Business development reps (BDRs) have always been pivotal to the sales process. And while sales development and customer success reps have emerged in recent years to further improve the sales experience, BDRs remain crucial.
Business development reps are essential for getting people through the door and turning prospects into clients. But in many cases, that’s tougher than it’s ever been.
Why? Because the way buyers make decisions has totally changed and these changes are here to stay.
A lot of the key changes mirror the sales velocity equation, which I talked about back in September:
Despite this, I’ve seen BDRs still reaching out to prospects in the same way, having the same conversations and giving the same pitches.
It isn’t working, for one simple reason – the buyer now needs something different.
One change that’s having a massive impact is the increase in the number of decision makers.
More decision makers means there’s greater scrutiny over ideas and business development reps need to work harder to provide justification. As a result, there’s a higher likelihood of a decision not going through.
Gartner estimates that an average of 6.8 people are now involved in each B2B purchase decision, but that the number can go as high as 11.
Whatever the true figure is for your clients, most of the time it’s going to be multiple decision makers. And once it’s more than one person, the chance of a deal going through goes off a cliff.
This has an impact in a few different areas:
Let’s look at some common mistakes – and what your buyer needs instead to be able to make a purchase.
Building relationships with prospects has always been at the top of a business development rep’s agenda. But what building a relationship means now is very different to what it meant in the past.
Traditionally, you’d try and build as much rapport as you could with that person: think lunches, golf trips, whatever you could do to get them on side. And while you’re doing that, you’re probably talking about how you could help their business and the features or benefits they’d get from your product.
The problem is, with the extra scrutiny I talked about – the additional stakeholders, the focus on ROI – that rapport isn’t going to be of any use when the person is actually trying to sell it on.
So the question to ask is, how can you make it easy for that person to want to use your product but be brave enough to sell it onto the business as well?
In truth, there’s a missing link between connecting on a personal level and connecting with a company: connecting with the individual in their role.
You need to convince them that you’re going to make them look like a superstar and that you’re the person to help them perform better in their role.
To pitch those things with confidence, you need to personalise the conversation. They’re more likely to advocate for your product if they can clearly see what’s in it for them.
That means you need to be asking:
Once you’ve got that information, it’s on you as a BDR to explain how you’ll help them drive those specific outcomes.
Some business development reps will go into a meeting and pitch their product straight away. More developed reps will go in and ask questions, then give a relevant pitch based on the responses.
It’s crucial to ask the right questions and listen to your prospects’ needs so you understand their desired outcomes. However, you should also aim to add strategic value that will help prospects understand why they need to change and the option that will help them succeed in their role.
Ultimately, you want them to come away from the conversation thinking, “that was genuinely valuable and worth paying for in itself”.
The strongest BDRs are now building narratives that give clients “Aha!” moments. It might be social proof and consensus through stories. Or it might be teaching them things they didn’t realise they needed to know to give them a competitive advantage.
A massive part of that is understanding end user behaviour and what value you can build in.
The old adage is that the customer is always right.
However, technology, competitors and the buying process have evolved to such an extent that there’s a lot more risk involved in making decisions. That’s made it difficult for buyers to make the correct decision around what to move forward with.
Often, people will have a knee-jerk reaction deciding what they do or don’t want. That reaction might have been right five years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s right now or is the best option for the end user.
As a BDR, you need to be using the knowledge you pick up doing research, working with other stakeholders and hearing the mistakes of other people in similar roles.
That should give you the confidence to go in and lead the customer with statements like:
Part of doing this is learning how to say ‘no’ politely, give feedback in a strong way and take control.
There’s a great book called Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity that will really help with this. It’s about being disruptive for the greater good of the other person and how it’s possible to care personally and challenge directly at the same time.
You don’t need to tell prospects they’re doing something wrong or be combative – bring in your knowledge of end users, other clients and stakeholder groups to help them move forward.
Many BDRs will know the ins and outs of their product and features, and focus on those when they’re talking to customers. Decent business development reps will talk more about the benefits of using those features.
However, the challenge with just talking about benefits is that it doesn’t tap into the core reason they’re buying – to drive outcomes.
Buyers need the process to be de-risked. Essentially, they need to be confident they’re going to be able to drive outcomes.
BDRs should lead conversations where they help the buyer articulate the specific outcomes they want to drive and then provide advice on how to get there.
Fundamentally, they’re going to be looking at those things with the rest of the team anyway. You’ll see the same questions about internal changes come up time and time again. Things like, how do we implement this anyway? Is it going to integrate with X department?
A big part in achieving ROI is going to come from how the solution is implemented, integrated and adopted by the prospect. They need to know that you’re not just leaving them to it.
Being able to remove the risk and help make it work is a fantastic way to stand out amongst other BDRs who just sell the features and benefits and leave them to make it work by themselves.
You can show them exactly how you’ll overcome the hurdles (for example, what your customer success team can do) and convince them of the results they’re going to get.
One other key thing you can talk about here is case studies. Share the outcomes of what you’ve helped others to achieve in their specific role. This will give them more confidence and more collateral that makes it easier for them to sell on to other people.
That way, you don’t get caught up just talking about the benefits. You can say, here are the outcomes based on what you’ve talked about, here are the KPIs you should be measuring and here is how we’ll work with you to get to that place and achieve those goals.
Buyer behaviour has changed – and those changes are here to stay. Sales teams urgently need to adapt to be able to deliver a stand-out experience.
