Removing Hope From Outbound Sales To Increase Conversion

Mar 3, 2022

Author: collin stewart

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Shawn Rhodes is a former combat correspondent in the US marine corps, a nationally-syndicated columnist with The Business Journals, and an international sales expert. He is the author of three books, including the recently released Bulletproof Selling: Systemizing Sales For The Battlefield Of Business.\n

Shawn joined the Predictable Revenue podcast to discuss how and why we should be building systems into our outbound sales process.\n

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The problem with relying on hope in outbound sales\n

Many sales development reps (SDRs) are used to relying on hope over strategy. Without proper systems in place, each sales call becomes a \u201cfly by the seat of their pants\u201d scenario, which isn\u2019t conducive to booking meetings or employee satisfaction.\n

SDRs are unable to predict what their commission will be, and they end up in a cycle of feast or famine. This leads to burnout and the high turnover rates that have become all too common in outbound sales.\n

In contrast, having a systemized outbound sales process takes the pressure off SDRs. They can rely on predetermined processes rather than improvising each call. Although there will always be some level of unpredictability with sales development, systems can remove much of the stress that comes with that role.\u00a0\n

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How to remove hope from your outbound sales process\n

From a leadership perspective, the best way to enable your outbound sales team to succeed is to give them a basic system. Your SDRs should always know who to reach out to next and exactly what they\u2019re supposed to do on each call. Give them a process to follow (ie. \u201cdo these things in this order\u201d).\u00a0\n

The best way to do this is to create a document of best practices, whether that\u2019s in Google Sheets or your CRM. A good CRM tool will allow your team to build intelligence in one central location. This is especially important for longer sales cycles when data needs to be gathered over several calls and meetings.\n

It\u2019s important to revisit these processes over time, to evaluate what could be improved and eliminate steps that are no longer relevant. Aim to conduct a systems review at least every quarter.\n

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Expect the unexpected\n

Even with lots of advance planning, there are a hundred ways for a sales call to go wrong. The important thing isn\u2019t to eliminate these mistakes, but to learn from them and improve upon them for next time. Conducting a debrief after each call allows you to plan for future outcomes.\n

Try asking yourself or your SDRs these three questions after each call with a qualified lead:\n

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