Tripling the BDR Team Size to 9
PrimeRevenue, a supply chain finance solutions expert, had seen varied success in the performance of their first SDR hires. Globally distributed, lacking inhouse expertise and facing a need to increase the size and efficiency of the team, they looked to ScaleUp to build an outbound SDR function.
- 83% increase in team performance within six months
- 33% increase in individual performance within six months
- Develop and test value propositions by persona role
PrimeRevenue had developed a relatively consistent volume of inbound leads, but all were being handle by a single BDR. The organization was interested in reaching revenue targets by building an outbound BDR team to supplement the sales pipeline, but there was little internal expertise to coach the new team or build repeatable processes. Performance of the new team became varied and was slow to improve.
Without a process, or insight on what was effective, the team was adding BDRs without fundamentals in place and experiencing seemingly random successes due to lack of clear data and methodology. For example, not knowing which leads had high velocity: auto vs packaging, private vs public, etc.
“It would have taken us three years to do what ScaleUp did in nine months.” - P.J. Bain, CEO
Immediately it was clear that the definition of when a lead could be passed to the sales team changed from case to case, preventing clarity and progress. After being given a clearer definition, the volume of leads increased by 27% and put natural and expected tension in the relationship between the SDR and Sales teams. This triggered productive dialogue about how to nurture leads and improve lead quality. As expected, the SQL definition was adjusted once more for team alignment.
With a clearer finish line in place for the SDRs, a staged qualification process was defined (e.g., research, engage, qualify). ScaleUp was then able to forecast pipeline generation for future months and educate the SDRs on what their daily targets needed to be for each stage – beyond monthly quotas and daily activity targets.
Initially there was very little structure as to how the SDRs handled objections. ScaleUp trained the team to categorize by type (e.g., value not understood, value understood but higher priorities exist), encouraging SDRs through 1-on-1 and group sessions to actively listen to what the prospect was saying, elevating the strength of their responses.
“I’m open to contracted sales trainers because the work and people ScaleUp has provided is invaluable to the PrimeRevenue organization and my team.” - Tom Roberts, SVP Marketing
Based on 9 months of ScaleUp’s process implementation and management, PrimeRevenue drastically increased the team. Because of their met growth goals and confidence in future growth, the company went from 9 to 14 SDRs, 1 to 2 SDR Managers, and added a Sales Trainer. They are planning to hire additional managers and BDRs.
Steady growth each quarter in opportunities developed:
Q1: 21
Q2: 33
Q3: 42
Q4: 57
“What you do on the BDR side of the house is invaluable.” - Graham Kelly, CRO