Our expert sales training programmes cover everything from essential skills right through to advanced selling approaches and strategies.
“Flume’s approaches have been fully integrated into our sales process creating a 58% increase in closed deals and an 8% increase in average order value.”
Richard O’Connor, Commercial Director, EG / RELX
Most SDRs make the same big, whopping mistake: they don’t focus on why their role REALLY exists.
Here are the two key things your SDRs should be doing:
1. Validating that you’re in touch with the right person in the right company. You need mobilisers, not talkers.
2. Selling the value of the NEXT CONVERSATION, not the product! Remember, 58% of clients don’t see meetings as valuable – the SDR needs to convince the buyer it’s worth their time.
Get more insights into SDRs and the four easy ways they can cut through the noise in our blog article.
Do ONE crucial thing to boost your 2023 sales success
28th March 2023
Join Flume Live for an introduction to sales velocity – crucial hacks to power your pipeline
23rd March 2023
Selling in a tough climate – 5 key takeaways
14th March 2023
The sales funnel is dead. Long live the sales ‘nail’!
7th March 2023
Preboarding | Onboarding | Everboarding
13th February 2023
Selling in a tough climate – the challenges
31st January 2023
Sales 2023 : Three big questions
30th January 2023
Flume’s trends and predictions for the events industry
30th January 2023
5 Steps to Power your 2023 Pipeline
14th December 2022
5 Key recession-busting sales behaviours
13th December 2022
Sales Innovation Expo 2022 Trends
30th November 2022
How to align your customer success team with your sales process
2nd November 2022
Sales velocity: How to increase average order value in sales
17th October 2022
Sales velocity: Increasing the number of sales opportunities
17th October 2022
28 Sales Acronyms used daily
8th September 2022
Sales velocity: Speeding up the decision-making process
24th August 2022
Sales velocity: How to improve conversion rates
13th July 2022
Sales kick-off meetings: How to use the momentum to power long-term change
17th May 2022
Drive retention and performance through a sales academy
9th March 2022
Call AI: The sales coaching technology you need in 2022
22nd February 2022
Drive real results from sales training in 2022: Why the traditional model doesn’t work
2nd February 2022
Sales Engagement Summit – Hosted by Raoul
16th December 2021
How business development reps can give buyers the confidence to say yes
3rd December 2021
The biggest mistake sales development reps make (and three things you should do instead)
9th November 2021
Five myths you need to know about customer success teams
11th October 2021
The four levers you can pull to increase sales velocity and how to make an impact
1st September 2021
Outcome Based Selling
3rd August 2021
Why most sales training doesn’t work and what to do about it
1st July 2021
3 reasons why writing a proper proposal is worth your time
18th March 2021
How to win a sales pitch…
26th February 2021
Sales Professionals: Why you shouldn’t assume you’ve got remote selling nailed
15th January 2021
Is your sales team ready for 2021?
4th January 2021
Selling Virtual Events
26th November 2020
Why salespeople must be ‘long-term greedy’: A five-step approach to winning more sales
13th November 2020
Closing skills: Why the pandemic has made it even harder to close that deal and what to do about it.
1st November 2020
Post Covid: How to fill your B2B pipeline with customers who do want to speak to you?
5th October 2020
3 steps for monetising virtual events
15th July 2020
Storytelling
18th May 2020
5 tips for closing in the crisis
4th May 2020
Using audience insights to engage with customers
20th April 2020
Biggest challenge of leading a remote sales team
15th April 2020
“Clients don’t want to engage with me”
6th April 2020
The world has changed – what should I sell?
31st March 2020
Leading remote sales teams
30th March 2020
Selling in a crisis
25th March 2020
Proposal writing research: Why your proposal doesn’t work
17th March 2020
How to accelerate your sponsorship revenue
17th February 2020
How selling to the individual increases your chance of them buying by 2x
7th February 2020
New Year, new rules. How to deliver sales training that actually works!
2nd January 2020
Half of B2B sales people will miss their 2020 targets. It’s time to shift perspective.
18th November 2019
Questions that drive more sales
15th November 2019
How to speed up prospect decision making… PART TWO
21st October 2019
How to speed up prospect decision making – PART ONE
14th October 2019
The biggest mistake salespeople make… and how to avoid it
26th July 2019
You have the right to demand more ROI from your sales training (and here’s how you get it)
16th May 2019
How to grow customer accounts this year
22nd March 2019
5 big sales mistakes from this year
23rd December 2018
How to turn the marketing trust crisis into sales opportunity
5th October 2018
Why is it so hard to find great business development talent?
21st September 2018
It might be hot outside but you still need a SCARF.
12th July 2018
The Peter Principle: Great Salesperson, Crap Manager
25th June 2018
The ‘great deal graveyard’ and how to avoid it
8th June 2018
The secret to selling in today’s market: Old-school to New-school
22nd March 2018
Why people DON’T buy from people they like
28th February 2018
What salespeople can learn from Nike
5th February 2018
Why “yes” doesn’t mean YES
26th January 2018
Take charge of your sales career in 2022
15th January 2018
How sales and marketing must work together to deliver results: tips from the front line of B2B selling
20th July 2016
6 facts and stats B2B sales people cannot ignore
26th May 2016
The amazing power of stories and 5 ways to make them sell
15th October 2015
The trouble with Blitz Days and how to increase their effectiveness
7th October 2015