Tip of the Spear: Blood, Sweat & Sales

By James Buckley

Tip Of The Spear was written with the intent of aiding Sales Development Reps to connect with prospects in a truly memorable way. It acts as a handbook for the modern day SDR with a heavy focus on cold emailing, cold calling, and being effective in the SDR role. How do we stand out? We do things that stand out. The SDR role is under appreciated in the business models of today. Tip Of The Spear aims to change this mind frame for businesses the world over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543910841

Book preview

Author

INTRODUCTION

Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues - Confucius

There are many sales books out there for leaders, but not many for sales reps. When I began my career in sales I had to learn quickly and adapt on the fly to situations that would arise in conversations with prospects. This book is not about me though. It’s about sales development and the role it has in business today. Plain and simple. No fluff. Not that I don’t have a great story that relates to success in sales, but because I want focus on advice that’s guaranteed to be of use to you.

So, let’s talk sales.

This text will touch on so many aspects of the SDR role that by the time it’s over you’ll think, Wow. I didn’t know there was this much to my job. Even now I’m sure you’re thinking about the fact that all you do is make phone calls and send emails to people. Don’t be fooled by the mundane part of your position. You are so much more than that.

You are a front-line soldier. The first person a customer speaks to, the first impression, and ultimately the beginning of a relationship between your company, and its customer.

Here are some useful definitions before we get started. You’ll want to have these acronyms and definitions handy if you’re new to sales. If you’re already familiar, great! You can just double-check to make sure we’re on the same page.

CRM - Customer Relationship Management

SDR - Sales Development Representative

LEAD - Someone you’d like to do business with/a prospect

CONTACT - Someone you already do business with/a customer

DM - Decision Maker SWAG - Event giveaways (Stuff We All Get)

The purpose of this text is to help SDRs see where they fit, and how important they are in the sales cycle.

I hear from SDRs all the time, and they all feel like they are at the bottom of the totem pole. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In my opinion, the SDR role is likely the most important role at any organization because it’s the catalyst for new business. New revenue streams/new accounts are a primary focus as they represents the majority of profits on the whole (renewals, and repeat business is the other piece of the puzzle). The SDR role is where new opportunities are formed. Relationships are built on interactions. An SDR’s ability to be engaging and provocative can create massive interest for prospective buyers.

My hope is that after reading this, SDRs feel more confident about their own role. In my many conversations with SDRs, I find that most view their position as a stepping stone. I don’t agree with this mentality. Not only should one never view their job in this light, but the SDR role is already high in turnover. Why add to that by feeling as if you should only be there for a short while? Sales is frustrating enough without the thought that you’re better than this.

I’d also like management to find some additional value in their SDRs that may be lost in all the decision making shuffle. As controlling entities at companies, it can be easy to miss valuable functions the SDR role can take on. Decision makers at organizations around the world deal with a lot in their daily routines. When you have a strong sales development team, managers can