Performance in business development is double or nothing:
While some struggle to reach decision-makers and are turned away in 15 seconds, others make appointments without difficulty.
And yet they have the same telephone and the same level of knowledge as the people they're talking to!
I spoke at length this week with Gabriel Maire, our new BDR Team Lead at Modjo, to give you 6 tips that managers should apply with their teams to optimize their sales performance!
If you don't know our national Gabriel Maire(yet), I invite you to follow him on LinkedIn.
In the meantime, we're off to do some reading.
Tip #1: Personalize each one-to-one.
The one-to-ones with your teams should have two simple objectives:
- Motivate Motivate Motivate!
They must come out of this meeting with a desire to break everything. No more "Benoît Paire" excuses and hello "Nadal" who even with one foot less wins Roland Garros! - Define a concrete action plan.
The most important thing here is to carry out the strategy together. The coachee must come out of this point with a very precise plan of actions that he will implement during the week.
You jointly think about the strategy, you agree on a strategy that corresponds to the personality and skills of the person and he executes this strategy during the week.
Less thinking, more doing.
Tip #2: Focus on multi-channel
No, email is not the only option your teams have to contact their prospects.
The more you manage to formalize a multi-channel strategy with your teams, the more effective your sales prospecting will be.
As an example, I personnaly never answer the phone to an unknown phone number.
Want to get in touch with me? Go to LinkedIn. (It's probably a bad idea to tell this to sales people ... 🙄)
In short, the only problem you have to solve is: How do I maximize the contact points and find the right one to reach my target?
Once you narrow it down to 2 to 3 efficient ones, invest in the right tooling to scale your outreach.
Here are the classic channels we use at Modjo.
(The others, we still keep them a little secret)
So, I said:
- The e-mail: its purpose is not to convert, but rather to make people aware of it.
- LinkedIn message and voice notes: Same as email, you don't use this channel to convert, but to get your name out there.
- The call: Here the objective is clearly to convert!
As a reminder: conversion in prospecting = appointment.
"Hello, I sent you an email this morning, did you have a chance to have a look?".
Two possible answers: "Oh yes! Interesting" or "No? Hold on, I'm looking ..."
And then you have the opportunity to follow up. It works very well!
The channels are better used as complementary - it is a bit akward if you deliver the same content as you prospect might have seen your linkedin message.
Ok and how do I iterate on this strategy?
Two solutions:
- As a manager, you can monitor this strategy against the volume of activity dedicated to each channel.
- You can and should monitor the number of "first points of contact" per channel. Then you optimize.
If you'd like to know more about the tools that Gabriel Maire, Team Lead BDR, uses at Modjo to do this, I invite you to add him on LinkedIn and ask him directly.
I promise that he will answer everyone!
Tip #3: Stop pitching.
Pitching is the ultimate pitfall to avoid at first calls.
Storytelling is what you want your team to aim at.
Example: When a prospect says, "So what do you do concretely?"
The best way to answer the “so what does your solution does?” question remains
“our solution help our clients solve a, b, c. Our clients includes these brands, and as you work in a similar industry, I thought you might be interested in discussing these issues”
Usecases will have a better impact than a description of all product functionalities.
Keep it simple!
Tip #4: Build your prospecting pool.
Basically, get your team focus on the right accounts. It is impossible to put the same level of energy on all accounts.
A BDR has two missions:
- Convert the accounts that are already hot in the prospecting pipe.
- They must bring in new accounts to prospect to avoid exhausting their pipe and make a crossing of the desert in Q3.
Two tips to maximize its pipe and its commercial prospecting:
- Make NAA: New activity account.
These are the new accounts that you have not yet prospected and that the BDRs must add to their pipe, the fresh blood.
At Modjo, the NAA = account that goes from the status to be contacted to approaching in our CRM.
In short, it is the renewal of your pipe and it must be a priority as well as the conversion of hot leads. - Have a list of hot accounts that you will monitor with each BDR
This is called the review pipeline.
And for this to be as relevant as possible, you must systematically define for each hot account a clear action plan and "next steps" .
Tip #5: Lock in your next steps.
Okay, easy advice and yet, it's one of the most common mistakes. Managers, watch out for this with your teams.
Managers, pay attention to this with your teams.You need to educate BDRs to lock in the next steps in the sales cycle with their prospects.
So :
No, you don't send your prospect 3 slots and hope they are available.
No, you don't call your prospect back next week.
Yes, you call them back on Wednesday at 2:30 and send them an invitation to lock in the slot.Don't be afraid to be directive with your prospects.
Don't be afraid to be directive with your prospects. That's one of the keys
Tip #6: Make training times a priority.
Ok first postulate, it's difficult to monitor performance in relation to a volume of qualitative meeting generations.
Where the manager can have an impact is on the work of optimizing conversions.
If you know that it's the right person, the right company, the right time, there is no reason that the prospect should not convert (again, we're talking about an appointment here)..
Obviously, this is easier said than done. However, setting up learning routines with your teams is essential to progress and optimize your impact in prospecting.
Training is a powerful motivational lever, remember the first point in one-to-one? Motivate, motivate, motivate!
So :
- Organize call replay routines by theme with the teams
Example: work on the theme "not the moment". - From each session, create a Notion page (we love the tool) or a shared document that teams can fill out to leverage the collective intelligence.
Example: each week, one RDB is in charge of the session. He or she must create the notion page and ensure that each team member adds his or her tips and practices for handling such and such objections.
I hope you find these tips useful, and that they help you ask yourself the right questions. If you'd like to know more, please contact Gabriel Maire directly on LinkedIn.
And if not, it's time to get to work! The vacations are over!
(Ah well, no, actually...)
Have a good week.
Best,
