3 Things to Look for in an SDR Before Hiring One

Before drilling down into specific points, it’s often helpful to consider the big picture. Will this individual be a successful sales professional not only in the short, but long-term as well?

When it comes to the art of selling, the biggest factor in determining someone’s success is training and enthusiasm.

Even if you have no prior experience in sales; if you have enough desire and energy, and follow the guidance of an effective mentor, you will be successful.

Here three points to help identify those characteristics, and determine if someone will succeed in sales.

1. Do they believe in sales, and do they believe in what you do?
   • They must believe in the importance of their job. Anyone that thinks that the SDR role is not a crucial part of the organization, or that sales is not an important part of a company, or that the sales profession is not significant, is doomed to fail before they begin.
   • Dig deep and explore this with the individuals you are looking at.
   • SDRs: Understand that you not only have one of the toughest jobs in a company, but you also have one of the most important jobs. As the saying goes, “nothing happens until someone sells something.”
   • Additionally, look for someone that believes in your product. It’s difficult to sell something you don’t truly believe in. Especially if you want to be a great salesperson.
2. Do they spend more time listening than talking?
   • Successful selling isn’t about drowning a prospect in facts and figures. It’s about being genuinely curious, asking questions and listening carefully.
   • Do they ask questions? Do they come off as curious?
   • SDRs: Wherever you go and whatever you do, look forward to meeting people and learning more about them. Have a desire to learn about them, take a serious interest in what they say. Have a thirst for learning a curiosity for facts and people.
   • Ensure that you listen to not just what is being said, but also how it is being said, and what is not being said.
   • Tone and delivery can reveal much about whatever the prospect is saying.
3. Do they make the connection between selling skills and life?
   • The most important thing you will ever sell is yourself. The same skills that apply to selling are applicable to nearly every other part of your life. How do they sell themselves to you?
   • You need the ability to persuade others to see your point of view, follow your lead, and value your abilities. Can they make a coherent pitch, and can they be persuasive?
   • SDRs: Prospects will gather as much data as possible to help them make the decision, but at the end of the day, when there is no clear direction to go when reviewing the data, the decision gets made on emotion and rapport.
   • This will always tip the scales in your favor if you can get good at building rapport, and ensure not only that you are successful, but that you are generating solid opportunities from the first interaction, laying the groundwork for the AE to close.

Once you have found an individual who is genuinely enthusiastic about the art of selling, don’t forget the second half of the equation: training. Make sure they are set-up for success once they are hired with effective training, coaching, mentors, and having a playbook for them to follow.

Managers, what do you look for when hiring an SDR?

SDRs, how many of the above points do you agree with, and where do you differ?

-Michael Colletti-