How to Enable and Motivate SDRs with Adam Jay

SDRs are the backbone of the sales process and the first touchpoint of any company. Enablement and motivation are like the ends on a two-pronged spear that can push SDRs to face the rough tides.Your sales team needs all the support to bring home the numbers.

In session 8 of our Outbound for Dummies series, Adam Jay, Co-founder and CEO of Revenue Reimagined, shares how to enable and motivate your sales team the right way.

Below is an excerpt from Adam’s session. 
 

Strategies to Enable SDRs 

As Adam keeps reiterating during the session, having effective product knowledge enables sales team to have model conversations with prospects and be ready to face any obstacle that comes their way.

Another big reason behind enabling your team is running regular training programs that keep them updated with techniques, trends, competitor strategies and customer needs.

Here are the top strategies (from Adam, of course) to enable your reps:

1. They have to be product experts. Even if they might not be the one to give a sales demo, your SDRs need to know the product they're selling. Since they’re the first touch point with your customers and their main goal is to generate interest by identifying pain.  

2. They have to be experts on your ICP. The worst that can happen is calling and connecting with people who don’t match your ICP. You don’t want your team to book meetings with the wrong person.

3. They have to be experts at handling objections. You hear similar objections every time - low budget, already having a software in place, not interested in increasing the tech stack, etc. Teach your team on how to naviigate through these common objections. 
 

How to Equip Entry Level SDRs

You have to start with the basics.

How to reach out to someone? Which channels to conduct the outreach on?

As a manager/leader, you must teach them what to say on the phone and how to write good emails. The goal of their email must be to pique interest. 
 

Hot tip: Adam says, “You need to kill the line ‘hope this email finds you well.’ “

But before teaching them how to go about emails and phones, talk to them about the product and ICP.

“We had an hour every week where the entire company was enabled sometimes it was on product, sometimes it was on messaging, and sometimes it was on how our biggest customers were doing and how they were using the product effectively.” - Adam.

If someone’s eager to learn, they can be enabled and hit the phones within 3 weeks itself. You can also get them on the phone from day 1, let them word vomit and speak to the bottom of the TAM - allowing them to get used to the idea of calling. 
 

When is an SDR Ready?

Look for how they’re handling objections and thinking on their feet. On calls, do they say they’ll get back to the question or just unload some unrelated answer.

If they have a hungry mindset and are ready to get on the phone - that’s a great attitude to have.

Hot tip: Ask them for their feedback before you give your own feedback. Most of the time, they’ll be able to reflect correctly. You can always add to that and appreciate their transparency. This makes your rep become more confident and they won’t be bogged down.

And how can you re-enable your SDR if they’re not able to work on the feedback correctly? This is what Adam Jay would say -

“I appreciate all the progress that you've made and all the work that you're doing. What I really want to do is set you up for success so that when you get on the phones or when you start sending those emails you're seeing as many wins as possible. These are the areas that we've kind of identified together that we're not quite there yet. So let's go back and work on them together so that I could set you up for success as much as possible, because this is a hard job.”

It’s all in the way you as a manager would phrase your words and give them that sense of reassurance. 
 

How Can Managers Ensure Enablement isn’t Boring?

Enabling your SDRs can become too monotonous at times. This is how you can keep it fun and interesting:

1. Ask the team what they want to be enabled on and make sure they have a voice. People like to feel included. Give the why behind the what.

2. Allow SDRs and AEs to participate in leading the training. If you have someone in your team who’s good at cold calling, prospecting, etc. have them pass down their knowledge to the team and take the lead. 
 

3. Be updated on the trends that are working in your industry. For eg: As a recent and ongoing trend, the infusion of AI in sales.

It’s much more impactful for the SDRs to listen to someone on their team to learn how they got hold of their successes.

Hot tip: “I actually have all new SDRs and AEs send an email at the end of the day. It's a cold email and I respond to every single one of them and they have to respond back as if I was the customer. That's the best way to do emailing.”

How to Keep them Motivated

Amidst all the numbers and emails, your sales reps must be motivated and encouraged for their outreach and victories. They need a reason to keep going, despite all the odds.

1. You have to celebrate the small wins that lead to the big wins. As simple as celebrating a high open rate. Study together to see what’s working.

2. Have your SDRs sit on the calls with your AEs and have them understand what leads to a good successful call or a demo. This will give them a good dose of confidence. 
 

“SDRs need to have an upbeat and self-encouraging mindset to thrive through the obstacles and numbers. They have to be curious about their products, customers, and competitors. And on top of that, they have to be coachable.” - Adam.

If you want to listen to Adam’s entire session recording, you can check the video below. It has everything you need to learn how to enable and motivate your sales reps.