Have an SDR-Generated Lead? Now What?

February 18, 2020 By Crosso

If you have an SDR, or sales development representative, you know that they are working their hardest to create the next lead. Leads flourish into a thriving business relationship, at least in theory. However, if you’re new to the business, you may not know what you should do after you find a lead. Luckily, we’re here to help. We have a guide on what you should do once you run into a lead.

Prospecting

This is the first step. This involves finding potential clients to work with. Only 13 percent of them will be true opportunities, and it can take months to convert. One reason the number is so low is because many leads don’t have a follow-up, and don’t have enough attempts to call. Some people feel like if the prospect didn’t answer, they must not be interested, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, they’re just busy.

You Have to Use it All

Using email, social media, phone, and other ways to contact a prospect can increase your likelihood of sealing the deal. Constant communication and sending your prospect information that’s helpful can help close the deal. If your client sees a study that proves you can help them, that can help.

A response time tends to be around two days. For many, this takes too long. Also, replying to a prospect ASAP, like in five minutes, is much better than taking your time. A salesperson must be on the lookout for this.

A lead may take up to 10 times to be on your side. It’s all about persistence. Throw away the idea that if you contact them too much, they’re just going to be annoyed. As long as you know how to sell them, there isn’t such a thing as following up too much. However, there are mistakes you can make.

What Not to Do With Following Up

Many people make mistakes when they follow up with leads. Here’s what not to do.

Give up. Have a schedule with following up and stick to that schedule.
Forgetting to show value. A prospect isn’t someone who doesn’t want to talk to a salesperson. They want to hear value. They want to hear what you can do for your business, so do your research.
Not being frequent. Following up should happen every couple of days or so. Doing it monthly is a bad move.

How to Follow Up

Getting leads can improve your business and your sales team. Here are some ways to follow up that tend to work.

Email

An email is something that you can spend a good time crafting. Here are some ways to make the email even better.

For the initial follow-up, mention the topics that were discussed in the introduction, then give your solutions. This proves you listened.
After the meeting, if you still haven’t heard from the prospect, ask if they agree with the solutions you told them initially.
Once a triggering event happens, call your prospect and answer some questions, especially if you’ve noticed them opening an email.
If you leave a voicemail, send an email and summarize the call’s purpose, give an estimation on when you’ll call them again, and explain what they can expect.
If the prospect hasn’t responded, send a follow up, along with contact information and a schedule.

Phone

No one likes phone calls, yet they are still important in business. Here are some ways you can make that call count.

Give a good opener. The first few seconds can make or break the deal.
Tell your prospect what your intent is. This can increase your success rate.
The call shouldn’t be too long. Many calls that succeed are around five minutes. The salesperson does a majority of the talking, but not by a large margin.
Use “we” language and avoid saying “I” so much.

How to Handle a Voicemail

It can be a little frustrating calling someone, only for them to reach voicemail. Sometimes, you don’t even get a call back. Here are some ways to ace that voicemail.

It needs to be short, but not too short. About 20-30 seconds is the ballpark.
Use a normal, natural voice. Nothing that sounds too fake.
Don’t be too pushy in your call.
Begin by giving the person information that’s relevant.
Instead of ending a voicemail with a generic “Call me back,” end it by asking a question or giving a call to action.

Other Ways to Succeed

Keep it automated. You’ll be able to get a notification whenever a potential lead sends you a reply.
Plan to know what to discuss with a prospect before it happens. Don’t be left without a plan.

Tracking Cadence

If you want to track this, here are some ways to do so.

Using CRM

CRM, combined with an automated email marketing tool, is ideal whenever you’re managing leads. You can track each potential client and track progress without putting too much work into it.

Organize Your Leads

Put all your prospects into a list. Here are some ideas on how to do it.

First, there’s the new leads. These get top priority when it comes to replying.
Next up are the leads who are marketing qualified. These likelier leads should have a timely response as well.
Sales qualified. These leads went through the vetting process and are ready to the next step.
Nurture leads. These are leads who went through a discovery call and need more followups.
Opportunity leads. These are buyers who are interested.
Closing. This one involves you sending the contract and details over, with the sales now close.

With so many companies not organizing enough and failing to seal the deal, it’s important that your sales team needs to do that. From following up more to changing how you communicate with prospects, these are a few ways you can succeed.