We also know a key to a successful program is strong leadership. The right leader can make or break a Sales Development team. Sales Development is expensive; it involves people, processes and technology, and it needs to pay off fast. We’re pouring thousands into the program each month. We know if we don’t have the right leader in place, the whole thing goes off the rails.
But how do we treat the leadership function in Sales Development? From what I’ve seen, two ways. One, find a high performing SDR and promote her to SDR Manager. Or, find someone from a big name company who raised up the ranks in a few years and bring them in to run the team. In both cases, there’s little training, coaching or support given to the Manager. They’re on their own.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In fact, I often see Sales Development leaders “managed out” of their organization due to poor results. In many cases, they’re set up for failure without any structure, mentorship, training or coaching. They are usually just beat up on a weekly basis for numbers, or whatever bone-headed thing an SDR on their team did that week.
As I’ve worked with companies over the past year at Tenbound to help them diagnose and revive their Sales Development teams, I saw a huge need in the marketplace for high quality training for Sales Development Managers and high potential SDRs who want to step up to management. Personally, I’m tired of seeing people fail at Sales Development management, and I’m drawing a line in the sand today!
And so, our training class was born. If you’re an SDR, Team Lead, Manager or Executive who wants to take your Sales Development program to the next level, join us in San Francisco on May 18th for a 1/2 day live immersive class on Sales Development Management. Don’t manage in the dark, get the skills you need to excel. http://tenbound.com/events/ (next class is July 19th – link below)
UPDATE: this was an awesome session and many thanks to the bright group of leaders who participated. Look for more seminars on the calendar this year, and if you like to receive more information please go to
http://tenbound.com/contact/Let’s turn this situation around by training a new generation of Sales Development Management to be successful in their role.
