SDRs and Micro Progression
The demand for SDRs is at an all-time high - it’s the gold rush of the 21st century.
Today’s market conditions have driven an unexpected peak in demand for this valuable resource driven by several factors:
· Demand has exceeded supply – the high growth, investment fuelled scale ups in the race to unicorn status have absorbed whatever oversupply there was in the market.
· Inbound or outbound, they are seen as an essential part of modern sales mechanics.
· Location is less relevant than ever – SDRs are no longer required to be in the office so they can be sourced from anywhere, it’s a free for all.
This has made the role of SDR difficult and expensive to hire for.
It has also naturally had an impact on tenure and retention rates.
Why would I stay in a role longer than 6 months when I’m being offered 2 x my salary to do the same job elsewhere?
So, how do you retain your best SDR talent, so they want to stay?
To borrow Sir Richard Branson’s famous quote:
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to” – Sir Richard Branson
But training is not enough. You need to drive a culture of continual improvement. Commit to and nurture a coaching first culture. Make it personal so everyone can achieve their own goals through being part of your organisation. That’s the pathway to treating people well, not ping pong tables and free snacks.
But it’s not enough to train and treat them well in today’s market conditions. There’s an added dynamic here…
How do you keep SDRs engaged and motivated when there isn’t an obvious, clear, or available path to the next big promotion?
Not to oversimplify but the typical progression for sales looks something like this:
This has several flaws:
1. It can take a long time to upskill as an ‘SDR’ to be ready for an AE role
2. The skills required as an AE are different and therefore there is often a time lag from a performance perspective
3. You have no AE roles available when an SDR is ‘ready’
These issues cause frustration amongst SDRs and as a result they often leave the organisation for a better offer elsewhere.
The answer is Micro Progression.
What is ‘Micro Progression’
We see this as breaking down the SDR role into “what good looks like” at various milestones of development.
An SDR on day one or even month 4 of their role is very different to an SDR with a 2-year tenure so why not define and reward on this basis?
At the very base level we can simply break the SDR role down further and align it to the depth of skill and behaviour required at each level:
But doing this can be difficult to navigate and it still open to subjective interpretation and therefore frustration on the behalf of the SDR. In fact, it can be counter intuitive (see our blog on career progression pitfalls).
Structure, Objectivity & Transparency
Here at e4enable, we have a mantra… Define, Develop, Measure.
Firstly, we need to first define “What Good Looks Like” for each of the levels.
This starts with a high-level sales competency framework.
Next, you need to further define the depth of skill and behaviour required at each level.
If we take a couple of common competencies, this could look something like this:
To achieve maximum objectivity and transparency, we advise you give as much guidance to both rep and Manager and be clear on the expectations at each level. Note the positive indicators above, they will become invaluable when we look to assess and measure later.
The next step is to understand how we consistently develop individuals to achieve ‘what good looks like’ in each of these areas. This might look something like this:
Here, we are being crystal clear on not only the formal learning pathways to support the transition from Junior SDR to SDR but we are also providing a coaching and development pathway between manager and rep.
Finally, we cannot assume that just by going through this process, an SDR is going to be ready and certified to take the leap to the next level. We need to ensure there are appropriate measures and performance milestones in place:
Note that the measures here are a mix of both qualitative and quantitative assessments to truly support the transition and promotion.
Once you’ve finished, make sure that when you enrol an SDR on a pathway, they have full visibility of the journey and the expectations. Make it completely transparent what they need to achieve and enable them to see where they are against it.
Automate to Scale
Doing the above manually on Excel is a hard hill to climb so make sure you have a clear and preferentially automated process to cater for the above. For it to be successful it needs to be:
Clear & concise
Transparent
No extra admin for Manager or rep!!!
Don’t forget to add gamification into the mix. Add certifications and rewards as each SDR reaches the required level and auto unlocks their pathway to the next level promotion.
If you enable your SDRs to see their pathway to promotion and achieve micro progression, it increases motivation and reduces the temptation to look for it elsewhere.
And if you were thinking this was just limited to SDRs, think again, this applies to any career pathway across your sales teams.
As a data driven coaching platform combining sales competencies, with development and metrics, e4enable can automate this for you so give us a shout if you want to find out more.