rigid with these in the future, however, as it may limit the team's approach.
Or you may want to consider looking into an outsourced SDR to test out different templates – we can help you with that here at SalesPipe ;)
5. Create Additional Content
It's always a good idea to have additional backing content ready for your SDR to reference should the need arise.
Anything from case studies to landing pages or blog posts, or even flyers or statistics that they can quickly share with a prospect can make a huge difference when it comes to getting that meeting.
6. Begin Prospecting
Have your team or yourself begin prospecting with the above material. The idea is to try things out at this stage of the process to see what happens.
Apply your logic as it stands to see how it plays out.
7. Evaluate Your Tools
Based on your experience prospecting, it's a good time to evaluate the tools you have selected to work with.
Are they all proving useful? Is there something you are missing?
These are the questions that you need to ask yourself, and your team, in this step.
8. Receive, Analyze, and Apply Feedback
Having begun prospecting, you will also start receiving feedback from both your SDRs and your prospects.
Perhaps your messaging is not working, so it is necessary to tweak it.
Perhaps your team has found that LinkedIn InMails are particularly fruitful, but email has proved a tougher nut to crack.
Perhaps there's a tool no one has been able to find a use for.
Take all of this feedback and apply it to the different parts of your process where it is relevant. As you grow, you will continue to do so, but maintaining the core parts will make these changes easy.
9. Document Everything
Make sure you keep notes of absolutely everything.
Negative or positive feedback from prospects, SDR opinions on tools, SDRs noting what works well or what doesn't, information about changes in the market or their company you may receive from prospects.
It is by documenting everything that you will be able to then make the necessary changes.
Conclusion
The outbound SDR process is a crucial part of the success of your sales strategy.
Without a sound SDR process and playbook, your team will be confused and burnt out from constantly having to redevelop the strategy.
Creating a process that works and is sustainable is not difficult, so long as you follow the right steps.
If you're interested in creating a process that includes outsourced SDRs to grow your business quickly – be sure to get in touch with us.
Without a sound SDR process and playbook, your team will be confused and burnt out from constantly having to redevelop the strategy.
Creating a process that works and is sustainable is not difficult, so long as you follow the right steps.
If you're interested in creating a process that includes outsourced SDRs to grow your business quickly – be sure to get in touch with us.
Post by Flor Fustinoni.
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