5 Steps to Becoming a Successful Sales Development Representative

Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) are responsible for outbound prospecting. They research and reach out to prospective customers, find out if they have a need we can satisfy, and introduce them to our company and its products. Those they identify as potential customers are known as leads, and they are responsible for driving them through the customer relationship management systems and down the sales funnel.

Lead generation and meaningful communication can be complex in the digital era. To succeed as an SDR post-pandemic, it takes skills, process and best-in-class resources. Today’s job market has nearly 13 million career openings in the field of sales. How do you compare them? Which one is right for you? We’ve spoken with the Anitox experts and compiled a list of everything you need to know about prospering in your new role.

Explore Current Openings

How to Become a Successful Sales Development Representative 

• Step 1: Qualify Your Leads

Before you dedicate valuable time to expanding a lead, identify how likely it is for the individual to make a purchase. Target companies with a high yield need that your company can satisfy, and find the right person – someone with decision-making power –to speak with. Identify the need, sell the potential for a meaningful solution, and set up an initial meeting that will allow for account executives and your field sales colleagues to pull opportunities down the sales funnel.

• Step 2: Become the Industry Authority

As an SDR, you are an educator. Leverage your selling skills alongside the resources your company provides to present yourself as a wealth of knowledge. Solve the problems that keep potential customers awake at night.

• Step 3: Use Your Toolbelt

Look for companies that use customer relationship management (CRM), salesforce efficiency and marketing engine systems to boost your efficiency. At Anitox we use Salesforce, SalesLoft and Hubspot to track interactions with customers. A content management system helps bridge the gap between sales and marketing by creating one centralized location for storing, presenting and sharing educational and marketing materials. We use Showpad; it means our SDRs can locate and share the right information at the right time with potential customers.

• Step 4: Be Resilient

If you can’t handle rejection, this may not be the job for you. Think differently; sometimes people just don’t have a need at the moment you’re reaching out. That’s fine; make sure they know your here when things change and are aware of the issues you can solve for them. It’s about helping people and making an impression that lasts.

• Step 5: Follow the process

You’ll need a hunger for learning, an interest in the psychology of selling, determination and a fundamental belief in following a process. Repeatedly making high numbers of successful sales comes from following a buyer-centric process. Work with a company that sets you up to win.

If you’re an experienced SDR hungry to work in a supported environment that’s geared for success, go to www.anitox.com/careers. We’re hunting for the best talent to join our teams in both Europe and North America.